Finished Object: Drops Bag

Pattern:A Simple Six-Pocket Bag

The blue fabric is from ConnectingTreads and some black I already had.

The finished dimensions are slightly smaller than the pattern because I used larger seam allowances than the standard 1/4 inch. It's about 13 1/2" by 10".

 Technically there are seven pockets, including the main one.

Fabric Order Arrived!

Earlier this month I placed my first order with Connecting Threads, and today it arrived! This was something of a stash building exercise.

Muted Blues

Plums & Purples

Greens

Oranges & Yellows

Swirl Batiks

So much beautiful fabric, so little time...

First Design - Folded Ribbon Coasters

I was facinated by some of the folding ribbon blocks that I had seen online, and have decided to embark on a coaster-making spree. I've also had an urge to explore designing something of my own. To that end, I designed a 4" square paper-pieced folding ribbon coaster.

The first step was to design the paper piecing pattern. Since we don't have a printer setup at  the moment, I drafted it on 1/4" graph paper and made four copies. The strip is 1" wide.

And then cut the materials.

Once I had finished sewing the middle section, it looked like hell!

Once I cut off the excess to a 1/4" seam allowance, it really started to take shape.

The dark purple fabric with the flowers had sections that are dark purple, black, and gold. I added a half inch border to each side of the ribbon.

And then adding an inch of the light tonal purple. I used the light purple as the backing as well, leaving a 2 or so inch opening on one of the solid sides to insert the batting.

Once I had the batting inside, I sewed up the opening and voila! I added stitch in the ditch top stitch between the light purple and dark purple strips to bind the layers.

I'll work up a proper pattern soon!

Cloud Pinwheel Coasters

Eventually I had to do a project that involve batting and top stitching. The blue and gold cloud fabric and the solid navy blue are both from Fabricland. The coasters are 4" squares, with an approximately 3/8" top stitch border in black thread.

A Start at Paper Piecing

This is pattern is from an introduction to quilting book that my mom leant me. The original pattern called for foundation piecing on muslin, but in light of my total lack of muslin, I opted to try the pattern as paper piecing.

I found this video to be an extremely helpful tutorial on paper piecing:

First Finished Object

My mom started quilting a year or so ago, and since then I've been fascinated by the whole process. Knitting has been my main hobby for a long time, but I finally decided to dive in and start sewing.

After exploring a number of online pattern sites and being wracked wtih indecision, I finally decided on a rail fence apron as my first project. Each section is 3" by 3", in a six by four grid. The fabric is from Fabricland, on sale for $5/metre. There is no batting or top-stitching. Keeping it simple to start.