Purse Palooza 2013 - The One Piece Bag by Fig Tree Quilts

As a person who loves to make

bags, purses, and pouches,

I've been enjoying

Purse Palooza 2013 over at Sew Sweetness!

I actually tried out a brand-new-to-me pattern

that I was smitten with,

from the time I first saw it on the Fig Tree Quilts blog.

It's called the One Piece Bag,

and you can find the pattern here,

in PDF or paper format.

I made this bag for a friend,

and she requested black and white fabrics.

I used a beautiful damask from Michael Miller,

for the body of the bag.

The shoulder straps are a large polka dot.

{Did you really think I'd make a bag without polka dots?}

This is a really cool and sophisticated purse,

very large and spacious, with a messenger-style flap,

but lots more style than I've seen in most messenger bags.

A magnetic snap holds the flap in position.

I don't have a photo showing how it looks

when it's being carried,

but the straps are nice and long,

letting the bag fall along the hipline.

I love the way the straps are attached

to the outer bag early in the process,

to allow for some decorative support stitching.

My friend requested lots of interior pockets,

in a strip, to keep the bag contents organized.

I figured out where to position two contrasting pocket strips

so that they line each side of the bag.

{My little label shows that I made this bag just for her.}

I'm not gonna lie...I was a little nervous making this bag

for the first time, because of the pocket modification

and also because it was my first time installing 

little feet on the bottom of the bag!

It turns out that the feet are applied much like magnetic snaps,

and in just a few minutes,

I had added an amazing professional touch!

{Here's a view of the bottom of the bag.}

When I had the bag all finished up,

there was one little thing that kind of bothered me.

I felt like the top of the gusset was too wide,

and the flap had a gap at the top.

I just pinched the top of the gusset

and stitched a pleat in the top edge.

The result was kind of a teardrop shaping

that really dressed up the finished bag.

I.Love.This.Bag.

I hope my friend loves it, too.

Someday...I'll make another one for myself.

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Signature Pillow

If I could sew whatever I wanted to sew, what would I make?

This is my favorite question to ask myself!
So often, I'm making a project for someone or for some reason.

There was the Zakka Style Sew Along...

And there were gifts to be made...

And orders for custom sewing.

All of those are great reasons for sewing, right?

I just LOVE it when someone asks me to make something special, 

just for them! 

{You betcha!}

But, what if I could make something special, just for me?

What if I could sew something

that says "Hi, I'm Amy, and I made that!"

What, exactly, would I choose to make???

{I think I've just solved my identity crisis, while making a pillow!}

The colors are turquoise and lime...

Bits of Paula Prass's Flights of Fancy, Sis Boom's Pretty Please, and Patty Young's Flora and Fauna

the prints include lots of polka dots...

the quilting is modern...

and the textures are smooth, mixed with stitchy and cushy.
When it was done, I knew it was MINE!

Here's how it all came together:
I've been admiring the Lone Starburst
paper pieced block by Six White Horses for quite a while.

{Anna has been so generous, offering a free templates for this awesome block!}

Lone Starburst block by Six White Horses

I've "favorited" a whole bunch of them on Flickr.
Finally, when I saw Cindy's Terrain star, I knew it was time to give it a try!

{I love every version of this block I've ever seen!}

Lone Starburst by Adventures of the Singing Quilter - Cindy

I got busy with my own block...ahem...for a few hours...

and eventually
I finished 8 of the sections, each with 8 pieces of fabric.
Keep the seam ripper close, people!

{It's just a good thing I don't swear on a regular basis, 
because some bad words threatened to pop out more than a few times.  
Mothers: work in private on this block!}

Next I auditioned some borders...and the Ta Dots by Michael Miller
won the beauty contest.

{The runners-up were featured on the back...lime Mints from Paula Prass's Summer Soiree, paired with Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market print.}

Once my borders were added, I fused the back of my entire block
with Pellon 987F fusible fleece, then added a backing of muslin.  
This gave me a really smooth finish for the pillow top, 
and it was so easy to sew all the straight lines
with my walking foot.

For the back of the pillow,
I used Pellon ShapeFlex 101 fusible interfacing, to add some body
to the quilting cotton.  Perfect!!!
I used a decorative flap to hide the zipper closure.

 {A little peek under there...cool,huh?}

I stitched it all together,
and it was like magic to reveal the finished pillow!

I hope someday that people who know eamylove

will be able to look at what I made and know,

"Amy Made That!"

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Mug Rug Swap - Part 2 - From Amy to Amanda

If you're a regular reader, 

you will have already seen my first post about

the little mug rug swap

I've had with Amanda of The Patchsmith!

{Here's the mug rug Amanda created, just for me!}

Now I'd like to share what I sent to Amanda, 

along with a description of the design process.

Once Amanda and I had agreed to swap mug rugs,

I had a brief moment of panic,

as I realized I didn't have any idea what her

personal tastes are.

Amanda was kind enough to take a quiz for me...

20 questions to discover her preferences for colors,

patterns, and themes.

1.      Bold and Bright, or Soft and Sweet?

2.      Black, White, or Black and White?

3.      Whimsical or Practical?

4.      Classic or Modern?

And so on...

So now I had somewhere to begin!

From the quiz, 

it was clear that Amanda has a love for nature and gardens,

flowers and animals.

I pulled out my Botanika fabric 

by Paula Prass for Michael Miller,

and the fussy cutting began.

I used some bright greens...like this one

from Bijoux by Heather Bailey...

and various Black and White prints, to tie it all together.

Here's the final mug rug...called "Unlock Your Dreams".

And the back...more Bijoux by Heather Bailey,

with a little bee from the Botanika print.

{Hello, little Bee.}

I like to use Pellon 987F fusible fleece 

instead of batting,

to get a flat ready-to-quilt mug rug.

For this one I used parallel lines in many directions.

OK...I loved it...but would Amanda?

{Insecurity entered the scene...}

Maybe it was a bit too bright and wild.  

And there wasn't a single FLOWER on the whole mug rug!

Hmmm...on the quiz, there was a question,

"Wild or tame?"

and she answered, "Ooooooooh...BOTH!"

That gave me an idea...make a Tame one, too!

I knew Amanda loves fresh country prints and blue is her favorite color.

This time I started with some pretty blue prints from

Delilah, Darla, and Sugar Hill,

all by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit.

{Here's a look at Sugar Hill.}

Between those three lines, I used lots of 

florals, polka dots, stripes, and gingham.

And now for the design decisions...

If you check out my blog header, you will see that I've used

one of my mug rugs for the photo.

I love the simple style of this mug rug...a strip of Tumblers,

and lots of modern straight-line quilting in the background areas.

Simple and sweet.

I knew I would have fun re-creating this design for Amanda's mug rug.

This one came together very quickly!

Lots more straight-line quilting again...

And here's the back...

{Or Side #2, if you prefer...}

I'm especially pleased with my machine binding on these two mug rugs!

I've combined what I've seen in several tutorials,

and these projects gave me a chance to practice my own method.

{Would anybody out there like me to post about how I do my machine binding???}

It was time to package up the mug rugs for the mail...
a long trip from Pennsylvania all the way to Southern England!

There was a bit of room in the little box,

so I said goodbye to a little charm pack

of Gypsy Rose by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda.

{I thought these little prints 

would look very sweet in some of Amanda's future projects.}

Now I happen to know that Amanda has a sewing sister,

just as I do!

I thought if one mug rug seemed more suited 
to her sister than to herself,

she could always give it away.

{Well...let's just say Amanda's sister will need to visit her, 

if she ever wants to use one of these mug rugs. :) }

One last thing:

Little did I know that Amanda would receive her package on the day of the Queen's Jubilee!

{How appropriate this little Crown print turned out to be!}

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