BluePip Designs

My February monthly goal was to make two bags, and I finished them both!  Both of the bags on my list are from the Minikins series by Sew Sweetness , bags that are intended to be sewn in a single sitting.  I'm happy to say that this is the case. The first bag that I made was the Jetset Cinched Bag.  I was able to simplify the pattern by not making the mesh pocket that goes around the inside.  This bag is for my five-year-old son's marbles so it wasn't necessary.  It's also about four times larger than it needs to be - visualizing the size of a finished bag is not one of my strengths. If I were to make it again, I wouldn't use the foam interfacing all the way to the top - I'd stop about an inch down and just use a lighter interfacing or make the contrast band bigger.  The thick foam makes it so that the bag doesn't cinch tight - not ideal for marbles!  Luckily this stays next to his marble run toy so he can still use it.  He's thrilled wit...

Besides the Harry Potter Bookcase and Temperature Quilt , I have two more projects that I consider "slow".  These are quilts that I still like and want to make but for various reasons just don't have the motivation sit down and actually crank out.  Both of the projects in this post are on my 2018 Quilty Goals list and were carried over from 2017.  Coincidentally, they are both quilts that require nine blocks and I just finished the fifth block of each - maybe there's hope that at least one will be done this year! The first is my Sudoku quilt - nine six inch blocks featuring the color orange.  This one tends to sit until I'm inspired by a block that seems to want to be included.  I saw this block last fall and stitched it up in January: Here are the five blocks all together (I do have nine of each one).  I'm not sure my color scheme is cohesive - I'll have to pay attention to tie it all together when I sew the last four blocks together. The...

The first two rows of my temperature quilt are done!  This has been such a relaxing project so far; I'm focusing on putting my phone down in the mornings and taking five minutes to sew the previous day's block, normally with whatever else I'm working on as leaders and enders.  I think my favorite part of this project is that I'm joining the blocks as I go along. This means at the end of the year I'll have an entire quilt top, not a bunch of blocks that still need to be joined together! I've also been working on my Harry Potter Bookcase Quilt.  This is another slow project that I am hoping to finish this year.  I had all the patterns for blocks four and five printed off and I rearranged them a bit before sewing them together.  I also added the book pile under Harry's glasses - putting them right on the shelf seemed like such a wasted opportunity! Both of these are long and skinny so I just took a single photograph of them together: You can also see...

One of my favorite items in my monthly Sew Sampler Box from 2018 was the Mini Matchbox Quilt Kit . I even got the yellow churn dash one, which was my favorite out of all the available patterns. But once I made it and hung it on my quilt wall, I thought it looked a little lonely. So when the last round of "get your quilty wishes granted" started circulating on Instagram I requested my second-favorite kit and was lucky enough to get it! I was a little braver with the second one, hand-quilting it entirely in the contrasting color as the pattern recommended.  I did, however, break and used a bright blue binding instead of the included yellow binding.  I liked how the first one had a red binding and I wanted this one to have its own color. In my first post, I promised a picture of the whole wall, so here it is!  This wall is always changing based on my current mood and newest makes and it's not all of my mini quilts by far - the rest are scattered around my house....

I love the idea of sewing bags, and I love my finished hand-made bags - case in point this beautiful Polaris Bag that is my regular handbag.  It's the perfect size to carry everything I need on a daily basis and fits extras when required.  I extended the strap so it's a cross-body; with three boys I need to have two hands free! But it always takes a kick in the pants for me to actually get started on a new bag. I think it has to do with applying the interfacing - my least favorite part and the first step in making a bag.  So for February, I want to sew the two bags that have been on my to-sew list for a while.  Both of them are from the Sew Sweetness Minikins line. The first is a second Cotton Candy pouch, this one in pineapple fabric!  I use the one I made back in October to hold my cross-stitch floss and I love that it stands up like a little fabric box when it's unzipped.  This is going to the same friend who got the pineapple table runner la...