Knot and Thread's All the Things Tote / Beauties Pageant 284

The past few days have been all about re-entering life as usual after an amazing QuiltCon in Phoenix. I had the best time at the conference, looking at quilty works of art, reconnecting with faraway friends in person, enjoying so much good food, and doing my fair share of shopping.

The All the Things Tote that I talked about in my last post was with me every step of the way. The pattern, by Knot and Thread, provides instructions for three sizes. I made the large one, skipping the suggested sturdy base, which I thought might be cumbersome on the plane and in the convention center.

I can’t say enough about this pattern. The adjective that I keep using to describe it is “slick.” I was a bag maker before I was a quilter, and I’ve sewn some elaborate bags. This is not one of them. I am confident that a quilter who’s embarking on a first bag project could get great results with this pattern.

The instructions are geared toward yardage, with a workaround if you’re sewing with a directional fabric. Of course, I complicated the situation by piecing my exterior panels with blocks from my upcoming book. It was 100% worth it! The bag was a great conversation starter as I walked the show floor last week, and everyone who commented on it was rewarded with a sticker sheet featuring other blocks from the book.

The pattern calls for machine sewing every step of the bag-making process, and I did that up until I had to finish the binding on each end of the bag. I knew I wouldn’t be able to top-stitch through that bulk as neatly as I wanted to, so I used a 12 weight Aurifil thread to hand-sew a chunky stitch on that section of the binding. I’m calling this decision the “the path of least swearing”!

 

All of the fabric selections are from Ruby Star Society except for the Bella Solid I chose as the lining. I particularly love the black Starry featured on the binding. If you take a peek in the pockets, though, you’ll see that I also used the small-scale white Starry. I went with the white Starry here mainly because I didn’t have enough of the Bella Solid for the pocket linings. I love the juxtaposition of the two Starry fabrics, though, so let’s call it a design decision!

If you’ve made an All the Things Tote, I want to see it! Link it, along with your other finishes, in the linky below!

You can preorder my book here!

 

Even if you weren’t at conference, you can take advantage of my QuiltCon special: Preorder the book, and receive 2 PDF patterns free right now.

 

The preorder listing includes these instructions: To get the free patterns, add the book preorder to your cart. Then, navigating to the PDF Patterns page, add 2 PDF patterns to your cart. (You must add 2.) Upon checkout, use the discount QUILTCON.

Your patterns will be available for immediate download from an email that you’ll receive momentarily (check your spam folder if it doesn’t appear in your inbox after a few minutes). The book is slated to ship at the end of April 2025 via USPS.

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Quilters outside of the US: The cost of international shipping is ridiculous! As a result, this preorder is limited to US mailing addresses. Just because you live elsewhere on this planet, however, doesn’t mean you should miss out! Drop me a note (frombolttobeauty@gmail.com) after preordering or purchasing the book locally, and I will hook you up with your free patterns. : )

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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For the Book Lover / Beauties Pageant 277

There have been many speed bumps on the way to holiday gifting this year. Most notably, my beloved sewing machine—a Janome 1600P-QC—stopped working, had to go the repair shop, quilted a small project upon its return to me, and then stopped working again. Although I have a backup, it’s not the workhorse my go-to machine is, and it is currently refusing to perform basic sewing-machine tasks like backstitching. I have persevered, though, and managed to limp across the finish line with a few finishes.

Pictured here is one of them, a little tote bag for a book lover in my life. I was tempted to draft my own tote pattern for this gift but, in a rare moment of pre-holiday clarity, opted to make Sugar Bee Crafts’ Pocket Tote Bag instead. (I was able to follow the tutorial without much hassle, but be warned: My iPad was very grumpy about the number of ads on that webpage. I ended up copying and pasting the instructions in a Word doc just so I could refer to them easily as I sewed.)

I cut into a Rifle Paper print from the company’s Wonderland collection to make this project. The blue woven behind Alice and her friends is something that’s been in my stash for many years—I finally found a good way to use some of it! The combination of the two fabrics is perfect here, and I especially appreciate how the little plus signs of the woven play off the periwinkle background of the print.

I bought a book and a Barnes & Noble gift card to complete this gift—I am sure my 8-year-old niece will love it!

Returning to the subject of my sewing machines ... I think it’s time to rehome my backup machine. In the past, I’ve donated machines to thrift stores, but this one has enough issues that I don’t feel right about passing the machine and its flaws on to someone else. Instead, I’m considering trading it in on a new Janome Memory Craft MC6700P. If you happen to sew on that machine—or its predecessor, the 6600—I would appreciate your thoughts!

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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Overcoming Quilty Procrastination / Beauties Pageant 247

I am a pretty disciplined person. I start what I finish. I make messes, but I also clean them up. I like completing projects and crossing things off my to-do lists. It’s just the way I’m hard wired. Every so often, however, I procrastinate.

A case from the archives: my Gypsy Wife quilt. I think anyone who’s tackled that pattern will attest to the sheer number of decisions a Gypsy Wife requires and the challenge of following the instructions. Yet, I started out 2022 with the goal of finishing my quilt before the end of the year, and I had it pieced, quilted, and bound in March 2022—nine months ahead of schedule!

All of this is to say that deadlines work for me. I don’t assign one to every project—that would make quilting feel more like a job than a joy to me—but when it’s hard getting something over the finish line, it’s time to look at the calendar and come up with a reasonable timeline. 

Here are some truths that I’ve discovered in this journey from WIP to finish. Do any of them ring true for you?

You’re Likely Further Along Than You Think

When I pick up a long-procrastinated project, I am almost always further along than I remember. It’s a nice surprise and, I think, shows how once an item is relegated to the back burner, its challenges grow in my mind. 

When I picked up my Gypsy Wife in January 2022, I was surprised with how far along I was with block construction. Did I still have a bunch to do? Sure, but I gave myself an entire year to wrap it up, and I was bragging about the finish in a blog post here just 12 weeks later.

 

Starting and Stopping Requires Time

I will never be a one-project-at-a-time gal. I like the variety that having multiple projects going at one time offers, and I enjoy the process of creating (not just finishing) as a result. There’s nothing wrong with putting down a project with the intent of picking it up again in the future, but if that practice becomes a cycle that doesn’t result in a finish, it become a time suck for me.

Case in point: my Sandhill Sling, which is pictured above and below (and originally blogged about here). I started sewing my sling back in September 2023. I was very, very far along in the process when I realized a detail on the front was every-so-slightly off (I’m literally talking about adjusting something an eighth of an inch, friends). Multiple times in the months that followed, I picked up the project, read the pattern, determined what fixing this minor detail would entail, watched a video about finishing the bag, and decided I didn’t have the (emotional?) bandwidth to finish the bag.

That cost me! I wonder how much time I wasted processing the pattern information, putting the project aside, and then repeating the process a month or two later.

In the end, I assigned a deadline for the sling: I was going to finish it in time to take it to QuiltCon 2024. With that in mind, I reassessed the eighth-inch mistake and decided to live with it. Then I proceeded to watch that video yet again, hand-basted the lining, and attached that lining to the exterior with my machine. After that, I realized that the bag was too small for my QuiltCon needs and left it at home. But hey, I finished my bag!

 

Prepare for the Hit of Dopamine

Do you know what I think I can accomplish after tackling a long-procrastinated sewing project. Anything! Bring on the Y-seams, the curves, the free-motion quilting ... I just finished a WIP! Do not underestimate the power in that (and how much a brain enjoys the accompanying jolt of dopamine)!

So what’s lurking in your closet or under your sewing machine table that needs to be finished?!

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Gracie, Enemy of Textiles Everywhere / Beauties Pageant 175

 

Congratulations to Sandra, the winner of the fabric and pattern giveaway!

 

A certain someone celebrated her first birthday here at From Bolt to Beauty world headquarters recently. I’ll give you a hint who it was: She’s the smallest and cutest member of the Cain family. She is also the naughtiest!

I wish I could say that with age has come wisdom, but Gracie still specializes in making foolish decisions and causing mayhem. The most frequent target of her antics is older sister Rose, who regularly has to remind Gracie who is boss. The other victim is my house!

To date, Gracie has caused damage of all sorts. Who chewed on my beautiful wood staircase, spilled the contents of a ballpoint pen on the new carpet, has scratched up too many doors to count? This little ball of floof, that’s who.

My sewing room has not escaped unscathed. Despite my attempts to keep things up and out of her reach, the list of items Gracie has absconded with include spools of thread, scraps of fabric, and the cap to my 505 spray. Months ago, when she was teething, she developed a penchant for chewing through cords, which was not only destructive but also potentially dangerous. Before I was in the habit of moving cords out of the way, she chewed through the pedal cord to my sewing machine. I resumed sewing on my backup machine. Alas, she chewed through that, too. Thank heavens I have a backup to my backup!

Most recently, Gracie damaged the Cosmo Bag I sewed in Amy Butler fabrics. (Amy also designed the pattern. Read more about it here.) This was not the most costly destruction Gracie has caused, but it was the most painful for me. This bag stretched my sewing skills back in 2014 when I cut all 50-plus pieces out of fabric and interfacing, and repeatedly pinned the project into submission. Now there are tiny holes on the handles where Gracie got to nibbling. : /

 

Up to this point, I’ve used the Cosmopolitan Bag only to carry quilts to guild meetings or retreats. As a dedicated quilting bag, I can put projects in it without worrying that they’ll get something on them other than loose threads. Now that its handles have been desecrated by Gracie, though, all bets are off, and I’m looking for a new large bag project to tackle and take the Cosmo’s place. If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments—thanks!

More dog posts:

• She’s No Angel
• Pics of Gracie and Rose here and here
  
• Quilting with a Golden Retriever 
• Rose, the Reluctant Quilt Model 
• Rose, Textile Enemy No. 1.

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Dreaming of Bags / Beauties Pageant 164

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I have a lot of fun quilt projects on my sewing table these days. I’m using up my Bonnie and Camille stash on two easy quilt tops, I have two other quilts in the works, and my Gypsy Wife project is ready for binding. What I’m really dreaming of right now, though, is making bags.

Before I was a quilter, I was a bag maker. I’ve made easy bag patterns. I’ve made hard bag patterns. I’ve made bag patterns that claimed to be easy but ended up being rather hard. Big bags, small bags ... I’ve made them all.

This drawstring bag I made a year ago was fast and easy.

Sewing this bag was simpler than it looks.

And now I’m getting the itch again. It started when I received the gorgeous cross-stitched bag at the top of the post. My quilty friend Kathy (Kayak Quilting) made it for me, and I am over the moon about it. There’s something special about receiving an unexpected handmade gift. Could I have made a comparable bag for myself? Sure, but I love this all the more because someone made it for me.

The bag pattern I have my sights on next is Anna Graham’s Sandhill Sling design. I need a small casual bag for taking to the soccer field this spring, and the Sandhill Sling fits the bill. I purchased a kit from Stitch Supply Co. for the sling. Now it’s just a matter of fitting this project in amid those quilt WIPs. I find it hard to switch gears between quilting and other sewing. I’m not sure why that is. (Can you relate?) Once I have a few more tops completed, I think I can act on the bag pattern. Wish me luck!

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Quick Christmas Gifts / Beauties Pageant 156

One of my crafting specialties is making a small project into a big project. I mean, I truly excel at this. All I do is find a project that can be easily tackled in an hour or two—it could be a pouch or a tote bag or something—and then I make that project a half-dozen times. Or a full dozen times. Or if I’m experiencing serious delusions of crafty grandeur, say, 27 times!

Want to join me on this crazy crafting train? First, pick your own project. I recommend all of those pictured here, including tiny drawstring pouches, pin cushions, and tissue cozies.

Then write up a list of recipients—like a half-dozen new guild board members or a dozen elementary teachers or the 27 staff members at your kid’s preschool (true story). Now multiply that number by two ... just in case. : )

 

To be honest, I am not making any gifts for holiday giving this Christmas, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enable your frenzied, last-minute sewing and quilting! For more on the projects pictured here, including links to the corresponding tutorials or patterns, click below ...

• Tiny drawstring pouches
  
• Pin cushions
  
• Tissue cozies
• More simple gift ideas   

Heads up: The following two Fridays fall on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, so I won’t be back until January with the next Beauties Pageant. Until then, fill us in on what you’ve been up to in this week’s linky. Wishing you all the loveliest of holidays!

 

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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Back to Being a Bag Lady / Beauties Pageant 114

Before I started quilting, I sewed bags and home decor items. And although I’d rather carry a bag of my own making or sew some window treatments instead of buying them off the shelf, it can be hard to change gears. These days, it’s usually all quilting all the time.

So when a friend and I made plans to go for a walk, it was the self-imposed deadline I had been missing. I had promised her a handmade backpack, and our date to walk was what I needed to get it done!

The result is pictured here. It’s a simple, straight-forward drawstring backpack with a single pocket on the exterior. I used the Lionel Drawstring Backpack Pattern, by I Think Sew. It was fine for the five dollars I paid for it. If you are interested in making something similar, there are plenty of other options—including free tutorials—online.

I chose to quilt the exterior panels to give the bag more body; otherwise, I didn’t do anything fancy. Heck, the pocket doesn’t even have a zipper.

For me, the hard part of bag making is finding the necessary notions. I found the gray synthetic drawstring from a nice selection of colors at Crosscut Sewing Co., a local fabric shop.

I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome here; the final product was much nicer than I was expecting. In the past, I’ve sewed certain bags patterns ad infinitum. (For real. Plug “Jane Market Bag” into the search function in the right-hand sidebar, and you’ll see what I mean.) This backpack may be my next serial sew—it would make good end-of-year teacher gifts.

What I really want to work on next, however, is a new quilt that I designed with huge blocks. I’m super excited about it, and the background fabric should be arriving on Monday. Yahoo! Now that I’m in this home dec mode, however, I should bang out a few more projects I’ve had planned, including a pillow and two pouches, first. After those are done, I have two in-process quilts to finish and then I can start the new one. Darn you, self-discipline!

A quick public-service announcement: Love Boldly, my most recent pattern release, is still available at Quilt Pattern Mart at the introductory price of $7.50. I’ll be sure to share tester projects in next week’s post! In the meantime, check out some pics on Instagram.

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• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
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A Purple Retrospective / Beauties Pageant 64

It’s funny how this sewing hobby of mine has affected my relationship with color. After assembling fabric pulls for countless projects, I am much more comfortable using color and creating unique palettes. Sewing and quilting, for example, are responsible for my current love affair with orange and my affinity for red as a source of pop and interest. One color that has little place in my life despite my hobby is purple. I’m more of a warm-color girl, and although I find myself using greens and blues to some degree, purple rarely takes a big role in my projects.

So when Sarah Goer unveiled her new Sew Me Something linky and announced that the theme for January was purple, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to play. But a look through the From Bolt to Beauty archives proved me wrong. I have sewn with purple—orchid and eggplant and lavender. What follows is a look at some of those projects.

The Must-Have Fabric

When I saw this beautiful eggplant fabric, from Amy Butler’s Love collection, I bought many yards of it. It was an unusual fabric-buying strategy for me, but it resulted in two fabulous bags, one for me and one for my sister. (See the original posts here and here.)

The Workshop Quilt

Years ago, when I coordinated events for my guild, we brought Amy Garro to New England for a workshop and trunk show. I am not sure what drove me to purple for this project, but I love the results. Amy made her original quilt in blues and called it Icy Waters. My rendering of the same design in purple is called Grape Fizz. (See the original post here.)

The Scrap Buster

All it took was a project or two, and suddenly I had a pile of purple scraps. I paired stash with solid scraps from Grape Fizz and a cute fox print from Judy, of Sew Some Sunshine, to sew this Penny Patch quilt. I think it’s my favorite purple make to date! (See the original post here. Find the Penny Patch quilt-along at Stitched in Color here.)

Do you sew with purple? Let us know in the comments, and add your projects to Sarah’s Sew Me Something Purple link-up.

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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