Meow #2

Five new kitties joined the Cat baby quilt litter last night. I'm having so much fun picking out the fabrics for this project. It's nice to work through the stash and lovely to have a quick quilt project. These guys go together so fast!

Meet Ferdinand:

And Krista:

And Monica (my current favorite):

And Ursula (Matt's new favorite):

And Cannon:

The fabric for the next five is all picked out and cut. Happy Friday!

Meow

Just popping in to show off the first three kitties I finished last night for the Cat baby quilt. Meet Toby:

And Chowder:

And Sunny:

Of course, I noticed afterward that I switched the placement of the solid and print ears on the pink and dark orange cats. Figures. That's what happens when you sew after midnight.

Still, aren't they cute? I'm not even a cat person, but when I saw Elizabeth's quilt, I knew exactly who I wanted to make it for. This will be a secret baby gift that I'm hoping to finish up in the next few weeks. (Although it may soon get sidelined by a new quilt project, as I'm debating whether to make a quilt to donate to an upcoming auction benefiting B's preschool.) But for now, back to the cats.

Here, there, anywhere

Two finishes in two days! What's going on around here? Well, sewing, apparently. Last night, I finished up another Go Anywhere Bag.

It seems I'm all about sewing Noodlehead patterns lately. This bag is another great one from Anna (you can see my past versions here and here), and it was fun to put this one together for a friend.

The only tweak I made to the pattern was on the back pocket. In the pattern, you leave the pocket as one big opening and add a closure of some sort (clasp or Velcro). Having made this bag twice before, I've found the back pocket to be too big to be very useful. If you put anything that big in it, it just weighs the whole bag down on that side, pulling on the closure. So, this time, I decided to stitch a line through the middle to divide the pocket into two sizable halves. I kept the hidden snap on the inside of the main bag.

The color scheme was inspired by Anna's Super Tote. The pocket is Koi Canvas in Victory (FYI, this canvas is fabulous. Beautiful color, weight, and feel.). The main outside fabric is Essex Yarn-Dyed in Indigo, and the bag is lined with Pearl Bracelets in Tin Man.

  

I decided to use the piping option on the outside pockets because it adds a nice professional finish. The piping and topstitching throughout are in pure white. I added a double row of topstitching on the outside of the bag and the inside pocket, too.

Love this bag.

A plethora of pouches

Back at Christmas, my little sister casually mentioned she could use a new makeup bag. I made her one a few years back, and it has been well-loved and well-used, so it was time for an update. She also wanted something a bit bigger.

I knew immediately that I wanted to make another of Anna's fabulous open-wide zippered pouches, but I couldn't decide on which size to make (you can see my past versions of the pouch here, here, here, and here). I think I forgot just how large the medium size is (plenty big for a makeup bag, FYI), so I started to debate between the medium and large. After reviewing the finished measurements, I started to lean toward the medium. (An aside for those who might be looking to make these, the large one would be way too big for a makeup bag, trust me.)

Finally, I just said to heck with it and decided to make all three. That way, I figured she could use whichever size she wanted for makeup, and she'd have two other handy pouches to use as she pleased. Who couldn't use more zipper pouches, right?

Fabrics:
Exterior contrast bottom on all three bags: Essex yarn-dyed in black
Exterior patterned fabric for the large and small bags: Peacock Gardens in Teal from Patty Young's premium collection at Joanns (It looks like only the red is still available online; I found the teal version in the store recently.)
Exterior patterned fabric for the medium bag: Hexo in Turquoise from the Technicolor collection
Lining for the large and small bags and zipper pulls for all three: Lacey in Lemonade from the High Street collection
Lining for the medium bag: Remix Ovals in Aqua

I'm planning to get these in the mail early this week. Feels good to finish up another little project.

WIP Wednesday #58

This hasn't been a terribly exciting sewing week unfortunately. I had to finish up a big work project, so most of my sewing projects from last week were on hold until Monday. Since then, it's been about just getting through the "have to do" parts of these projects: cutting and interfacing. But things are shaping up nicely, and I'm excited to rock these in the next week.

These piles represent the start of the new Go Anywhere bag and wide-open pouches I'm making (both gifts). Tonight, they're headed for the sewing machine!

And you know what's one of the great benefits of working from home? Going downstairs during your lunch break to sort fabric. These piles are the start of the Cat baby quilt, which is coming up right after the bag and pouches are done. I'm so ready for this one. Mmm ... rainbows.

And, well, because yeah. Just this. We are so pumped about the warmer temps that have come our way this week. Get outside!

On the "to do" list:

Cat baby quilt
Mystery HST quilt
T-shirt quilt
Kitchen Window quilt
New tie for B (with a tutorial, finally!)
Superhero cape for B
Re-covering the downstairs chair

New pillows for the downstairs chairs
A mug rug for me
Ironing board cover
Another divided basket from the Noodlehead pattern 
Reusable snack bags
Living room quilt
Washi dress

This week, I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

WIP Wednesday #57

Is it just me, or do Monday and Tuesday seem to fly by when it comes to sewing? I feel like I just wrote last week's WIP post, and now it's Wednesday again. At least this week, I had a big finish.

Completed:
First up, the big one. I finished my MQG Riley Blake Challenge quilt, aka the Glam Garlands quilt!

 

Last week, I alluded to all of the troubles this quilt had given me, but it finished up pretty quickly at the end of the week, and I was able to present it at our quilt guild meeting on Saturday. Check out this post for lots more pictures and all the details on this beauty.

I also finished five more pillows for the STLMQG Pillow Bomb project.

Both of these items were wrapped up just in time for Saturday's meeting, and I'm so happy to have them finished. Now, on to new projects!

In progress:
I spent Monday night ironing lots and lots of new fabric while watching the Olympics, so now I'm all ready to begin cutting fabric for the new Go Anywhere bag and wide-open pouch I'm making (both gifts). Not the most exciting step, but I'm pumped to finally be getting to these smaller projects. And I'm loving my fabrics.

Also, I had to share this beautiful bundle I WON at Saturday's guild meeting. We have a bi-monthly fabric raffle, and I knew I wanted in for this Jenean Morrison True Colors bundle. I usually try not to spend too much money on these raffles, so I bought three tickets ($1 each). It turned out I only needed two, as my second ticket was the winner. Considering that's more than $50 worth of fabric, I'd consider that one good investment!

Eek! It's so pretty. I can't resist a good rainbow. Now, what to do with it ... ?

On the "to do" list:

Five more pillows for the STLMQG Pillow Bomb Project
Cat baby quilt
Mystery HST quilt
T-shirt quilt
Kitchen Window quilt
New tie for B (with a tutorial, finally!)
Superhero cape for B
Re-covering the downstairs chair

New pillows for the downstairs chairs
A mug rug for me
Ironing board cover
Another divided basket from the Noodlehead pattern 
Reusable snack bags
Living room quilt
Washi dress

This week, I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced!