Archive for the 'scraps' Category

PERFECT ZIP POUCH IN AQUA & ORANGE

Published on February 20, 2013 in patchwork, scraps and the workroom. 6 Comments Tags: elizabeth hartman, improv patchwork, perfect zip bag.

Here’s another version of the Perfect Zip Bag, the pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman. This is based on Style B, but I had to make size modifications so that it would fit my 2013 agenda. I based the colour palette on the agenda, which must be my colours for the year, since my new wallet is somehow matching.

Once I had determined the size for the pieces, I made a few improv patchwork pieces that fit the dimensions. I made a few mistakes with my calculations initially and had to add on a bit here and there, but since it’s all patchwork, you’d never know that. I’ve been missing my Sunday Patchwork routine for a while now, so I’m trying to find a way to get back into the habit.

This year I’m also trying to balance electronic organization with good old fashioned pen & paper. I have a bunch of good apps that I use to make lists (Things & TeuxDeux) and I just added MailTags to my Mail program to help tame my inbox. At the end of the year, it’s nice to have an agenda filled with notes and lists and little bits of memories. I’m making an effort to write things down, especially personal stuff and it feels nice to have that back in my life.

PERFECT ZIP BAG IN SKINNY LAMINX

Published on February 4, 2013 in scraps and stitchery. 4 Comments Tags: elizabeth hartman, perfect zip bag, scraps, skinny laminx.

I love to try out new zip bag patterns. I will NEVER have enough of them and they are always quick and satisfying to sew. I decided to try out the Elizabeth Hartman Perfect Zip Bag pattern over the holidays to make as a gift. The pattern includes 3 different styles and I especially loved Style A, which is more like a little clutch.

Elizabeth offers lots of variation within the pattern to either make the bags from one fabric or do do some patchwork. You can also add a handle/strap, which I thought was pretty cute. I’ve been saving my little bundles of Skinny laMinx canvas scraps and I knew this would be a fun place to use some. For the lining, I went with a colourful Liberty of London Bloomsbury print. It’s pretty cheery when you peek inside this bag.

The pattern is excellent, very easy to follow and I loved the details, like the darts at the bottom and the contrast tabs at the end of the zippers. It was simple to make and I’ve already started to make another one of this version for myself. This one went to Andrew’s mom for Christmas and I slipped a little 5 year Journal inside that fit perfectly!

FABRIC SCRAP BUNDLES

Published on December 7, 2012 in scraps and the workroom. 3 Comments Tags: city of craft, fabric scrap bundle, scrap, scraps.

When is a scrap bundle more than just a scrap bundle? At the workroom, these are more than just leftover fabrics that are stuffed into a bag. They are little time capsules of the workroom’s history.

For the past month we’ve been working on preparing as many scrap bundles as we can for this weekend’s City of Craft show. Elisa has been diligently going through our boxes of colour sorted scraps, cutting them up into sizable pieces. Ayalah, Rosalyn and I have been folding all the scraps into stacks that will surprise you as you peel away each layer to discover the treasures inside. As we’ve been folding, I feel like we are also re-living all the memories associated with different prints. We’ve put a lot of work & love into these bundles and unfortunately there is only a limited quantity. I wish we could have made more, especially since at the Spring City of Craft show we sold out of 100 bags within the first hour.

To sweeten the deal, each bag contains at least one, if not two scraps of Liberty of London. These are scraps we received from a local designer and we’ve never had these prints in the shop. I’ve also reached into my secret stash to divide up a half metre of Heather Ross’ VW Vans print. 8 lucky people will find a piece hidden inside their bundle. Even though this print is blue, it might be hiding in any of the other colour bundles!

We will try to reserve a few of the bundles for Sunday, but the majority will be available, first come, first serve on Saturday. There are only 150. Scrap bundles will be cash only.

We’ll have lots of other great items at our table too! Our wooden cross stitch pendants, fat quarter sets, patterns, floss palettes, needle minders, mini scissors, Soak Boxes, coloured baker’s twine, and more!

This is by far our favourite show of the entire year. We’re super excited that this is our first year having a table. To preview some of what’s in store – take a look at the beautiful look book designed by Arounna here. Can’t wait to see you there!

City of Craft
1087 Queen Street West at Dovercourt
Saturday December 8, 11am-6pm
Sunday December 9, 11am-5pm
$2 admission

IMPROV PATCHWORK

Published on January 20, 2012 in patchwork, scraps and stitchery. 3 Comments Tags: improv patchwork.

I love improv patchwork so much. Right now, I’m loving sharing it with my new Improv Patchwork class. Working through these techniques with a group is incredibly inspirational. I’m learning so much and having so much fun seeing what everyone creates. I made two blocks during class this week that I’m really excited by. Both of them are outside my usual colour palette, which makes them even more awesome to me.

I’m especially smitten with the pink and cream block. I can’t stop staring at it. I’m pretty sure this is the start of something bigger.

CEDAR NECKLACE + JEWELLERY BOX

Published on December 30, 2011 in accoutrement, i heart, local and scraps. 6 Comments Tags: andrew cloutier, cedar jewelry box, cedar necklace.

Can you believe how perfect this gift is? This cedar bead necklace came in a cedar jewellery box, both designed and handmade by Andrew. The necklace is so beautiful. I just love the lightweight feel of these faceted cedar beads. The box matches the other jewellery box Andrew made for me a couple years ago. The wood is reclaimed and has so much character, you can just stare at it and see a new detail every time. It’s pretty amazing to watch Andrew explore wood as a medium. Especially since he almost exclusively uses reclaimed or scrap wood.

Like I said perfect gift.

SUNDAY PATCHWORK #11

Published on November 9, 2011 in patchwork, scraps and the workroom. 9 Comments Tags: improv patchwork, sunday patchwork.

I was thinking about herringbone the other day and wanted to see what it would look like in patchwork. I’m going to try some more, but I’m liking this idea a lot! This version is very random, but perhaps more organized and with high contrast fabrics, next time? This block is still a work in progress. We’ll see where it goes next.

I very rarely plan much when I sew improv patchwork. I know that some people will draw sketches beforehand. But I really like to just see what happens. Sometimes when I set out to create something specific, something totally different will happen. Like the last block, for instance. That was not even close to what I was trying to do, but sometimes you just have to listen to what the fabric tells you to do. There are so many happy surprises with improv.

p.s. Look for my improv patchwork class coming in January. (!!!!!)

SEWING SUMMIT MINI

Published on October 23, 2011 in patchwork, scraps and traveling. 7 Comments Tags: free motion, improv patchwork, Lizzy House, mini quilt, outfoxed, sewing summit.

Here’s my improv patchwork from Sewing Summit. Half the scraps for this came from Amanda and the other half came from Lizzy, who let me & Katherine dip into her collection for some bits we wanted for our stash. I really like sewing with other people’s fabrics. It’s fun to sew with fabric that I might not normally use.

I’ve been a bit afraid of free motion quilting. Okay, ALOT afraid. So far all the machine quilting that I’ve done has been straight lines, using a walking foot. I mean, after all the time that I’ve spent putting together a quilt, the last thing I want to do is ruin it with some bad quilting. This is why I knew I had to sign up for the Free Motion Quilting class at the Sewing Summit.

Our teacher, Alison, showed us lots of examples of different styles of quilting and quilts that she had done. She gave us some tips and gave demos on her technique. Then we just had to go for it. We had quilt sandwiches to practice on. This is definitely the best way to learn. Practice on little fake mini quilt sandwiches! There was a lot of wonky stitching on my practice mini, but I really liked the look of the overlapping square pattern, so I kept practicing that pattern over and over. Finally, I just decided to just go for it. SCARY! If you look really closely, this quilting is hardly perfect. But it was really exciting to finally let go and stop worrying about how perfect my little squares are. From a distance, it looks pretty good. Of course, now I want to do all kinds of free motion. I’m going to stick to mini quilts for now, but I can’t wait til I am ready to tackle a larger quilt. Bring it on FREE MOTION!

CHAMPION RIBBONS

Published on August 31, 2011 in scraps and the workroom. 1 Comment Tags: champion ribbons, Lizzy House.

Oh boy. What an awesome week we had with Lizzy House last week! I can’t believe that it’s over already. I took a crazy amount of photos so I’ll be posting those over the next few days in batches, starting from the end and working back to the beginning.

We ended the week at the workroom with Lizzy’s Champion Ribbons class. What a perfect and fun Saturday morning we had. This project is pure genius, using bits of felt, ribbon, buttons and any other craft materials you’ve got lying around. Plus, I’ll take any excuse I can get to make a trip to Mokuba to buy fancy trims. What’s great about this project is that it is so playful and relaxing. We sat around the huge table together, making a mess, cutting felt, turning ribbon and chatting away.

To add to the festive mood, Andrea made a delicious spice cake that she decorated with mini bunting made from Lizzy’s fabric. So sweet! It was so pretty but we didn’t seem to have any problems gobbling it right up.

I ended up making six Champion Ribbons. My favourite part was going through my scrap bin and finding the perfect bit of fabric to cover a button with for the centres of my ribbons. I made a few for myself and a few for gifts. I think these make a special gift and I can’t wait to award some special people in my life with a Champion Ribbon. I already know I’ll be making more ribbons very soon, I spent the other night organizing all my trims into mason jars so I’ll be ready for another ribbon making session.

HAND QUILTED HOOP TRAVEL BAG

Published on June 29, 2011 in patchwork, scraps and stitchery. 9 Comments Tags: hand quilting, sunday patchwork, The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, Travel Hoop Bag.

No matter how busy I am, I make sure that I carve out some time in my week to sit down and do some crafting for myself. Especially right now, these little projects are keeping me sane!

You might recognize this as a Sunday Patchwork project. I had decided that the pieces needed to be hand quilted and made into a Hoop Travel Bag. I started the hand quilting back in March and I was finally able to finish it off when we went to the cottage.

Although I own a hoop bag already, this was the first one that I made. I had trimmed down my patchwork pieces to the final dimensions of the outside pieces in the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery pattern and followed the instructions from there. It came together really quickly and was so fun to make. It took me just over an hour to construct the pouch and I was almost giddy when I finished it. Sewing is good therapy.

I am doing more and more handwork. It’s perfect for trips, stitching outside, watching movies and hanging with friends. Right now I’ve got an embroidery sampler project, a cross stitch project and an English paper piecing project in progress. Ideally, I’d like to have a hoop bag for each of these. So, I think I need to make myself at least two more. (an extra one for good luck)

HOUSES! PROGRESS

Published on May 25, 2011 in patchwork, scraps and the workroom. 8 Comments Tags: houses, machine foundation paper piecing.

I took Victoria Day as a sewing day to catch up on working on my Machine Foundation Paper Piecing homework. I have just one more house to do this week before I sew it together and add my border before Saturday’s final class. I can’t wait to see them all come together. Take a look at how different and awesome Agnes’ and Suzanne’s came out. There is so much personality in everyone’s little houses!