Five Easy Pieces - Part IV

On the way out the door to head for StashBash, I had the thought that maybe I would need an easy project to play with while I was there.  I grabbed the layer cake on the top of the stack, which happened to be Bonnie and Camille's Vintage Modern and stashed it in my overflowing tote bag. 

I also had a few patterns with me, one of which was this Piece of Cake III pattern by Camille Roskelly from her Craftsy class, Pre-Cut Piecing Made Simple.  The pattern was super simple and super fun. 

One of the things I really enjoyed about it was laying it out on the floor at StashBash and having so much help getting the blocks just right.

All it needed when I got home was borders, and a quick trip to my LQS solved that problem.  I love how every line of fabrics by Bonnie and Camille coordinate with all the others.  Vintage Modern is scarce as hen's teeth, but my LQS still had some Happy Go Lucky Skip Red, which was perfect!

So, here's another quilt top in the to-be-quilted pile.  Time to get on that, I suppose.

Swappy Stuff and a Sandwich Basket

I've spent the last couple of days working on some swappy stuff.  I finally bought the Noodlehead divided basket pattern, and made one for my partner in the Fabric Basket Swap.  It was a popular choice, apparently, as I noticed several of these in the Flickr photo pool.  It turned out much larger than I thought it would, and would be a great size to make to hold all those small things in a nursery or even toiletries in the bathroom.  For this one, I made a patchwork panel for the outside pocket and my favorite Robert Kaufman red dot, called Spot On for both the exterior and the lining. 

The pattern recommends fusible fleece, (which might have actually been a better choice) but I used Peltex, and I'm happy with it.  I don't like floppy baskets, so I wanted this to have some substance to it.  Consequently, I perhaps should have made the lining just a tad bit smaller so it fits a little better.  An extra 1/8 inch in the seam allowance might have made all the difference.  Still, the exterior and the lining matched around the top of the basket and I like the way it turned out.  I actually made a second aqua panel and decided not to use it, so there may be another one of these divided baskets in my future - maybe a giveaway?  We'll see how long it takes me to get it done.

When I did my Weekender class at Derrel's of Pensacola, some of the ladies wanted to do a class on this Bernina Quilted Tool Caddy .  The pattern is located on the Bernina website.  It's a really cute item but the instructions were... um... very hard to follow.  No wonder these ladies wanted a class.  I've been working to perfect the caddy and the instructions before I teach a class on them later this month. 

It measures 6" x 8" and can be made from 3 fat quarters.  Not a bad size, but honestly, I wish it was a little bigger.  It would be great if it really held a 6" x 8" cutting mat and a full size pair of scissors.  I may see if I can create one a little larger.  And I've figured out that if you cut it just right, you can make TWO from four fat quarters.  A pretty good return on your investment, I think.  One for a gift and one for me!  This one is in Flower Sugar, from a "warm" bundle I bought from my favorite fabric shop last time she did a remnant sale.  I sent this one off to my swap partner in the Simple and Sweet Scrappy Swap.

I really like having these random but coordinated fat quarters in my stash. (Aren't they pretty?!)  They have come in so handy already.  I hope she does another sale soon.

This one is Nicey Jane.  This one is the sample for my class.

Here's the inside....

And then I started another set with DS quilts, Baby Jane in aqua and...

Happy Go Lucky.  They are getting easier. This one still needs a flower or a button or something on the front, but that shouldn't take long.  This one will be for my partner in another swap I can't mention yet.  And there's one more, but no pictures yet.

Now to perfect the instructions....

And, just because they were in the background of the divided basket picture above, I thought I'd show you the quilts I sandwiched last week.  Brings a whole new meaning to the term "Sandwich Basket", doesn't it???  Can I just say that it feels so GOOD to have these ready to quilt!

So what have you been working on?

Garden Party Tote Bag - FINISHED!!!

BD#2's Garden Party Tote Bag is finally finished.  It is very long - much longer than I would have liked it to be - but it had to be long to accommodate the knife case.  The main fabric is Garden Party, by Anna Maria Horner.  Pretty, huh?

The interior pockets and side gussets are Happy Go Lucky, by Nell Whatamore.  So pretty!  (Don't you think it is just a joy to work with pretty fabrics?)  There are pockets for cellphone and pens and pencils

and a seriously large pocket for her chef's coat, which was the other requirement for the bag.

and here is the pocket opened

I honestly used every scrap of fabric of any size that I purchased for this bag.  I think the largest scrap I have left is 2" by 6" or something ridiculous.

I am fairly pleased with the quilting on the outside.  It seems to give it a feeling of motion.  It was kind of fun to make the bag.  The only thing I am not so happy with is the bottom of the bag.  It turned out OK, but I had to hand stitch the exterior bottom, and I am always worried that hand stitching on something like this will tear out.  Oh well.  There wasn't any way to get it under the sewing machine needle.

So now that this one is ready to pop in the mail, I'll move on to some of the projects for my Flickr swaps.  I have 3 or 4 things that have to be done by the end of the month.  

Happy week!