bags and totes

I have made several bags and tote bags, and given many away.  These totes are about 15" x 11"

I just made this one for my sweet daughter-in-law.

Now some friends of people who have them are asking if they can buy one too.

I am now in that quandary about how much to charge. Most of the fabric I use for these is scraps, although I sometimes buy for a specific project. Like this one....the customer wanted something black and white, "art-deco-ish"....this is what she will get...  it is about 16" x 12".

It has a zipper pocket inside on one side,

and a simple split pocket inside on the other side.

There is also a slot pocket on the front under the snap flap closure.

All those little bits add up too....the zippers and snaps and buttons.
If I am using batting, it is just what has been trimmed off a larger quilt, but sometimes I use fusible fleece or buckram if I want more shape or body to the bag.  And then there is my time, which is hard to account for as well.  I do this because it is fun, and a hobby, not to make a living at it.
I have read several blogs about valuing your work, and charging accordingly, but when I worked it out these bags would cost about $80, which I think sounds pretty high.  I am thinking about $40.  What do you think?  Do you sell, and if so how to you calculate your price? 

"Mother Earth" finished

Although I don't usually work with batiks, and not usually with these colours, I really love the look of this quilt.

The fabric is a Tonga Treats "Sugar Plum" pack, with some extra coordinating fabric for the sashing. The pattern took me awhile to figure out .......then I found it already written up as a tutorial over at Happy Quilting!! Melissa has done up this pattern, called Sugar Pop and Change for the Moda Bake Shop, and I am sure that her math and explanations are way better than mine!!

For the backing I used an Art Gallery fabric - Gypsy Glitter.  I love Art Gallery fabric!

I also added in the left over bits of batik, for a band of colour.

I mentioned before that I tried out a new FMQ design- continuous eights. It was inspired by a great tutorial by Rachel over at Stitched in Colour.

It was easy to do, especially on this quilt that had strips to help with the spacing, and it went very quickly. I was surprised how fast I got the whole thing quilted!

Anyway..it is finished, washed and all comfy ! 

and speaking of mother earth....the latest bloom in my back yard...

Linking up this finish to TGIFF this week over at Quokka Quilts.

It has been one year

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Calgary flood.


For those of you who don't know, my daughter lives there....in the flood zone near where this picture was taken, and her apartment, which is sub-grade filled up to the ceiling with water, sludge etc. She lost everything except what she could load into her car on 1/2 hours notice.  She saved her puppy and passport and a few other essentials, but fortunately they were all safe.

This was her apartment when the water subsided.  That is the patio door/window lying on the floor.


This was the inside of her apartment once we got all the mess cleaned up... You can see more pictures here.


She moved back in after the rebuild in December.

It is flood season again, so we have spent a very tense past week as she watched the water level of the river near her house rise. She was a bit paniced as it reached the top of its banks, but the river peaked on Friday and I think all is well.
It was a tough year for her, but she survived, and as I kept telling her....it provided a shopping opportunity!!
Thank you again for those of you how offered support and encouragement....and to Patti for a beautiful quilt which I think she spent a lot of time snuggled up in this week!! (Four of my quilt were lost in flood!!!)

Hopefully the next year will be filled with sunshine and happiness :)
....and of course more quilting. 

Little scrap Play

After working on big quilts, it is fun and relaxing just to play with scraps for a bit!
I have been making string blocks now and again, using a yellow strip for the centre and then just really random strips of fabric to make 6 1/2" blocks..

Over time I have added to the pile, and it is starting to look like something now..

Not sure how big this will get....I will just keep adding blocks when I need a distraction!

And I also used some of my "crumbs" basket (pieces that are really too little to save, but I do anyway !) to make these little blocks. (Thank you Carly....you are right, they are kind of addictive !!)

I have no idea what this will be used for....but fun to make!

I also need to get back to my disappearing 9-patch..

I have to decide how I want to lay them out....
this....

or this???

I think the second one is much more interesting....what do you think?
This is not all the blocks, so it will be quite a bit larger than this.

And finally...a little walk around my back yard because my "Lady Slipper" has come into bloom!! This is my favourite most pampered plant in my yard.

Linking up to WIP Wed at Freshly Pieced

And TN&TN  

Continuous Eight Quilting

I am at the quilting stage with "Mother Earth" ...and found a great tutorial by Rachel over at Stitched in Color on how to do Continuous Eight FMQ.  I thought this would be perfect for this quilt!

Because this quilt is made from jelly roll strips, it made the spacing pretty easy.

I have not quilted into the sashing between the blocks yet.....not sure what I am going to do with them. I thought that I would wait until I got this part done and see what it looks like than.

So far it is going pretty well.  Every now and again I have a "squidge" on one of the loops....but you know what?  It really doesn't matter! Once it is washed I find it is always impossible to find those little mistakes !  That is my theory anyway!

Coming Home

I posted about this little quilt last week when I was basting it together. Well it is finished now!

I call it "Coming Home". It is made from Moda's-  Road 15 fabric. It has all these cute little houses, sign posts and street names all over. Just reminds me of a map to home. :)

This is a Charm Pack Cherry pattern  - a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop. Really quick and easy to put together.

For the backing I used Art Gallery fabric called "Indian Summer".

And the binding is such a fun print (another Art Gallery fabric!) called Carnaby Street.  I thought it added a real touch of whimsy to this.  Love it!

I got both these fabrics  from Sew Sisters Quilt shop. They have a great selection of fabric and some wonderful sales too!!  They are a Canadian store as well, which is great for all us Canadian quilters! And the postage is so reasonable. Check them out!

For the quilting I used straight lines, echoing the squares. I wanted to keep the quilting really simple for this one.

So it is finished and at home !

Linking up to TGIFF today over at Riddle and Whimsy! 

Basting Again

yes...I am basting again this week! I guess the good news is that I am almost finished a new quilt!

This was a batik "Tonga Treats" pack (like a jelly roll) in "Sugar Plum".  My daughter gave it to me awhile ago, and I have been taking it out and looking at it often.  I knew what I wanted to do, but had to roll it around in my head for awhile. ........and do the math......not my strong point :)

Anyway, this week I cut it up and sewed it together. I love the rich earthy colours, so used a darker background to set them off. I think this is going to be one that I LOVE!

For the back I used  something from my stash.  I had been saving this beautiful Art Gallery fabric - Gypsy Glitter for something special...and this is it!

I love Art Gallery fabric, it has a very special feel to it. So soft and smooth.

So....another one at the basting stage....now how to quilt this ????

And I just have to share a couple of  pictures from my back yard...I love watching each new flower as they come into bloom.....summer may be short here, but it is beautiful!

Linking up to TN&TN

 And WIP Wed at Freshly Pieced.
                                                             

New Gadget

Today is a basting day...I know it doesn't take all day.....it just seems that way. I do tend to spend a lot of time when I am basting a quilt together. I find that it is time well spent.  The more time I spend when basting it together, and smoothing out all the wrinkles, the less problems I have when I am quilting it.

This is my "Charm Pack Cherry" quilt top (free pattern from Fat Quarter Shop) , made from Road 15 by Sweetwater.  I think they are such calming colours.

And I am trying out a new gadget...It is called a Kwik Klip..

Basically you put the grooved end under the sharp part of the pin, and then just push the head down over the point to close the pin.

It does seem to make the process a bit faster. Still takes forever, but this is a lot easier on the finger nails!

I also sewed a little bag and wallet for a gift.The bag has a detachable strap, and can then snap right onto the belt loops of your jeans...pretty cool idea!

 I have seen a few of these around Pinterest, but didn't have a pattern, so made one up. I can do up the details on how to make this another day.

The wallet is from a tutorial I found on Pinterest (of course !)

 You can find it here at Modest Maven.
I took out one of the sets of card pockets and added a little zipper pocket to keep change, etc.

That is my Wed WIP..
linking up to TN&TN

and WIP Wed at Freshly Pieced