Crossed Paths

This block was originally used here for a Cotton + Steel quilt I had made.  After making all the blocks I had an aha moment.  More of that later, here is the block.

To  make a 12" block you need two feature fabrics and a background fabric.  From each of the feature fabrics cut two 4 3/4" blocks and one 5 7/16" block.

Cut the 5 7/16" blocks twice on the diagonal.  Sew two pieces of each colour together to make a quarter square unit that should be 4 3/4"

From the background fabric cut a 7 3/16" square and two 3 7/8" square.  Cut the larger square twice on the diagonal and the smaller squares once on the diagonal.

Lay out as shown and sew together.  The first time I made a quilt from this block I sewed separate blocks, laid them out and sewed together.  That is when I realized that there was a much easier way to make this design into a quilt.

I laid all the feature fabrics out, then cut 4 3/4" background pieces and placed them as shown.  I eliminated a lot of seams in the background for a much easier quilt to put together.  I still needed to cut the edge insets the same as the block above.  The block calls for 7 3/8" squares, but I cut mine at 7 1/2" so I would have a little wiggle room and could trim the edges after.  The corner insets were cut from 4 1/4" blocks for the same reason.  I sewed the diagonal rows together first, and then sewed all the rows together to finish the quilt.

I ended up with a 36" quilt, perfect for a baby quit or table topper.

You can use any size for your feature fabric and background pieces, adjusting the edge insets to match.

That is what I did for this Cotton + Steel piece which will end up in my quilt at some point.  I based it on a 3 1/2" cut size for the feature and background fabrics.  I purposely cut the insets quite a bit larger so that I could trim them down to a size that will work in my quilt.

The Podium Bag

This year I joined the Bog of the Month club with the intention of stretching my sewing abilities.  Well, the podium bag did just that.

This is the back of the bag, showing the lovely Cotton + Steel Hedgehog fabric I decided to use.

The front view shows the Vinyl I used.  It was my first time sewing with vinyl, so there was a bit of a learning curve.  My machine did struggle a little with sewing the multiple layers on the flap portion.  I think in the future I will stick with cork of fabric for my bags.

I really do love this hedgehog fabric!  There was an option to put decorative work on the vinyl overlay, but I felt I had had enough fun working with the vinyl already.  I used batik fabric for the lining and it was a dream to work with.  Chris has a couple of great ideas in her pattern for the bag.  At the back there is a hidden pocket on the outside for your phone.  The inside includes a zipped pocket that is used to turn the entire bag right side out.  This makes for a much neater finish on the top edge of the bag.

The Bag of the Month Club is an adventure I'm sure I will enjoy!

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.

Happy 2018

The years seem to coming and going much faster than they used to.  Happy New Year to all of you!

I took a bit of a break from quilting over the holidays.  I decided it was time to make myself a new bag instead.

This is my Hariet Expandable Tote from Swoon Sewing patterns.  Katja had just ordered in the pattern and it had to come home with me.

The fabric on the outside is a Linen and the expandable part is cotton, both from Cotton + Steel.  The cork is from mm cork in Trail and the hardware is of course from Emmaline.

The only thing I might do next time, is make the straps a little longer.  And yes, buy a little more ready made strapping as it wasn't that easy to make more when I realized I didn't quite have enough.  While glueing the strapping in place with Beacon Fabric-Tac, I managed to get a little extra on the bag fabric.  I dug out the nail polish remover and tested it on a scrap, and then used it to remove the excess glue.  It worked well for me, but always try it on a test piece of fabric first.

Now this is a real blast from the past.  I appliquéd the blocks many years ago.  I found a piece of year 2000 fabric in the pieced parts, so I know I pieced it together around then.  A friend saw it in my unfinished basket earlier in the year and said how much she liked it.  Well, I finished it up and gave it to her over Christmas as a hostess gift.  It isn't some of my finest work, but it is cute.

Linking up with Finish it up Friday.