Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) Round 6, the Final Round

Round 6 is the last round. Emily of the Darling Dogwood Blog chose this final round and said this:

"I chose the kite unit.  When we were all discussing our rounds, I noted that Kathleen started the rounds with her first initial as inspiration and I am closing with the same letter.  On that note, if you decide that the kite unit is not for you or if you just want a different choice, you can choose something inspired by your first initial or Kathleen's first initial."

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to make for this last round. I tried making one kite block and wasn't feeling it. I thought about doing some more flowers like Dahlias, Daisies, Dogwood or Dresden Plates,(using the "D" in my first name) but nothing was hitting me. Then I thought what if I bent the suggestion a bit and used the first letter of my last name instead of my first name again? P for Pentagon came to mind and when I set the pentagons like I did it creates a flower shape. Also, a pentagon looks like a kite with the long tail cut off, right?😉So I made appliqué Pentagon Flowers and I really like how those look with the rest of my Round Robin. I alternated the center pentagon pointing up on half the blocks and pointing down on the other half to give it the feeling that they were dancing along the row.

Next will be quilting and binding this large square quilt. I hope I can do it on my domestic machine without too many swear words 😁. It will be a wrestle for sure.

Closeup of one Pentagon Flower.

Thanks to Gail and the other bloggers who hosted this SAHRR! I had a great time in creating my first ever Round Robin!!! I hope to make a few more Round Robins or even Row Robins (is that a thing?) to turn some of the quilt blocks I have into finished quilts instead of UFO blocks as they have been for years.

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Sew Powerful Purses #29-31 for 2025

3 more purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. I had 3 of these small panels of a tree with birds for years, so I thought it was time to use them in something, and making them into purse flaps was the perfect project to use them in. The purse body is that same African print fabric I have been using in the last several purses that I made, and I even added a few scraps of that fabric in the flaps too.

Red rickrack and some French knots make the panels pop.

Closer look at this cute panel with added rickrack and French knots.

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2 More Japanese Rice Bags for Holding Sewing Machine Foot Pedals

Two more Japanese Rice Bags finished. I used the last of this sewing theme print to make these rice bags, but I needed a different fabric for the bottom of one of them as I only had 4 squares left of the fabric for the 4 sides. Each have different lining fabrics. 

The squares were cut 7 1/2" square on the smaller bag and 8" square on the larger bag. Just a slight difference in size as you can see.

These are the last ones I will make for holding sewing machine foot pedals. Since I have the clear window pockets, I can place other foot pedals inside by changing the machine card in the pocket if I want to switch machine or if I sell or give any machine away in the future.

I forgot about adding the clear vinyl pocket to hold the sewing machine names, so I hand sewed these on afterwards.

Drawstring Kumihimo cords I made to close the bags. I also used only 4 cord casings on these bags and made them wider. I had used 8 narrow casings on the other bags I made. I think either work well for bags of this size, but I prefer the narrow casings for larger size bags.

Thread spool fabric lining for this bag.

Pink wavy checkered lining fabric for this bag. Sewing machine foot pedal inside.

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Danielle Patchwork Cross Body Bag

I made the Danielle Mini Bag not long ago and wanted to try making the medium size Danielle (from Geta Grama), but decided to make it a cross body bag instead of a tote style. I also had some patchwork I had quilted when I was making another bag last year, but I made a goof and couldn't use it, so had to start that one all over again!😛I wanted to try and save the patchwork that was already quilted, so I made this bag. It turned out nice, but I would have aligned things better if I was starting the patchwork from scratch. At least I was able to rescue and use what I already had.

I like the look of the tote bag I think a bit better than making it a cross body style. Still it works fine. I made the back the same as the front with the same slip pocket as the front has.

Side view of the cross body strap riveted to the side.

Front slip pocket (and same on back).

Divided inside slip pocket, with a pen pocket and 2 sections of larger pockets

Magnetic snap closure and zipper pocket with vinyl overlay.

Peeking inside at both pockets. I love that lining fabric!

Bottom of bag. Normally the bottom is not a separate piece. I think it works better to follow the pattern and not add a separate bottom!

I want to make another of Geta's bags next. I bought her bag bundle a few years ago, so it's high time I make a bag or 2 or more. Next bag will have a gusset, which I prefer!

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Sew Powerful Purses #26-28 for 2025

3 more purses completed for Sew Powerful. Two are selvage flaps; one with an embroidered appliqué bird patch and the other with a red shoe, and the one in the middle is scrappy pieced around a fabric that I appliquéd on. I have been wanting to use up some of those embroidered patches I have, so I thought this was the perfect project to use them on.

This is the same African print fabric that I used in the purses I showed yesterday. I was able to get 12 purse bodies out of this African print fabric to pair with different flaps that I made. I bought the fabric a few years ago just for making these purses to donate, so I am glad to finally use it for this cause.

All 3 purses have a back slip pocket too.

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Sew Powerful Purses #23-25 for 2025

I made 3 purse flaps using selvages from various fabrics. Selvages are the ultimate in scrappy sewing! They add so much interest and it's fun to read the names of the fabric line, fabric company, to see the colored dots that show the colors that were used to create that fabric print, to see a peek of the fabric print that I left on the selvages, and sometimes those colored dots aren't dots, but other fun shapes instead. I hope the girls who receive these selvage flap purses like them as much as I do.

All purses are being donated to Sew Powerful.

Selvage flaps with embroidered appliqué patches I sewed in the center of each flap.

Front pockets. Purse body fabric is an African made print I bought a few years ago online.

Back of purses with back pockets. 

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Bag to Hold a Laminator

I bought a small laminator about a year ago. I wanted to make something to put it in to keep the dust off of it. I didn't need anything too fancy, just large enough for the laminator to fit inside. The laminator is not too large in height or depth, but it is long and none of the bag patterns I have would have been quite long enough. I knew I would have to enlarge a zipper pouch, but I wanted handles to carry the bag and a zipper closure. I didn't need pockets inside or outside. As I was searching around on Pinterest, I found a pencil pouch that had handles. I thought it was the perfect shape, but I would need to enlarge it and so that is exactly what I did!

The Pencil Pouch with handles is a YouTube video that is free from Sewing Times. I like her videos on making bags of all kinds. The pencil pouch she was making has a slip pocket on one side and a zipper pocket on the other side of the pouch. I didn't need a zipper pocket at all, so I decided to make the front and back of this bag the same with a slip pocket on each side. By doing that, the handles would be sewn the same too. If you watch the video, you will see how she uses 2 handle lengths and sews the handle on the zipper pocket side differently than on the slip pocket side. While I didn't need pockets, I thought a slip pocket might come in handy and looks nice. 

I did make the slip pockets using 2 fabrics and the lining fabric I folded in a way as to give it a faux binding look at the top, which I like. The back side looks the same, except for the Handmade label is only here on the front.

Zipper closure shown here.

Side view of bag. If I ever make another of these bags (in any size), I would topstitch the end grab tabs. They are just folded as per video instructions, but I thought they should have also been topstitched too, so I made a note of that.

The laminator and cord inside the bag. There is a bit of wiggle room at the sides and a bit more room in height. Better to have a bit more room than too little, right?😉

The bag is lying on the back side so that you can see it better in this view.

Changes I made to the pattern/instructions:

1. Enlarged the pieces by 70% so that it finishes about 14" wide x 6 3/8" high x 4" deep. The original pencil pouch finishes at 8 1/4" wide x 3 3/4" high x 2 3/8" deep.
2. Made the slip pocket with a separate lining to fold at the top as a faux binding and made a slip pocket on both sides.
3. Made the handles the same length and increased the width of handles to finish at 1" wide.
4. Added interfacing to all exterior and lining pieces, with fusible fleece to exterior pieces (except for the pockets and handles, grab tabs do not have the fleece).
5. Did not add the zipper pocket outside.

Thank you Sewing Times for your all of your wonderful videos!!!

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Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) 2025 Round 5

Brenda of Songbird Designs gave us the Round 5 prompt: "To make quarter log cabin blocks. Half log cabin blocks are also acceptable, if you prefer". 

I made half Log Cabin blocks years ago, but wasn't sure what quarter log cabin blocks were or what the difference was, so I Googled it to find out the difference between the 2 blocks. Google told me they are the same thing, so like most quilt blocks out there, there is more than one name for the same block, and depending on where you live, the name might be different. Google said, "Half log cabin and quarter log cabin quilt blocks are the same thing". So there you have it.

With that in mind, I decided not to make them half or quarter log cabins, but to make them free form, no rules style using whatever width fabric scraps I had and sewing them using a combination of Log Cabin and Courthouse Steps (a variation) style. I love this way of making these blocks, since there are no rules and I love the look. I don't bother with using light and dark fabrics in a certain way as anything goes making these blocks. It's a great way to use up scraps too. The Round Robin Quilt Police 👮won't be coming after me for changing the block a bit as it is MY quilt after all and I did do a log cabin of sorts, so it's all good.😉

I first added a narrow border all around before adding the log cabin style blocks on the 2 sides. Next Monday we will receive the last prompt for round 6, so I will see what that block is and sew blocks to the top and bottom. Maybe larger blocks to take this quilt to a rectangle shape? I will have to see what the prompt is before I decide for sure.

I took this photo indoors and since it is growing in size, it is hard to get a good photo, especially on the floor. Once the top is done, I will have Mr. P hold up the top for a better photo outside. And he can hold it up again after it is quilted too, which will be later, who knows when?

First, I sewed a narrow border all around the top and then I added the free-form, no rules scrappy log cabin blocks on the 2 sides.

Go to Gail's Blog for the info for this year's SAHRR.

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Sew Powerful Purse #22 for 2025

I finally made a purse this month with a heart. In the Sew Powerful Purse Project Facebook Group, we have monthly challenges just for fun and this month was adding a heart or using heart fabric for Valentine's Day. This was a heart appliqué I had for years and thought I would add it to this purse flap that I made using circular decorative machine stitches.

Rather than making a scrappy pieced flap, I made the entire purse body scrappy pieced instead. It was fun to do an all scrappy body this time. I think I prefer making just the flap scrappy, but this certainly opens up new ways to use up those never-ending pile-O-scraps!😂😁😄

Donating this purse to Sew Powerful.

I made the entire purse body in a patchwork using purple fabric scraps. Even the gusset was pieced scraps.

The back and the back pocket are scrappy pieced.

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Sew Powerful Purses #17-21 for 2025

5 more purses finished. Scrappy flaps and all the same plaid purse bodies. One is a raw edge denim jeans scraps flap with decorative stitches.

5 purses to donate.

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Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) 2025 Round 4

Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts gave us the prompt for this week which is a "Sliced Square with Insert, for lack of a better name". The interpretation for this block is whatever you want to do. I had always wanted to try and make a block where you slice into it wherever you want to and add a strip of fabric. Some quilts with this method are called, Pick Up Sticks (or Stix), Sticks and Stones or other names.

For my blocks, I added 2-3 slices of 1-inch wide cut fabric inserts to each of the 14 blocks that I made. You can use any width of strips you want to add or even a mixture of various widths too. On some blocks I stitched scraps together to create a scrappy insert. The first slice was easy to do. The slices that cut across the first slice was a bit tricker to align the strip so it didn't look wonky. I did pretty well with it and only had to rip out 2 to redo because they were a bit too wonky. While these are not perfect, they look good overall and you really have to look closely to see a few lines that are just sightly off. I am glad I finally tried this method and the blocks do give a fun and playful feel to the quilt. I wouldn't do an entire quilt like this, but using them as an inner or outer border or along with another block is a fun option for certain quilts. I think it might be easier to just appliqué the strips in place or use ribbon instead of fabric strips, which is an idea for achieving a similar look like this again in something else.

Closeup of a few of the sliced blocks I made.

So far I am loving how this quilt top is evolving.

Click to go to Gail's Blog for all the info and schedule for SAHRR 2025

Two more rounds left until this quilt top is done. Curious what the next 2 prompts will be? Me too!

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Knit Bunny, Quilt with a Bunny Appliqué & Matching Bag

A dear friend of mine has been going through a lot these past few months. Long story, but her husband passed away and it took nearly 2 months from when things first started with him until he passed. To say her life has been an emotional roller coaster is an understatement. My heart goes out to her, her daughter, her granddaughter and son-in-law. I have kept in touch, but I know it is still hard for her to deal with. I am sure it has been so surreal.

I felt that I could do nothing to help my friend during this sad time, but I thought about her and her family a lot. I was feeling anxious and restless myself, so I decided that sewing something for her little granddaughter, who will have a birthday in April, was one way to take my mind off it all and make a little something that might be helpful for this sweet little girl, although she won't be receiving it until April. I decided to make a mini tote bag with a matching quilt and I would give her a little knit bunny I had already made.

The mini tote is a pattern from Geta Grama, called Danielle. Danielle is a tote that comes in a few sizes, including this mini size. I thought that would be a sweet size for a little girl to carry her treasures in. I don't know if she has any favorite color, but this print with the butterflies seemed sweet and girly and had lots of colors and the colors were just right for Spring. I chose the purple accent and a pink floral for the lining. I used the same fabric for a quick little quilt that I added a bunny appliqué on. She can wrap her bunny in the quilt and put it inside the bag and carry it wherever she goes. Plus, there is a full front and back pocket to put other things inside as well. No closure was need for such a small bag and no pockets needed inside the bag either.

The mini Danielle Bag measures 8 1/2" wide at the bottom, 7 1/2" wide at the top x 8 1/2" high x 2 1/2" deep. I purchased the Bag Pattern Bundle which includes 5 bag designs in Small-Large sizes, plus mini sizes too.

Danielle Mini Tote, with matching quilt with an appliqué bunny and a knit bunny. This is a perfect gift for a little girl's April birthday as well as for Easter.

Quilt has butterflies and ladybugs, along with the appliqué bunny.

Closer look at appliqué bunny.

Bottom of bag.

Looking into the outside slip pocket, which is on both front and back sides.

Lining in bag with my label.

Knit bunny on quilt with bunny appliqué.

The back is a soft flannel and I quilted it in a serpentine stitch.

The knit bunny sitting on the quilted back flannel side of the quilt. The quilt can be reversable if she wants it to be.

Snug as a Bunny in a Quilt. Bunny all wrapped up in quilt. This can slide into the tote bag like this.

I hope she will love this gift as much as I loved making it for her. 

I enjoyed making this bag and have plans to make a few more bags in larger sizes from the pattern bundle I bought a few years ago. The patterns are also sold separately too. 

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