J'Adore Marie Claire Idees

I spent part of the weekend in Coronado Island, San Diego and picked up this gorgeous issue of Marie Claire Idees.  •Swoon•

This is a French craft magazine and the photos are absolutely yummy!  Wish I can find this in Orange County.  Barnes and Nobles doesn't carry it. :-(


Here's a peek inside.

I'm planning to spend some time sewing on the 4th of July.  Hope you are too!

Reusable Bag with Pouch Tutorial

I have a trunk load of reusable bags to take to the grocery store but these don't really work for the mall.  And I really did not want to come home with yet another Macy's paper bag or tiny Sephora bag which I couldn't really reuse.  So, I played around and made a tote bag which folds into a small pouch.  It fits perfectly in my purse.  The concept of this tote bag is very similar to a quillow, so let's get started.

Materials:
3/4 yd cotton fabric (44" wide)
1.5 yd cotton strap

Step 1:  Make a tote bag.
From the cotton fabric, cut a piece measuring 20"W x 40" L and fold it in half lengthwise to make a piece 20 x 20.

Next, sew or serge down both sides.

Next, box the bottom of the bag.  To do this, match the side seam and bottom seam of the bag forming a triangle.

Pin it and draw a line perpendicular to the top of the triangle.  I wanted my bag on the roomier side so the base of my triangle is about 6.5" wide.  Draw a line.

Then sew or serge on the line.

The body of the tote bag is now complete.

Step 2:  Make the pocket piece.
Cut a piece of fabric 7 1/2"W x 12"L.  Fold one edge over 1/4" and fold over again and sew down this seam.

Next, take up the side with the finished seam up the other edge and leave about 1 1/2" allowance on top.  (Note:  In this photo, the top edge is quite huge.  I was still playing with the size and should have taken the photo after I trimmed the top edge to the right length).

Sew or serge both sides.  You may cover the seam with bias binding if you wish.

Turn the pocket inside out. Finished size is 7"W x 6.5"L.  Make sure you have a 1 1/2 inches above the finished edge of the pocket.

Step 3:  Make the top flap for the tote bag.
Cut a piece of fabric 41" x 2 1/2".

From the wrong side, fold up a 1/4 inch of fabric and iron it to form a crease.

Sew or serge the 2 short ends.  You now have a long continuous band about 2 1/4' x 40".

Step 4:  Putting it all together.
Find the midpoint of the tote bag and mark it with a pin.  Make sure you have the right side of the bag facing you.

Find the midpoint of the pocket and mark it with a pin.  Lay the pocket piece on top of the tote bag and match the pins.  Make sure you have the pocket facing towards the tote bag, not facing you.

Cut 2 straps 21"long each.  Pin to the left and right of the pocket piece.  (I realized I should have used a different fabric for the pocket so you can see it better but hopefully you can see the pocket piece in the center).

Pin the straps on the tote bag to the left and right of the pocket piece.  Make sure the straps are down towards the bottom of the bag and the ends are facing up and extending about 1" above the edge of the tote bag.

Next, lay down the top flap; wrong side of the fabric facing out.  Make sure the raw edge is pinned to the top edge of the tote bag, not the edge with 1/4" turned under.

Pin all around the bag and sew along the top edge, removing pins as you go.

Now flip the top edge over.  Top stitch along the edge.  Make sure the pocket piece is not stitched down.  Note that there is about 1 inch clearance from the edge of the tote to the opening of the pocket.

Turn your tote bag inside out and top stitch along the edge where you've got the 1/4 turned under.

You may reinforce the straps and sew them down if you wish.

Now, you're all done.  

Step 5:  Folding your tote bag.
Lay out your tote bag with the pocket facing up.

Fold in both sides towards the center. Lay the handles facing towards the bottom of the bag.

Take the bottom of the bag to the top edge then fold this piece again in half.

Now take the left bottom edge and tuck it into the left upper corner of the pocket.  Tuck the rest to form a rectangle.

Tada!  Here's your reusable tote bag with built in pouch.

You can always adjust the size of the tote bag and the straps but you get the concept.   I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

C'est Fini

Woohoo!  Finally got this quilt done.  It's been almost 2 years but I am so happy I completed this project.  The blocks are all hand appliqued and the quilt is machine quilted by me.

The pattern is called Mon Ami by Verna Mosquera but I named my quilt J'Aime Paris.  Here is a close up of a couple of the blocks.

The border is quilted in a rose motif.

This is the other quilt I am entering at the Beach Cities Quilt show.  It is called Riding Out the Storm.

I purchased this pattern during a trip to Maui in 2009.   It was not easy shopping for fabric for the turtle.  I think I used 7 or 8 different fabrics just for the turtle. Good thing Candy's in Chatsworth, CA has a HUGE batik collection.  Even then, it took a while to find the right combination.  

I finally completed this quilt in June of 2011.   The turtle, coral and seaweeds are all hand appliqued.  

I've always said I'd rather eat glass than paper piece but this wasn't too bad.  The size of this quilt is only 28.5 by 28.5.  I used the blue batik leftovers from my bargello project (that stash seems to replenish itself).  The paper pieced blocks are called Storm at Sea.

When I was naming this quilt, I thought about how this turtle is surviving the storm at sea.  The past few years, we have all been hit by the terrible economic downturn and a lot of people I know (me included)  have really been impacted.  I thought about how the storm will eventually pass and we all need to just hang in there and ride the waves for awhile.  We are all stronger than we think and I take inspiration from this turtle who is continuing to paddle beneath the storm.

The Beach Cities Quilt Guild show will be on June 2nd (10-5) and 3rd (10-4) at the Soka University in Alsio Viejo CA. For more information, click on this link.  Come down and see us.  You will not be disappointed.

Real Candy as Eye Candy

I don't think it is a good idea to use real food as home decor.  Just ask my friend Trish S.  She had inadvertently left out a basket of raw eggs for a few months.  I'm sure she was inspired by a photo in Country Living or Martha Stewart magazine.  However, one fateful day, the eggs exploded from the gaseous build up and left a slimy and stinky mess  in her kitchen.  The funny part was that the eggs exploded with such a big bang, sending Trish for cover as she thought it was a gun shot.

That said, I couldn't resist filling this candy jar with something pretty...not just with bulk candy...not just with sparkly ribbons...not just with buttons or any other tschotske...but with AQUA M&Ms.  How pretty is this?

Since a pound these M&Ms cost more than a pound of rib eye steak, they will have to be eye candy for a while...or until a case of an emergency.

Keep Calm and Continue Quilting

Wow!  I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post.  Can't be for the lack of quilting news, that's for sure.  For starters, I have been busy cramming for the Beach Cities Quilters Guild quilt show.  It will be on June 2nd and 3rd at Soka University in Aliso Viejo.

This year, I am entering 2 quilts.  And I am working on quilting my Paris quilt to get it done by the submission deadline.  I wish I could send it out to a Long Arm quilter but there are so many thread changes that I am sure I will have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

This pattern is from Verna Mosquera and it is called "Mon Ami".  It measures 55 x 64 so it has been a strain on my left shoulder to quilt more than a couple hours at a time.

I started this project in the Fall of 2010 when I went up to Danville, CA to attend one of Verna's very fun sewing retreats.  I went with my friend Lynn and we had a blast!  Verna and her assistant Pam put on such a wonderful event.  They decorate the place so beautifully, take us out on field trips and serve super yummy snacks.

Here are a few photos from the retreat.

I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since I started this project.  I have since grown out my bangs and have laid off my Revlon waver iron.  It was sort of  an homage to the 80s when I used to crimp my hair.

One of my co-workers is moving to Las Vegas and was getting rid of her salt and pepper shaker collection.  I managed to swipe rescue these two sets just because they are so adorable.  

I would have taken her cups and saucers too as I've always wanted to make a mosaic table.  But realistically, I will probably just store them in the garage for the next 20 years so I passed on them.

Tag-along Sewing Project

Sorry for the long absence.  I recently took a two week vacation overseas.  I recently went to the Philippines and that is a 15 HOUR plane ride from Southern California.  To ensure I had something to keep me occupied on the plane, I brought 2 Logic Puzzle magazines, an I-Pad (thanks for lending it to me Trish), and a new embroidery project.  I'm sure you've all heard the saying "Idles hands are a devil's workshop" ;-)

So, here's a peek at the embroidery project I brought with me.

This pattern is from Crabapple Hill and it is called "Winter Wonderland".  The entire quilt measures 64x71 and there are 10 different panels to embroider.  And believe it or not, I traced all 10 panels and brought it with me on my trip!  Okay, what was I thinking?  Clearly, I couldn't possibly embroider that fast.  But, I wanted to bring it all with me so I'd have a choice of which panel to start on.

When I travel, I usually bring a Redwork project with me just because it is easy to pack and I don't have to change tread colors often.

In my little sewing kit, I bring these itty bitty scissors, which can't cut anything but thread.  Occasionally, it can tackle a tag from brand new clothing.  I also bring with me a spool (ok I admit, I brought 2 spools because God forbid I run out) of Cosmo floss.  I love that Cosmo has 2 strands of embroidery thread already on a spool.  I place this inside a used dental floss container so it doesn't unravel in my sewing kit and I can also use the top as a cutter.

I am happy to report that I did get one panel done.  Most of the time though, I slept on the plane.  

A 30s String Quilt

String quilts were very popular in the past and they are an easy way to use up scraps to make a quilt.

I started this project maybe 9 or 10 years ago.  I don't really recall exactly when I started this but I took a class taught by my friend Marcia when she was teaching at Leah's.

I have a HUGE collection of 30s fabrics and cut them into strips and sewed them unto muslin.  I love 30s fabrics.   Here's a close up of some of the fabrics I used. There's Little Bo-peep...

And here's Alice in Wonderland...

And here's some puppy prints....

I finally pulled this quilt from the back of my closet and decided to finish it once and for all.  Here's the finished quilt.

I had it quilted at Bear's Quilt shop and it will be given to a family friend in Xiamen,China.

Here's the back of the quilt.  I hope you can see the large rose quilted design.