Garden Party bag

I have managed to finish off the Garden Party bag this week too. 

 The pattern is by Natalie Ross and was in a recent issue of the "Down Under Quilts" magazine, and the fabrics are "Mod Box" by Juliana Horner.

It is actually written for jelly roll strips, but I had this lovely bundle of fabrics in mind so just cut 2.5"  WOF strips from each of the 8 fabrics to use.

I love all of the earthy tones in these fabrics combined with the denimy blues - this is the other side of the bag.

I found a large button for the closure which matched the plum colour of the woodgrain fabric which is my favourite print!

I added in both a slip pocket and zippered pocket, along with a key fob clip - I seem to do these for most of the bags I have make now as I find them so useful!

Linking to the Purse Palooza hosted by Sara of Sew Sweetness.

Kirsten.

Stripey Summer Beach Tote

My daughter was flicking through a fashion magazine the other day and saw a stripey beach tote that she liked. When she showed the picture to me, I remembered that I had some red striped drill in my stash and said that I would make her one.

 It was predicted to be 36 deg C ( 96.8F) here today so we decided to go to the beach before it got too hot for a little photoshoot:)

I didn't use a pattern for this tote, which measures about 15" high x 20" wide - a perfect size to carry all the necessities for a trip to the beach! Note: the Biology textbook is not exactly light reading for the beach, but she has HSC exams coming up this week.  

It has both a slip pocket and a zippered pocket which is very handy to keep the sand away from mobile phones etc. I added in a little key fob too so the car keys don't get lost at the bottom of the bag either.

I used a medium iron on interfacing for the bag which gives the drill just enough sturdiness, and the straps are made from a thick white cotton piping cord. I couldn't find large grommets for the cord to go through so just sandwiched them inbetween the exterior and the lining by unravelling the cord a little where I would be sewing it, then flattening it out so there was only one layer to sew through with my walking foot.

This was a fairly quick bag to sew up, and one that I am sure will get a lot of use over summer!

Linking to the Purse Palooza hosted by Sara of Sew Sweetness.

And also to Le Challenge #7 - Stripes.

Kirsten.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - ArchiteXtures quilt (Throw quilt category)

I also have an entry in the Throw quilt category for the Bloggers Quilt festival hosted by Amy at Amy's Creative Side.

To celebrate our 20th Wedding anniversary this year, I decided to make a quilt for my husband. I began this back in January when I was pattern testing the fabulous "Lucky Squares" pattern for the lovely Jess @ Sew Crafty Jess, using the newly released "Architextures" fabrics by Carolyn Friedlander and a charcoal solid. My husband and I actually met whilst we were in the Army Reserves together and the contour prints in these fabrics reminded me of the maps we were always reading back then:)

I made the lap size version  (58 x 68") of the Lucky Square pattern, and then added borders to make it slightly larger.

The binding is done in a maroon/burgundy solid which matches one of the crosshatch prints in the Architextures fabrics quite well, as this is also the colour of hubbys favourite football team here in Australia.

This was quilted by Karen at my LQS Rainbow patchwork using a lighter grey thread in an Anne Bright Square Dance pattern which fitted the Lucky Squares pattern.

The back is a solid grey which really shows up the geometric quilting design well.

Thanks for visiting and please stop by as many of the other BQF links as you can as voting begins soon too.

Kirsten.

Blogger's Qult Festival - Group/Bee quilt entry

It is that time of the year again when we get to share quilts for the wonderful Bloggers Quilt festival hosted by Amy at Amy's Creative Side.

And this time I am able to enter into the Group/Bee quilt category, as this year I have participated in my first quilting bee.

Earlier this year, I asked my 11 fellow Simply Solids Fallow group members to make some X and + blocks using this tutorial, which I then made into this bright and colourful quilt which finished at 48 x 62" after washing.

I asked the group to "Stash-bust" and I love the variety of colours that they have used for the blocks. I added in some bright cornerstones and used a dark grey for the sashing, then a royal blue for the binding.

I just did fairly simple echo quilting along the sashing and in the "X" parts of the blocks, which shows up better on the back. 

Thanks for visiting and if you get a chance, please visit as many of the wonderfully inspiring quilts at the BQF.

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday

This week I have a couple of projects on the go: 

Firstly are the AusMod bee blocks for this month. Tracey sent us some Constellations fabrics to make into her blocks - I have made a start on them so just need need to finish them off and mail them ASAP.

And I am going to use these pretty fabrics to make a Garden Party tote bag. The pattern is by Natalie Ross and was in a recent issue of "Down Under Quilts" magazine.

Hoping to get this done in time for the Purse Palooza linkup...

I have a few days off work now so I am going to spend some time checking out all of the fabulous entries in the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. Hope you have a great week!
Kirsten.

Sewing Fabric Basket

The basket for my partner in the Fabric basket swap is all done!

 I used the Divided Basket pattern by Anna at Noodlehead designs to make this basket which is a really great size for holding all sorts of things. 

And I think the sewing themed prints (from Spotlight) were just right for this project - I also made a little needlebook, pincushion and sewing rollup out of the same fabrics.

Just need to package this all up and post off to my partner later in the week. 
Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

And with the  4th quarter FAL with Leanne @ She Can Quilt.

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday

The basket I am making for the fabric basket swap is coming along well - I have used a variety of red and white sewing themed fabrics including the great sewing text print by Sweetwater.

Just need to finish this off and then make a few coordinating items to go with it....

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Kirsten.