My new clutch

My mom has this cute little Coach clutch that I absolutely love & keep telling her that if she ever decides she doesn't want it anymore not to just get rid of it....  ;)  Unfortunately, she travels a lot for work, so she uses it all the time.  Her's closes with a twist lock & even though I figured I could make something similar myself, I hadn't ever installed a twist lock before & was really intimidated.  A few weeks ago I installed my first twist lock & it was a lot easier than I expected, so I decided it was time to make a clutch similar to mom's.  I wasn't patient enough to wait for the locks to be delivered, so I used magnetic snaps on this one.

Sara sent me some Tula Pink The Birds & The Bees charm squares, so I decided this was a perfect project for them. I cut them all in quarters, so I have a 2" patchwork.

It's actually kind of funny because I absolutely love the little lady bugs, but I picked the other two because I'm not overly crazy about the prints & didn't mind chopping them up.  But put together like this, I love it!  

I added zipper pockets to the inside & outside (mom's just had a simple slip pocket in the inside).  They aren't huge, but they are just big enough to fit my smart phone.  It's nice to have a place to securely stash a few things.

The lining is a suiting remnant I picked up at JoAnn's a while back.  The color is perfect, but it's kind of thick & not the best choice for the lining.  Something a bit thinner would definitely be better.  I added D-rings to both sides so the strap can be attached two different ways:  on the same side as a loop or on the opposite side as more of a purse-type strap.  Personally I prefer the loop, at least so far.

The flaps fold over on top of each other, so the snaps are on the inside on one side & the outside on the other.

I used bias tape to bind around the top.  It wasn't easy, and it certainly isn't as pretty as it should be, so I'm not sure if I'll do it this way again.  I do like the way it looks with the binding at the top, but it was such a pain to sew on! 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out & look forward to making another.  Hopefully it'll come together easier than this one!

Until next time...

I couldn't help myself!

After seeing Sara's fantastic tutorial for Block 1, I just had to make it.  I stayed up late, but it really came together super quick.

I really loved Sara's Tula Pink version (hello, who wouldn't love anything made from that Tula Pink Birds & the Bees?!), but I think the solids really show off the pattern of the block.

What do you think?  Will you be making Block 1?  If you do, don't forget to link up in the Flickr group!

Until next time...

Cathedral Windows QAL: Block 1

It's October!  Time to kick things off with Block 1 in the Cathedral Window Sampler QAL.  Head over to Sew Sweetness to check out Sara's block & get the full tutorial.  It's absolutely gorgeous!

I'll have Block 2 for you later this week!

Until next time...

Cathedral Window Prizes

Now that the cat's out of the bag, I can share the amazing prize bundles!

First & Second place will be randomly drawn from all completed sampler tops. You do not need to have the mini backed, quilted, or bound, but all nine blocks must be completed. You may have one entry for each completed sampler top.

First Prize
1 Kindle Fire HD
1 $35 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate
1 pkg Pellon® EK150-10 Easy-Knit® Tape
1 pkg 70 Peltex® Ultra Firm Sew-In
1 pkg Pellon® 987F Fusible Fleece
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®
1 Legacy™ by Pellon® Throw (60x60) 100% Natural Cotton Batting
1 pkg Pellon® Perfect Loft™ Cluster Fiber
1 Pattern Playground CD

Second Prize
1 $35 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate
1 Legacy™ by Pellon® Crib (45x60) 100% Natural Cotton Batting
1 pkg Pellon® Perfect Loft™ Cluster Fiber
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®
1 Pattern Playground CD

**********

Third & Fourth place will be drawn from all individually completed blocks. You may have one entry for each of the nine blocks completed.

Third Prize
1 pkg Pellon® 987F Fusible Fleece
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®

Fourth Prize
1 pkg Pellon® 987F Fusible Fleece
1 pkg Pellon® 805R Wonder-Under®
1 pkg Pellon® SF101 Shape-Flex®

**********

Individual block prize bundles will be drawn from all entries for each block design. You may have one entry into each of the nine drawings for each block completed of that design.

Individual block prize #1-9
1 Aurifil thread bundle
1 Pattern Playground CD

**********

All blocks must be completed & submitted to the Flickr group by midnight central time on November 15 to be considered for the drawing.

Cathedral Window Sampler Quilt Along Blog Hop

Well, that's quite a mouthful, isn't it?!  I'm so excited to finally be able to announce the big event that's kicking off next week!  Yes, next week is already October, I can hardly believe it!

I am so excited to be teaming up with Pellon and FreeQuiltPatterns.info, along with 8 other amazing designers, to bring you a fun 9-block Cathedral Window mini sampler.  Each week in October, there will be two block tutorials featuring each designer's take on the traditional Cathedral Window.  

Oct 1 :: Sara @ Sew Sweetness
Oct 4 :: Bree @ My Crafty Crap
Oct 8 :: Jill @ Made with Moxie
Oct 11 :: Emily @ Mommy's Nap Time
Oct 15 :: Rachael @ Imagine Gnats
Oct 18 :: Jessica @ Sew Crafted
Oct 22 :: Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy
Oct 25 :: Kim @ My Go-Go Life
Oct 29 :: Heather @ Olive & Ollie

And of course, what would a quilt along be without prizes?!  We have some truly amazing prizes for you from some amazing sponsors.

Pellon

FreeQuiltPatterns.info

Aurifil

Fat Quarter Shop

I'll share the full prize run down later this week, but there will be prizes for completing each individual block and for completing the full 9-block sampler top (does not need to be fully completed with back & binding).  You will have until November 15 to complete all the blocks, so you should have plenty of time, even if you're lucky enough to be attending Sewing Summit or Fall Quilt Market.  

Here's a quick peek at my block I'll be sharing next week.

Stay tuned for more info this week, and get ready to kick things off next week!

Until next time...

Miss Maven Ruffled Handbag: Inspiration

Time for our monthly inspiration!  Is there anybody out there still sewing?  I sure hope so!

I love the fabrics on this Miss Maven by naturemom.  Those dots are perfect & almost make me agree with the ruffle!  :)

The black & white fabric on this Miss Maven from Fried Okra is absolutely gorgeous!  I don't know about you, but I typically shy away from mostly white fabrics for bags since it tends to look dingy, but I think I'd deal with it to have this bag!

This grey bag from freaknoodles looks just perfect!

More dots from Mary1602!  They really do work perfectly, don't they?

Lots of gorgeous inspiration here, and I can't wait to see yours!

Until next time...

A quick little PSA: 1/4" seam allowance

No WIP Wednesday today since I can't share anything I'm working on.  Boo.  :(  Plus I've been super busy getting ready for the Big Event next month.  I'll have the big announcement the last week of September & I promise - it's BIG!

So anyways, I have something quick today that I've been meaning to share for a while.  I'll be the first to admit I'm terrible about following patterns/instructions when it comes to the seam allowances.  When I first picked up sewing again a couple years ago, I just used the edge of my sewing foot as my guide & kept my needle in the center position.  My seam allowance was about 3/8", and I never really had any issues with any of the patterns I used.

Then I joined the String Me Along virtual quilting bee, and of course everybody wanted 1/4" seam allowances.  No biggie, I measured with the needle in different positions, did my best, and thought I was doing pretty good with the 1/4" seam allowance (or so I thought).  But my blocks were coming out a tiny bit small (sorry ladies!), or at least not big enough to be able to trim down & square up.

Now that I'm working on the watermelon quilt blocks, I knew I needed to have exact 1/4" seams to make sure everything came out the size it's supposed to.  Plus, I knew I really needed to start being more precise with my seam allowances.  So I picked up this 1/4" foot from Distinctive, and I love it!  Some of the reviews on Amazon say they don't like it because the center hole for the needle doesn't allow you to make a scant 1/4" seam.  But I was able to put my needle just to the right of center (my needle goes from 0 to 7 for the left & right placement, so I set it at 4.5) to get that perfect 1/4" or scant 1/4" seam.

So here's my little test piece.  The red is my old 1/4" seam I was making with my regular sewing foot.  The dark line in the center is using the 1/4" foot with the needle in the center position.  This is a true 1/4" seam.  The blue is using the 1/4" foot with the needle just a couple nudges to the right of center, making a scant 1/4" seam.

It's so nice to be able to be so precise now!  Blocks are coming together much better, and it makes all the difference in the world.

My only problem is I keep forgetting to move the needle to the center before I start sewing, and I've already broken at least two needles from hitting the top of the sewing foot.  I'm definitely getting better about remembering though!

Until next time...