Saturday Block Bonanza

Well, it is Saturday, and I made some blocks, the bonanza is just to give the title a little pizazz.

I somehow seem to have signed up for a bunch of QALs of the past couple of weeks (see, my right side bar is getting so full!), and today I have a couple of blocks to share.
I like the idea of the easy pace of QALs and BOMs. It's easy to get bored sometimes, doing the same thing over and over and with these, you do one or two, then you're done for a few weeks, so it breaks up the monotony, and provides a chance to play with many of my fabrics all at one time.
This block is my first block for the The Great Granny Along. This is a QAL that is using a super-sized granny square block that finishes at 12.5 inches.

I used Bonnie & Camille's new line, Marmalade and Kona Snow for my first block. I think I'm going to make the whole quilt a B&C quilt using Ruby, Vintage Modern and now Marmalade.

On tomorrow's Sunday Stash I'll be showing the rest of the Marmalade fabrics I received.
My next block is the 2nd installment from the Fat Quarter Clubs 2012 Mystery BOM. This one is called Mint Julep and was designed by Lisa Bongean. It was made with Vintage Modern and came together very quickly.

My final block is for the BOM at In Color Order. I'm not totally happy with the fabrics I picked for this block. It's possible I may do a different composition at some point, but for now, here's July's block.

Some Saturday Makes

Today I tried my first project from the I Heart Patchwork book by Rashida Coleman-Hale. It's the cosmetic pouch, pictured below. Even though I don't use cosmetics, I figured it would work for many other things.

I dithered and flip-flopped over the fabric I wanted to use. I finally decided not to pick anything too precious since this would be my first attempt and would probably come out pretty rough. I chose Summersville mostly because I would not have to repeat any pieces. The linen I'm using is the natural slub linen from Joann's, which I scored for 50% off with a recent coupon.
I didn't have fusible fleece, so I decided to use some fusible polyester batting I had. That turned out to not be such a hot idea. As you can see from the picture below, the adhesive bled through the linen, and despite wiping it with a damp cloth, it still remains. I may try again with some Woolite on the gentle cycle of my machine.

Other than that, everything went pretty smoothly. I didn't follow the directions in the book for inserting the lining, instead I used the tutorial that Fiona posted on her blog. Here are a few more pictures of the unblemished sides. The lining is from Joann's. I'm just loving a lot of the prints they have lately. This dot comes in at least four colors.

My daughter has already laid claim to this pouch, so that means I definitely get to try again, for one for myself.
I also made a wallet today. I don't usually carry a purse to work, I shove my license and debit card in my back pocket and I'm good to go. Due to this abuse, the magnetic strip on the back of my debit card was totally wrecked. I just got my new one, and in an effort to avoid having this happen again, I decided a little billfold was needed.
I went with the very good tutorial found at Modest Maven. There were pictures for all the steps and it was all clear, with no confusion.
I used 3 prints from the Flea Market Fancy release, all nicely orange coordinated. I really like how quickly this came together, but again, I think I will need a do-over. Some parts could have used a bit more seam trimming to cut down on the chunkiness, and unbeknownst to me, my tab slipped and was off center. By the time I realized that, I wasn't going back to fix it! So, yeah, I can do better. Maybe I'll try it with the blues next...

Not Your Zakka Style Sew Along

I keep seeing all the posts from the Zakka Style sew along and am starting to get jealous. When it was first announced I concluded that I didn't really have any use for most of the stuff that people were going to be making. Now having seen them, my mind has opened a bit and am thinking of ways that I can incorporate those items into my life.
Enter speed bump. I'm not willing to buy the book sight unseen. This is where my library system usually comes in, but none of the branches has a copy. So, I will be requesting they order it, so I (and many others!) will be able to give it a look-see.
In the meantime, what they did have is Rashida Coleman-Hale's other book, I Heart Patchwork.

It states 21 irresistible Zakka projects to sew, but I bet I'll be able to resist a few.
So, this is me, having my own little sew along. I'm going to sew a few of the items in this book that appeal to me. I already know I want to do the lamb. It reminds me of the Mollie Monkey Doll I made a few years ago for my grandniece.

Of course, this means I'll have to get some linen...so more stash additions coming up!

It's in the Bag

I finally found the the patterns that I purchased recently and then almost immediately misplaced. Just today in fact. Since I did find them, I decided I'd better go ahead and try one of them before I lost them again.
That's where this 1 hour pattern for a shopping tote comes in. Of course, there's a little star on the front, next to the number 1, and in small print it says that 1 hour is only for the sewing part. Ha ha. I believe I spent about 6 hours on one simple bag. And I still ended up with a part that I'm totally confused by.
Let's back up a bit though. First, since this would be my first attempt at this style bag, I did not want to use any of my "good" fabrics. I pulled out some fabric that I purchased about 3 years ago at the thrift store. I had intended then to use it for totes, but as you can see, it's taken me 3 years to get to it!
These were my choices.

Very similar, and both the same type of stiffish, gauzy fabric. I have no idea what they are, but I think they are pretty. Also pictured is the pattern that I used.
I went with the blues, just because I like blue the best. The pattern is for an unlined bag, but as this fabric is a bit see-thru, I decided I should line it. Again, I pulled out some unidentifiable fabric that I had found at the thrift store, only this was in white.
I know there's a proper way to put a lining in a bag, but seeing as how this was only supposed to take an hour, I decided to just try sewing the white to backs of the printed fabric pieces. This worked out well for me. There were 3 options for finishing the handles, piping, rick rack and something else I don't remember. Turns out, I had the perfect shade of green rick rack in my card making supplies. Making piping would definitely have taken longer than an hour.
So far, everything is straight forward. I made it, no mishaps, but the pocket has me stumped. I swear I have it attached just as indicated in the pattern, but I just don't understand why the rounded flap would flip up from the bottom to attach itself, via velcro(which I haven't attached yet), to about 2 inches below the pocket opening. I just don't get the purpose of that flap. I will have to review (again) and see if I reversed something somewhere.
Anyway, the bag/tote is already out on its maiden voyage with my daughter. She loaded it up with her computer and mask supplies and off to her friends house she went. I guess I will have to make another test one in the other fabric.