Looking Back at 2013 and SOME of my Favorite Projects

Looking back at 2013 and comparing it to 2012 when I started quilting, my quilting and sewing skills have improved immensely.  I learned so many free motion quilting designs, I got a lot more confident and I allowed myself to explore with what I could do.  I have created a few collages of some or rather MOST of the projects I have made this past year.  Most are completed and some are still a work in progress, but mostly I am surprised at the amount I got done.  I am not going to go into too much detail of each of them, but I have included links to the blog posts if you'd like to read more about them.  Some did not make its way here, but I hope you enjoy seeing a few of my favorites.  I've grouped them into quilts, bags, crochet projects, mini quilts and fabric postcards...oh and some of my handmade Christmas gifts too.

Karli's Quilt   *   Gone Golfing, Back Maybe   *   Disappearing Four Patch Baby Quilt     *     Re-purposed Flannel Baby Quilt   *   Asymmetrical Half Square Triangle Quilt

Quilted Tote Bag   *   African Flower Crochet Bag (Small)   *   African Flower Crochet Bag (Large)   *   Charlotte Bag   *   Re-purposed Denim Bag   *   Tote Bag

Crochet Head Band   *   Clamshell Crochet Blanket WIP   *   Pansy Doily   *   Sunburst Granny Square   *  Doilies   *   Chevron Crochet WIP

Quilted Cushions   *   Mini Valentines Quilt   *   Feather Mini Quilts   *   Bright Quilted Cushions   *   Dresden Mini Quilt

Fabric Postcards as part of a world wide swap on Facebook.

Handmade Christmas gifts, the book cover tutorial can be found here.

This past year I enrolled to quite a few BOM's, and quilt alongs, but for some reason I was just not as committed I thought would be, I quickly lost interest and strangely it was not as much fun as I thought it would be.  Sure I would still like to finish what I've started, but I decided to not take it too seriously.  

As for 2014, I will go with the flow.  I have only one goal set out, and that is to design and write my own quilt patterns.  If I only do ONE for the year, I will be happy.  The idea is to have fun with it , so we'll see...

Thanks to each and everyone of you for following along this past year, I hope you will visit regularly.  It is going to be a great one, I know it!

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A little reminder, my anything goes mondays linky party will resume on Monday 6 January 2014.  Hope to see you then.  Happy new year!!!

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Re-purposed Denim Bag

This year I've decided to make a few handmade gifts instead of store bought for Christmas.  I've learnt quite a few techniques this past year and decided that this year I will finish off with a bit of creative fun.  This little re-purposed denim bag screams FUN!  Perfect for a fun little lady :-)

I made this little bag from old denim I had stacked away for exactly this purpose, I just never got around to making something with it.  So yesterday morning I started playing around with some strips of fabric, lace, buttons and ric-rac.  

I liked making this bag, having the freedom to go with whatever felt right felt strange but was great fun.  I am used to following along a pattern or at least having a set plan of what I wanted, so this was a strange experience mixing and playing with different elements.  The last finishing touch I added was the butterfly  I appliqued with a satin stitch.  I think it really blends in well with the rest of the bag.

Initially when I started out with the bag panels I wanted to finish it off a drawstring , but when I had the bag assembled ready to sew in the lining I changed my mind.  It being denim I thought it would be too heavy pulling the bag open and closed, so I decided to rather insert a magnetic clip.

 I had the button wholes already sewn in, so I just added a little knot to finish it off.  The finished dimensions are 14½ inches wide, 10½ inches high and the boxed width is 6 inches wide.

I am certain the recipient of this bag will love it...  :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

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Shhh.. its a secret, AGAIN!

I joined in round two of the Secret Tote Bag Swap, and this time we had a theme, 'nature'.  It could be anything from animals, flowers, trees, seasons, sceneries or anything we could think of associated with nature.

Once the signups were closes and I received my partners info, I got excited at her preferences.  Lucky for me, she is not fussy, and one of her likes was crochet bags.  So I immediately jumped at the opportunity to try and make a crochet bag.

It was much simpler to make than I originally thought, and I would love to make another for myself.  To make the African Flowers I used Heidi Bears tutorial, and for the rest of the bag I used Gunilla Karlsson's pattern I found on Ravelry.

I added three pockets to the bag lining, which by the way is a piece of 'recycled' table cloth, I hope my partner will forgive me for using that, but the colour fit the bag perfectly, its strong and will definitely handle a lot of wear and tear.

This bag is very big, measuring 19½ inches high, 16 inches wide at the bottom, and when the drawstring is completely pulled together it measures 9 inches wide.

The only thing I am a bit concerned about is the strap.  My partner wanted a long strap to carry the bag across her body over her shoulder, but I fear it might be too long. I tied a knot at the top, for the purpose of taking photos, but think it looks pretty this way too, so should the strap be too long the knot works well too... I think?

'Partner, I really hope you like your bag!  It was a pleasure to make...'

If you'd like to see the bag I made in Round 1 of the Secret Tote Bag Swap, click HERE.

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Charlotte Bag

I decided to take part in the 2nd round of Lia's Handmades Secret Tote Bag Swap, and on her flickr group we each have the opportunity to show what styles of bags we like, well... After going through some of the mosaics I found a bag pattern by Geta's Quilting Studio that I liked so much, I immediately bought the pattern and made one for myself.  The pattern comes in three different sizes, this one I made is the medium size bag. 

I've added pockets on both sides of the inside lining, big enough to hold small notebooks, a pen and cell phone.

The instructions are very easy to follow with a lot step by step pictures, so inserting this zipper for the outside pocket was surprisingly very easy.  I don't know why I am so afraid of sewing zippers, at first when I read through the pattern I though of leaving this step out, but I'm glad I decided to take the plunge... I even learnt how to sew in a magnet clip.

Happy sewing.

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Quilted Baby Diaper Bag

This week I had yet again the opportunity to quilt something for a baby, but this time I made a quilted diaper bag for a friend's sister who is expecting a baby boy.  When she told me about it, I immediately wanted to try another bag.  

I really enjoy making bags.  Without a guide or pattern to follow along it can get tricky, but that is exactly what like.  I quilted all the panels with stippling, and made fusible applique letters for his name, and satin stitched them to secure it in place.

This bag is rather large, which I think is its best feature, for working Moms who has to carry a lot of baby stuff to and from home its ideal.  I also added pockets on either side of the bag. 

The bag's dimensions are 19 inches (48cm) wide, 13 inches (33cm) high, and the depth is 6 (24cm) inches.  I think I want one too, for my crochet WIPs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy quilting.