The Katydid Bag

This is my bag review for the AWESOME Purse Palooza event going on over at Sew Sweetness!  I was supposed to have this completed October 1st...did not happen.  Did not even come close to happening.  I was planing on making the Lilium Laptop Bag but in my mind I had envisioned that the compass I made was going to fit on the flap and I was WRONG!  I looked through all the other bags and then called Sara.  This happens every time I make a bag  since I am not a bag maker and she knows everything there is to know about bags.  I knew she would walk me through finding the "right" bag for my block and not make me feel like a complete idiot.

Unfortunately for me there was no other pattern that would work...sigh...so Sara said "I have an idea..." and The Katydid Bag was what came out of my inability to conform and my having the best friend in the world!

Now, if you know Sara, you know that she has been CRAZY busy with not only her business but other stuff too.  I sent her a message telling her NOT TO design a new bag and that I would make something else and this one can wait.  I woke up to an email saying " I know you told me not too but I love you too much".  GAH!  And she named it after her mini me Katy that LIVES with me so I could not be totally pissed.

Sara sent me the pattern with all the directions I needed.  There were limited photos which made me consider biting my nails again.  I am so very visual and need lots of actual photos, with Sara's instructions, I did not need the usual picture for every step.

The only adjustments I made to the original pattern were the handle holders were bias folded and I changed it to make holders that were flat on either side. I also needed to sew with a 1/4 in seam instead of the 1/2in suggested.  I wanted for my compass points to show.

I made the front panel using the pattern on Quilting on the Square .  I want to make them all. Really great patterns.  I made the block scrappy using many different designers including Kate Spain, Heather Ross and Joel Dewberry. The lining fabric is Alexander Henry Mirabelle, one of my all time favorite prints. I would do a happy dance if they would send me 20 yds of that print!  The background fabric is from Joann's.  It is not 100 percent cotton and is more like a microfiber.  Stretched a bit more than I would have liked but the fact that it is a perfect black made up for the slight difficulty in handling. For the interfacing I used the recommended Pellon sf-101 and Annie's Soft and Stable. The thread used was my trusty Aurifil.  I used 50wt for the topstitching and quilting and the 40wt for the bag assembly.


The features of this bag are what make me want to make another.   The recessed zipper is easy and creates a finished look.

SO MUCH ROOM!!!! If you have even been with me anywhere, you know I carry a ton of crap.  Still not sure what it all is but it is ALL in my bag.  This one will meet my needs for sure!

The pattern called for two zippered pockets.  I chose to do one.  I only had this one fab vintage pink zipper from Lindsay  to use and well, it is just perfection.  Do not be afraid to do zippers.  It is easy and the method Sara uses is one of the most simple.  If you are doing it for the first time, try it out on  a scrap first.  Get comfortable with it and you will be a pro in no tome!

Inside is a fun bit of Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt.  It looks so great with the Alexander Henry Mirabelle

I am not even sure when Sara plans to release this pattern but when she does...GET IT!!!  It is easy and AMAZING!!!! If you are going to Quilt Market please look for this bag, it will be there with me :)

Linked up to 

Finish It Up Friday

Don't forget to link up your Tula Pink City Sampler blocks!

Don't miss out on the monthly prize for The Tula Pink City Sampler Sew Along hosted by Sew Sweetness.  Link is up on Sara's blog and the prize winner will be announced on August 3!  I am loving this QAL!

BIg-City Bags by Sara Lawson is on AMAZON!!!!! WOOT WOOT!

Sara's book, Big City Bags Sew with Style, Sass and Sophistication published by the wonderful folks at Martingale is available on Amazon.com for pre-order!!!!! 

Sara from Sew Sweetness was a small girl with a big dream! As long as I have known her, she has wanted to be a bag designer, this IS her passion and she is AMAZING at designing.  She wakes, dreams, breaths and lives patterns.  This book is not a thrown together with no attention pattern book...this IS the best DARN bag pattern book available!  

Here is a small sampling of the bag patterns that are included.  All the bags in this book have been tested by regular sewers with AMAZING results!  Sara always has testers sew her patterns first to work out all of the small details making certain that every skill level can use her patterns.  I can even sew her bags and I am NOT a bag sewer!!!!

LOVE this Tula Pink fabric!!!!  And I LOVE Sara :o) Isn't she adorable!?!?!

 

Congratulations Sara on a much deserved and fabulous book!!!!

What a SURPRISE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!  I did it!  I made it through another year to FORTY SEVEN!!! OMG!!  I may pass out at even the mention of being that close to FIFTY,LOL!  I am not upset about getting older, other than the obvious of my body parts just ain't what they used to be and every time I get up from sitting on the floor I sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies ( SNAP! CRACKLE! POP!).  I actually like getting older, it means I have accomplished one more year of something other than nothing.  This year was filled with quite a lot and I am just GIDDY about one of the events in particular!

My birthday gift from Sara!  I have known Sara for at least five or more years, we met online when I was buying fabric from her,LOL!  She noticed I am an Oma and we started chatting.  We share a love of fabric and sewing and  well isn't that how most all really great friendships start ;o)  Over the years we have shared quite a bit, excitement over new projects, tears over events, our growing children and of course, our continued LOVE for fabric and sewing.

I am loud and Sara is NOT,  I am forward and Sara is NOT, I can be bold to the point of BRAZEN and Sara, not so much! We mesh in a certain way that really works for us and it is comfortable and lovely and well perfect!

Sara is the kindest, sweetest, most talented person I know. To top it off , she is beautiful and can eat ANYTHING and not gain an ounce and I would kinda hate her if I did not love her so much,LOL!!!!

So Sara, sneaky girl that she is, emailed the in house engineer and my children and gave them homework.  She asked that they outline their hands and send them back to her.  She emailed another friend of ours asking what fabrics I liked...very very sneaky,LOL!!!   In three days (seriously...if I did not love her...) she WHIPPED together this stunning quilt!  I am really beginning to wonder if she has a sweatshop in her basement! I received the package the day before my birthday and Sara COULD NOT WAIT for me to open it and when I did, I understood why...

There were the handprints of my family!

My oldest son and his wonderful wife and my two grandchildren that live far away so I do not get to see them much...my second son, who is in the Air Force and will be deploying to Afghanistan in November, my in house engineer that puts up with the 25,000 words I have to use every day, my daughter that is now as tall as me and growing faster than I can breathe, and the little caboose son that  wears me out and I still wake up wondering what wonderment he will bring.

To top it all off she added one more block...a block with her hand and her son and daughter. Guess who was crying...

I was speechless...and that is HARD to do!

I am so SERIOUSLY blown away by this quilt!  It will be cherished for MANY MANY YEARS!!!!

THANK YOU SARA!!!!  I am not sure what I ever did to deserve you but I LOVE YOU!!!!!

Life with kids and summer sewing

JUNE!!!! School is out for the summer and I have people at home!   It is time to readjust the schedule to accommodate more activities that the smaller ones require so they do not develop the dreaded screen disease!   I am amazed at how quickly they can just look at a television, ipad, ipod, iwhatever...also known in our house as widgets and be HOOKED...so an adjustment is necessary...

The water park is our choice in the battle against screen disease!  Look at all the fun stuff for them to do!!!!

The happy ( for now) people

Having them home and taking them out and about has created a little disturbance in my sewing force.  If I am not at home, I cannot sew...sigh...but I was able to make these and start on some new projects!


Believe Do.good stitches

Tula Pink City Sampler Sew Along blocks 10,11,12

Tula Pink City Sampler Blocks Four, Five and Six

It has been so cool seeing all the Tula Pink City Sampler Modern Blocks popping up on Instagram!  Literally popping!  They are so fast and easy to make and possibly a little bit addictive ;)

If you have not joined in on the fun, there is a Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt Along being hosted by Sew Sweetness showing the blocks and giving tips on how to assemble the blocks.  This was my day ( YAAY!)

My blocks this week are four, five and six...

I have a Pat Sloan Crush!

A few weeks ago I was playing with some Bobbins and Bits, the new fabric line by Pat Sloan for Moda Fabrics.  Pat asked me to test out a new pattern using her fabrics and I could not say no to Pat ;o)


So here is Crush!  Great pattern and the colors in this line are so perfect, the grays and oranges...TO LIVE FOR!   I had a great time making this quilt top and would like to do another that I get to keep just for me!  The pattern is easy to follow and it goes together pretty fast, which I love.

To see more ( and there are many more) fabrics in this line visit Pat on youtube.  She has some real eyepoppers!





I made the decision yesterday that this will be the line I am using for my Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt Along that will be starting May 20th hosted on Sew Sweetness!  Hope you will all join us for this event!!!!

Liberty of London Cathedral Window Aeroplane Bag for Market!

First, THANK YOU to everyone that came and entered for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!  I was BLOWN AWAY from all the comments given.  I am working my way through reading them all ( yes, I do that) since I get such a kick out of you guys.  My online peeps are the bestest!

I always look longingly at sewn bags and bag patterns.  You see, I am NOT a bag sewer.  I really am not. I can sew them but it can be difficult for me since I am one of those people that needs a LOT of hand holding ( read photographs) to be able to sew bags.  I am not a great pattern reader, I am a visual girl.  When Sara came up with the pattern for the Aeroplane Bag and I saw everyone making one, I thought...maybe baby ;o)  I called  Sara to ask how hard is it REALLY...in gogoterms?  She knows I am not a bag sewer and promised I could do it and and not pull all my hair out and say adult words ( truth be told I did say a few but it had to do with the pleather not the pattern).  I said okay and this is the bag I made for Market.

The gorgeous model is my fabulous daughter that agreed to help today without a complaint...I am sure I will be asked for something later today.

I made cathedral windows from my very small stash of Liberty of London (some from my stash and some that were gifted to me by the super sweet Katy from The Littlest Thistle) and had been thinking they would be good for a bag someday.  I have a lot of these "someday" projects,lol!  I used Essex Linen for the complimentary exterior and interior fabrics and pleather for the straps and bottom of the bag.

If you are afraid of making cathedral windows, don't be!  They are easy and beautiful.  I made a Cathedral Window Pincushion Tutorial awhile back so you can try just one.  I promise you will change your mind about these beauties or at least have a really cute pincushion ;o)

A quick note on the pleather. It is not as forgiving as fabric, you sew through it and the needle holes STAY!  That being said, it is easy to work with and you can use Pellon Shape Flex with it.  You need to have a press cloth and no water.  Your iron CANNOT TOUCH the pleather!  It will ruin your pleather and make a huge mess on the iron.  To me it was worth the little extra effort and care.

To sew the pleather, I used a leather needle and Aurifil 40wt thread and love the results.  The 40wt is a bit thicker than the 50wt I usually use and you could probably even go with the 28wt and have amazing results.

The flipside is a cathedral window exterior pocket!

I used a vintage zipper in this cool green that Lindsay provided!  Thanks Lindsay!

The interior is a Liberty of London scarf I bought from Target a couple  of years ago and have just stashed until that perfect project came along.

 

If you are going to Market next week ( OMG!!!!! IT IS THIS COMING UP WEEK!!!!!)  Look for my bag and say hello!


I really LOVE cathedral windows!

and hint hint...there may be a Sew Sweetness pattern giveaway coming up this week if I can get may act together before I get on the plane Thursday  ;o)

Pineapple Princess quilt top

My mojo has stayed with me through the weekend and I could not be more pleased! I was able to finish the baby quilt top which I have named Pineapple Princess! It is Katy's favorite song and since this will be going to a precious bundle in San Diego it seems more than appropriate.

These stars were made using the fabulous Solstice Stars Series tutorials from Faith at Fresh Lemons.

I shot a photo since I was not sure I would be able to get one with the sashing on, the rains were coming!

We had a bit of a wind issue but that seems to always be the case :o)

As the skies were turning dark I was able to get one last shot before the rain started. It measures 46x46, the perfect baby on the floor and cuddling size!

I had a HUGE surprise on Saturday night when I found out that the AMAZINGLY talented Laurie of Laurie Tigner Designs will be doing the quilting for this quilt!!!!!  I could not be more excited!!!!!

Now I just have to figure out the back ;o)

I also saw this and had to share! Sara at Sew Sweetness has done a tutorial for this SUPER cute bag.  How can there be room for SO MUCH talent in such a tiny little person? Fantastic job Sara! Perfect Spring bag!!!

{ photo stolen from Sara}

I redrew the winner  for the giveaway and it is Jo from Warm Fuzzys !!!!! Congratulations Jo! I will be emailing you today or tomorrow to get your information!!!!!


Finally, I was able to sit down with the in house engineer and Visio and after much discussion on the differences of real math vs sewing math {apparently there are some concept differences}we were able to get the pattern completed for the View Master block so I will have that tutorial up THIS WEEK!!!!

Linked to {sadly the last week of}

Finish It Up Friday

A new bag pattern from Sara

Sara at Sew Sweetness has done did it AGAIN!!!!!! I cannot wait to make this beautiful bag that she posted today!!!! I hate that I have to wait for straps to get here! Great job Sara :o) 

Urban Jungle Bag...AWESOME!

{ Photo completely jacked from Sara's post}