Trail Tote

I enjoyed making those little clutch purses last week so much that I gave another Noodle-Head project a try.

This one is called the ‘Trail Tote’ and it is a free project on Anna’s site as well as the Robert Kaufman site. If you haven’t seen Anna’s Trail Tote you have to go have a look. Not only are her tote’s really nice; the photo shoot is great and looks like they had some fun with it.

As you can see, I veered off the trail somewhat and made a few changes to the pattern. The grey half moon shape is some faux suede that I picked up at the fabric shop. A word of caution though if you have never worked with this; turn down the heat on your iron… guess how I know ??? :+(

This bag is for my youngest daughter who is almost finished university but can still pass for about 15 years old so I made her the smaller size.

The bag has a magnetic snap closure and an inner slip pocket as well as that outer zipper pocket. I used polyester foam with the exterior fabric and SF 101 interfacing with the lining of the bag. I really like the lightweight structure that the foam gives the bag but the smaller tote is probably o.k. with out it. I have plans to make myself the bigger version and will use the foam again.

I hope she likes it !

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter weekend knowing that hope and love does exist.

Linking up with Amanda at CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it up Friday.

 

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Noodle-ing Along

Can you guess what this is the start of ?

How ’bout now ?

O.K., I won’t keep you guessing, but it’s probably not what you thought, right ?

If you’ve been here before you know I am a big fan of Noodle-Head aka, Anna Graham.

I’ve made several of her free tutorials and based on how well those went and my enjoyment of them I ordered her book, “Handmade Style”. The projects contained within do not disappoint ! I’d like to make them all… not today but eventually. Today I’m showing you my version of her Rainbow clutch pattern. The one above is using her paper pieced template for the front pocket.

For second one, I made a plain front pocket and had the presence of mind to add a d-ring before final assembly.

Here’s the back:

There are many ‘firsts’ in my sewing journey while making these cute clutches. The opening for the back pocket and using metal zippers to name only two. The front flap has a magnetic snap closure and I think this was the second time I had tried installing these – Anna’s directions are great !

If you’ve been wondering if my background for this photo shoot is custom made – you’d be right ! I will spare no expense for this blog !!!

Linking up with Amanda at CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it up Friday.

Thanks for having a look. Enjoy your weekend.

 

 

Fast Horses

I’ve got a finished quilt to show you today !

For me, this quilt is all about the horses. I bought this collection of Mustang by Melody Miller just for those wild galloping beauties. The arrows, flowers, dots, stars and bees all play a great supporting role but the horses have my heart. You see, a long long time ago I had my own Mustang. It had a 302 V8 and 4 sporty wheels. I rolled down the windows and the wind blew through my hair and I had a wild carefree ride ! It was a fast horse that carried me to many interesting places.

I started this quilt using a package of 40 10″ squares. I singled out some of my favourite prints to leave whole and cut them down to 8.5″. The remaining squares were made into half square triangles and then a mish-mash of hour glass blocks that measure 8.5″. I used the cotton and steel OXO print in navy for the binding and realized a bit too late that the white x’s only show up on about half of the front of the quilt… hmmm. Not sure if I’m going to do anything about this or not…

If you’d like to check out what I did with some scraps from this quilt check out my previous post here.

Thanks for having a look.

Linking up with Amanda @ CrazyMomQuilts for Finish it up Friday.

Horse Rescue

 I’ve been working on a crib quilt using a package of 10″ squares by Melody Miller of Cotton and Steel fame.  The quilt includes plenty of this favourite galloping mustang print but I just had to rescue these mustangs from the left over blocks and make something.

I used the free one hour basket tutorial from Kelby Sews , which has very clear, well written instructions. Of course I changed things up a bit, mostly due to wanting to highlight those horses but also for proportional concerns. My basket measures 6.25″L x 5.5″ W x 5.25″ H while the tutorial basket finishes at 10″ L x 6″ W x 7″ H.

One of the other changes I made was using a foam interfacing instead of the fusible kind. I do like how it makes the basket more structured and was not difficult to work with – don’t forget to adjust your foot pressure and possibly your tension if you give this a try. I used a very light spray of 505 adhesive to fuse the exterior fabric to the foam after I had that section sewed together. I also left a little more space for turning;  4″ instead of the 3″ opening in the tutorial and it went through quite painlessly. Oh, and I think clover clips are essential when working with this foam – can’t imagine trying to use pins with the thicker layers.

I also added some light fusible iron-on interfacing to the handles and did a little quilting before sewing it all together.

I really like the size and shape of this basket and can imagine many uses for them. Any kind of storage items you want to keep nearby – sewing patterns, charging devices, balls of wool, thread, medicines/vitamins and I have seen baby themed baskets that would make a great baby shower gift when filled with things like powder, lotion, body wash, ect.

As usual, I was much slower making this basket than what the ‘one hour’ the title claims but I take full responsibility for that 😉  !!!

Since these horses were rescued from the scrap pile – and quite quickly I might add… I haven’t even showed you the quilt yet, I’ll be linking up with Leanne for Scraptastic Tuesday.

Thanks for taking a look – I’d love it if you left a comment – the clickie thing is up at the top on the left by the date.