I find myself in this situation regularly, and expect more of it now that it’s time to row outside again (See BACKSPLASH).  I expect swimmers have this issue with dampness, too.  I decided a better gym bag might be part of the solution.  I want one with good air circulation.   The two or three grommet holes in my existing duffel are not even close to effective.  I decided to steal a bag idea, and make a bag out of laminated cotton (waterproof) and pet-proof screen (airflow).  I bought my laminated cotton at Fabric.com and Olive Juice Quilts, and my pet-proof screen at my local Menards.

My first design was based on this tutorial, which I found on the Obsessive Crafting Disorder blog, by way of Pinterest.  While this tutorial is excellent, I wanted a slightly different design, without the flaps on the ends, and with finished seams, so my lycra gym clothes (or swim suits) wouldn’t get caught on the raw edges of the cut screen.  I also thought that pockets inside the bag would be a good way to hold sneakers, etc. up from the bottom, so they would get the airflow.

I spent a good part of our WAQG mini-retreat trying to make internal pockets for a bag made out of this pet-proof screening, and found it frustrating to work with, since the internal pocket layer kept getting caught on the seam allowance of the bag body, and  the screening is pretty heavy and not as flexible as I’d like.  I ended up scrapping my first attempt, and going back to the drawing board.

click picture for larger view

My solution to finishing the seams was to leave the seam allowances on the OUTSIDE of the bag, and to cover the seams with strips of laminated cotton, and to put a second layer of laminated cotton over the bottom on the outside.   I ended up ditching the pocket idea, since the extra layers of screen would probably reduce the airflow anyway.  What this leaves me with is the classic tried and true Boat and Tote bag shape, with a couple small modifications.

The straps are sewed to the bag at the base, and at the top edge of the bag, but they are not sewed to the sides all the way up the mesh, so hopefully this will allow more air to circulate.

I’ve also added some small nylon-covered wire clips on the inside, so I can clip wet clothing up, so it won’t be stuck in a heap on the nonporous part of the bag, and hopefully this will allow the clothes to dry out better.

Now, with luck, I’ll have less damp gym clothes.  Assuming I don’t leave the bag in the trunk of the car.   Baby steps, right?

The results, with quilty cutting surfaces

Tonight was my night to host Friendship Circle, which is a sub group of my local quilt guild.  Tonight, I decided we should do a small project while we caught up, and did some critique of larger projects.  I had seen this small pincushion on Pinterest, and it was perfect for us to do.  We all have done plenty of hand sewing, and it was a simple thing to do with some elastic, some bottle caps, and some fabric and ribbon.

With a hot glue gun, a cordless drill, and some scraps, we each made a little pin cushion ring in about 30 minutes.  We do a lot of talking at Friendship Circle, so you could probably do it in less time by yourself, but we had some fun.    Here’s the original tutorial that I re-pinned, by Jodena Lakey.  Thanks, Jodena!

click the image for a larger view

This morning I finished quilting the first of my Marine Series quilts, which is based on a photograph I took in Lake City, Minnesota.  It feels great to have this completed, finally, including the label.   I’m still not super confident in my machine quilting skills, but I’m getting better with practice. I do like how the trees came out, in general, which was my first attempt at “thread painting” to add features that aren’t pieced in. I will probably bring this to our guild meeting on Monday, so that people can see it now that it’s finished.

It's unlikely this label will get removed...

Here is a closeup of the quilting, to show the stays, trees, and railings.

click the image for a larger view

The completed quilt is 34.5 inches (wide) x 45 inches (tall).  This is machine pieced and machine quilted. Some of the fabrics are my own hand-dyes, but most of this is commercial all-cotton quilting fabric.

All of this was done with Aurifil Mako 50 weight thread, in white, dark grey, and brown.

Peas and Spoons Zip Bag

Out and About, by This & That patterns, Fourth & Main fabrics, and yours truly

Saturday was the WAQG annual bus trip shop hop.  I supported local businesses (quilting and yarn shops) in 5 different towns in Minnesota, and I came back with enough raw materials to keep myself busy for the next year, I think.   Today I spent most of the day in the sewing room, digging around through my stashes of stuff,  cutting, sewing, and pressing.  With the exception of about an hour and a half of time spent reviewing the owner’s manual, and testing, retesting, resetting, and attempting to reprogram buttonhole functionality, most of my time spent was creating new things, hoping to get ahead on the gifts for the holidays.

I made several  drawstring project bags for knitting  (thus the time spent with buttonholes, so the drawstrings have a good way to enter and exit).  I still have to find some good cording for the drawstrings.. Wouldn’t want to waste any YARN on that, would I?  Hmmmm… maybe some I-cord?  Another mindless knitting activity for a few bus rides. Might work.  Might not.

Oh, yes.  Back at the finished projects…. I made two zipper bags – one from a kit I bought at Fourth & Main Fabrics in Cannon Falls, MN, a place I’d love to go back to sometime, if I ever use all the stuff I got the first time.    The kit was for a pattern, the Out & About bag from This & That patterns, which I also got.

A great excuse to use last year's shop hop purchase

My second bag is based on the first bag, though I modified the construction some, so that there are no zig-zag edges visible on the inside, and I made the outsides of one fabric, rather than two.  By digging around in the stash, I found something I bought on LAST year’s shop hop- some lovely ribbon that goes well with the fabrics.

More veg on the inside.

Fuzzy Bunny says "Forza Aurifil! Only the best will do!"

Here he is reminding us that Aurifil thread comes in a lovely array of colors, and keeps the fuzz down in your sewing machine, since it doesn’t lint things up.

"I'm in Bunny Heaven over here with Ms. Linda!"

He knew he was among friends when he spent the morning with Linda, near her fusible bunnies and Bunny Hill Designs quilt pattern.  He enjoyed a position of honor, and was pleased her fabrics coordinated so well with his outfit.

Re-accessorized, prepared for the next Supreme Court session

And here he is in his rather somber judicial robe, preparing for his new docket of fashion critique.  He’s proclaimed that jewel toned batiks are preferred over pastels for the wedding quilts this year.

The layout.. all piecing completed (click for larger image)

There was much rejoicing, oohing and aahing amongst the retreat participants about the colors, and the way the circles just appear, despite no curved piecing.  I had several offers to take this quilt off my hands, in case the bride and groom didn’t like it.

With stops for a nap, and an additional 6 hours of sewing, here’s what I ended up with.  At this point, it was close to midnight.  I was very pleased to fold this up and save time for rejoicing in the morning.

The completed Faceted Jewels top (click for larger image)

I was then able to pass the top and its wide batik backing fabric over to Mary of Mary’s Custom Quilting, to do the machine quilting on her longarm.  Hurray!  Now with a label and some binding, I’ll have one gorgeous present for K & D.

I’m so glad I got to finish this amongst my friends, who’ve encouraged me, and cheered me on as I faced my block phobia, and my fear of written patterns.  I have to thank the folks at Glad Creations.  They do write wonderful patterns, which are accurate, and are obviously well tested.  And look at how wonderful those batik jelly rolls worked out, Carol, from Batiks Etc!

Loaded Cannon at Fort Knox

We did a little hiking on Mount Desert Island (MDI)

Overlooking Somes Sound

and had a few lovely meals, like a great lobster roll at the Quiet Side Cafe (mentioned here) in Southwest Harbor, and an amazing dinner at Primo, in Rockland  (A lobster poached in butter is a thing of beauty on many levels), which we first heard of on No Reservations on Travel Channel.  Tony wasn’t kidding.  The place is terrific.

Now that we’re back at home in the heat and humidity of Minnesota, I’m back to working on some fiber projects.  When last we left the wedding quilt, I was about to assemble the first big group of blocks.  That step is now complete:

Steps 4 and 5, now sewn and pressed.

This past week or so, I’ve been using Triangle Paper to make some half square triangles.  I think now I’m in Step 6′s collection of sub-steps, which involves making 72 half square triangles, then sewing pairs together, then making the following four-patches.

click image for larger picture

These are the centers of the next group of big blocks.  I’ve moved onto the next sub-step in Step 6, which involves making a bucket load of larger half square triangles.  I’m really hoping I can get most of the units assembled before the WAQG fall retreat in September.  I’m hoping that I can get the top done by then.  I think it might even be possible…..

With the assistance of my dear guild pals (whose job is to aid and abet in fabric shopping, get me outside my comfort zone in projects, and to of course, coach, cheer, and commiserate in the many small puzzles and victories along the way), I have now chosen the pattern and purchased the fabric and notions.  I’m ready to start diving in with cutting, assembling, and working through my block-based phobias.  I am prepared to confront my fear of interpreting traditional quilt pattern directions.   I have 11 months to finish this.  I have eleven months to finish this.  I think I can.  I think I can.

But enough talking- on to the eye candy and the details.  The pattern is Faceted Jewels, by Glad Creations, Inc. of Minneapolis. (Very prompt service using their site- I got the pattern and tools in just a couple days) My guild friends have great things to say about their patterns- that the directions are well tested, and the borders are interesting, etc.   M up in Eleveth, MN is the one who suggested this for  K & D’s wedding quilt.  (She made a Faceted Jewels quilt with batiks that was GORGEOUS.)

Yesterday I headed to Rather Bee Quilting in Lake City, MN, and spent a sum of money on fabrics.  I like the look of batiks, and I think they will make a suitably chic and modern quilt for the lovely couple who live in NYC.  Here’s what I got:

The darks and mediums (click for larger view)

The lights (click for larger view)

I am particularly pleased that I could get the pre-cut strips of assorted darks and lights, since the pattern calls for up to 18 different dark fabrics and up to 18 different light fabrics, many of which get cut into 2.5 inch strips.  I figure the assorted pre-cut strip packs have saved me at least 2 hours of cutting, as well as about 1 hour of time agonizing about which fabrics to choose.  (As I often say, if you’re going to be lazy, it’s best to be efficient!)

This makes me even more energized to get going on the quilt.  I think I can, I think I can.  I can figure out this triangle paper.  I can figure out the Tri-Recs rulers.  I am smart.  I was great in geometry in school.  I have a sister (a math teacher) who can do quilt border yardage calculations in her head.  I’ve got people.  I’ve got Facebook to send out distress messages on.  This is going to be a FUN project.  I can overcome my fear of traditional quilt patterns. The quilt will be pretty and warm, and I know K & D are going to love it.  That’s what’s going to be the best part.  Stay tuned. More to follow.

I love it when a top comes together.

Here is the top of the second Marine Series quilt, all pieced.  I will be appliqueing some identifiers onto the sail before I sandwich and quilt it, but this is the basic image, with all of those teeny tiny pieces sewn down.  It is approximately 36″ x 48″ in size.    You can click on this photo to see a larger view.    It’s not the greatest photography for seeing details, but I’m glad to have the piecing completed.  More and better photos to follow.

The business end of the boat, with crew

(Click on the photo for a larger view)

As I look forward to a local retreat, or gathering of WAQG members for a group sewing session next weekend, I’ve been putting together some of the tiniest pieces of my latest Marine Series project, tentatively titled ‘Dram’.  There have been more than a few moments this weekend where I’ve questioned my sanity, and what I was thinking when I did the piecing diagram for this.  I truly hope that all of the detail gives the quilt visual dimension when it is done, and not just a few more lumpy parts that could have been better simplified!

Perhaps a few too many pieces....

Ruth McDowell teaches students that by purposely making lines not match, they are less visually disturbing than by trying to match and missing.  I’m hoping that’s the case, particularly where the woman in red is concerned.  (Sorry, Phyllis!) I was trying to use a seam to visually represent one of the lines of the rigging that goes between the viewer and the crew, going from about shoulder level of the man in the pink shirt, above the waist of the woman in red, and about elbow level of the man in yellow.  Hopefully this will be more visible when the sails and boom are in place, (to the right of the crew, in another section.)

I’m pleased with how much I got done this weekend, given the tininess of the pieces, and the complication of the piecing order.  I will get this one finished.  I will.  Hopefully next weekend, with the WAQG friends!