Happy Halloween!!

Boo!

In Stitches Sew Along: Sept/Oct Patchwork Bag

This bag is the original reason why I bought this book. When flipping through the book, I immediately noticed this bag. What's not to love? There's patchwork, quilting and it's big enough to fit everything I carry around everyday. I was so excited when it was announced as the Sept/Oct project. Like usual, I procrastinated and waited until the last 2 weeks of October to start the project. To my surprise, I finished it in one weekend. I think making the Weekender Bag prepared me for how many steps these Amy Butler bags can take.

Since it took me so long to start, I got to see what all the other bloggers said about this bag. Everyone seemed to like how it was turning out, and that it was actually looked like the bag in the book. No wonky corners or stuffing the bag with clothes to get a boxy shape.

I decided that this bag was going to be loved. I went out and got Amy Butler's Nigella prints to make this bag. And I really do love this bag. I made the patchwork the same as the suggested sample in the book. I love the fabric and I really like how it turned out.

Of course, bags are meant to have pockets. So I added one.

Even better, I've already used it twice! :)

Catch up

Wow, I haven't blogged in a while! Here's what I've been up to:

Favorite quilts at PIQF:



And a few more on my flickr.
Here is what I bought:

CUTEST FABRIC EVER.

And this I bought to make a Denyse Schmidt "Day at the Beach" quilt like this one. I'm SUPER excited. When I found the template, I told the lady I was so excited to find it even though it's pretty plain compared to the rest of them and she said "Yes, that's pretty plain." Oh well.

And look what the nice people from Soak sent me!

Can't wait to try it out. I've been hearing good things about it.

And last but not least, June tagged me over a week ago, so here it is:

I'm only doing the name game since I did the other one before.

Tag 2: The Name Game

The Rules

List one fact relevant to your life for each letter of your name. Her instructions are “to write your own blog post containing your name game facts. At the end of your post, choose one person for each letter of your name to tag. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.”

L - Lacrosse player. I played lacrosse in college and I still referee now.
Y - Yarn. I started knitting back in my second year of college, and it's really fueled all the other things that I do now. I can't imagine that I'd be sewing, quilting or crocheting now if I didn't start with the yarn and knitting back then.
N - Naptime. I LOVE naps. Actually, I just love sleeping. I'm one of those that believes that any sickness can be solved just by sleeping some more :)
N - Nintendo. As nerdy as it sounds, I've been spending a lot of time with my nintendo ds.

Man that was hard. Why doesn't my name have easier letters? At least it's short.
Ok, I'm not really one for tagging, but I'll tag Kristine, Oiyi, Sara and Liz, although you guys all have good excuses not to do it what with the fire and babies and sucky october and what not.

Quilt + pillows = quillows!

I've always loved things that transformed into something else. Like popples. Loved them. Reversible bags? Great (as long as there were pockets). When I first heard about quillows, I remember thinking hmm... sounds interesting. I think I just like words that start with "Q". But a quillow is basically half quilt, half quillow. My friend Holly taught a bunch of us how to make quillows last weekend, and I finally finished it last night. So unfortunately for you, I wasn't really in a photo taking mood this morning, so here is what you get:

Pillow form

Quilt form (in it's natural state)

The best part about this is that you sew a pocket to the bottom so you can turn it inside out and stuff the quilt inside. But it doubles as a foot pocket. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's made from a single cut of fabric. While that makes it easy, it makes the quilt fairly narrow. About 41" for me. My dad already requested that I add on to the sides. Does anyone have a good technique for that? I think I'm just going to graft on some super narrow quilts to the side....

WIP: Sampler Blanket

I started this blanket about 2 years ago, and it's still being knitted. It's nice because it's knit in small squares, and it's easy to carry around. My knitting group has seen parts of this blanket many many times. Pattern is from Debbie Abrahams 100 Afghan Squares to Knit. I think right now I have about 68 of 99 blocks completed.

One thing that bothers me about this blanket is that I used Knit Picks Merino Style. Perfect match for the called for yarn, but it's not washable! Stupid me. Good thing that Soak exists now! Has anyone tried it yet?