Drop Everything and Make It - Lined Drawstring Bags

Sandra @ Musings of Menopausal Melon hosts a monthly link up -- DREAMI -- to share the projects you just had to make because the squirrels sidetracked you.

I have been making a lot of snack-sized Lined Drawstring Bags by Jeni @ In Color Order.  They are a quick make.  I save time by using ribbon rather than making ties.

I've been using Island Batik fabrics.

I think these teal/green ones are my favourite.

I need to take a break and get back to other projects.  But I'm already thinking about other colour combinations to make more bags.  😉

Project Quilting 11.2 - Team Colours

This week's theme for Project Quilting (hosted by Kim @ Persimon Dreams) was Team Colours.  I had an idea early in the week, but didn't get around to cutting fabric until Friday night.  Luckily, I just made a baby-sized quilt, so I was able to piece, quilt, and bind it all on Saturday.

I decided to use the colours of my high school:  black and yellow.

I added Kona Black, Iron, Silver, and White to the two black/yellow prints.  I used my Accuquilt Go to cut the triangles -- that eliminated the need to trim the HSTs once they were sewn.

For a quick finish, a simple all over stipple in yellow thread.

A quick indoor photo as it started to rain while I was taking photos this morning.

Now to get caught up on some other projects.  The next theme will be released next Sunday at noon.

TGIFF - Birthday Pillow

This week's finish was a quick project.  Elizabeth Hartman's pattern, Dogs in Sweaters.  The pattern has three sizes, so I decided to make the pillow (one block) as a birthday gift for a friend.

The block finishes at 16 x 26 inches.  I used Kona Earth, Chocolate, and Purple.

It's the weekend!!  I'll be sewing with friends tomorrow -- guild sew day.


I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Musings of a Menopausal Melon

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Alycia Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty
Friday Foto Fun @ Powered by Quilting

TGIFF - Bags for a Friend

You may have seen over on Instagram that recently I got a little sidetracked making a bunch of Lined Drawstring Bags by Jeni @ In Color Order.  This is an amazing pattern, and I can't wait to try the expansion pattern.

A friend loves the Toronto Raptors basketball team, so I whipped up a bag to send to her.

And I also love the Open Wide Zippered Pouch tutorial by Noodlehead.  So I made one to go along with the drawstring bag.

I hope she enjoys them.  They were fun to make.

I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Simply Crafting

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Alycia Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty
Friday Foto Fun @ Powered by Quilting

PHD in 2020

Gail @ Quilting Gail is hosting PHD 2020 -- an opportunity to finish those Projects Half Done and to complete projects started in 2020.

I have 13 quilt tops siting around waiting to be quilted, and my goal is to get them all quilted before the end of 2020 (preferably a lot sooner than the end of the year).  I have measured all the tops, and I'm going to search my stash for backings. 

In no particular order, here is my list.

2019 Monthly Color Challenge
I pieced this top on December 31, 2019.  This was a monthly BOM hosted by Jen @ Patterns by Jen.

37 x 49 inches

Beothuk Star QAL
I finished this top back in June 2019.  It was a QAL hosted by Sandra @ Musings of a Menopausal Melon.  

43 x 43 inches

Hand Pieced QAL

I finished this hand pieced top back in April 2019.  This QAL was co-hosted by Patty @ Elm Street Quilts and Kristin @ Simple Handmade Everyday.  I have plans to hand quilt this top.

34 x 34 inches

Jenn's Quilt
This is top that was pieced by a friend.  She received the blocks as part of an online Bee.  She was not happy with the top, so I rescued it to donate to charity.

39 x 53 inches

Mosaic Mystery QAL
I finished piecing this top last week.  This was a mystery QAL hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs.

53 x 65 inches

Penguin Party
I pieced this top back in November 2019 at Sewtopia.

49 x 49 inches

Saltwater Taffy
I tested this pattern for Becca @ Pretty Piney back in September 2019.  The pattern has now been released, and you can purchase it here.

53 x 53 inches

Tiny Quilt QAL
This was a QAL hosted by Teresa @ Sewn Up.  The blocks are paper pieced and finish at 3 inches.

14 x 14 inches

Common Ground

I tested this pattern for Andrea @ 3rd Story Workshop.  The pattern has not been released, so I've blurred the photo.

49 x 61 inches

Pattern Testing

I tested this pattern for a fellow blogger back in 2018.  The pattern has not been released, so I have blurred the photo.

37 x 37 inches

Diamond Run
This is a pattern I tested for Jen @ Patterns by Jen.  This pattern has not yet been released, so I have blurred the photo.

41 x 41 inches

Medallion Magic QAL
This was a QAL hosted by Leanne @ Devoted Quilter.  I finished the top back in August 2019.

62 x 70 inches

Plus Sampler
This was a QAL hosted by Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs and Paige @ Quilted Blooms. 

62 x 78 inches

Let the quilting begin!

Project Quilting 11.1 - Notably Numeric

Have you seen the Project Quilting challenge hosted by Kim @ Persimon Dreams?
This is my third year participating.

Each season consists of six challenges.  The theme is released on Sunday at noon, and you have until the next Sunday at noon to create something to match the theme.  Then there is a week's break before the next theme is released.

This week's theme was Notably Numeric:  the project must feature numbers, counting, or mathematics.
I decided to make something practical and made a counting toy for my nieces.  It finishes roughly 17 x 21 inches.

The girls can move the beads up and down the ribbon.  I took inspiration from a photo I saw online.  I didn't have a plan when I sat down to sew, so there are a lot of changes in the construction should I make another one in the future.

I forgot to add a closure, so I had to unstitch part of the seam to add some elastic.

I hope the girls have fun playing with this.

TGIFF - Tote Bag and Pouch

This is a tote bag and zippered pouch I made for a friend for Christmas.  My fabric pull was based on the chocolate canvas I used on the bottom of the bag.  My friend loved the colours, and so do I.  I'm hoping I have enough fabric to make at least another zippered pouch.

I love the plastic so that you can see what's in the pouch.  It was hard to gift these -- you all know how much I love orange.  😉  Although this is more coral than orange, I still love it.

The tote bag is on the small size -- need to read the pattern more closely next time.

I'm hoping to make more gifts for Christmas and other special occasions.  It's a way to work my way through my stash and to reduce waste in the world.

I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Slice of Pi Quilts

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finished or Not Friday @ Alycia Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty
Friday Foto Fun @ Powered by Quilting

WIP Wednesday - Mosaic Mystery Quilt

And just like that...I have a finished quilt top.  I've been sewing along with Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs for her mystery QAL -- Mosaic Mystery Quilt.

January's instructions are to piece all the blocks into a quilt top and add two borders.  The first is a small border of the background fabric.  The second is a larger border of the fabric that happens to be my yellow print.  I did not want a yellow border.  So I considered one of the other fabrics.  And then the light bulb clicked on...I don't need to add a second border.

I probably could have skipped the first border, but I like that I won't lose my points during the quilting and trimming process.

Here's a close up of the centre of the quilt.

There's still time to join in if you want -- head over to Cheryl's blog (Mosaic Mystery Quilt) for details.

Now to get this quilted so it doesn't join the pile of unfinished quilted tops.

Linking up with:

WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

TGIFF - Christmas Drawstring Bags

In an effort to make it easy for my two little nieces to open their Christmas presents (they're 2 years and 1 year old), I decided to remove some of the packaging and tape, etc. before wrapping them.  The tea set had so much plastic and tape (even the tea cups were taped to the plates), there was no way she'd be able to get into it.  So thanks to the idiotic packaging by big business, I had to make drawstring bags at the last minute to hold (and store) their presents.

I love the Lined Drawstring Bag pattern by Jeni @ In Color Order.

I purchased the expansion pattern and am looking forward to trying out the different options.

I don't wrap a lot of presents at Christmas.  But I think I'm going to start making bags to use (and maybe for birthday presents as well).

I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ Devoted Quilter

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Finished or Not Friday @ Alycia Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty 
Friday Foto Fun @ Powered by Quilting

WIPs Heading into 2020

2019 has come and gone, and we are now into a new decade.  I took some vacation time during the Christmas holiday to spend time with my nieces who were visiting; to relax; and to sew.  As it turned out, I was not very productive in my sewing or blog reading, so I am heading into 2020 with some WIPs.

Progress has been slow on my Temperature Quilt 2019 -- 1-inch EPP hexies.  The months January to September are all pieced together, but not yet pieced to each other.  I thought I was doing a good job piecing each month separately, but now it's cumbersome to sew the long sections together.

I'm currently working on October to December, but I'm attempting to piece from left to right.  That meant digging out a small table to lay out all the pieces in the correct order.  We'll see if this makes piecing easier.

I haven't linked up with One Monthly Goal for the past few months -- I keep forgetting to link up at the first of the time by the deadline.  If you don't know about OMG, head over to Elm Street Quilts for the details.  My January goal is to get my Temperature Quilt pieced.

My list of WIPs includes 12 quilts that need to be quilted.  Even though they are not finished projects, I don't consider them to be true WIPs because the piecing is all done.  😊

I did not finish my Summer Sampler 2019 blocks.  I still have the last 7 blocks (out of 21) to piece.

And I have three extremely old WIPs:

• Stellar Stars BOM - This was a 2018 Block of the Month hosted by Purple Daisies Quilting.  I still have several blocks to piece, but I need to buy more of the background fabric.  I was fortunate enough to win both the pattern and the monthly fabric kits, but there wasn't enough Art Gallery Snow included to finish all the blocks.

• Sewcial Bee Sampler Sew Along - This was a block of the week Sew Along from 2017, but I didn't start making the blocks until 2018.  I think I have half of the blocks made.  I just need to focus and get the rest of the blocks pieced.

• Milky Way Sampler - This was a 2017 Quilt Along hosted by Blossom Heart Quilts.  It was easy to let this one slide because it's all paper pieced blocks.  But now that I am more comfortable with paper piecing, I'm going to try my best to make progress on this WIP.

Here's to a productive 2020.

Linking up with:

Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ The Needle and Thread Network

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter