Another hobby . . . QUILTING

Well I've done it, gone down the rabbit hole and adopted a new hobby.  It started with the gateway drug, sewing zippered bags and eventually here I am QUILTING.  

I'm so far behind in posting to my blog that I figure I'll just create a "deluxe" post of some of my quilting projects.

My first quilt courtesy of Craftsy and a class by Christa Watson. She covered every step from start to finish and I'm really proud of this one. Particularly since the border pieces actually lined up perfectly with the sides of the quilt. The instructions had mentioned that if the border was too big, that you would have to increase the seams to "shrink it" down.  Meanwhile, if it was too short, worse you would have to rip out the seams and ease out the seam allowance to "grow" the border.  

Quilted bag

So I am a really big fan of Minki Kim who has a ton of videos on YouTube and this quilted purse is one of hers.  I purchased the pattern from her site and now I'm eager to make another one.  Great for scraps and you can add any strap to the bag. It's a sweet, light weight small bag, with a front pocket.

The project below, a quilted journal is another Craftsy find. The class is by Christina Cameli Free Motion Gifts. You begin with free motion quilting a piece that will be the outside of the journal. Then you add lining fabric and a strap.  

She is a very talented teacher and I adore her class.

The quilt below is a Moda fabric To the Sea and I purchased a jelly roll, which is a bundle of pre-cut fabrics.  I used a pattern from a friend to create the quilt below for my brother David.  I love the simple pattern and used a meandering wave like stitching pattern for the quilting. 

So here's another Minki Kim project. I purchased her pattern for this zippered bag and used some really great fabrics I picked up in Florida on a trip during the winter. The bag and each of the pieces used are quilted and some of the fabrics I found were like mixed media artworks. They have such bold colors and textures, I couldn't resist using them for this project.  

I used zipper by the yard for this project and I am really a fan of this type of zipper. First, you can make the zipper any length and this is important for this project. Second, the zipper tabs are metal, but the teeth are plastic (they look like metal though) so the quality just goes up by a factor of 10.  Finally, you can make a single or double zipper.  Actually, just remembered another benefit of zipper by the yard, it comes with wider tape then regular zippers I've purchased online.  This makes sewing with them a lot easier.

Last, but not least is the quilt I made for my sister-in-law Sue for her birthday. I found this unique and clever fabric by Ruby Star called Darlings 2 and it was a layer cake.  This means pieces cut 10 inches by 10 inches.  I ended up finding a cute, and free, pattern on Fat Quarter Shop's site. I used a wavy decorative stitch on my machine to quilt the piece.  I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

Well, that's a wrap for now.  I've been enjoying the quilt life but I think you're going to see me post soon about a new endeavor, sewing clothing.  I'm taking a class to sew a dress and the pattern also works for a shirt. I hope to have a post soon about it!