2014: By the Numbers

I’ve been blogging about nine months. I think that is long enough to merit a year-in-review post! : )

The Top 4 Blog Posts

Clockwise from top left: Do I Like This Quilt?, A Gift Bag for Beer Lovers,
A PB&J Finish, and Quilty Cross-Stitch Blocks

It’s fun to see what resonates with blog readers, and the top post was the six-pack gift bag tutorial. My response to that? Bwahahaha! I think the gift bag is popular because it’s unique, it’s easy and attracts a variety of crafters, and it appeals to men, who tend to be overlooked in the craft world.

The Rest of the Story

And here are the other numbers, what I accomplished since last January and what I did not. (Boooo!)

27 quilted tissue holders
12 totes
8 finished quilts
6 UFOs (you can see for yourself: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
5 pouches
2 purses
2 minis
2 skirts
2 tutorials
1 feature on Sew Mama Sew
1 featured sewist nod from Pink Chalk Studios
1 Rubik’s cube ornament
1 silly craft-related poem
And countless broken promises to use my stash instead of purchasing more fabric—alas!

Whatever the journey that is 2015 brings, I’m happy to have you as a traveling companion. Happy new year!

And That’s a Wrap

It’s December 22, and my sewjo is waning. I’ve barely touched my sewing machine in the past week. I’ve cleaned and cooked and hosted (the first wave of holiday guests has already come and gone). I’ve wrapped and tagged and bagged. And I’ve napped, thank you very much.

The last of our presents will be delivered to family and friends this week, and looking over these gifts and what I’ve accomplished in the past two months may give me the kick in the pants I need to pick up my rotary blade and get going again ...

The library totes I made back in November are going to three special teachers. I paired them with a hot cocoa kit, which I layered into a Ball jar and topped off with the recipe and an ornament. (If you want to make your own cocoa gift in a jar, check out this post at Love Grows Wild.)

The quilted tissue holders I became infatuated with earlier this fall have multiplied and will go to the staff at my younger son’s preschool. You do the math: 25 for them + 2 for me = a crazy number of tissue holders!

Accompanying the basket of these cozies is a note from my 4-year-old. He adores the educators at his school. The feeling is mutual: I honestly think some of them hope that I won’t show up at pickup someday so they can take him home themselves!

And then there’s the Sew Together Bag I conquered most recently. I’ve filled it with sewing-related goodies—needles, thread, extra Chaco chalk (but not yellow!), pins, and more. It’s under the tree and ready to be gifted to my mom on Christmas.

You may notice that I have not shared any quilt finishes. Alas! I am dead-set on FMQ the two I have in the works, and I am not yet competent enough at FMQ to finish them. However, I have a new partner in crime on that front. I suspect 2015 is going to be a very interesting year ...

This may be my last message for this year, so I wanted to wish you all an amazing Christmas! Big blessings to you in the new year!

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social and Finish It Up Friday ...

Michelle: 1, Zippers: 0

Friends, I am pleased to present my latest finish, my first Sew Together Bag:

Honestly, it was no big deal. I wouldn’t recommend a new sewer try it—sew some easy-peasy totes first. But if you know your way around your machine and have a walking foot, you can do this. For some context, I’d say that it’s more complicated that the pouches and totes that I’ve blogged about thus far; it’s not even close to the complexity of the Amy Butler Cosmo Bag I made.

Still not convinced? Here are my responses to your best excuses not to try this pattern. : )

The pattern looks difficult!

No, the pattern isn’t difficult—but I sew my best with lots of visuals, and this pattern has few pictures or illustrations. Go to Quilt Barn’s Sew Together Bag sew-along for more step-by-step pics. It’s a sanity saver.

There are four zippers!

Based on advice from other sewists, I used thin strips (⅛” wide) of Pellon’s 805 Wonder-Under on the lining panels of the bag (B1, B2, B3, and B4) to adhere each panel to its corresponding zipper(s). (There are other comparable products that would work just as well; I happened to have Wonder-Under on hand.) Then I pinned the pocket lining on top of the lining panel and zipper. I thought everything stayed together well as I sewed.

There is so much fabric!

Yes, you have to sew through some bulky chunks to construct a Sew Together Bag. I used my walking foot throughout the process. (I did not use my zipper foot at all; I couldn’t get everything through my machine without my walking foot.) I also used size 14 or 16 needles. (I started with a 14 and moved to the 16 when I had to attach the side panels.) And I trimmed the interfacing on the lining panels (B1, B2, B3, and B4) smaller (8¾” x 9¼” instead of 8¾” x 9¾”), based on this advice, so that there would be one fewer layer in the side seams. I’m not sure whether it really helped, but I would do a second bag the same way.

My final take

The funny thing about the Sew Together Bag is people never make one. I think I know why. It goes together more easily than you think it will. And once you have a first under your belt, a second isn’t intimidating at all. Plus, there’s the novelty factor. It doesn’t look like other bags or pouches out there, and it makes a great gift. After all, what says “I love you” more than four zippers?!

A postscript on the fabrics: The exterior fabric is DS Quilts; the binding is Quilter’s Linen in garnet; the interior fabrics are Denyse Schmidt, Marcus Brothers, and Aunt Grace, some of which have been in my stash for longer than I care to admit.

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Finish It Up Friday, TGIFF at Things I Make, and Bag Brag Tuesday ...