Bags, Bags, and More Bags

Maritime Modern Quilt Guild held a retreat last weekend, and we did a secret swap partner.

I forgot to take photos of the projects I made, so I borrowed photos from my partner.  Oops.  I converted a Sandhill Sling into a cross-body bag and made an open wide zippered pouch.

Photo from @nested_seams_studio

I added a fun zipper pull.

Photo from @nested_seams_studio

I received gifts from Becky, and I am thrilled with the goodies I received.  A wonderful zippered pouch.

And then a matching Buckthorn tote.  ♥

This was our first time doing a secret swap at retreat, and we can't wait to do it again.

I'm linking up with:

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

Finished or Not Friday @ Alycia Quilts

Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation

Brag About Your Beauties @ From Bolt to Beauty

TGIFF - Halloween Bags

I have a finish!!!  I've been starting a lot of projects, but I haven't been finishing many things. 😊

While looking for something else, I found a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop -- Trick or Treat Carry Along Bag.  I had to go to my LQS for fabric to finish a project and found some awesome Halloween prints.  So I had to make two bags for my nieces.

I love the black print from Patrick Lose Studios.  But I really, really love the glow-in-the-dark orange print from Henry Glass

I wish the mummy print from Moda was glow-in-the-dark.

These have already been shipped to my nieces with a bunch of glow sticks.

Happy Halloween!

TGIFF - HST Baby Quilt

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF).  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

This week's finish is a long overdue UFO.  I started a temperature quilt in 2020, but life happened, and I didn't get any further than June 30.  I was tidying up my sewing room and finally decided that I was not going to finish this project and put in the garbage can.  Luckily, I immediately had an idea to turn it into a baby quilt. 

I quilted diagonal lines in a light yellow thread.

I found a piece of minky in my stash that was just the right size.  That rarely happens.  I forgot how much I love the softness of minky on the back of a quilt.

I used Kona Poppy for the binding.  The quilt has already been gifted and is being loved.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TGIFF - Drawstring Bags

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF).  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

Things have been hectic at work, so my sewing time has been limited.  I did manage to few a few drawstring bags.  The pattern is by Kandou Patterns.  I purchased a kit while at Sewtopia Milwaukee earlier this year.  This is the medium size with leather strap.

I was creative with my cutting, so I could make the small size as well.  I just needed to add a Kona solid from my stash to make the inside pockets on both bags.

This is the small size, with the strap made from fabric.  I prefer the fabric strap as the leather one is a bit stiff.

A different Kona solid for these inside pockets.

The pattern was easy to follow, and the bags sewed up quickly.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

TGIFF - Retreat Bag

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF).  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

Have you ever procrastinated with finishing a project?  A project that could be completed in an evening?  I started this large Retreat Bag back in November at Sewtopia Nashville.  I was going to add the outer pockets and straps, but I didn't have enough of the orange Ruby Star Society print for the pockets.  I thought I could make it work, but when I started assembling the bag, I realized I probably couldn't make it work.  

I put the bag aside because I didn't want to "waste" the fabric.  I knew it wouldn't work, but I wanted it to work.  So I've been procrastinating all these months, but finally decided it was time to finish.

I love it!!  I've made several small Retreat bags, but this was my first large one.  There's so much room inside.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

WIP Wednesday - Star Pulse Bonus HST Quilt

Did you know that you can make a bonus HST quilt using the Star Pulse pattern by Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl?

You can see my version of Star Pulse here.  The bonus quilt is about 33 x 41 inches.

Adding some background fabric squares to the bonus HSTs gives a striking design.

I'm linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Star Pulse Quilt Along

Did you sew along with Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl for her Star Pulse QAL?  It's a great pattern with lots of variations.  I made the throw size with a single background.

I used Kona Black for the background, along with Meringue, Cactus, Chartreuse, Bluegrass, Bahama Blue, Lagoon, and Lapis.

I love this pattern!  I will take some time to figure out a quilting plan.

TGIFF - Sunny Days

Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF).  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

I'm slowing making my way through my long list of quilt tops that need to be finished.  This is Sunny Days -- a pattern by Sandra @ Musings of  Menopausal Melon.  I already finished Blue Skies.

I did an all-over loop stipple in a variegated thread.  I used my favourite Hobbs Heirloom Premium 80/20.

I had this yellow/grey/black polka dot in my stash, and I added an orange binding.

The quilt finishes about 40 x 49 inches.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

WIP Wednesday - Star Rays QAL

Earlier this year, I participated in a QAL with Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs using her Just Two Charm Pack Quilts book.  Cheryl's book was released last year, and I already made Process Flow.  There are a lot of great patterns in the book.

I made Star Rays for the QAL using Kona Breakers and Quicksilver, with the star points pieced with Alison Glass fabrics.  The quilt finishes 65 x 75 inches.

The fabric placement for the star points was random for a scrappy finish.

This joins my long to-do list of tops that need to be quilted.  I need more time to decide on a quilting plan and thread colour.

I'm linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

TGIFF - Two by Four Quilt

Have you been to a Sewtopia event?  I've attended five events (2018 Boston, 2019 Seattle, 2022 Palm Springs, 2023 Nashville, 2024 Milwaukee) and will attend my sixth event this November in Anaheim. 🌞  It's a great opportunity to meet new people, connect with friends, go on a shop hop, and enjoy dedicated sewing time.

Each participant receives six fat quarters from Windham Fabrics.  The challenge is to make something using only Windham Fabrics.  I made a quilt for the Milwaukee event.  Note to self for future:  It's not a great idea to travel with a quilt with limited luggage space. 😬

I used the Two by Four tutorial to make my quilt using my 2023 and 2024 Sewtopia challenge fabrics.  Due to delayed shipping time, we don't receive our fabrics here in Canada in time to make something, but this year, we received our fabrics in plenty of time.  🎉  But in my excitement of being able to participate, I made a quilt that was far too big for travelling (59 x 60 inches).

For a quick finish, I did an all-over loop motif in orange thread.

This quilt doesn't have a home yet, so it might become my new sofa quilt.

I'm linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday @ The Not So Dramatic Life

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 - Luminous Layers QAL

I can't believe it's been two months since I've written a blog post.  Where does the time go???

I sewed along with Sandra @ mmmquilts for her annual free QAL.  This is my version of Luminous Layers.

I made a few modifications to the pattern so that all the small centre stars were identical and changed the background around the middle star so that it blended into the large outer star.

I need to come up with a quilting plan.  But there's no rush as there is a long list of other quilt tops that need to be finished.  LOL

I'm linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

TGIFF - A Finish by Dena

Welcome back for Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday.  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a host for this week.  So my good friend Dena agreed to showcase her finish from this week.  She does not have a blog, so I'll share her photos and her commentary.

I started this mini in a Carolyn Friedlander workshop in Halifax at last year's Quilt Canada.  Carolyn encouraged us to use individual elements of her pattern to create our own layouts.  I used only Carolyn Friedlander fabrics.  My mini finishes at roughly 12.5 x 24 inches.

I tried match stick quilting for the first time.  I used Decobob thread by Wonderfil Speciality Thread, and there are a few lines of glittery quilting using a silver Gutermann thread.

This quilt will be on display at the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild quilt show in April.

Head over to Instagram to share some quilty love to Dena for her great finish.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  Please visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Project Quilting 15.6 - Irish Chain

Season 15 of Project Quilting -- hosted by Kim @ Persimon Dreams and Trish @ Quilt Chicken -- has come to an end.  There were weeks when I wasn't confident that I'd be able to make something, but I am pleased that I completed all six challenges this season.

The final theme was Irish Chain.  I decided to make a drawstring bag, using my favourite pattern, Lined Drawstring Bag by In Color Order.  I made the Project Bag size.  However, troubles followed me from start to finish.  Firstly, I was making it mere hours before today's deadline. 😉 I miscalculated the placement of the Irish chain block, and I didn't have enough fabric to fix it because I was using scraps.  So the bottom half of the block got cut off when boxing the corners.

And when I boxed the corners, I cut wrong.  And I cut the ribbon too short.

But it's finished by the deadline!  And although not a perfect bag, it will hold things.

Stay at Home Round Robin Quilt Parade

Did you enjoy sewing along with the Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) hosted by Gail @ Quilting Gail?  It's time to link up your finished quilt (or quilt top).

I used three solid fabrics:  Kona Nightfall, Torch, and White.  It finishes around 56 inches after quilting.

I used a variety of free-motion quilting motifs with a light orange thread.

I had planned to do some big stitch quilting elements in the centre, but I couldn't decide on a plan.  I can always add it later.

You can see my weekly updates:

• Centre block
• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 6

Make sure you link up your finished quilt here.

Thanks to my SAHRR host bloggers for another great QAL.

• Gail @ Quilting Gail
• Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
• Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
• Brenda @ Songbird Designs
• Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing