Patchwork, Please: Week Four

I am loving making the fun projects from Patchwork, Please by Ayumi Takahashi. And I'm loving being a part of the sew along... Check out what everyone is working on Flickr.

 

This week's project is The Polka-Dot-Café Apron.

 

I started out yesterday making the patchwork

 

It was fun fussy cutting the centers. I also got to play with some vintage scraps I picked up at the Minnesota Quilt Show (they are the little squares in the second and third blocks). The yellow gingham in the third block is fabric my grandma gave me from her stash.

 

When it came time to put together the apron I found some canvas like material in my stash to use. Plus some more gingham for the ties. All done!

 

Or so I thought.

 

This more I looked at it, the less happy I was. While I posted the above picture on Flickr and Instagram and received such sweet comments, I wasn't completely happy with my workmanship. The canvas felt stiff. The ties weren't originally long enough to wrap around to the front to tie like I wanted them to - I cut them shorter than I was suppose to so I added to the ties which looked sloppy. And then my points on the patchwork were not looking to pointy in spots as my seam allowances were a little off. This also resulted in a wavey bottom where I was trying to hit those points.

 

My own worse critic, I suppose, but I wasn't too excited about wearing it because of these things. After the time put into the patchwork and loving that part I decided to rip it down to the three blocks and rebuild it.

Here's the after...

 

Here's what I did in the re-do...

A trip to Hobby Lobby today to find twill was the first step.

 

Then I added a 1.5" strip of fabric to the bottom of the patchwork so I could finagle a bit more to get the points without the pocket looking all wavey on the bottom.

And for the ties, I ended up having enough gingham left to cut new pieces and encasing the top of the apron in it to add a fun element to the top of the apron. Plus they are long enough to wrap around to the front and tie!

An extra - while at Hobby Lobby I found some measuring tape ribbon in the scrap booking section, so a piece of that was added for another fun element!

It was a lot of unsewing but I'm loving the final product! Worth the time and effort.

Now I'm afraid to use it in - don't want it getting dirty! :)

 

 

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WIP Wednesday

The summer is off to a whirlwind start! The sewing has come in bursts with distance in between sessions. Getting ready for Vacation Bible School at our church sucked up all my regular work hours and a bulk of my free time. I had to choose between blogging and sewing when I did get a few moments and sewing (or a nap!) won!

Here's May's Stitch That Stash blocks for Krista, a variation of the St. Louis 16 Patch. Love her self-described cheeseburger color scheme she's got going on!

Then it was time to break out my Patchwork, Please book by Aand make a Prettified Pincushion! (I always read Prettified as Petrified! Can you imagine some future civilization unearthing a petrified pincushion?!)

I very rarely buy patterns, and even less frequently books but decided I wanted to play along with Zakka 2.0 Sew Along. I'm so glad I got this book! Love the projects in here and have already made a few.

Here's a fun garage sale find! I'm sure some sewing notions will find a new home in here at some point!

Another Patchwork, Please project. This time a boxy zippered pouch, using some fun fabric gifts from my Stitch That Stash buddies! Thanks, ladies!

And then my baby turned 10. And he requested I make him a bow tie so he could wear it when we go out for pizza on his big day! He picked the fabric from my stash, I found a pattern online, sewed it up and then used Google to figure out how to tie the bugger! He looked so stinkin' adorable wearing it! Happy Birthday, kiddo!  Gah, where has the time gone and how can by baby be over 5 feet tall and wearing adult sized shoes?!

I found some time to sew up some more of my Stitch that Stash blocks and I laid them all out. I love, love, love them!

The first official project of the Patchwork, Please Sew Along, Bell Pepper Coaster which found its way to a new home with Krista's Bee Blocks. "Because even a beverage needs a quilt!"

Then my sister hinted that she could use a new purse so I made her a 241 Tote (Pattern by Anna). I picked up a painting canvas at Menards (the Midwest version of Lowes/Home Depot) and used that for the bag! It is sturdy and pretty darn cheap! I love the texture! Variations on the pattern - I made the strap longer because she wanted a cross body bag to make her hands free to keep up with her not quite 2 year old.  I also only put one zipper on the front instead of two.

Then came the actual week of VBS and my sewing machine was neglected, poor thing! But quilting was still on the brain as the Minnesota Quilt Show was in town! And there was a special trunk show with Victoria Findlay Wolfe being hosted by my favorite LQS, Hannah Johnson Fabric! Two friends joined me and we found her to speaking and quilts to be very inspiring! Love her idea of 15 minutes of play each day and "made fabric". I wanted to go home and sew, sew, sew but I had to get things ready for the next day of VBS!  Darn obligations getting in the way of creativity!

Her quilts are amazing to look at up close! Pictures don't do them justice!

One of my dear friends bought me Victoria's book, 15 Minutes of Play, which she autographed. While talking to her we learned she used to live in Duluth and only 2 blocks from where we live! A fun "small world" moment.

The next day was my birthday.  It was spent at VBS, then the quilt show for a couple of hours, dinner with family, and then my sweet husband surprised me with a gathering of friends at a new brewery tap room that some people we know opened in Duluth, Bent Paddle Brewery.  A good cold beer after a long week, surround by friends was a the perfect way to end my brithday!

Then it was the weekend and we took off to Minneapolis for some grad parties, some time at Mall of America, for the boy - Sky Zone (an indoor trampoline park), and of course a fabric store! SR Harris was my choice. It is a big warehouse and they have EVERYTHING. And a lot of it. Fabric of all types - cotton, wool, decorator fabrics, knits, dancewear!, trims, leather, etc all sold for 50% off.   It is piled high to the ceilings.  The place is insane and overwhelming.  And I only had 45 minutes.

With the time crunch, I began scanning the piles and these are some of the treasures I came across. Not bad!

Then came Monday. My day off. Son is at a summer program. Husband at work. VBS is now a distant memory. I had a date with my sewing machine!  Whoop!  Whoop!

I had been thinking about Victoria Findlay Wolfe's quilts, made fabric, and a Swedish Bloom quilt in Patchwork, Please. Time to start playing with my red/pink scraps, sewing a bunch together and cutting the paper pieces from this new made fabric.

There's no plan for this... Making it up as I go. When I got to the second border I decided to make the paper pieced leaves that we're in the book, but scaled down to fit. Figured out what size they needed to be, then drew up a new piece based off the book's pattern. Some used green "made fabric". It has been fun to see my ideas change as it comes together and running off in a new direction as an idea pops in my mind. Very liberating!

Can't wait to see where it leads me next!

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