More embroidery on patchwork

Media in the studio: Legend of the Seeker (on Hulu). Mindless entertainment for sewing.

I have finished Lesson 2 of the Quilt U Embroidery on Patchwork class and here are the results. Too bad about the image quality, it would be nice if the pic showed the details.

The class project is a table runner, which I would never use. So I think it is going to be a large shopping bag to hang on the back of my scooter.

Quilt U: Embroidery on Patchwork

Media in the studio: Freddie Mercury, Magic Remixed on VH-1

I'm taking another class at Quilt University, this one titled Embroidery on Patchwork, from Joanne Winn. I just finished her Beginning Machine Embroidery class at Quilt U. These are great classes, very practical and informative.

Choosing the fabrics for the project, which will be a tablerunner.

Handbag 001

Doings on Thursday and Friday, July 17 & 18
Media in the studio: Excalibur.

I have covered a small cardboard box to serve as the inside bottom of a series of handbags. All the stuff will live in the box, which can be moved from handbag to handbag. The idea came from something similar that I saw on QVC.

This was a spray adhesive project and I used scraps of an ethnic weave left over from another project. The red handles were supposed to be the same length, and I measured carefully (twice) and still screwed up. I continued with the ethnic fabrics with stuff from the thrift shop: a teal skirt, a pink placemat and a yellow woven mat much larger than a placemat.

I then started with the box dimensions, and used quarter-inch graph paper to figure out all the dimensions for the parts of the bag.


It has a rectangular base enclosing the carboard box, and then two overlapping triangles. Smaller triangles fill in the triangular gap between the two larger triangles. I finished it off with a thrift shop necklace as a weighted drape to keep the opening closed (see first photo).
Not bad. It's very soft and floppy so the interior cardboard box kind of shows. I didn't quilt the fabrics because the weave is loose and I thought the batting might beard through. The bias edges on the large triangles will stretch out over time. If I were going to do it again I might fuse a soft interfacing to this type of fabric.

Sewing With Sotomayor*

Doings on Wednesday and Thursday, July 15 & 16
Media in the studio: more of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sonia Sotomayor. Hence Jan's suggestion of the title "Sewing With Sotomayor"

I finished Helen's sewing machine cover and she is pleased with it.

No more secret sewing!

Media: Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee

I kept a journal during the creation of Greg and Amber's quilt, but never posted anything because I wanted them to be surprised.

As if they would read a sewing blog!!!

Current project: a sewing machine cover for my mother-in-law. She liked the one I made for myself when I bought my new Janome Memory Craft 4900 a couple of months ago, so I am making a similar one for her.

Mine (green) was made to showcase the decorative embroidery stitches that the machine will do, and to provide a visual encyclopedia of stitches. Hers (russet colored) is just to be pretty in her studio. She also has a Janome, but not one that does all of these stitches.

Yesterday I worked on the central panel for her cover.