A Quilted Purse

I have been wanting to make this purse since I saw the one Vicki made and the one Jasmine made.  I have never made a bag before or done a zipper.  Let me just say this was a huge challenge for me!  I know why I am a "quilter" and not a "sewer" - I like to sew in straight lines.  But this is a totally doable bag, especially if you can hand sew (which I can not).

I used fabric scraps from this quilt mainly because blue is my favorite color and the squares were in my scrap bin.  I didn't want to go too wild with my color choices.  The tutorial was a little hard at times to understand, but I think that was because I have no experience making things like this. It took me over 5 hours to put this bag together.

I wanted longer straps, so I measured my current purse.  My straps are cut at 34" which I think is still too short.  I should have added at least 10 more inches.  I quilted the side panels with vertical lines and the main panel with a terry twist in each square.

I didn't read the directions correctly so the lining got quilted with the outside, but you can't see it so no big deal.  I didn't add any pockets as this was challenging enough already!

The zipper turned out great after some seam ripping. Not because I didn't use a zipper foot, but because I had the top panel on backwards!  What is a zipper foot and why would I want to use it?  I completely machine sewed the binding on.  Yes, both sides!  I told you I can't hand sew.  No, the stitching line isn't straight, but you don't notice it unless you're looking for it.  (You can look for it in the picture below!)

I love my bag and I'm glad I made myself make it.  It's good to be stretched sometimes.  I can see I need to learn a few things about sewing.  Maybe someday I'll find someone who knows that wants to learn how to quilt and we can teach each other!  Until then I will stick to quilting.

Postcard from Oklahoma

48 x 60

This is my version of the Postcards from Sweden Quilt.  I say "my version" because I didn't buy the kit, but I used what I had on hand.  I was missing a few colors and thought it would be okay to replace them with something close.  Well, I think I was wrong.  This quilt really needs the gem stone shades that are used in the original quilt.  I like my quilt, but I don't love it like I thought I would.

I quilted it with wavy lines running up and down the quilt.  There are 5 per column.  I went vertical because the backing fabric runs horizontal.  I do love the back!  It has the same bright colors as the front.  

I auditioned many colors for the binding - gray, purple, green, pink, and orange.  I really didn't want to use orange, but the warm color was the only thing that seemed to go.  I would have used the darker orange, but it didn't go with the back. Picky, I know.   I'm ready to move on to the next project though.  This one took way too long!

Sunny Day Quilt

56 x 70

This is a new pattern by Myra of Busy Hands Quilts called Rosewood Lane! The pattern include instructions for 6 different sizes from wall to king made from fat quarters.  It works up quickly because of the large blocks.

I picked 4 colors with 16 fabrics to make mine. They remind me a beautiful sunny day!

Myra has just recently started designing patterns.  You may recall the Picket Fence quilt I made recently. I love that her patterns come in so many sizes and are very versatile.  Her directions are always easy to understand and turn out great.  I hope you will stop by her blog and check out her patterns. You can also purchase them in her Craftsy and Etsy shops for an introductory price through August  25th!

Hope you are having a super great sunny day!

Simple Disappearing 4 Patch

43 x 54

Here is a small 2 fabric quilt.  The pattern is called a disappearing 4 patch.  I changed it a bit to maximize my red floral fabric.  I cut my squares at 6.5  inches.  After sewing the 4 patches together, I cut 1.5 inches from the center on all sides.  Otherwise I followed the tutorial.  You need to be careful when cutting so you can get all your seams to line up. 

Floral Disappearing Nine Patch

51 x 58

A simple disappearing 9 patch to use up some fabric that I wanted to get out of the closet.  The green add a nice pop of color.  I quilted it with a simple meander and used the same colors on the back.  You can find lots of samples and directions to this kind of quilt all over the internet.