Two new project bags

I had a big list of things I wanted to sew over Easter, and first up was two new project bags.  I use these bags to store hand pieced or hand embroidered blocks that I'm working on.  I've currently got four Sue Spargo Block of the Months on the go!!! So I need four project bags.  

I love the mesh because I can see what's in each bag without opening it.  And it's stretchy!

I like to try new patterns with my quilting on the back of the bags. 

Patterns by Annie used to have a free pattern for a project bag called Piecekeeper.  (I can't find it on her website now). I use that pattern as my base but I've made a few modifications to suit my style of sewing.  

Patterns by Annie have great instructions for installing zips and working with mesh.  I've used techniques from the Zip It Up pattern on my project bags. 

Annie's zips really are the best quality so I use a 24" single sided zip on my project bags. 

I've learnt to give the corners a gently curve because it's easier to sew the binding on.  And I machine sew my binding to the front and then hand sew it to the back.  

Two project bags started and finished in one day.  That's good going.  

Train Case

My first finish of 2023.

Months ago I saw a beautiful Liberty train case for sale in a shop.  It was pretty pricey, so I decided to make my own version.  

Now I know why it was pricey - they are very fiddly! 

This one ended up bigger than my original plan, but the smaller you go, the more fiddly it gets.  

I ended up using Mink Kim's pattern from Sewing Illustration for Cutie Cube Bag, with quite a few modifications. Mine is sized somewhere between her big and small sizes.  Mine has the binding on the outside rather than the insides.  I used the Patterns by Annie method for binding my seams and zipper edges.  

So it's a hybrid, but it works fine for me and I'm very happy with it.  I won't be making another one in a hurry, and I don't need to, because just last week Shiseido gave me a free one in a gift with purchase deal.  Of course I prefer lavender to red, and the handle on top, but it will still be useful.  

The original Liberty bag that inspired me.  Yes, NZD100 at Ballantynes in Christchurch

https://sewingillustration.com/products/cutie-cube-bag

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Catch All Caddy 2.0

I've got another finished bag to share with you.  

This is the Catch All Caddy 2.0 from Patterns by Annie.

I gave my mum the pattern for Christmas and the fabrics for her bag (Land Art by Odile Bailloeul for Free Spirit Fabrics), shown on the left above.  

Then, after just a few days, it dawned on me that she might make one for me too, so I quilted the panels for my bag before mum went home to Auckland.  She took them with her, and when we went to Auckland a couple of weeks ago she presented me with my finished bag. 

This bag has so many pockets!  I'm looking forward to using it when I go to our guild's retreat next weekend.  I think it will be ideal for storing fat quarters, plus rotary cutters, scissors etc.  

My bag is made with beautiful Art Gallery fabrics from the Legendary collection by Pat Bravo.  I bought them at Material Obsession in Sydney last year.  The bright yellow trim is also by Pat Bravo from her Matchmade range. 

Fortunately I had the perfect Aurifil colour for the machine quilting:

  Mum has decided that her Catch All Caddy is very useful for holding her knitting.

So, were both very happy with our matching Catch All Caddies. 

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Zip It Up bags

A couple of weeks ago I watched Tula Pink's video launching her new black and white fabric line - Linework (It won't be available for months yet, so don't panic).  Towards the end of the video Tula showed two Zip It Up! bags she had made.  I thought they looked amazing so I dashed off and ordered the pattern from the Ribbon Rose in Auckland.

Here's a link to Tula's video.  The bags appear at about 22 minutes in.

Of course we can't get Linework yet, so I ordered some half yards of Tula's Homemade range for my bag.

I hadn't seen Homemade in real life, but I was very happy with it when it arrived.  I love how green the "Cut Once" fabric is, and I was very impressed that the squares really are 1", just like on my ruler.

I machine quilted the exterior with a pretty pink Aurifil, using a design from Jacqui Gering's Walk book.

A secret pocket on the back

The pattern has a pocket on the front of the outside, and then two pockets on the inside - one mesh and one vinyl.  I didn't like the idea of sewing vinyl on my sewing machine, so I made two mesh pockets, and I changed the exterior pocket from the front to the back.

And then I decided to make a smaller second Zip It Up! bag while I was at it.

The secret pocket on the back

I used a different design from Jacqui Gering's Walk book to quilt the Pokemon fabric. I enjoyed experimenting with different quilting designs.

The selvages on this Pokemon fabric are great, so I decided to incorporate them too.  (The fabric was purchased in Japan some years ago.)

Yes, it's a Gameboy Advance! A Zelda special edition.

So that's my latest experimentation with a Pattern by Annie.  Annie has so many great patterns.  Maybe I'll do a wrap up of all the bags I've made from her patterns in my next post.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2019 is almost over.  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas with family and friends.  We certainly did here.

I cleared my sewing table in the family room and we put the presents on the table, rather than under the tree this year.

I got 3 new Mill Hill Santas to join the one I've already made.  I love making these little decorations and they look so good on the tree.  Here are some other Mill Hill kits I've made in previous years.

I gave mum some of the new Land Art fabric by Odile Bailloeul to make a Catch All Caddy by Patterns by Annie.  Later today we will find some soft and stable in my stash and mum will be ready to start when she gets back to her house in Auckland.

I received the wonderful Endless Summer quilt kit by Anna Maria Horner.  I just loved this quilt when I saw it in real life during Anna Maria Horner's trunk show in Wellington.  When I saw The Patchwork Pear in Australia advertising the kit, I ordered it for myself for Christmas.

I love those framed images that Monika Forsberg has created in this fabric.

I hope you all received lovely gifts too.  Feel free to link up to the Peacock Party and share how your Christmas Day went.

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My project bag - and the Peacock Party

Aurifil and Free Spirit Fabrics sent me three beautiful Anna Maria Horner Passionflower fat quarters, and a spool of Aurifil thread to play with.

I decided to make a project bag to store my hand pieced Dear Jen blocks in.  The Dear Jen programme runs for a whole year, and I certainly don't want to lose any blocks along the way, so now they are safely stowed away in my new project bag.

I used a free pattern from byAnnie for the project bag - it's in her Fall 2018 catalogue (still available to download for free from her website).  I used Annie's Soft and Stable in the middle of the sandwich, because it gives the bag good structure.

I quilted the back panel with Aurifil 4660 - a variegated pink.  Unfortunately the colour changes don't show up all that well because the stitching sinks into the Soft and Stable, but I know it's there, and you can see it if you look closely.  I would have loved to use a fancy zip, but I didn't have any that were long enough.

 I fussy cut the print on the front and the back of the bag so the flowers were in the centre.

Fortunately my local shop, Stitchbird, had Annie's mesh in hot pink.  There's a lot in a packet of mesh so I could make quite a few more of these bags yet.

I used some of my third Anna Maria Horner fat quarter for the binding.  Annie recommends cutting the binding on the bias and it really does help when there are tight corners to turn.  I chose to hand sew the binding down because it's so much neater for me.

Now my blocks will be nice and safe and I'll be able to find them easily in my brightly coloured project bag.

Thank you to Aurifil and Free Spirit Fabrics.

Now it's time for the Peacock Party. Thank you to everyone who has joined up.  Just a tip for linking up - don't just link up the url for your blog eg https://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/
but rather click on the title of the post you want to link up, and go into that page so you can copy the url for that post eg https://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2019/05/aotearoa-pink-challenge.html

https://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/
vs
https://wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/2019/05/aotearoa-pink-challenge.html

I noticed a couple of people had just linked to their blog, rather than to the post they wanted us to visit.  No worries if it was you - we're all still learning.

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