Rewind

Sadly, I don't have a lot of quilt making progress to report this week.  Dear Hubby and I are trying to wrangle some home remodeling projects, and that's cutting into my quilting time.  Last week was also the Gulf States Quilting Association quarterly meeting, and I was very involved in arrangements for that (I did get to meet a blog reader and fellow GSQA member - Hi Suzanne!).

Despite the distractions, I did make a start on adding sashing to the Antique Tile blocks.  The next step is to add the remaining white sashing, plus cornerstones in rainbow colors.  I have all the pieces cut, I just need to stitch everything together.  I'm debating what fabric to use for the side and end triangles.  With the white sashing, I may need to use something with a little contrast or the blocks will just be floating in a sea of white.

 

I did a little bag sewing prior to the holidays.  

I love the Lola Pouch pattern because it's easy to assemble and the finished bag is roomy enough for all kinds of stitching essentials.  I made two of them as Christmas gifts for quilting friends, but forgot to take pictures.  These flamingo bags will eventually go to my sisters.  

 

Dear Hubby made two of these wooden chests as good-bye gifts for co-workers. This is one he made for me many years ago - it still lives in my sewing room is handy for storing all sorts of paraphernalia.
 

He asked me to come up with a way to gift wrap the chests, so I made drawstring bags from some Christmas fabric in my stash.

 

An aside:  Dear Hubby retired at the end of December, after 40-something years in practice.  When he was cleaning out his desk, he came across this picture from the early days (no, I'm not in the picture).  The mustache is long gone, but he still looks the same! 😉

 

Back in August, I took a class at my LQS (Mes Amis Quilt Shop) and came home with a Mondo Bag.  

What is a Mondo Bag?  It's a large, quilted tote bag, made with a fusible foundation that holds the fabric squares in place prior to stitching.  It's a fun way to use fabrics from jelly rolls, charm packs, or mini charm packs.  

I had so much fun making the first Mondo, I made another.  I used one jelly roll (Terrain by Kate Spain) for the two bags, plus yardage for the lining.  

I have another Mondo fusible sheet waiting for inspiration.  I've been envisioning a bag made with toile fabrics from my stash!

A Plethora of Purple Piecing

Over the past two weeks I've spent a large amount of my sewing time playing with scraps and experimenting with ideas for projects I've had in mind.  Not everything I tried was successful, but that's OK - it was a learning experience!  On the other hand, I did make a serious dent in my collection of purple scraps (the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for January) and purple selvages.

I wanted to do another selvage project and used up most of my purple selvages on an experiment that didn't quite work out.  I salvaged the last of the selvages for these Rail Fence blocks.  I'll keep making these in the RSC colors through the year and see how many I have at the end.   

 

I really hadn't planned to start this project, but somehow I found myself making pinwheel blocks and I couldn't stop.  These finish at 3 inches.  I have a definite plan in mind for them, and will use the RSC as an opportunity to make more blocks as the year goes on.

After all that scrap cutting, I had quite a batch of purple 2 inch squares, so I threw them in a basket and began pairing them up as 4 patch block components.  Not sure where that will lead, but at least I have a good supply of leader-enders.

When I give quilts as gifts, I usually like to make a pillowcase for the recipient to store the quilt in.   For the recent t-shirt quilt I made, I wanted to try making a large drawstring bag for the quilt instead.  I found a pattern online for a lined drawstring bag, and decided to make a practice version using some purple scraps.  The bag went together easily and I loved the finished version!  I was able to adapt the bag "recipe" for a large version and gave it away with the quilt.

I spent a chunk of time this morning putting the finishing touches on an unfinished RSC project, but I'll save that for Tuesday's link-up.  Now it's time for tea and some time perusing other RSC projects at today's link-up.