Some catching up to do....

 When I went to CUAQ Therapy a few weeks ago at Cut Up and Quilt, Alice brought her Happy Villages quilt for show and tell. It turned out so pretty! I still want to make a night time version....

Two of the beginners with their finished quilts last month. They turned out beautiful and just had the hand stitching left to do. I made a new version of this quilt on retreat and will start a new Beginning Quilting class in the fall.

Just for fun, we are doing a little Double Four Patch stash-busting swap during Sampler Clubs...no one has to participate, but if they want to they will end up with an awesome scrappy quilt!

The Wednesday Fun Club will be making the Whatcha Got? Bag beginning in Sept. so I made up a new model for it recently. I gave away all of the ones I made last time! It was a good way for me to refresh in my mind the steps to making it too. I also started another one to use during class as a working model.

I made some Boxy Corner Pouches before I went on the retreat with my online friends, but didn't want to spoil the surprise by showing them. I cheated and used quilted fabric. I put a few goodies inside too. 

With some of the leftover fabric, I made this flat bag to carry some odd size rulers I have. It would also work to carry my pattern files to class. 

I've spent a lot of time working on class paperwork and sewing models over the past few weeks getting ready for fall classes. I need to step back from it for a bit and do some work around here. I want to paint the garage before I go back to school, so I'm going to start that today. Not sure how far I will get since I have to scrape too. I like to scrape some, paint it and then scrape some more so the scraping doesn't seem like such a big ordeal. I like to paint, just don't like to scrape. Who does?

I also need to "clean and pitch" a few areas around here, the back porch being first on the list. What a mess out there! And I walk through it every single day. Wish me luck!

Another bag, another pillow....they are so addictive!

I had to make one more small Whatcha Got? Bag out of this fabric. I decided to use an orange zipper for some pizzazz.

 What could YOU put in here?

I made another pillow to go with the pieced pillows I made last week. It reads as a solid, but is actually lots of blue and green lines. I think it looks nice with the others. 

I've been cleaning like crazy in preparation for my sister's visit. It's a good thing I have company once in a while! No class today, so more cleaning for me! Happy Saturday!

More Whatcha Got Bags and Blogger's Quilt Festival

Jane got her bag from Saturday's class finished. I bet it was finished the next day!

Brenda finished her second bag and it matches her first bag! Trust me, these bags are addictive!

If you haven't voted on your favorites in the Blogger's Quilt Festival yet, voting is open until Friday. I entered my Which Way is Up? quilt in the original design category. If you haven't taken time to browse this virtual quilt show, you should take a look. Lots of eye candy and great inspiration. You can vote for your favorite three in each category, so do some browsing and then vote!

Which Way is Up?

Whatcha Got in that bag?

I had a great experience on Saturday teaching these great ladies how to make the Whatcha Got? bag by This and That. This bag is great because of its size, shape and the vinyl front so you can see what's inside,

They could choose from 2 sizes and any fabrics they wanted to use. We had so much eye candy! 

And the best part was that all but one got their bag finished (she left early or she would have. More than likely it is finished now!). That hardly ever happens in class, as we are usually working on quilts.

It sounded like many of them were planning on making more for gifts for the holidays. They are perfect for stuffing with those favorite lotions or just give them as is.

This quilter finished hers and started another one!

As you can see, we had a fashion show of pretty bags, which is nice because we can all get inspiration from other people's color choices.

I had this bag prepped so I could use it to show the steps, so I sewed parts of it as we went along. I didn't finish it however, so I spent some time yesterday getting it done. Smokey loves it!

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for the $25 gift card from Fat Quarter Shop, so go here to enter through Rafflecopter.

The voting is open at Blogger's Quilt Festival until Nov. 7, so you still have time to visit the blogs and vote for your favorites in each category. You can read about my entry here and vote here.

Bags bags bags

As you know, I'm addicted to making these bags now. I've been making the larger size bag on the Whatcha Got? bag pattern, but wanted to make the smaller version too. It's about 8" x 10" and should work for storing many items. I made one just like the pattern.....

but then for the second one I added the inside pocket. Love those pockets! I also did the checkerboard front a little differently, using only the 2 fabrics from the bag. I like this look too! What do you think?

Yep, there's that pocket. Pockets are always handy, right? I have been cutting an extra piece of vinyl the same size as the front window for the pocket. I was afraid that it would tear after using it, so I framed it with fabric before I sewed it in.

I've been making these bags to use as gifts for the holidays. I've lost count but have made about 6 or 8 now. I figure who couldn't find a use for one of these?

I made another large size too, this time just like the pattern....without the inside pocket. I love the fabrics I used and had a hard time deciding if the bikes should be the outside or inside. I think that is one of the fun things about this bag is that you can see the lining!

This is the only large bag that I put the handle on. Not sure it needs it, though I guess that depends on what you are using it for.

You can see the difference in size. The larger one is about 10" x 14". 

I like to work on small projects for gift giving in the summer since I have a little more sewing time and have linked up with SewCalGal's A Handmade Christmas Challenge. She is encouraging everyone to take the challenge and make gifts all year to avoid the last minute rush. Plus you will have beautiful handmade gifts for family and friends. If you have been working on projects for Christmas gift giving, join the challenge and head over there now and link up! You can link to this month's party until Aug. 25.

I did get some more quilting finished on my new quilt yesterday....love it when I'm past the half way mark, the 2nd half always seems to go faster! I am heading to Earling today to help my brother with some some staining and varnishing. He is building a cabin in a park near there and is ready to start some of the finish work. 

Another bag and a quilting start....

I made another Whatcha Got? bag for my niece for her bridal shower. (am I addicted? maybe...)  I put in some goodies, along with a gift card to her favorite shop. Instead of the patchwork front, I used panels of the outside fabric. I like it this way too!

The wedding is in 6 weeks. I got to see her in her wedding dress too, she tried it on because she had some alterations done. She is going to be a gorgeous bride!

I started on the quilting on my new quilt....still un-named. This one has a lot of background, so I decided to use my favorite panto.

I am using a lightly colored thread for some added interest. The background is white with light teal polka dots.

I won't get any quilting done today as I am heading up soon to sew with the Tuesday Sewing group. I am taking the demo blocks that are ready to sew into a quilt and the Which Way is Up? quilt to bind. That should keep me busy! 

Whatcha Got? Bag

One of my friends had made a Whatcha Got? bag from This and That awhile back. When I saw it, I knew I had to try making one. It was so cute and I loved the fact that you could see through it. I made one while on retreat, and came home and cut out another one. I finished it on Tuesday....

I didn't add the little handle, as I didn't think I needed one, but did add a vinyl pocket inside for extra storage.

I forgot to take a pic of the back. oops!

Yes, they are addictive, but the more you make the faster it goes!

Whacha Got? bag back.

I cut out two more yesterday. These will not have the patchwork fronts, but the same color as the back. I think they will be cute too. There are 2 sizes, but so far I have just made the larger one.

In other blogging business, I have had a problem with commenting on two blogs recently. After I commented, I received a mailer daemon email saying they couldn't deliver the message to the inbox of the recipient. It indicated that it had something to do with their inbox rejecting Yahoo emails. Has anyone else had this problem? I emailed both of the bloggers and found out that they had had this problem with several commenters each. One of them noticed that all 3 of us had yahoo email. Have you had this happen? Does anyone have any idea what can be done to correct this problem?