New Tote Bag Pattern, Amended Review

I received a tote bag pattern for Christmas.

The Stand 'n Stow pattern from Atkinson Designs. I was very excited because I have their Cash and Carry pattern too that is excellent. Unfortunately, I can't give the Stand 'n Stow pattern an "excellent" rating.  I must change my review after making a second bag with the correct fusible product. The Stand 'n Stow pattern is also excellent.

So here's what happened. I went to my LQS with the pattern and asked if they had the fusible product called for in the pattern. They did not have any but said they would order it for me. A week or so later they called and said the fusible product I ordered was in. So I went in and bought some. It was just like fusible fleece though. I asked if they were sure this was what I ordered because it didn't seem right, but they assured me it was. I made the bag with it and had a terrible experience because it was not the correct product. Earlier this week I got another call from my LQS telling me that the fusible product I ordered was in. I said "Hmmm.... I got a call a couple weeks ago that it was in and bought some. Is this different?" She said yes, that they had originally ordered the wrong product but didn't realize it until later. They reordered and this new stuff is definitely what the pattern calls for. So I went and bought some yesterday and made another bag. Boy, what a difference the correct stuff makes.

The flimsy stuff on the left in the photo is the stuff I used in my first bag. It is really just fusible fleece. The stuff on the right in the photo is the correct product and works wonderfully.

With the pattern you can make three different size bags - small (7 3/4" by 7 3/4" by 4 1/2"d), medium (12" by 12" by 7 1/2"d) and large (14" by 13" by 9 1/2"d). So far so good, I love the three size options. I made the medium size bag. It is a good grocery tote size. I thought the fact that it can stand up by itself would help the baggers so that won't be so grumpy when they see me coming with all my cloth bags.

The instructions were well written and easy to follow, as I expected from the Cash and Carry pattern.

However, the trouble starts with the order of some of the steps. For me, it was simply impossible to complete the bag as instructed. My problem was trying to shove the last four bits of fusible fleece into the sewn channels. Now matter how hard I tried, even following the tips given in the pattern that worked for other sections, these pieces would not go all the way into the channels and lay flat. I tried for thirty minutes Tuesday evening to do this step. After thirty minutes I gave up trying to properly place just one of the four pieces in this step. Wednesday afternoon I tried for another fifteen minutes and finally decided to just rip out the last step so that I could slide in the fusible fleece and then redo the step I ripped out. So basically, I switched the order of two steps. After that I was able to complete the bag fairly easily.

Ignore all this crossed out bit. With the correct fusible product the pieces slide easily into the channels. I made my second bag in just a little over an hour.

Here is my completed bag, using the correct fusible product.

For this second one I opted to just use the lining fabric for the handles instead of using both fabrics for the handles. I like this look better of just using the lining fabric for handles but I constructed them just like the pattern said even though I was using just one fabric.

So I apologize to Terry Atkinson for my original post about the Stand 'n Stow pattern. I have removed that post. The pattern is excellent and so is the bag!

Bunny Slippers

When our son was born someone gave us the book "Goodnight Moon" along with the bunny slippers. He wore them proudly and loved his bunny slippers. At one time I could recite the book from memory because I read it so many times.

During my last purge of baby/kid clothes I found these slippers. I set them aside, in a safe place, because I want to make pin cushions out of them. In December I looked for them to start the project, but couldn't find the "safe place" I put them. Well ... I found them last week. I have collected all the materials I will need. Now I just have to do it.

Want to make some 9-patch blocks for a good cause?

Debra, from Debra's Design Studio, is in need of some nine patch blocks for an auction quilt to benefit the American Cancer Society.

She has specific color and size requirements so please go over to her post and read the requirements.

Below is a photo from her blog of her plan for the quilt.

She says that she may add some applique to this, but this is the piecing plan. If you can help her out, I know she will appreciate it. She needs something like 150 to 200 3 1/2" nine patches for this! It doesn't require much fabric to make a 3 1/2" nine patch and would not cost very much to mail them to her. All details can be found HERE.

Wonky Drunkards Path Tutorial

As promised yesterday, here is the tutorial for how I made my drunkard path blocks used in my Circle Play quilt.

First cut some squares. I cut 5" squares.

Cut your squares at least an inch larger than you want to end up with. You will need two squares per block. I cut 8 squares, 4 neutral and 4 colored, and this yields 8 drunkard path blocks.

Second, stack your squares.

They need to all be right side up or wrong side up. I prefer to do right side up because that way the curve you cut is the curve you end up with. If they are stacked wrong side up, you will get the reverse of your cut curve.

Third, be really brave and cut a curve!

I do this free hand. The fabrics may shift a bit, especially if you cut lots of layers like I did. I cut 8 squares at once. As long as you get a smooth curve, don't worry about any shifting. You will square things up later.

Fourth, match up some pairs.

For this I just put them in pairs, but you can mix them up more for a scrappier look.

Fifth, pick up two pieces and prepare to sew them together.

I like to lay the quarter circle piece on top of the other piece. I just find it easiest to sew them together this way. Try it both ways to see what works best for you. Also, don't worry about putting these point to point at the starting point of your seam. The quarter circle piece will end up being a little shorter than the other piece. So you may want to shift the quarter circle piece down a bit. Again, you are going to have to square these up later so just try different things to see what works best for you.

Sixth, sew your pieces together.

You only need to worry about the part an inch or less from the needle. I place my left hand on the top piece and my right hand on the bottom piece, then sew a few stitches and stop with the needle down. Move your hands together and the raw edges will align for the next inch or so. Sew this part. Stop. Realign. Sew. Repeat. Just go slowly, stopping every inch or so to readjust your pieces. Pinning isn't necessary. These are never going to line up when you put the blocks together. If you want your pieces to line up properly you would be much better off using templates and pinning. This is not a technique for the perfectionist!

Once you have all your pieces sewn you will have blocks that should look like this.

Notice how the quarter circle pieces are smaller. The curved seam allowance causes this.

Now if you want to, you can cut another curve.

I chose to do this for only two of my pairs. I just stacked my pairs, right side up, and free hand cut another curve.

Sew this new curve just as before.

This gives you the inset curved arc like I did on my Circle Play quilt.

Time to square up your blocks.

I chose to cut all my blocks the same size. I just measured each block to figure out that 4" squares was the largest square I could cut from all of the blocks.

Then play with arrangements of your blocks.

When you are happy with them, sew them together as four patches.

And there you have it. Wonky Drunkards Path blocks and Curved Arc blocks. Have fun with them! If you make any please send me a picture or a link to your blog where you posted about them.

February Challenge is Curved Piecing

Today is the big reveal of the second challenge I'm doing with Stephanie from Peas in a Pod. She is also revealing her project today so please go visit her too. In case you forgot, we are working through Jean Wells' book Intuitive Color and Design. This month we did the second assignment - curved piecing.

First I started out by piecing some curved strips.

This is okay, but then I got totally distracted by my Radiator project. The link will take you to the post about my process creating it. Here is photo of the finished Radiator Quilt.

Back to my challenge project:

I didn't make any progress on my curved piecing assignment until the recent retreat. I took most of my solids with me on the retreat. The curved strips weren't thrilling me so I decided to try something like drunkards path blocks. I got so excited by the idea that I forgot to take pictures. But never fear, I did it again after I got home and I'll post how I made these blocks tomorrow.

So here are my drunkards path blocks along with the curved piecing strips.

Then I felt like combining these two some how. I ended up with this before leaving the retreat.

I sliced up the curved piecing strips into four sections and used it in the border. Then I machine pieced the whole thing. Voila!

I love how it turned out! I have titled it Circle Play.

As for Goldie, my son folded up one of his baby quilts and put it into her bag.

I think she likes it.

Wonky Cross Blocks Set

I've got no UFO Report today. Sorry. I thought about working on one of my UFOs, but I'm just not motivated right now to work on "old" projects. I'm having too much fun with new ones.

Yesterday I got my wonky cross blocks that I made at my retreat all pieced together.

Looks pretty good. I have no plan for this quilt. I just wanted to try making wonky cross blocks. I had fun making them but I'm not in a hurry to get it quilted. I want to do a fun back, a la Elizabeth Hartman, but first I need some yardage of the solids (white and aqua) and I'd like a half yard of one of the prints from this line - Origins Basic Gray by Moda.

I packed a zippered bag from a king size sheet set with fabric to take on my retreat. Goldie thought it made a nice bed.

I'm not sure how she stayed up on this precarious perch, but she slept like this for at least an hour!

Yesterday I unpacked the bag and put the fabrics back in their proper places. Goldie still likes the bag!

Maybe I need to make a quilted lining for this bag!

Retreat Report 3

One of our guild members, Bev Hettinger, has been making T-shirt quilts to be auction off every October for a local breast cancer awareness and fundraiser event. At retreat she finished the quilt for this October's event.

She tries to use t-shirts from the event in years past but also begs, borrows and steals any t-shirt from breast cancer events in the area. Above is Bev and the front of this years quilt. The back is also wonderful.

You can click on the photos to see them larger. Isn't it wonderful?! I hope it raises a lot of money!