peace and love and Liberty (of London)

I bought a bunch of Liberty cuts while at Purl Soho in NYC, and got right down to using them.  As opposed to hoarding them.  Which, on occasion, I have been known to do ;)

First I made a couple really cool wraps, based on the Lululemon Vinyasa scarf.  Basically it is like a big rectangle with snaps than can be used to make it a wrap, scarf, cowl, shawl...there is a video of the 10 ways to use it!  I decided to make a couple with Liberty and chambray. It has been a great fall accessory!  Don't mind the post full of crappy iPhone pictures...it seems I am too lazy to pull out my fancy camera anymore!

I also decided to make a liberty pouch.  I actually planned to make enough for all my friends I was meeting at Craft South,  but only got one done, so Kelly (kelbysews) was the recipient.  The outer is patchwork of Liberty and chambray, the inner is a robin's egg blue shot cotton.  I made it large and square to accommodate and embroidery hoop and also put a piece of felt inside, suitable for storing needles.  I plan to make another for me (eventually).

I STILL have a Liberty quilt planned, which one day I will get to actually piecing- it is cut up and ready to go.  It is such a lovely fabric to work with, so soft...but pretty pricey.  Used sparingly!

Loon Lake Retreat 2013

This past long weekend I had the amazing opportunity once again to attend the Loon Lake Quilt Retreat in beautiful British Columbia!  Loon Lake is and hour or so outside of Vancouver, a quiet (except for the rowdy quilters) lodge all on its own on a tranquil lake surrounded by mountains, forest and mist.  Sigh. Pretty much the best thing you can imagine.

The retreat is run by the lovely Krista/K1 of Poppyprint.  I was lucky enough to get invited on a cancelation last year, and have basically told The Hubs that there is no freaking way I am relinquishing my spot EVER, so I plan for this to be my annual get away.  I was on my best behaviour and, aside from trying to engage a group of Buddists in conversation (who happened to by on a silent retreat), I managed to behave and avoid any of the ridiculously embarrassing predicaments that I normally find myself in.  It is a pretty exclusive group of incredible quilters and women hand picked by Krista.  

Everyone gets along so well and it is four days filled with inspiration and food and wine and nature and essentially BLISS. So if you are hoping to ever crack the list and weasel in on a cancellation like me, I suggest you start buttering Krista up now- she likes coffee and chocolate, FYI.

Aside from Krista/K1, I also got to reunite with Krista/K2 Withers, the amazing long arm quilter.  Just a warm, personable fun girl.  I also finally met Krista/K3 of Spotted Stones, who I just loved so much.  Incredibly sweet and kind, and just an amazing aesthetic.  She whipped up the most beautiful things!  I even got spoiled with some gifts on my first day there- one of K3's fabulous deer hyde and screen printed fabric pouches and a Liberty hand embroidered bookmark and book from K1.  Thanks ladies! I love them :)

And of course there is the lovely Felicity of Felicity Quilts, the hilarious Berene of Happy Sew Lucky, the talented Janet of What Comes Next?, and Sindy, JoAnne, Paula and more who you may know from IG.  Such an amazing group who have become true friends! I sewed a table with Felicity, Sindy and Petrushka all and they kept me in stitches (pardon the pun) all weekend!

(3 o'clock in B.C. but 5 o'clock Winnipeg time…time for wine!)

Anyways, enough name dropping ;)

So what did I actually DO?  I spent some time each morning having tea and doing a little stitching outside on the dock, enjoying the quiet and the view.

I went on a two hour hike around the lake with a group of ladies.  We channelled our inner Huckleberry Finns to use this wooden raft on a pulley system to cross the lake.

Of course I did some sewing.

In fact, I borrowed K1's old Pfaff and I am pretty sure it was crying for mercy!  Amazing how much you can get done with a glass of wine in hand ;)   I pre-cut all my fabric which was a huge help, and managed to stitch together 3 quilt tops and 5 pouches!

For two of the quilt tops, I used the same fabrics but different patterns.  They are twin sized, meant for Last But Not Least's bunk beds at the cottage.  Bright and happy pinks, oranges and yellows, perfect for summertime!  I went with simple classic patterns, ones I thought that would fit in well with cottage style- equilateral triangles and Granny Squares. I love how they coordinate without being match-matchy.

I ran out of steam before finishing the final twin quilt top for the girls, but squeaked out this baby top from squares that Alison sent me ages ago in a lovely french-themed gauze print.  Will be perfect for a French-Canadian little girl who recently entered the world!

I was gifted some adorable zippers from Berene, so some pouches needed to be made :)  Three were for my kids, and the other 2 will head overseas full of goodies and Christmas gifts for some sweet kids. I hand embroidered the girls' names on theirs, mimicking the speech bubbles in the Erin McMorris Moxie fabric.  For the boys' pouches, I embroidered a simple first initial and patched it in with Essex yarn dyed linen and some home dec weight text fabric from Sweetwater.

Looking back on these pictures makes me a bit moody.  Hard to believe it has come and gone again.  Yes, I am going through a bit of withdrawal.  Only 360 sleeps until next time!

Sew-vivor: Round 1 Emerald Challenge

Well, today is the day that the Emerald Challenge items are revealed for the top ten Sew-vivors!  This is my first sewing competition and I was feeling a little awed by the talent of my competition, so I knew I would have to think of something special.  Luckily inspiration came quickly for me, and I am very happy with my project!  Although there is something fishy about it.....

I decided to use the green as scales for this cute little fish pouch!  I have had this idea rattling around in my head for a couple years, when I bought a similar backpack style fish bag for Big G in a market in Italy, and have seen some variations since on Pinterest.  This challenge was the proding I needed to get it done!

The drawstring closure can be pulled on both sides for a shorter wristlet strap, or pulled to one side for  over-the-shoulder wear.  And the drawstring doubles as a fishy mouth :)

 

Lots of room for a phone, change purse, keys and all sorts of treasures inside!

This little fishy was instantly claimed by The Middle Child.

I am sure the other contestants will be bringing all sorts of talent to this challenge, so hop over to Family Ever After, take a look and cast your vote!  Voting is open now through Friday evening, and the five who advance will be announced next Wednesday. One vote per device :)  Thanks so much and wish me luck!

Bag Lady Week: Quilted Hexie pouch tutorial and a giveaway by the Plaid Scottie!

Kaelin from The Plaid Scottie is here!

I love Kaelin- we are kind of kindred spirits in that, aside from sharing our obvious passion for all things quilty, we both seem to suffer from a similar degree of obnoxiousness and inappropriate behavior ;) Which is great because whenever I hear a really funny fart story, I know just who to tell! (psssst- Go ask her about her recent visit to "Hancocks" Fabrics!!)

Okay, I should also mention that Kaelin has an amazing blog, named in honor of her very cute pooch, Sir Whiskers MacTavish, and is currently hosting a Double Wedding Ring quilt along! That's not for sissies, people! She also does periodic "Scottie Watch" blog posts with all sorts of clever information from the quilting world. Kaelin has an etsy shop with fabrics as well as her pattern for her new Grab 'n' Go wristlet pattern. I was a lucky enough to test the pattern for Kaelin recently and can tell you it is wonderful. In fact, you can find out yourself- in addition to providing today's awesome tutorial for you all, Kaelin has offered to do a giveaway of her pattern for one lucky reader! To enter, just leave a comment below saying what other patters you would be interested in seeing :)

NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED



Quilted Hexie Pouch Tutorial

Howdy ho neighbors! I'm Kaelin from The Plaid Scottie and I'm collaborating with my favorite Canadian Kristie to bring you a Quilted Hexie Pouch for her fabulous Bag Lady Week! The finished pouch measures about 7.5" x 7.5"

SUPPLIES
First of all, you'll need to sew together a small panel of 2" hexies - 23 to be exact. The finished hexie will be about 1.5". If you need paper piecing templates for that size, you can create free ones here. Just type in 0.75" in the "Hexagon Size" box and hit "Download PDF". The panel will have five rows with this many hexies in each (starting with row 1): 5 - 4 - 5 - 4 - 5. Refer to the 2nd photo down if you need a visual. If you've never made hexies before, then you can check out my other tutorial here for instructions. The finished panel should measure 5.25" x 5.75". In addition to that you'll need:

(1) 9" zipper

Exterior Fabric (I used linen)
(2) 1.25" x 5.75" pieces
(2) 6.75" x 1.75" pieces
(1) 1.5" x 8.25" piece
(1) 8.25" x 8.25" piece
(1) 2" x 14" piece, with a medium-weight interfacing fused on the back (for wrist strap)

Lining Fabric (I used Orange Kei Dots)
(1) 1.5" x 8.25" piece
(1) 6.75" x 8.25"
(1) 8.25" x 8.25" piece

Flannel (I used white, but you might want a different color depending on your fabric choices)
(1) 1.5" x 8.25" piece
(1) 6.75" x 8.25" piece
(1) 8.25" x 8.25" piece

Note: You might notice throughout the photos that I have interfacing on the back of my exterior fabric. You won't need interfacing if you use regular quilting cotton, because the pouch is sturdy enough without it. I only used interfacing because I was working with linen and it keeps the fabric from stretching and distorting.

Alright. Let's get this party started. Grab you hexie panel. It should be sewn together just like the picture below.

Once you have your hexie panel sewn together, you'll need to square it off by trimming the ends. The top and bottom are fairly easy - just lop off the pointy ends. But on the sides, you'll need to fold out the seam allowances on the hexies in the short rows (the two rows with only 4 hexies).

Once the seam allowances have been pressed out, line up your ruler with the edge of the seam allowance and trim off the excess.

Grab your two 1.25" x 5.75" pieces and sew them onto the top and bottom of your hexie panel.

Press your seams to set in place.

Attach the two 1.75" x 6.75" pieces to the sides and press to set.

Grab your three flannel pieces and coat with a spray adhesive like 505. You can pin, but with something this small, it's much much easier to spray baste. I keep a cardboard box lid in my sewing room just for spraying small projects like this.

Grab your 6.75" x 8.25" flannel piece (leave the other two where they are) and place your hexie panel on top of it. Press to adhere.

Quilt the flannel and hexie panel. I used free motion, but you can quilt it however you like - straight line, etc.

Here's a view of the back so you can get a better look at the quilting.

Grab your other two pieces of flannel and match them up with their corresponding exterior pieces. Quilt.

Now find your 6.75" x 8.25" lining piece. Layer as follows: Lining (right side up), zipper (right side up and centered), hexie panel (wrong side up). The zipper should be running across the top, 8.25" side.

Make sure the zipper pull is hanging off the end, and pin the layers in place.

Sew together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Fold the lining back and press both sides in place. You might have to tug the fabric down a little before ironing.

Top stitch (about 1/8") from the edge.

Grab your remaining exterior and lining pieces and repeat the same process (layer lining (right side up), zipper, and exterior (wrong side up) - just like you did on the other side of the zipper).

Pin in place and sew 1/4" seam. Unfold, press and top stitch.

Move the zipper pull over a little, and sew the two sides of the zipper together to keep them from pulling apart too far. If you look below at the right end of the zipper (the part that's hanging off), you can see my stitches where I sewed across the zipper. When you're done, go ahead and open the zipper 2/3 of the way.

Now grab your 2" x 14" interfaced piece. Fold in half and press.

Unfold, and tuck the edges in toward the center seam you just made.

Fold in half along the original center seam you made and top stitch down the open end. It should be about 1/2" wide and look like the photo below.

Fold the strap in half and place the raw ends about 1" below the zipper. Fold the lining back so it doesn't get caught in the seam, and attach the strap to the exterior with an 1/8" seam. Doesn't have to be fancy - it's just to hold the strap in place until we sew the pouch together.

Next you'll layer as follows: remaining 8.25" x 8.25" lining piece (right side up), exterior hexie panel (right side up), remaining exterior panel (wrong side up). Pin and sew all three pieces together along the top side only using 1/4" seam.

Now fold your exterior panels back so that they're right sides together. Sew a 1/4" seam along the bottom only.

Repeat for the lining panels, leaving about a 3" opening in the center.

Now fold all the layers back together so that they make a wholesome and delicious fabric sandwich.

Sew ALL four layers together along the sides, starting 1/4" from the top and ending 1/4" from the bottom. I brought out big momma walking foot for this job because of how thick the layers are together, and I recommend you do the same. When you get to the zipper, sew over it, and then back up and run over it again to make sure it's good and dead secured. You'll actually end up going over it three times once you go forward, hit reverse, and then go forward again. Do this for each side of the pouch.

Your pouch should now look like the photo below. Trim the corners and excess zipper, then turn the bag right-side out through the opening in the bottom of the lining.

Then sew the opening shut with a teeny tiny seam.

Finish turning your bag right-side out and you're done - YAY!

Thanks, Kaelin!