Tote Bag Making - version 1

I made a promise to myself to learn to make nice totes, because I cannot fine any I really like. 

I do not want anything fancy, just some simple big bag which stands on its own. I have selected a few patterns a few weeks back, and the first is ready. I am partially content - proud for me that I can sew such a bag, but the result is far from perfect. I want a significantly bigger and sturdier one, but for a first try it passes. The pattern was created by the renegade seamstress, and was a little confusing for me, but it could be that it is my fault since it is my first attempt of making a bag alone. A few years back I attended a bag making workshop, but that was a long time ago...

renegade-tote-bag-tutorial

Octopus framed

I realised that I did not posted a finish on the Octopus Treasure Cave. It is extremely hard to make a photo which gives back the beautiful colors in the finish, but I tried my best. The second photo is more realistic in the fabric an for the greens.

Chatelaine: Octopus Tresure Cave

Fonal/Floss: DMC + many silks as suggested in the kit

Anyag/Fabric: Zweigart hand dyed 32 ct Belfast by Barbaral

Missing posts from 2018 - little present for the teachers

In June I helped my son to sew year closing gift for his teachers. Both got a similar purse, where I cut the fabric and added the zip, and my son did the finishing. The little boy bird had a strange eyes, I changed that to a nicer one, but forgot to take photos. The teacher really liked the gift, I suppose there are not too many 8 year old boys who are making such presents for them :)

Wallhanging for my niece

I was working on a wallhangigng for my niece. She is turning 17 and in between a girl and a woman, so I wanted something which is not too serious but has a twist. She wanted flying geese and some natural colors, and I added some windmills - not to waste fabric from the geese and also to link it to the bedcover she had received a few years ago, and which is made of colorful windmills. It was quite quick and I like it a lot -I hope she will like it too!

Venus is ready

I have finished another block from betukbandi Round the Year BOM. I really love how neat the paper pieced parts after trimming!

I was quick, I have finished in one afternoon. This is before sewing the block together:

This is the final piece after finishing all the seams, Part 5 Venus. I skipped part 4, Sapphire fire, because I have to find out what colours I want to use. I am really improving in paper-piecing, but maybe having straight lines instead wavy triangles also helps...

Block 5 - Venus

Round the Year by betukbandi

Card trick in the making

Card Trick - Part 3

Round the Year by betukbandi

Round the Year 2 - Evening at the Pond

I have put the taupe Yoko Saito top away and returned to the colorful Round the Year by betukbandi. I have already started the paper pieced flying geese a few weeks ago, only the middle was missing. It took only an evening to finish it -it was very easy and relaxing. Despite the name it was only straight stitches. The name is Evening at the Pond, reminds me the birds flying away to the setting sun.

Block 2 Evening at the Pond

Round the Year by betukbandi

Yoko Saito quilt top

I have finished the top for my Yoko Saito. This photo does no do justice, in real life the colors are much softer, not so washed out, and the frame is a soft hazelnut. I will try to make some better pictures with natural light. I opted to skip the framing tree and grasses, I lost my mojo somewhen in the process. I am attracted to colors now, and thinking to put is away for some time and not to rush with the finish. When I finish a top I immediately go for the quilting, but now I have a feeling it won't give me the joy, and I do not want simply to get over with this piece, I would like to enjoy the quilting as well.

Yoko Saito: Strolling along path of green

And old finish from the scrappy series

I made this scrappy green yellow last summer when I was cleaning up my scrappy bins. The green pinwheels were leftovers from a quilt I made in 2014 for my niece, the rest came from various projects. I just love the backing: I took some of my ugliest materials I thought I will never use, plus some satin pillowcovers I cut into halves to fit our small pillows. I really like the softness of the backing, and regardless how ugly the fabrics looked separately, they come together quite well.

Quick world tour

I have finished part 1 and 2 of Around the world in 80 stitches, and I am contemplating to call it a finish. I have started this piece in 2012 (6years ago!), and after stitching a very little I stopped I did not touched for 6 years. This is not a small time aversion taking into consideration I hardly put anything away for more than a few months...But I despite the fact that it seemed to be fun to learn new stitches I was not willing to work on this sends a serious message. I took it up a few days ago when I made an inventory of my WIP (UFO? - is there a specific date when a wip became extraterrestrial? If yes I suppose it does not take 6 years to come) I listed this and gave it a last chance.
Actually after decreasing the color palette it was not so bad to stitch, and I really like the outcome, but it is only 1/6th of the whole design and I am not sure whether I will have the stamina to stitch so much more. Now there is a natural finishline, I can make a nice box out of this, and I think I will do that. But I am really happy that I got here.

Around the World in 80 Stitches - Papillon Creations

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct white dmc

Fonal / Floss : Anchor

Around the world

I made some progress on my ex-UFO, the Around the World in 80 stitches by Papillion Creations. Part 2 and half  of Part1 is done. I am contemplating whether to stop when I have finished Part1, because then it is a small but complete picture, or shall I move forward. I have some steam, but I do not know whether it is enough for the whole 24 parts...

 

Around the World in 80 Stitches - Papillon Creations

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct white dmc

Fonal / Floss : Anchor

Recliner cover

This is the cover I have made for our recliner. First I was planning to sew one long row to cover the sitting part and the arms, but after finishing I realised that with recliners arms are moving separately from the sitting part, so it will not work. But the long row became a perfect middle cover and I saw 2 smaller ones for the arms. I only have to figure out what to do to have a nicer coverage, because I put a double extremely puffy batting to have comfortable softness under our palms.
I really like the result, and I also realised how much better is to have a scrappy one instead of the same materials - arms are from 2 different fabric, middle part extrascrappy. I used up all my 5x5 squares I cut from my brow-creme-white scraps, therefore no scrappyness for the armrest. I like those pieces most what I thought originally too ugly to include, the yellowish roses. It is really true that you cannot judge on standalone fabric...

Result of my holidays

My holidays are over, and regardless I did not acted according to my stitchy plans I am quite satisfied what I did. So lets see my goals and results.

• Quilting/sewing - well done

Plans: finish scrappy blue, work on Yoko Saito and the Round-The-Year quilt - partially done

Scrappy blue - binded and ready, already used by the family

Yoko Saito - hand stitching done, block ready to be sewn together. I will go for the added grass and tree, so no quilt as you go for this.

Round-the-year - not touched

Additional quilts - well exceeded

I was not planning to start anything else, but inspiration came and I not only started, but also finished 2 additional quilts: an I-Spy quilt for my nephew, and a recliner cover for our old reading/stitching chair.

• Cross stitch - less, but OK

Plans: work on Pomarium, Around the World in 80 stitches, Nativity sampler - partially done

I worked on Around the World in 80 stitches and I made quite a good progress. I am even getting to like it - I did more in this week than in the last 6 years. I realised the biggest blocking factor was the color scheme, actually the lack of predefined colors. I reduced the original palette to 1 green and 3 pinks and now it goes significantly better.
I did not touched Pomarium, but I checked Nativity Sampler and concluded I will take it to my family holiday next week.

• Sports - well done

Plans: jogging every second day - done, well above

I went running every second day, 3 times 5 kms, and I even went for 10 kms twice. I also bought a sport watch with heart rate measurement, and I did quite a good training to improve my performance. I started to play with the idea to get ready for a marathon in one year time, but most probably it remains an idea - it really takes a lots of time what I do not see at the moment where could I find...

• Social media time - well done

I skipped facebook almost fully, actually I deleted the app from my mobile after the first day when I realised I am checking in without any reason. Bloggingwise I did 7 posts, which is quite a feat compared to my previous activity. I defined what do I want to finish this year, and I even checked my long pinterest list of totes and selected the best to be tried.

I also hosted 2 dinners for the family, fixed many small things in the flat and bought things which were needed for a time. Overall I am quite content how I spent my stay-in-holidays, and concluded that it is a pity I have 20something years till I can retire, because I could retire happily even tomorrow :)

I-spy (almost) in a day

It turned out my nephew's birthday party going to be this Saturday, therefore My I-spy-quilt got a big push. I checked my colorful fabric box, I did some fussy cutting, and even some applique, because my son said our nephew loves cars so he MUST have cars on the quilt. So cars he got, and since I do not have  any fabric with cars I did some appliqued ones, and I added even a train. I really enjoyed this supersimple piecing of good quality materials. Recently I either did some skill building or used home decor fabric, so this simple quilt squares were flying through my machine. The top was ready in a day including several rounds of rearranging the pieces, and today I put on the backing and a simple stitch in the finished it in no time.
One more tick for my goals!

Other things to be done

There is a list in my head what else would I like to sew this year:

• quilting:
• finish the Yoko Saito wall hanging
• I-spy-quilt for my little nephew before he outgrows the I-spy period
• work on the Around the Year quilt

• cross stitch:
• finish 4 parts of Around the World in 80 stitches - or give it up
• stitch at least 5 days on Pomarium
• finish Nativity Sampler for Christmas

• other:
• finish the chair cover for the arms in October
• miscellaneous sewing thingie holder
• a standing one for my cutting mat
• one next to the sewing machine
• totes: some nice totes for myself and the family, which also serves as a stash buster of my non-quilting fabric. I have bought some fun prints in IKEA with totes in my mind, and I would like to try at least 3 types to find the perfect one

It is quite a lot, but being on holiday now and before Christmas hopefully makes it possible!

Tote bag list

Creating handles:



A few totes to try:

patternpile


handmade tote


The Renegade Streamstress



sturdy modern bag - free craftsy pattern


Poppyseed Fabrics


Jumbo bag by the ribbonretreat


Big Bad Bucket Bag


park bag


Hardcore extra heavy duty : the weekender

• 
  

Whipping up extras

Apart from my original goals I had some things on my mind. 

I was going through my stash and I was decluttering all awful synthetic bits and pieces I received since I started sewing. The family knows I need practice materials so they are sending all kind of stuff - but some of them are too bad even to practice anything on them...I also rearranged my boxes separating quilting and non-quilting quality fabric, keeping only 1 box of synthetics including princess/santa materials. You know, the shiny ones all 5 years old princesses aiming for. And I finished 2 brideskirts for my nieces as well, and for thir little brother a double sided prince doublet - it took some 40 minutes to finish all! The prince material was bought some 30 years ago and I used it to cover the guest bedroom mattress when I tried my first sewing in secondary school.

During the selection phase I also took my charmpack sized whites and beiges do sew the half triangle armchair cover I was longing for. We have an awfully old, but extremely comfortable recliner, whose arms are getting into a horrenduous phase. I decided to cover it myself, and now I took the time to start it. The design and the blocks are ready, and moreover, now I can easily close the light brown/beige box, because I put together a backing from some bigger pieces as well.

Around the World in 80 stitches

I started this piece by Papillon Creations in 2012 and stopped in the first half of Part 2 (I skipped Part1) of the 24 parts. There are many colors (8 floral, 3 green, white) what I did not like, and planned to use a pink-green colorway. However, I just could not force myself into the 8 pinks, and it became a UFO. I realised the most difficult part is the substitition choosing, so I reduced the palette: 3 pinks, 1 green. This helped a lot, I did more work in 1 hour than in the past in 1 month or shall I say 6 years? There was also some frogging included to be able to follow this decision, and also some unintended fresh one when I made a mistake in the Hardanger. 

Around the World in 80 Stitches - Papillon Creations

Anyag / Fabric : 32 ct white dmc

Fonal / Floss : Anchor

A finish and a new WIP

I have finished my second scrappy blue, and I will call it Little Fish. Among my blue green scraps I have found one with a tiny orange fish, and I added it tp bring some extra color into the picture. I binded it on Saturday morning, and it was already claimed and taken to good use. 

     
 

I am also moving ahead with my flat organising goals. The worst areas are our writing desk and entrance. There id always a huge amount of clutter and in case I clean it up it always comes back in a minute...

However, I did clean them up, and in the mess I have found another stitchy project. A Riolis piece given my sister-in-law and her husband. It is nice, but quite hard to stitch because the material is woolen with acrylic, moreover, I started in a wrong place and most probably it will not fit. Since it is a landscape it is not a big problem, some part of the forest will be smaller, but still, I have to think does it worth the time...

Mistletoe and Chestnut

I am very proud, I have finished not only my Chestnut, but also Mistletoe as well. Both were appliqued by my Bernina, but the final touches were added by hand. The berries on Mistletoe with French knots as the middle, and the   pointy spikes on Chestnut, and the lines in the leaves.

I also managed to do some sports both on Saturday and today. I was jogging, my usual distance is one round in Margaret island, which is a real island in the middle of the river Danube in Budapest, and it is 5,3km. I am not a quick runner, I even slowed down to 42minutes/round, but not I started to use spotify. I made quite a speedy playlist, and I moved up to 36minues/round, which - belive me- is a huge improvement! The previous one was more like walking than jogging, with this speed I even overtook 2 people (ok they were most probably retired ones, but very healthy 70+!).

Big plans for a short holiday

Next week I will stay at home and planning to do kind of nothing. I thought I will have the whole week for myself, but in the meantime it turned out my husband booked a sailing exam for Monday afternoon, so he is staying at home Monday morning, and in the late afternoon I should take our son to his sport class. On Wednesday morning I will join my colleagues for a half-day get together training in the neighbourhood, what I did not want to cancel, and in the afternoon another sport class, so my staying at home alone dreamholiday is already blown up, but that is life. There is still the remaining part for doing nothing, and as a bonus the next 2 days are national holiday, so I will have 2 extra to spend with the family.

Doing nothing means organising and stitching a lot - I have 3 WIP quilts:

One is a blue-green  scrapp ready to be binded, I definitely want to start with this, the happy owner (my son and husband are both standing in the line) wants to use it immediately. It has a supersoft babyplush backing (minkylike, but extrawarm), so it will be perfect for the coming long winter nights.

The second is the Yoko Saito one, the block are almost ready, a little handstitching is missing from the Chestnut, and then it should be put together and I should quilt it. I am thinking which way to go: I can quilt the blocks separately and do a quilt as you go one, or sew them prior and add a nice overlapping design just like in some part of the original. It is more difficult, but definitely nicer, so I think I will take this approach. The quilt is half of the original one, because that was almost 2mx3m (2ydsx3yds). I will see how will I proceed.

This is the original Yoko Saito, from the book Strolling Along Path of Green.

The third is one I just started, the Round the Year Quilt along by betukbandi. I just finished one block and started the second. It is also a huge and difficult one, but I am really drawn by challenges - I will have to find a nice place to show when it is ready...

And apart from the quilts I have my cross stitch companions: Pomarium, which is definitely lacking my attention, my Nativity Sampler where there is a very small part to be finished and the Around the World in 80 Stitches by Papillon Creations what I started a very long time ago, in 2012 and I would rather call it a UFO than WIP



 


I will give some attention to all of them, and maybe I will start Autumn Watergarden by Chatelaine - I will see what the week brings.

But one promise: I will cut back by social media time, no facebook, only blogging. I am trying to manage consciously the time I am spending with my e-devices and I have realised I am spending way too much with uninteresting facebook posts. The only thing with real interest was the Chatelaine group with the new design releases, but since the designer, Martina passed away it is also less appealing - I know my favourite designs, I already bought them, or they are on my wishlist, so I will try a little fasting, it will make me good.

Finally, if fasting is in the air: I will do lots of sports. I will try to go jogging every second day if the weather permits.

So my good intentions are on, I will see what this 10 days brings!

Round the Year - Dahlia

A few years back I have found a beautiful quilt by betukbandi called Round the Year, and I was thinking to create one day such. The day had arrived, and I started my epic jpourney of paperpiecing round medallions. The first one is Dahlia, and despite some little puckers I am more than happy with my result. The paper piecing part was OK, but I was fighting with the curved piecing. And there was a huge amount of curves to be pieced! 

For the materials first I wanted to use batiks or some more shaded fabric, just like in the original, but when I realised I used all my blues for the Storm-At-Sea quilt in the summer I thought to use the overflowing solids. The colours are really nice, I like the contrast, and at least I do not buy even more fabric - I can hardly close the door of my cupboard where my materials are...

Block 1 - Dahlia

Round the Year by betukbandi

Acacia

Oak and acorn

Clover

Cherry blossom

Lotus Flower

The Universe is yours

One of my colleagues is expecting a baby boy and she had chosen the Universe as the theme. I made a little twist on my last universe quilt, I hope (and the baby to be) will like it!

Plantain

Next one is Plantain. I used Caron Wildflowers (cotton perle) Celadon (067) for the stem with Hungarian braid stitch and French knots for the flower. The leaves are done with Thread Gatherer Dark Forest silk (SNC089).