A bookshelf gift

I have just spent the last couple of weeks shadowing a librarian in my local library as part of one of my college courses. I wanted to make gift to say thank you.

I thought some books might be appropriate for a librarian! So I set to making a mug rug using the bookshelf block by Don't Call Me Betsy. 

Bookshelf Block

I have a small collection of selvedges that I searched through for good book names. As a signature I embroidered my name and the year onto one book spine - the blue circle spine. It's almost visible in this picture.
After layering it I quilted around the books.

A bookshelf with book names

I used some just type (I think) fabric for the back.

The Back

The binding is a Kona solid, maybe teal or something like that. I did a single binding because of the size but I didn't do the mitre corners like I normally do, I now wish I had. I don't like the square corners that result from not using the mitred corner method. 

Binding corners

Here is the finished mug rug! It finished up larger than I had anticipated! But I guess the recipient could hang it up instead of using it as a mug rug.

Boy lunch bag

I didn't find a pattern to use for the boy's lunch bag so I made it up as I went!

These were the fabrics I had to work with and also some babyville boutique fabrics, oh and a lot of interfacing!

I started with the top and got this far before realizing I should have thought about how the ends of my zip were going to look not attached to anything! 

So I unpicked all the top stitching and the seams and sorted out the ends of the zip and reconstructed the top half to look like this:

Top half of the lunch bag

It took quite some brain power to figure out how I should attach the top and bottom halves. But after some seam ripping and much tea drinking I worked it out! And this was the result:

Outside of the bag

Inside of the bag

There is plenty I would change about this bag if I were to make it again, but it works! It's a little big and the zip needs a larger pull or tab (or whatever the right word is for it?!) to make it easier to open. He has attached a key ring to the zipper to help open it. He likes it and it works, so I'm happy.

It was also one of my goals for Q2 of the Finish along with Adrianne at

Finish Along - Q2 Goals

I think I did quite well last quarter with my ambitious to do list. I managed to finish 4 out of the 8 things listed. I finished 2 quilts, my first sew together bag and the Christmas gift placemats.

 

 

I did plenty of other sewing, but as usual they weren't things on my list of things to do! Always the way! Finish one thing, start two more!

Some things are being rolled over in the hope that they get finished this quarter:

1. The red and white double 9 patch quilt - still needs quilting! 

Double 9 patch

2. The pile of Whovian blocks still needs assembling, quilting and binding! 

Whovian Blocks

3. I remembered there is still a Christmas wall hanging that has been on the go for many years! Perhaps I could focus on this one for a while.

Friends for Christmas

4. I made new lunch bags for my daughters last month. The boy needs a new one too, I have the fabric but the pattern that was great for the girls is not really suitable for the boy so I have stumbled on some fabric with sports balls in a blue and orange (sadly no picture yet). But it needs to be done soon ... like before the kids are done for summer! :)

5. I am hoping there is enough fabric left over from #4 to make the boy some pj shorts. Why do kids keep growing! 

6. Something I started this month was some foundation piecing blocks. Not sure why, but I liked the pattern. It's Wild Winnie by Lilysquilts and was the block of the month in Love Patchwork and Quilting Magazine issue 19. I have 8 blocks done. I think this is heading toward a mini as there is no way I'm dedicated to piecing enough of these 5" blocks to make a full size quilt!

Wild Winnie Blocks

7. The Old Romance Cardigan - I made some progress on my cardigan last quarter but not enough to be able to wear it yet!

8. This one might not really count but it's going to involve a lot of sewing and some appliqué! In our family there is a beaver, a cub, a scout and a beaver leader! We have quite a pile of badges they have collected from the many events they all take part in. The campfire blankets were bought quite some time ago in the hope I might actually sew the badges on. All four of the scouting troop are off to camp in June, so I really should focus on this one and have it done before then.

Camp blanket badges

I think that's probably enough of a list for now.

Linking up with the 2015 Finish-Along with Adrianne at On The Windy Side:

New Lunch Bags

I made some new lunch bags over the spring break, for the girls to take to school. The old ones were really quite revolting and smelly and falling apart. 

The pattern is by Ayumi of Pink Penguin. It's a great pattern, so easy to follow and quick and doesn't use large pieces of fabric. I made 2 in two days, so it must be quick and easy if I can manage that! 

I had just enough of these adorable cupcake flannel fabrics that were perfect and some Babyville Boutique fabrics. These are water resistance so I used them for the insides, just in case something should spill it might stay contained, possibly!

Pink cupcake lunch bag

More cupcakes on the inside!

More cupcakes on the inside

Blue cupcake lunch bag

I still need to make a new bag for the boy, but I'm not sure this pattern really suites a boy lunch bag. So I am on the hunt for a more boy-like pattern or I might have to make one up based on his current bag. 

The fabrics are patiently sat waiting for me

I am going to make this my April goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes! It will hopefully make me get on and do it! Linking to 

Moderninstabee Quilt ** Finish **!

It's finished! My modernistabee quilt is done. This is the front.

The back is a couple of the blocks that were more off-white than white and since I had a large piece of off-white fabric I put them together with some aqua scraps. 

I quilted organic lines horizontally on the yellow blocks and vertically on the aqua. The sashing has a squiggly pattern that can be seen better in this picture.

Just one more of the quilting.

The binding is a light grey (Kona ash maybe!?!) with some more scraps of aqua and yellow mixed in to break it up a little.

And that is that. One WIP off the list :) Linking to 

This was my goal for March and so I am linking up with 

It was also one of my Q1 goals for the Finish Along with 

Quilt Stats:

Pattern (front): Triple Star Block by Lindsay Conner in her book Modern Bee. The blocks were made by me and the other ladies in the bee group - thank you ladies.
Pattern (back): Designed by me using a couple of blocks and some scraps.

Fabrics: Mine and the other ladies stashes!
Quilted: FMQ by me using a Guttermann cotton white thread
Started: July 2014
Finished: Mar 2015
Size: 60" x 80"

A Lovely Year of Finishes - March Goal

I managed to meet last months goal of getting all the moderninstabee blocks sewn together and basted! Yay! So it it now ready for quilting. 

I am still deciding how to quilt this one, but I am hoping it will come to me soon.

So the goal for this month is to quilt and bind this quilt. 

Linking up with 

Another one!

I made another sew together bag! This one here was the first one I made not very long ago! This time I used some of my favourite fabrics! Zen Chic's Comma. There's something about the bright yellow and green with the greys and whites. My stash of these is depleting, I so wish I had brought more! :( The plain grey fabric is a quilter's linen. 

The tutorial (Quiltbarn) suggests getting all the bits ready before starting! I would normally just jump in and start, but it really is so much quicker to prepare all the pieces first.

For this bag I wanted to do some embellishments on the outside. Some hexies! I love them, but I find I just haven't got the time to hand sew them very often. So these were machine sewn down. And then some 1/4 inch straight line quilting. I had envisioned a cross hatch quilting pattern, but when I got this far I decided it was enough and liked i as it was.

And here is this final finish.

And the inside.

These are really quite addictive once you've made one! And I want to try making the smaller version too! I'm thinking gifts for the kids!

A Lovely Year of Finishes - February Finish

My primary goal for this month (post here) was to get all my moderinstabee blocks sewn together and to create a backing, as I don't have any pieces of fabric large enough to fit the front!

The top came together really quickly. I added a sashing of 1.5", finished.

I had a couple of blocks that had an off-white background so I used them on the back with some scraps of aqua and grey that were left over.

I even managed to get it basted last week! Now I just need to decide how I want to quilt it! This is my usual stumbling point!

So I achieved my goal for the month! But I am still hoping I might get to start the quilting before the month is out!

Linking up with