by Sherri Sylvester | Jan 18, 2015
Happy Monday to you! After the 4 Cargo Duffles from last Monday and the Handbag last Wednesday + the book giveaway (open until Monday Jan 19th at midnight!) Seems it is a good idea to follow up last week’s inadvertent “bag week” with the Cargo Duffle Zipper Pocket tutorial I promised. Plus it seems like a good time to let you know who won the last giveaway!
This pocket was created out of a need for something quick and secure. While making four of these duffles I figured it would just take too long to make the folded and stitched and lined cargo pockets the original pattern calls for. I also am not very good at attaching snaps – so avoiding that seemed best as well!
This pocket is created to work well on any bag that has a separate bottom base. The separate base covers the bottom raw edge of the pocket. All of the other raw and zipper edges are finished. The front of the pocket is lined and the ‘back” of the pocket is the bag’s front outer fabric. You could fold the bottom raw edges of the pocket under before stitching and use it on any other type of bag as well.
Before I get too far, I want to let you know who won the Sew Sister’s Quilt Shop giveaway from last week. The fortunate winner is Beth T. She’s going to get 10 fat quarters of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements in the mail soon! Thanks so much to Sew Sister’s for the giveaway and of course congratulations to Beth! What a nice surprise!
On to the tutorial!
You will need:
- One 12″ zipper
- One 13″ piece of 1/2″ double fold bias tape
- Outer Pocket: One 13″ x 6.5″ piece of quilting/cotton or similar
- Lining: One 13″ x 6.5″ piece of quilting/cotton or similar
Here we go:
- Place the outer fabric right side up. Open the zipper and align it along the top (long) edge of the outer edge with the zipper slider down. Pin/Glue in place. Baste if desired.
- Align the lining fabric right sides together along the top edge of the outer and zipper tape. Pin/Glue in place.
- Stitch along the top edge, through the lining/zipper/outer with a 1/4″ seam allowance. I used my regular machine foot and moved the needle as far as it can go to the left so as to avoid changing to my zipper foot!
- Once sewn, open up the lining and outer so they are wrong sides together. Press the edges next to the zipper tape.
- Sandwich the unfinished side of the zipper tape inside of the bias tape. Make sure it is at least 1/8″ away from the zipper teeth on both sides. I use glue to keep it in place before sewing. You can also use pins.(There is no need to finish the ends of the bias tape.)
- Stitch the bias tape close to the bottom edge.
- Fold the bias tape to the lining side on the open end and pin the zipper along the top edge so the teeth stay aligned in the next step.
- Fold the outer and lining right sides together and pin along the short edge.
- Stitch the pinned short edge with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Be careful when stitching over the zipper teeth. Back-stitch well at the corner. Trim the corner to reduce bulk.
- Close the zipper at least half way. Fold the zipper in half wrong sides together and pin the end to keep the teeth aligned in the next step.
- Fold the outer and lining right sides together and pin along the short edge. The zipper teeth should be facing the outer pocket fabric.
- Stitch the pinned short edge with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Be careful when stitching over the zipper teeth. Back-stitch well at the corner. Trim the corner and zipper tape to reduce bulk.
- Turn the zipper and pocket right sides out and push out the corners.
- Mark the placement of the Cargo Duffle exterior bottom accent piece. Align the zipper pocket in the centre of the Front so the bottom edge will be 1/2″ under the exterior bottom accent piece once sewn.
- Open the zipper and pin the bias tape in place.
- Unpin the pocket outer and flip it up to access the bias tape. Pin it in place at the far right side (pin is circled), being careful to keep the bias tape straight. I used my quilting lines as a guide.
- Fold the Front over so the pocket bias tape lays flat more easily and pin the opposite end in place.
- Stitch the bias tape along the top edge, next to the previous line of stitching. Folding the Front of the Cargo Duffle as you sew so the bias tape and pocket lay flat while you are stitching.
- Re-align and pin the pocket in place. Stitch the short sides of the pocket up from the bottom to about 1″ under the zipper. I stitched across and back down as well to secure the pocket better.
And you’re finished! Stitch on the Exterior Bottom Accent and continue with the original Cargo Duffle instructions to finish your amazing bag.
by Sherri Sylvester | Jan 5, 2015
Here’s to another great year last year! This year especially there have been many, many times I felt amazed because of a project opportunity or a relationship that was built. I feel fortunate to be a part of the online sewing community.
Thanks for hanging out and sticking around! You are so appreciated!
As I was working on this post I moved all of my 2014 post files away in their own folder – that makes 3 sections now – 2012, 2013 and 2014! It’s fun to think of how much this blog has been through. I was inspired by the Sewing Rabbit to create an infographic of sorts to summarize what happened last year. Lots different from my usual wordy posts – so I hope you don’t mind the numbers. I had lots of fun going through my stats finding out which posts were the most read, and I was excited to see that most of my favorite projects were your favorites too!
Below the analytics in the graphic, I’ve listed the top 10 posts created in 2014 and the top 5 posts of all time. (I linked each section – so you can click on them if you want to find out more.)
Happy New Year and I hope you and yours have a wonderful memorable year!
To talk bloggy – SO many moments stand out over the year! The day I got 11 938 page views because The Quilt Show linked to my Fabric Tray. The day I met Elizabeth Olwen and started planning the Warp & Weft Weekend Event. Designing the Forest Glen Satchel. The day I taught my very first workshop. Releasing the Satchel pattern! Sewing my youngest her Red Riding Hood costume and making my first Alder Skirt. I still LOVE the girls’ Easter dresses the most of all. Winning the Crafting Con Avenger’s month challenge was pretty cool too!
Looking ahead? More purposeful posting. I’m also excited to start quilting a bit more in 2015. And more clothing! Now that I have a serger for finishing seams the thought of stitching something up seems that much more simple and quick. I’ve got quite a few pieces waiting to be photographed and posted too… I could think of more – but I’ve got to run shower before going out in the (feels like) -22C weather to pick the kids up from school. See you again soon!
The Fat Quarter Skirt PDF Pattern is Now Available!
Purchasing this fully tested skirt pattern gives you access to 5 sizes, child’s 2-6, to create a skirt that is 9-11 1/2″ (23-30cm) long. Expect lots of tips and tricks throughout, a glossary of terms, recommended best practices and instructions geared towards an absolute beginner. This pattern is truly a quick sew – allow yourself just 1-3 hours to finish, including your fabric cutting time. It’s also a great stash-buster, requiring only 2 fat quarters and a length of elastic… things you probably already have in your stash! To find out more about the pattern, click here.
Purchase the Fat Quarter Skirt PDF Pattern – $8.50 CDN
Thank you for your support!
by Sherri Sylvester | Oct 14, 2014
It’s been a great relaxing long (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend over here – extra long, if you count the fact that my youngest was home (unplanned) from school last Thursday, and Friday was a PD day so both kids were home. My husband and I spent much of the weekend planning and re-organizing our work space. We’ve both got a bit more counter space and it’s a lot easier to move around in our little 9′ square shared office. When it’s finished I’ll have to share photos and a little review of my new sewing machine with you. I’ve had it for about a month and I’m loving it!
I’ve been enjoying quilting lately, and thought I’d share my progress with this one today. I’m calling it a “proper” quilt – since it’s more than “just pieced squares” this time! Interesting side note – I’ve found that repetitive-block quilts are extremely relaxing. The difference between sewing garments and this type of quilt, is that a garment rarely requires the same instruction to be followed more than twice – once for the outer and once for the lining. And sometimes there is no repetition at all. Because of that, you are constantly checking the instructions, re-reading, sewing, and moving on to the next step. With the blocks in this quilt, you must follow the same steps over and over – creating space in your mind to ponder other things, tasks, life or just the process itself. Ahhhh….. (long pause while I remember relaxing!)
This quilt is a personal project, since it’s made with my blogger bundle from Fabric Spark. When they asked me if I would to create a bundle earlier this year I was over-the-moon excited and I knew it would have to become a very special quilt. This bundle and quilt mean so much, and are such a good reminder and encouragement along my bloggy journey. To be able to choose fabrics that I love and have someone put them up for sale. What an amazing opportunity, and I am still so grateful to have been chosen for it. (The bundle is available for sale here.)
I am making an hourglass quilt with these, using this tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. She calls it a baby quilt, but I am adding in more squares than she mentions, randomly using up every last scrap of fabric that I have – so we’ll see how big it is in the end! I’ve mostly used some light gray Kona I had around for the background pieces. But since I don’t have enough I’m winging it with a few solids in other colours – I can’t wait to add these in and see how it turns out! I also added two Bonnie Christine “Sweet As Honey” Art Gallery prints to the bundle fabrics to increase the prints, hoping to make this as large as possible!
I’ve yet to decide if I’ll add any borders to this and of course I’m not sure about backing and binding yet. But I think I’m supposed to choose that after the front is finished – so I’m getting ahead of myself! I do have quite a bit of Kona Charcoal from another project – so it might make an appearance later on – I’d love to find a good print for the back though. Makes it seem more cheerful I think! I can’t wait to get to spend some serious time making the little hourglass squares so I can lay them out, that seems like a lot of fun too!
Reader Feedback: Are you quilting anything right now? What project are you working on?
by Sherri Sylvester | Sep 4, 2014
Wow! I have severely overestimated my ability to get things done and get two kids started in school. Especially since my body decided to let me catch a cold earlier this week! This past few days has been a rush of emotion and busyness, all while trying to get a few things ready for some really fun events coming up soon. More on that another day, suffice to say – I’m just happy to have “finally” posted something new since last week!
At the risk of using almost the same title twice in a row, I have made another mini quilt. (First one here.) This one is made from a little bundle of pre-cuts I received from Daryl at Fabric Spark. These photos were taken at the end of June, believe it or not. I’m feeling a bit behind in letting you know what’s going on around here! Either way, I am so happy with this little quilt. It has lived in our car for the entire (thankfully cool) summer and been loved a lot. We even have to keep track of who’s turn it is to use the “blanket mommy made”! You can tell we don’t have many of those yet!
(P.S. Fabric Spark is running their Mystery Fat Quarter event again – on now until September 14th! Buy the equivalent of one yard of fabric or more and use the code “FQfun” to receive a coordinating “Mystery” fat quarter absolutely free! Click here to visit Fabric Spark and see her great selection. I think you’ll have trouble stopping at 1 yard!)
When I got the pre-cut bundle, little did anyone know it would hold the most perfect number of colours and white squares possible! It almost exactly matched the requirements for the Big Love Quilt by Modern Handcraft for Dear Stella. The only thing it lacked was size, so I made it using a 5.5″ square instead of a 10″ square. So I guess instead of a Big Love quilt, I made a Little Love quilt. (hee hee!) I would love to try this again with another set of fabrics. I’ve got at least 4 bundles stashed that are waiting for quilts and I’ve begun cutting a 5th for something else.
This quilt is made from half square triangles (HST’s), with a few full white squares in the centre of the heart. It was extremely fast to sew up, even for a beginner quilter like me, and I love the results. Actually, I have several heart-related things pinned to my “Quilts I Might Make” Pinterest board, maybe it’s time to do a little round-up? I love that a quilt is an art-piece that you create to keep someone warm and let them know that you love them – so the heart theme is quite appropriate!
I am absolutely in love with the back of this quilt as well. It was nerve-wracking and fun to sort out how to stitch these pieces together so they came out in the positions I wanted them to, but it turned out great I think! I am quite happy with the low-volume modern-ness that it made itself into. And it’s amazing how clean it has stayed, even in the back seat of our car! (Though there was that one incident with the chocolate milk… but thankfully it came out in the wash!)
It is straight-ish line quilted and I used a double layer of fleece blanket for the batting. That amount of fleece would be perfect for a baby play-mat, nice and squishy! Unfortunately, squishy doesn’t really drape over your lap, but it is cozy, and the kids don’t notice things like drape anyhow! The most perfectly coloured binding is the same vintage yellow dot fabric I used to make my youngest’s Easter dress this spring. I love how it picks up on the yellows in the quilt. It’s machine sewn, since I haven’t had the compulsion to hand-stitch a binding on as yet!
Well, I’d better go now, I’ve got lots of things on the list to do tonight! Amazing how time flies by. First up… clean the house! (Today’s Trivia Question: How many times can you use the word love in a post? A: 11!)
by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 5, 2014
Here is the tutorial for the Getting Antsy Picnic Quilt! I went over the background for this quilt in the previous quilt background post, so I’ll just jump right into the tutorial here. I used the Charlie Harper Fat Quarter Bundle from Warp & Weft as the base and inspiration for the quilt.
A word of warning about this tutorial. It is simplified and assumes that you know some basics about quilting and have made a quilt before. If you have any questions please feel free to email me – sherri@threadridinghood.com and I’ll do my best to help you out.
You will need:
- 1 set of 7 Charlie Harper fat quarters (from Warp & Weft here)
- 6 solid coloured fat quarters
- 3/4 yard/metre border (cut to 2 3/4″ strips)
- 1/2 yard/metre binding (cut to 2 1/2″ strips)
- 4 yards/metres non-directional backing
- 1/8″ black ribbon (100% polyester)
- 1/4″ black ribbon (100% polyester)
- scraps of black quilting cotton (fits within 1 fat quarter)
- quilt batting to fit – aprox. 75″x75″
If you would like to colour in your layout instead of laying it out you can click here to print out the quilt template and use it to plan your quilt. I laid out my fabrics with the “cool” colours on the top left and the “warm” colours on the bottom right and worked my way to the centre with each.
Here we go…
- Cut each of your 13 fat quarter into 3 rectangles 5.75″ high x 19.75″ high each. You should have 39 rectangles in total.
- Make 9 black hexies. If you’d like you can use my no-baste hexie tutorial. In the tutorial post there is also a template for creating the hexies in the proper size. They should be 3.5″ from point to point and 3″ high.
- Lay out your rectangles in the order you want them. You will need 3 columns with 12 rectangles each. You will have 3 rectangles left over. Lay out your ants as well so you can make sure to position them where the background is not as busy. This way they will show up better when you stitch them on. (As you can see I was going to mark a “trail” for the ants in ribbon and changed my mind at the end.)
- Stitch each column together in the order you placed the rectangles.
- Press each seam open.
- Pin the columns together at each seam and stitch them together. Press your seams open.
- Piece the border strips together to make one strip aprox. 250″ long.
- Stitch the border to the top and bottom of the quilt first.
- Trim the strip to 90 degrees at each corner as you go. Stitch the border to the left and right side once the top and bottom are sewn and trimmed. Press all of your seams open.
- Piece your backing together. I used the 3 extra rectangles + a few small scraps of my favorite prints and a solid red square. I cut my backing fabric in half and pieced one half on each side of the scrappy stripe. Then I trimmed off enough height from the top piece of backing fabric to allow the stripe to be approximately 1/3 of the way down the back. (see a photo in the last post)
- Lay your backing right side down on the floor or table, place your batting on top of the backing. Add your quilt top right side up to create your quilt sandwich. Make sure to align the stipe on the backing and the stripes on the quilt top so they match up with where you will be quilting/tying your quilt. Baste/Spray/Pin to hold everything together.
- Remove the paper hexie template from each hexie and pin them in place where the ants will go. This marks the quilt, so you can avoid tying it where the ants are attached. The body of the ant is made by matching two straight hexie sides. The head is made by matching the point on one hexie with the centre straight edge of another. (Please ignore the ribbon “trail” under the bottom ant.)
- Tie your quilt at the corner of each rectangle and twice in-between along the lines. I used painter’s tape and my quilting ruler to keep track of where I was tying.
- Machine quilt the border. I stitched my lines about 1/2″ apart.
- Cut 6 legs from 1/4″ ribbon per ant. The front legs are 2 1/2″ long and the back legs are 3″ long. Also cut 2 antennae from 1/8″ ribbon per ant. These are also 2 1/2″ long. Use a flame to *carefully* melt both ends of each leg or antennae. This will prevent them from fraying.
- Pin the ribbon legs and antennae to your hexies as indicated in the photo. About 1/2″ of one end of each ribbon will be underneath the hexie. Pin along the edges of the hexie to keep it in place as well.
- Stitch each ant to the quilt. Sew along the centre of each ribbon and around the edge of each hexie. Repeat until all three ants have been stitched on.
- Sew the binding strips together to make one long strip aprox. 300″ long. Bind your quilt using your favorite method. I use the cluck cluck sew tutorial to machine stitch my bindings.
All finished and ready for picnicing. Go take some photos and show it off! And of course, I’d love to see your creations. You can share your projects on Twitter and Instagram @sherrisylvester with the hashtag #alongforthreadride or #threadridinghood, or post them on the Thread Riding Hood Facebook page. (As usual, this tutorial is for personal/charitable use only – thanks!)
** Please note: This is a sponsored post and some of the fabric was provided to me at no cost by Warp & Weft. However, as always, all opinions are my own and I will never promote something to you that I do not love myself. **
by Sherri Sylvester | Jul 4, 2014
I do not know the last time I felt this excited to show you a project! I’m so proud of this quilt and I love how it turned out. I love the photo shoot, and I love the fabric… it has been an all around amazing journey! When I first saw the Charlie Harper collection I knew I wanted to use it for something, so when Esmari from Warp & Weft gave me a chance to use it for a Sewing Society post I was thrilled! I’m going to post a simple tutorial for this quilt separately today, since the post is getting quite long and photo heavy! So here is the background on it… (**Update: the tutorial for the quilt is posted here.)
I love Charlie Harper’s art, and the outdoor nature of them was perfect for something picnic-related. I tried to come up with something other than a picnic quilt, but in the end I failed to think of something I would rather make – and I’m so glad I didn’t! I wanted the quilt to look modern, but typical, all the way down to it being hand-tied. My quilt is neither difficult or complex or even many pieces – is is, however, my 2nd “real” quilt finish and I’m quite enjoying my foray into the world of HST’s and OBW’s.
I figured, since I was not likely inventing a super-complicated quilt for a tutorial the first go around, that I would add in some fun applique. I am so IN LOVE with my ants! Ants and picnics just go together – and I am super-excited to have created my family’s picnic quilt for many years to come. I have made many clothing projects, for my kids and for myself… and for my husband… nothing compares to the feeling I got finishing this quilt. The sense of heirloom and keeping someone dry and/or warm with it. The happiness, many picnics and fun memories I want to create around our future adventures with the quilt.
I used the fat quarter Charlie Harper bundle from Warp & Weft plus some of my randomly stashed solids and solid red, binding and backing from my local big-box fabric store. I would have been more adventurous on the backing – but it’s going to mostly be on the ground, so a dark wobbly stripe it was plus a little piecing with a bit of extra fabric.
The binding is the most perfect wobbly criss-cross fabric and I took some inspiration from the striped bindings I’ve seen from some of the other Sewing Society members lately. I’m super happy with it and the fact that it looks hand-drawn is just a further nod to the Charlie Harper artwork.
I decided that machine quilting the whole quilt was a bit adventurous, so I tied it with embroidery floss instead. Much “safer” and faster! I did want to make sure it had some machine quilting, though, since I love how it looks – so I stitched straight-ish lines around the border. I figured out later that I think I would have been fine to quilt the whole thing, since it probably would have folded up small enough to fit in my machine. Ah well – next time! The quilt finishes at around 70″ square. Lots of room to fit our family of four.
I also toyed with the idea of making the backing waterproof. In the end I decided that I wanted it to be available to use as a quilt, not just for sitting on. I’ve had too many picnics growing up where the cold weather caused one or more of us to huddle under the picnic quilt for warmth. A waterproof quilt would not be cuddly! I think instead I will carry an inexpensive vinyl tablecloth around to put underneath the quilt, if it is needed, to keep us (and the quilt) dry.
I’m off to finish writing and posting the tutorial before cleaning my house for tonight’s sewcial. I love my monthly get-togethers, even if I don’t get much done for all of the sewing-talk!
What do you think? I’d love to hear about your quilting adventures. Have you made a favorite picnic quilt?
** Please note: This is a sponsored post and some of the fabric was provided to me at no cost by Warp & Weft. However, as always, all opinions are my own and I will never promote something to you that I do not love myself. **
