Last Minute Fill-in

I was at the Crazy 9 Patch taking a purse making class on Saturday.  Class cost 30.00, handles and hardware cost 27.00.  Thankfully I pulled everything else from my stash.  I broke 5 needles because I used a pair of skinny size 10 levi's that I have been saving for 30 years to get back into. HAHAHAHAHA.  They even had zippers at the ankles-remember those?

only 3/4 finished-don't want this to be a UFO

Used the bottom of the pant leg as a pocket for a water bottle to stand upright-works  beautifully!

I don't use large purses but I always take a carry on bag when I travel-this will be it!  It will have black leather hardware with silver accents and a stiffener in the bottom.

So, back to the Crazy 9 Patch-while I was struggling over this purse, the owner, Martha, said that the demonstration she had lined up for Wednesday night for the Back Country Quilters meeting had cancelled and she wasn't sure what to do.  So, I told her about the Scrap Users System I was using and the binding tips I had gotten from Cynthia England and Sharon Schamber and she crowned me the fill-in demonstrator-so, this is what I came up with:

Bonnie Hunter's Scrap Users System:

2" and 2.5" now have their own drawer and are piled in color groups except for batiks which I have kept in one pile

1", 1.5", 3.5"(light, dark and neutral), 4"(light and dark pile)

5" blocks and 5" long strips for Nickle Quilts

Random strips

2.5" strips: Christmas, warm, cool, and nuetral

I cut off the label strip plus abut 1/2" to use for something sometime:) 

Triangles, diamonds, and bricks for flying geese

one reorganized drawer-pastel brights

Drawer not organized-still work to do!

Binding tips:
Sharon Schamber uses Elmers Glue to glue down her bindings before sewing.  I iron my binding over after sewing it to the right side.  Then I add a thin strip of glue closer to the crease than the edge and then iron it down-voila! A stabilized binding with no pins to draw blood.

I glue opposite sides first then the other 2.  I glue edge of binding 1/16th of an inch over the stitching line

Cynthia England uses the glue down but then added the stitch in the ditch from the front.  For many projects this method works wonderfully.  I have always stitched my bindings by hand, but not everything I make is an heirloom and I need that time for doing other things at night.

Then when finished gluing I turn it over and stitch in the ditch (on left) You can look at my last post to see the backside  of the Celtic table topper

The Rug Mugs above were pulled from my scrap users piles.  The cardinal was from an unused part of a tree skirt panel, the tree made from leftover triangles and the rest from skinny strips.  The strip to the right of the tree was a trimming from a Christmas pillowcase.  It took me all of 45 minutes to put this together including quilting and I am slow.

The back is 4, 4" squares from SUS (Scrap User System) and 1 strip.  The backs of the others were 5"squares and a strip-I like this one better.

Lastly, I am going to share the idea from the Terry Waldron workshop for a pillow back.  This was the dress I wore for 11 years-once a year for graduation when I was a counselor (we wore a cap and gown over it) this dress had the buttons in the perfect place to attach the awkward shawl.  Terry suggested a mans shirt for the back-great idea as buttons are all done-now I just need to make the front:)

Better get to work!!! Blessings to you today!

I am taking a 2 day class with Cynthia England.  She is a great presenter with LOTS of energy but at the end of the day-my brain wanted to explode.  My sewing machine was not working -my faithful featherweight.  Then I remember that Greg was looking at it to see how it worked so he could see if he could fix the one I bought at a garage sale. Hmmm. Anyway, the shop had one so I was able to catch up. I am going back today so will post what I get done next week. 

Went to a Grace Errea workshop last Saturday at the San Diego Quilt Show.  I learned how to take a picture and draft a pattern from it.  I will post my days work next week as well.  I came up with something I can't wait to start on.  Today will be the last of my process workshops.  I think I can stop taking classes (except for the ones I get to go to for free this year because of being program chair) and start using the techniques I have learned.

My focal point for the last 3 weeks has been to get Home Sweet Home completed.  I have 4 swags to stitch and a back to finish piecing before tomorrow when I quilt it at Quilter's Paradise. I will leave my class a little early today so I can get it done.  That will be a huge load off my shoulder's.  I didn't want all that work to turn into a UFO.  I will post pics of that too next week:)