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I'd never really used Google Reader that much before, but since it's going away I've been seeing a bunch of posts about alternatives.  I decided to check into these, and decided that Bloglovin is definitely a great way to see what's the latest on your favorite blogs.  My reader list always has about 200 unread posts, but I will work my way through them, trust me!  

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Amy Butler Weekender Bag Finished!!

A little over a month ago I decided to tackle the mother of all sewing projects (so I've heard anyways): the Amy Butler weekender bag.  I loved Elizabeth Hartman's patchwork version, so I decided to use leftover Tula Pink Birds and the Bees and an Anna Maria Horner Field Study print that played nicely with them to quilt as you go the outside panels.  I'm quite fond of how it turned out and actually want to make another!  

Here are some tips and suggestions I learned along the way.  I made a Pinterest board to collect my ideas before I started.  

1. Quilt as you go.  Inspired by Elizabeth's.  To make it easier on yourself, don't feel like you have to patchwork the areas that will be covered by pockets - no one will see them!  

2.  Piping.  Use Steam a Seam iron on fusible tape to eliminate extra sewing.  Here's a Noodlehead tutorial.  Also, to eliminate a little bulk at the spot where the piping meets, fold back the piping fabric, trim the piping ends to fit exactly against one another, then replace the fabric covering the raw edges of the piping while tucking the raw edge of the fabric in.  Kind of like binding a quilt, but with piping inside.  I added piping to the edges of the side pockets.

3.  Handles.  Make them longer!  I added ~8" total to the straps so they are comfortable to hang from my shoulder.  I also reinforced the handles by stitching them extra well to the side panels.  

4.  Zipper.  I wanted a zipper that opened either direction, like on a suitcase or a purse.  I couldn't find one longer than 22" at JoAnn or online, so a brilliant friend of mine suggested I look backpacks, etc. at Goodwill.  My zipper is from a Dell laptop case!  Make sure to find one that doesn't have the brand on it :)  I spent $5 on the laptop case, and it had tons of zippers and other hardware I can use for future projects.  

5.  Zippered pocket.  I made one for the lining of the outside pocket.  Tutorial here.

6.  Interior pockets added.  I cut an extra exterior pocket piece from the lining, using the top edge of the pocket on a fold, so it was twice the size.  I top stitched along the folded edge, then lined it up with one of the large lining pieces along the bottom and basted in place.  I measured halfway across the pocket, marked on the top and bottom, and sewed through the pocket and lining layers to create 2 interior pockets.  

7.  Bag feet.  I bought 2 packages and used 6 feet on the bottom of my bag.  Make sure you use Fray Check before you stick the brads in to keep them from unraveling in the future. 

8.  Needles.  Use a sharps needle for construction!!!!!!!!  My top thread was breaking like crazy and I got so mad I put the bag away for 2 or 3 weeks.  My sewing machine lady recommended a sharps needle and I was finished with construction in an hour.  

9.  Clover clips.  Wow, why haven't I used these before??

10.  False bottom.  I haven't made one yet, and don't really think mine needs one because the Peltex etc I used in the bottom is pretty stiff.  

11.  I may go back and add magnetic snaps to the outside pockets because they kind of stick out.  I'll see how I feel about this when deciding if this will cause more damage since I'm finished making it now.  

Hopefully this inspires you to make your own!  It's totally worth it :D

Linking up at:

Getting back to the swing of things...

I'm trying to be more vigilant about my blogging because I have a lot of great stuff in the works!  

I signed up for another round of the Flickr 4x5 bee and couldn't wait to get started.  One of the hive members is the same as last round and I love her color choices of shades of purple with white and grey.  I just picked up my Modern Blocks copy from the library and decided my favorite pattern was Four Acres by Solidia Hubbard on p. 68-69.  So simple and bold!  I switched up the way the colors were arranged for my bee mate and am really pleased with how it turned out.

 Since I didn't want that block to be lonely, I decided to make one for myself at the same time.  It is bright, maybe too bright, but I'm leaving it alone for now to decide what to do with it.  I was having heart palpitations while contemplating cutting into my original FMF and KJR stash!  

Heather Ross at Quiltcon

Even though I live in Austin, I wasn't able to attend most of the lectures during Quiltcon because I was either volunteering or working.  When I saw the Houston Modern Quilt Guild was doing a review of Heather Ross' lecture on her design process, of course I wanted to read about it.  And then I found out they were giving away a copy of her new book, Prints, and guess what - I won the book!!  

I did get to take a peek at this book before, and am super excited I won because it comes with a CD that has tons of images of some of Heather's most popular prints that you can actually print yourself on your own home printer, Spoonflower, whatever you want to do with them!  How cool is that?  Mendocino mermaids, tadpoles - yes, please!!  I especially think this is a great book for sewers who, like me, started really getting into it after some of these cult favorite collections were sold out.  

Even though I didn't get to meet her in person, Heather seems like a very generous person.  My book copy is coming directly from her!  The Houston MQG isn't too shabby either, because they're going to be giving away a fat quarter collection of Briar Rose due to come out April 1 and some other things in the works, like an Anna Maria Horner give away as well!  Be sure to check them out and sign up.

Bee Block: Scrap Jar Stars

I'm a member of a quilt bee on Flickr and March is the month I'm Queen Bee!  I chose Amber's Scrap Jar Stars as my block and each member chose a color from the rainbow to make me 2 blocks.  At the end of the month, I'll have 20 rainbow colored blocks to turn into an awesome quilt.  Even though I didn't have to make any blocks for myself, I decided to do the purple blocks.  Here's what I came up with for the first one.

Here are some of the others that are being sent to me.  I can't wait!

Greens

Yellows

Red and another red 

Dark and medium blues

Happy sewing until next time!

Attempting the (supposedly) Impossible

Lately I've been thinking about making the Amy Butler Weekender Bag.  I know I'm late to the party, but I really like my Tula Birds and Bees so much that I want it on my couch and I want to wear it around town!  I've decided to make mine patchwork style like Elizabeth Hartman's tutorial here.  

So far I've cut out most of the pieces and made a million yards of piping using Steam A Seam a la Noodlehead.  I'm using a purple-winey colored linen blend for the piping.  Here's the front large pocket!  I love those squirrels - squeekity squeek squeeken :)  More on this later after more progress.

Flea Market Facified

I finally cut into my Flea Market Fancy and favorite DS Quilts prints awhile back when I found the perfect pattern.  This is called Perfect Points Sampler from Connecting Thread's website and can be found here.  I had a lot of fun making each of the different blocks, particularly my favorite Bear's Paw.  The quilt turned out quite green and orange - not exactly how I pictured it but that's what happens when I pick the fabric instead of letting Moda do it for me!