A Thoroughly Modern Mini...

Remember how I just mentioned that I'm really not drawn to solids?  Perhaps that's the main reason why I've been dragging my feet on the most recent guild challenge that is due in May.  The Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild will be having an exhibit at The Gathering in November 2015 and (obviously) we will be trying to bring a taste of the modern quilting world to a show that is mostly traditional in theme.

To encourage everyone in the guild to participate, the guild asked us all to pick a traditional quilt block and re-imagine it into a modern mini.  No rules except to emphasize the modern interpretation.  Oh, and to ONLY USE SOLIDS.

*insert huffy, bratty breath here*

I selected the Bachelor's Puzzle block - and then I promptly left it in my tote bag and refused to look at it for two months.  But once I started seeing a couple members creating really beautiful minis, the guilt got the best of me and I plucked it from my bag with resolve.  After looking at my source material for more than 5 minutes at a time, I formed a plan of attack.  One of the reasons I picked this block from the list was that I thought all those geometric shapes would be fun to throw out of whack.  The block is called a puzzle after all.  So why not take those puzzle pieces apart and play around?

I literally redrew the block onto my larger graph paper with my trusty colored pencils, cut out all the shapes and started messing around.  It didn't take long to see that those two toned arrows were just itching to fly off that center square and break free.

It's truly a Bachelor's Puzzle that's been deconstructed!

I used a double layer of batting along with matchstick quilting to make my "original" block pieces pop off the mini.  And I quilted a few phantom diamonds to evoke the more traditional block image.  I think the effect looks pretty good - and thoroughly modern!  This mini finishes at 18" square.  The background is Kona Honeydew but I didn't label my blue or purple shades, so I'm clueless on those.  Sorry!

And while I'm still not sold on going completely solid, I can see why many modern quilters like the graphic and pop qualities that it lends to a quilt.

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

Totes Magotes...

It's been all about the totes around here lately.

We had a really fun workshop led by Jessica at the SMQG at the beginning of January on how to make and modify your own tote bag pattern.  I've made a few bags but have never tried this style of tote, so I was all in and wanted to make something fun and bright (shocking, I know!).  I pulled out some of my stashed Echino birds and cherries print along with a few bright complimentary fabrics.

We had to come to the meeting with two quilted panels for the front and back along with the handle materials.  Since I started pulling fabrics at - cough - 11 the night before - cough - I didn't quite get all my prep done, but no one seemed to mind.

I changed up the basic pattern just slightly by adding extra ShapeFlex interfacing to the quilted panels and the handle strip because I like my bags sturdy!

It finished up SO great and even though it was a little taller than my typical bags, this turned out perfect for toting a yoga mat around for my daughter's after school dance class.

And since I was on a roll and the instructions were fresh in my mind, I made the girls their own totes in some very stylish but cute Cotton + Steel prints.  You just can't go wrong with kitties and butterflies for girls, right?

I made the same modifications with the Shapeflex but made the totes 2" shorter so that they were more square shaped than rectangular.  The boxed bottoms make them perfect for toting a few books/notebooks/packs of colored pencils around and the girls are in love :)

And just in case you were wondering about the post title, here you go. Enjoy the laugh from me.

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

Rainbows for the Kitchen...

I teased a little bit in my last post about my current obsession...and it's definitely become an obsession.  Scrappy rainbow potholders.  Lots of them!

I mean, if you thought that I was a factory before while I was on a clutch kick, I don't even know what 21 potholders in 10 days adds up to.

Of course, the rainbow was what caught my eye in the original post from Film in the Fridge.  Plus the opportunity to use up some of the mountain of scraps that I've been holding onto over the years.

Each potholder is sewn in an improv log cabin style and has one layer of regular batting, one layer of Insul-Bright, and then a print backing.  They each finish at 8.5" square.

Of course my fussy-cut loving self tried to make the center square of each potholder something a bit special.  I couldn't do it for all of them, but I like to think that they all have something fun to offer a wandering eye.

I am so in loving with the binding on these.  The white background with the silver metallic dots compliments every single color in the spectrum!

I think the only color that I haven't touched yet is brown - because really, if I'm going to be dealing with anything resembling chocolate, I want it to be actual chocolate.  Although I'm still toying with the idea of making some black and white ones with a bright, colored binding.

So anyway, I have all these potholders hanging around and even after setting some aside for future gifts and swaps, I still have a huge stack that need homes!  So I've decided to give the old Etsy shop another go and see what happens.  Of course I'm about a month or two late for any kind of a holiday rush (because I'm organized like that and have to keep up my procrastinating reputation), but c'est la vie!

I've listed sets of two potholders in each color story, but I might make an option to mix and match colors in larger numbers.  I've also listed some of the aforementioned clutches.  Our house is too tiny for all of these lovelies to just be sitting around taking up space.

You can find the Simple Sewendipity Etsy shop here or by clicking the link found in the Shop tab above. With this rainbow of colors, you know that I've got your kitchen covered ;)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

The Last and the First...

While the title of this post sounds like some profound novel in progress, I have my last finish of 2014 to share with you.  But what I'm most proud of is that it's also my daughter Sophie's first quilt finish - ever.  She is 6 and has been watching me sew for her entire life.  She's pretty crafty herself but the furthest we've gotten as far as sewing is her sitting at my sewing machine, practicing sewing straight lines onto paper.  But last week,  I got on a potholder kick due to a gorgeous post by Ashley at Film in the Fridge.  More on this next week, I promise! 

Inspired by the idea of scrappy rainbows, I had ALL of my color coded bags of scraps out and scattered across the floor in my tiny sewing corner.  Sophie sees all the fabric and asks if she can sew too - usually this just amounts to her taking her ragged safety scissors and ravaging the life out of fabric scraps.  Sure, I say...and if I'm being completely honest, I was only half listening and trying to stay in the zone.  Maybe a minute later, she asks if I can sew these two pieces of white fabric together.  Yeah, yeah, here you go....I mumble.  I zip it through my machine and back into the zone I go.

Five minutes go by and suddenly - in typical mom fashion - I realize that things are quiet.  Too quiet.  I turn around and see this:

I feel instantly proud - here she is armed with only scraps and a glue stick, making this adorable rainbow "quilt".  But also, in that flash of proudness, I felt that awful flash of mom guilt.  I was wrapped up in my own project, single-minded and focused...and this was happening literally a foot behind me.  And I was missing it.

Needless to say that the potholders were set aside and we finished the rainbow together.  It took all my self control not to trim here or smooth a rough and jagged edge there.  She was happy with how it looked and it was HER quilt.  Perfection be damned.  It looks perfect to her, so who am I to argue?

When all the gluing was done, we ran it under the iron to set things up a little firmer and I asked if she wanted me to quilt it all down.  If this was practice for her, it was going to be practice for me too!  I decided to practice a different technique in each color band - matchstick quilting in the pink center, pebbles in the purple, crosshatching in blue, meander (I stink, STINK at this supposedly easy style!) in green, ribbon candy in yellow, chain squares in orange, and a regular curvy back and forth in red.

Even though the backing is really dark and busy, I love how the rainbow quilting looks on the back :)

I did a very tight grid in the white background and a free motion sunburst in the block of sunshine.

Sophie says that she wants to use it as a doll blanket, but I added a couple pockets on the back just in case she decides to hang it on the wall instead.

My favorite part of this whole thing is that it was pinned up on my corkboard while I was deciding how to quilt it and Sophie wandered up behind me and put her little (okay, not so little anymore) arm around my waist.  "Mummy," she says.  "It's so beautiful that it makes me want to cry!"

Me too, honey.  Me too.

A Farmer's Market and Selfish Super Tote...

Have you ever bought fabric that you thought would be perfect for something specific...and then it sits in your fabric bins for YEARS before you finally get around to actually sewing with it?  Yeah, I know you have.  I bought this beautiful Brandon Mably fabric called Burlesque Brocade at Mardens at my first BMQG Retreat two years ago and thought that the large scale print would be perfect for a bag.

It is SO satisfying when you prove yourself right.  Bonus is that this bag is all MINE and I positively love it!

The last time I made Noodlehead's Super Tote pattern, I thought it was super easy to follow and made a gorgeous finished product.  If I didn't have to work in such stops and starts, I could probably bang this bag out in a day.  As it was with the littles, it only took 2 days from start to finish.  Okay, 2 years and 2 days.  But still.

I used my black and white Madrona Road text prints for the pocket binding, the handles, the gusset and the recessed zipper facings and I love the contrast between it and the bright print.

Plus, I got to fussy cut the binding so that my favorite text was prominently featured.  The pink geometric print is one of the Cotton & Steel basics that I got in a "berry" solid bundle.  It's such a great compliment :)

The interior is a complimentary light blue Lizzy House from the 1001 Peeps line, and the pockets are my bright brocade.  This bag holds SO much and has become my go to errand/library bag.  In two weeks, it has already gotten a lot of use!

We are clearly on another Mo Willems kick...

I still have a decent amount of the print left and I'd like to make a medium sized complimentary clutch that I can toss in the tote and then take out during small errands.  Anyone have a great clutch pattern to recommend?

So....while I was making one bag, I figured why not make two?  The annual SMQG Yankee Swap was coming up the first weekend in December and we were asked to make a handmade item to swap.  I wanted to get rid of some fabrics that I bought for something specific (again) but so much time had passed that my original idea was no longer necessary for our house.  I couldn't really see using these Alexander Henry "Little Green" fabrics in anything else, so why not "get rid" of them with a Farmer's Market Super Tote?

I just couldn't resist more fussy cut binding - food related, of course.  Besides, how can you resist super bright green lining and a kiwi green zipper?

But in making this, even though I love how it turned out, I think I majorly broke a swap rule.  I could have sworn that the rule was that you could make anything if it cost under $30...which it totally was! But then when I was all done and feeling quite proud of myself, I reread the swap post and it said a "small item" like pincushions, pouches, etc.

Oops.  Super totes are definitely not small.  But look how many groceries this bag can hold!

I felt very much relieved when several other medium sized bags were gifted during the swap as well.  Phew!  But this Farmer's Market Super Tote is living with a very grateful recipient and I hope will get used as much as my own :)

Linking up:
Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!

Turning Fail into Fabulous...with a Giveaway!

I had some really, really good intentions for a bit of selfish sewing.  I was going to make myself a super cute skirt with flair.  Two colors of tulle flair with shimmery fabric and Heather Ross Far Far Away scrumptiousness to be exact.

"Pattern?" I chuckled.  "I don't need a pattern - I've been on a clothing roll and how hard can a simple elastic waist skirt with tulle be?"  I think we all know where this is headed...

Looks innocent and cute enough while it's lying on the ground...but people, this was NOT a cute skirt on my body. I cut the topskirt layer too big so that it gathered way too much.  As if that wasn't bad enough, I cut the 4 layers of tulle and the shimmery blue underskirt not large enough so that the amount of gathering on those layers was just...weird.  Volume was not my friend here.  But honestly, I don't really know what I was thinking to begin with.  My bottom half doesn't really need any extra volume, so even if I had executed this properly, it still probably would not have had me looking my best.

This skirt was NOT leaving my house on my person.  But all that fabric waste made my heart (and wallet) hurt.  It was just too pretty to let sit rolled into a sad ball in the bottom of my closet.  After seeing some very cute clutches and bags at our SMQG Yankee Swap this past weekend, I went searching for During Quiet Time's Ruched Happy Bag pattern and went to work.

Fabric saved and a fail turned Far Far Away fabulous!!  Even the shimmery fabric got saved as a nice decorative detail.

I was so excited about the ability to make lemonade from my lemon skirt (plus I had a TON of skirt that needed to be chopped up) that I pulled a few more colors from my stash and started a clutch factory.

And hey...did you know that today is Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day??  How fabulously convenient!  I've made a few and I'd like to giveaway more than one clutch - just means more chances for you to win :)  

So here are the rules:  Leave a comment and tell me one of your fabric fails - or if you've been lucky enough to not have one!  Don't forget to tell me your favorite colored clutch :)  Leave a second comment if you follow my blog AND leave a third comment if you follow me on Instagram (@simplesewendipity).  I will ship internationally, so don't be shy if you're not in the United States - the more, the merrier!

The comments will close on December 12th at 8pm EST and winners will be notified on December 14th.  These would make a really cute gift for someone or (even better) a gift for yourself!  Can't wait to hear from you all and enjoy the giveaway here and at all the other link ups :)

Linking up:

Crazy Mom Quilts - Finish it up Friday!