Catching Up - Part One

Here's the Weekender bag Kristy made for me at the airport waiting for our flight.

I'm baaaaa-ack!

It seems that my vacation turned into a marathon.  Sorry for the very long hiatus.  I really enjoyed being away, but I'm very glad to be home.  I actually thought I would have a chance to blog a bit while I was away, but there never seemed to be a moment to spare.  So, I have some things to share from before I left, and a couple of things from while I was away - maybe tomorrow, since I don't want this post to turn into a marathon.

Did you catch my guest -blogger post/tutorial on Leona's blog?  This tote has 11-pockets, so it's a super way to keep organized.  We all know how I love totes!

Sometime in June, Susi contacted me and wanted to know if I wanted to do a private swap.  I wasn't sure I could get it done before I left, but I did - barely.  This Weekender is super scrappy, with the addition of some bits of Briar Rose a friend gave me a few weeks ago.  The Frog Picnic is my favorite!

I had a lot of fun doling out the Briar Rose bits in creating the bag.

Susi said she really liked it, so I think it was a success.  I asked her to hold my bag until I got home, so I am excited to receive it.  Hope it gets here soon!

I also managed to finish my blocks for the 3x6 bee.  In this bee you make the same block for 6 people, changing up the colors to their request.  Since I was in 2 hives (no, I don't know what possessed me to do that!) I had to make 12 blocks.  Someone on Flickr commented that it would make a beautiful quilt all by itself.  I think so too.  I really love all those colors.

The blocks were super easy.  I found the pattern on my daily quilting calendar and adapted it for the bee.  My first blocks were by-the-book, but by the time I created the last one ("rainbow - in order" was the request) I was feeling like this was a pretty versatile block.

I belong to a group called "Sewing with Friends" and every couple of months the mamas assign us a new partner to make a little something for.  Up to now, we've been making mug rugs, but after a year, we felt a bit of a need for change.  In any event, June/July was our last mug rug month, and my partner was Sunny.  I figured with a name like that, and given that we're talking about mid-summer here, her mug rug ought to be something bright and cheerful.  I had these bonus HSTs left over from something-or-other (I really love bonus HSTs - it's really worth the extra time they take to be able to create something cute in a hurry) so I used 8 of them to make this fun little pinwheel flower mug rug.  I am always amazed at how versatile HSTs are.  A little hand-quilting, some yo-yos left over from Abby's octopus, and it was a wrap....  well, a mug rug, anyway.

So that's my "before-the-trip" story.  Stay tuned - I'll be back tomorrow.

Lark Weekender Bag - Take 2

I finally got the room in some kind of useable shape, and since I was so behind, I decided to delay the "decorating" and get to work.  This is the second Weekender Travel Bag made with the bonus HSTs from the Lark Swoon quilt I made for my daughter - and I still have enough HST's to make a couple more bags - or something else (which is more likely!)

I decided on chevrons and pinwheels this time, with echo quilting on the chevrons and straight line quilting everywhere else.  The piping is the black texty print from Madrona Road.  Love that fabric - will probably cry when it is gone.

 Pinwheels on the pockets - green on one side...

Blue on the other...  And lots of dots.

 One of the things about making a bag for yourself is that you can add all the little features you want to suit your needs.  One of mine was to add a strap so that the bag will fit over the handle of my roll on when I travel.  Hated covering up the cute little pinwheel, but the pinwheel was done and quilted before I remembered I wanted to add the strap and I

wasn't. 

ripping. 

it.  

out.  

Sorry little pinwheel.  The good news is that it was my least favorite one...

I added a zipper pocket to the outside in addition to the pocket on the pattern to stash stuff I need to have handy, but don't want to lose.  I'm thinking maybe cell phone and wallet here.

I chose some Denyse Schmidt fabric I found on sale at Joann's for the lining, which was great because since I had surgery on Thursday, I didn't feel like driving across town to the drug store.    Then, I added an elastic strap to keep my computer case corralled inside.  Still need some wide velcro to make this work, but the guts are there.

So that's my new bag!  It will be my sample for the class I'm teaching at Derrel's in August - the 15th and 22nd.  If you want to do a whole cloth Weekender as shown in the pattern, you can just come to the second session.  For a quilted bag, you will want to come to both sessions.

And then I think it may become my favorite travel bag.

Weekender - Take.2

If you are looking for the 400 post - Tula Pink giveaway, enter here.

I've spent the last couple of days making another Weekender bag - this one for my partner in the Sew Sew Modern 2 Swap.  This one seemed more difficult than the first one - partly because I tried a new technique, and partly, I think, because I didn't follow the directions as closely.  The new-to-me technique was a modified quilt-as-you-go technique.  I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I think I will experiment with it some more.  Elizabeth Hartman uses a similar technique, but densely quilts over each piece as it is added.  I didn't think I wanted that much quilting, but I may try it another time and see.

I'm not really a random/improv kind of person, so the random placement of the fabrics kind of drove me nuts.  But overall, I like the effect.  It is obviously something I need to practice.

I started with the Heather Ross vans/campers print, and worked from there.  Can you believe I actually used GRAY???  That was a total departure for me, and coming up with enough grays was a challenge.  I added some pinks in random places to liven it up a bit.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I hope my partner likes it. 

NOTE TO SELF:  The next weekender bag is for me!

Weekender Giveaway!

It's that time again and once again {what's new?} I'm running late.  I really struggled with what to do for this year's spring Giveaway Day.  It's always such an exciting time and I always have a blast seeing what everyone else is giving away (and entering the giveaways, of course - occasionally I have even won something!)  In the past I've picked favorite fabrics that I've been excited about to give away.

This year I decided to actually create something for Giveaway Day.  I've been going to do this for awhile, and what better time?  I'm creating a Weekender Travel Bag which I will give to one lucky winner.

Here is the front pocket of the bag you will receive.  Chevrons (mostly Amy Butler's Lark and texty prints).  I really think you will like it.  I think I will really like it when it is finished.  (Actually, I think I'm going to have a hard time giving it away.)

So, what do you need to do?  Here's the scoop:  each person can have up to three entries.
1.  Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite Sew Mama Sew Giveaway this spring.  That's it!  You're entered in the giveaway.

2.  If you are a follower of my blog, you receive a second entry.  That's it.  Just a leave a comment and let me know.  If you want to become a follower today, that counts too.  In either case, leave me a comment and tell me so.

3.  For a third entry, Like my PressedForTime2 Facebook page and leave me a comment on this blog post to tell me you did .  If you already Like my page, just leave me a comment and say so.  (I'm sorry to say that comments left on FB will not count as entries - I'm just not that nimble to be able to figure out how to mesh them together.)

In accordance with the rules of SMS Giveaway Day, this giveaway will close May 10 at 5:00 pm PST.  

Anyone, anywhere in the whole wide world can enter - I am more than willing to ship internationally.

Please, please, please check to be sure you are NOT a no-reply blogger.  It is so discouraging to choose a winner only to find out that I have no way to notify them that they won.  I will pick another winner immediately if this is the case.

So, I'm back to work on your bag...  I'll post progress pictures in future posts if you want to see more of what it will look like.  I think you'll really like it!

This giveaway is now closed to new entries!  Thanks everyone!