Raw Edge Art Quilt #2 & Small Art Quilt too

Here is another quilted raw edge art quilt I made that I mounted on an artist board. On this one I added a fabric border, plus embellishments of buttons, appliqué flowers, yarn couching, organza and mesh. I quilted it in a waves in both horizontal and vertical directions, as I also did when I couched the yarn in those directions too. Similar, but slightly different look from the one I posted yesterday.

I also made a small piece (scroll down to see it) that is about postcard size. Both of these will be on display at the Corrales Library too all January. More to share tomorrow as well.

16" x 20".

Closer look.

I love sewing buttons and creating a flower in the button holes.

The shiny organza adds a nice bling punch.

This small piece is about postcard size. I added tulle over the piece. a few crystals were added and some sparkly yarn bits. 

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"Oh Happy Day": Raw Edge Batik Art Quilt

I named this fiber art piece, Oh Happy Day, as it made me happy to create this piece. It is a happy mix of fibers that I quilted and mounted on an artist board. I added embellishments like buttons, couched yarn, bits of mesh netting, organza bits and crystals. 

This and some other fiber arts that I created will be on display at the Corrales Library the month of January, along with others who have submitted their fiber art pieces. There will be quite a variety of fiber art: knitting, hand embroidery, quilts, Hardanger and more. Some pieces will be for sale by the artist and some are not for sale, but just on display. I have a few more items that I have made that I will be sharing here on my blog this week for you to see what I have put in the show. I have my work for sale.

There will also be a one day artist reception and I will be bringing some of my bags to set up on a table to sell there as well, since they couldn't be hung in the show. This is the first time our stitch group will be displaying our work in a show, so I hope it goes well. We might do it again if it is well received. 

This piece measures 16" x 20".

Closeup of the quilting, buttons, crystals and yarn couching.

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Flannel Pocket Bear

I have seen a lot of cute pocket dolls online, mostly knit dolls. That got me thinking about making some, but knitting small things like dolls and animals can be rather fiddly to knit and put together, even if it is knit in one piece, rather than lots of tiny pieces. So what if? What if I made a simple sewn bear instead? It uses less material than a larger bear and scraps can be used. I have lots of miscellaneous scraps of flannel fabric on hand, so here is my cute little flannel pocket bear. Ta da!

He looks larger in the photo because of the closeup photo, but he measures 4 1/2" wide (from the tip of his paw to the tip of the other paw) x 5 1/4" tall (from the foot to the tip of his ear). I think he turned out rather cute for a first try in making him smaller. I do need to perfect the eyes. I used white felt and French knots, which works, but I need to make sure I get the size right and the colors right for future bear eyes. I could sew on buttons, but if a child under 3 years old gets one of these bears, buttons do pose a chocking hazard and I don't want that! I made a second bear, but the eyes turned out a bit odd or even creepy looking and I cannot have that, so need to work on the eyes to find a better solution. I know there are safety eyes sold, but not sure how small they go and how they would look on this bear? Plus, I want to use what's on hand and not buy anything as that is one of the ideas behind making this bear.

I used Warren the Charity Bear pattern to make this in a reduced size. Don't ask me how much I reduced it as I cannot remember 😜. I have made Warren before in full size and 2 reduced sizes, but not reduced this much. He is cute in any size. Polar Fleece is another fabric that can be used too for a soft cuddly bear.

I most likely will make a few more to donate, once I make the eyes how I like them.

Made using flannel fabrics. Hand blanket stitched the appliqué pieces.

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Japanese Rice Bag (large size)

I have been making some Japanese Rice Bags for holding my various sewing machine foot pedals and cords, etc. That way those items stay together when I switch machines, which I do from time to time. I needed an extra large bag to hold the large foot pedal for my Elnita machine. It came with a small foot pedal, but that foot pedal that came with the machine seemed too tall and it was hard to sew for long. This extra wide and lower foot pedal cost extra to buy, but was worth it as I can sew more comfortably using it. 

I don't understand why some sewing machine brands nickel and dime you on certain items instead of just including them with the machine in the first place. This machine is a made with the quilter in mind, yet it only came with free motion quilting feet (3 different ones) and no walking foot. I had to buy the larger foot pedal, a knee lift, a walking foot, a button sewing foot, an open toe foot for appliqué. It did come with an appliqué foot, but it has a bar across it, which makes seeing more difficult when doing appliqué. (Who designs these machines? Certainly not someone who appliqués)! So while the machine itself cost less than other machines that came with all those things and more, the price was still a lot less than the machines with more bells and whistles that I wouldn't use. I suppose by not including those extras, it appears to be an even better deal at first look? Sorry, I got carried away. On to the bag!

I quilted the bag with narrow vertical quilting lines. I made 2 Kumihimo cords for the drawstrings. Kumihimo is a Japanese braiding technique and I thought it not only looked good with these rice bags, but I got to use up some ribbon and other miscellaneous yarn I had on hand in the process of making the cords too. Yay!

Sure looks like a deep bag looking down into it empty.

Inside the bag I placed the foot pedal, cord, knee lift and plastic stitch chart that fits onto the machine showing what number and mode to select for each stitch. I cut a pool noodle to slip over the end of the knee lift so that it is more comfortable to use. Don't you love all the stuff you can do with a cheap pool noodle? I do, and I don't even have a pool! 😄

In the photo above, you couldn't see the extra large foot pedal, so here it is. Now you can see why I needed a large bag to fit it.

Drawstring here is cinched closed.

I added a clear vinyl window and inserted the name of my sewing machine in the window. I could insert a different machine name in the window if I ever wanted to use this bag with a different sewing machine.

Here is the pretty bag bottom. I only had enough of the exterior fabric to cut 4 squares, but 5 squares are needed to make a rice bag for the exterior and 5 for the interior lining too. So, since the bottom is rarely seen, I chose to use this print for the bottom, which really is perfect as if you look closely at the cute exterior print of the bias tape packages, one of them has a red check just like this. I also repeated this print by using it for the drawstring tabs.

You can make each of the 4 sides of the bag in different fabrics, or make each side artsy using hand or machine stitches, appliqué, patchwork, etc. I have seen lots of great looking rice bags out there online. But for my purposes, I didn't need anything fancy to hold my sewing machine pedal and cord.

I still have a few more of these rice bags to make for some of my other machines too. I have mostly vintage machines and I wanted a bag for each of them too. I just need to cut out the material and quilt them. I have been using my sewing theme fabrics for these bags, if you have been following my other post I shared for 2 rice bags I had shared a while back. 

Happy Sewing in the New Year!!!

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Charm Squares Table Topper

Back in September, I made this patchwork quilted table topper or runner, using a partial charm pack that I got from a de-stash sale several years ago. I loved the prints in the charm pack, but had no idea what to do with them, since it wasn't a full package and I wanted these prints to stand out and not get lost adding other fabrics to them. So I made this and quilted it. It doesn't really fit on any table in my house, so I may see how it looks on the top of my dresser, if it fits there at all? I will have to see.

Topper measures  18" x 27".

I did some simple wavy line quilting across the topper.

The prints in some of these fabric looks like stamping with ink or paint. Like the orange one above remind me of a potato masher with the gridded lines. I don't know the name of this fabric line or what fabric company made it or even how old the fabric is. 

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Appliqué Santa Gnome with Tree Wall Quilt & Reindeer Cat Appliqué Wall Quilt

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah & Happy New Year!!! 

Or have a happy whatever you celebrate during this winter season.

Here are a couple of Christmas wall quilts I made. They have been in a gift shop for a while now, but haven't sold 😢. Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. If I make anything next year for the shop during Christmas time, I will either stick to snowmen theme only or Southwest theme (but not holiday). Maybe people have way too many decorations already and are just looking for gifts, not decor? It is so hard to know, so I need to make things that I can donate if they don't sell, like lap quilts and baby quilts, but not wall quilts. I am still learning, but trends do change and it's hard to know what people want in the first place 😜. 

This wall quilt measures 14" wide x13 1/2" high.

13 1/2" wide x 13 3/4" high

Meowy Christmas. 

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Scrappy Log Cabin Free Form Pieced Quilt~ Project Linus Donation

Lots of variety in the scraps I used for this quilt. I tend to make a one or 2 color scrappy quilt usually, but then there are those fabrics that have 3 or more colors in each print, so it's time to use those all in one quilt for a colorful and wild scrappy quilt. There is Halloween prints, Southwest prints, African print, florals and more in this quilt. I had donated this quilt months ago to Project Linus, but hadn't shared it (I have a few more to share as well soon).

Quilt measures 42" wide x 47 1/2" high.

So scrappy!!!

Closeup.

Closeup.

Closeup.

Flannel llama print backing.

Closeup of the flannel llama print backing.

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Sew Powerful Purses #355-367 (2024). The Last Purses for This Year!

These are the last purses I made for this year to donate to Sew Powerful. A grand total of 367 purses made in 2024!!! That's just over a purse a day!!! I am pooped and tired of sewing these as I really made a lot this month, so I am switching gears and will be finishing some UFO quilts that I started a while ago. Hopefully I will get those quilts all done before starting back on the purses. But it all depends on what mood I am in and what I feel like sewing on.

Here are the last 13 purses I made for this year. I packed them up along with other purses already in the box and mailed 100 more purses to Sew Powerful on December 10th. 

2 selvage flap purses.

2 upcycled denim jean purses. I made these with raw edges and lots of quilting to hold the pieces together. I was experimenting with these, since piecing denim the traditional way creates such thick seams! The embroidery of the birds was from some denim scrap for cut up jeans I was given. I think I will experiment with doing the raw edge with decorative machine stitches on the flap only next time.

The front pockets I made in the same raw edge/quilted way.

The back pockets are also raw edge and quilted. 

Decorative stitches flap with added rickrack and couched yarn. I upcycled a hand dyed linen shirt that I wore a lot, but sadly had worn thin under the arms, so I turned it into a purse. Scrappy batik pieced flap on the right.

Closeup of the decorative stitches and rickrack.

The hand dyed shirt purse on the left.

On the back I used the front pocket from the hand dyed shirt and created a back pocket that has the little pocket on top.

5 purses with appliqué stars and scraps sewn around the star blocks.

The backs with pockets.

1 more selvage flap and a pieced 9-patch on point with scraps around it.

Upcycled denim jeans on the right.

The denim pocket from the upcycled jeans to make the right purse.

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