Monthly Archives: September 2018

Extra Small Open Wide Zippered Pouch • 6 Comments

sarah • September 15, 2018

Bay Area Modern Quilting hosted a swap for guild members, due at today's meeting. The theme was Mini + Metal. We had to create something that was 6" or smaller... could be a bag, a needle book, pin cushion, mug rug -- the possibilities are endless. And some component of the item/gift had to include metal. This could be part of it's construction, or an addition, like needles in a needle book or pins in a pin cushion.

My head spun with possibilities and I decided this would be a great opportunity for making a zipper pouch with a metal tooth zipper – something I hadn't ever done. (This was a popular choice in the swap!) I decided to size down the small size Open Wide Zipper Pouch by Noodlehead and ordered 8" black zippers with silver nickel teeth and donut zipper pull from Zipit Zippers on Etsy.

I was making for Rhonda and wasn't quite sure about her style. I decided to pick a bold floral print from my stash to drive my color palette. The outer fabrics were all chosen from the floral that I used to line the bag.

My panels were 5" x 8" which was sized down from the small size by Noodlehead. The bag has a 3" box corner. The front panel features my Planned Improv: All About Angles technique. The back was a single cut from The Lovely Hunt Unicorn fabric by Lizzy House from my stash. (Since the bag was so small, the unicorn from the print wasn't included in this project.)

The final details was to create the zipper tab from the Lovely Hunt fabric. I chose to hand stitch it in place with running stitch using a 12wt cotton Aurifil. I always have a bit of a struggle to sew the tab on by machine. With the metal zipper I didn't want to attempt machine stitching.

I love how it turned out, though I might try making a 2.5" box corner if I make this size again. It was so fun to deliver the gift today to Rhonda. :-)

I'm linking up to Brag About Your Beauties.

Floating Hexagons: Pattern Tester Versions

sarah • September 15, 2018

On Thursday I shared the launch of my latest pattern, Floating Hexagons. Today I'm sharing the three lovely versions my pattern testers created. Like my Petting Zoo version, Laura also chose to use a colorful palette for her hexagons.

Anja chose this pink and red palette. I love her wishbone quilting in the hexagons!

And I absolutely love the color combo that Mary chose, Kona Berry and Cerise.

Floating Hexagons quilt pattern contains three sizes:

Baby: 30 1/2" x 42 1/2"
Lap: 45 1/2" x 63 1/2"
Throw: 60 1/2" x 84 1/2"

My pattern includes:

fabric requirements and cutting instructions in clear charts
detailed precision piecing instructions, tested and professionally edited
clear diagrams
three block sizes
a coloring sheet for planning your design
quilting ideas
instructions for creating binding
photos of testers' quilts for inspiration

Thank you Laura, Anja, and Mary!

New Release: Floating Hexagons Pattern • 4 Comments

sarah • September 13, 2018

I am excited to release my Floating Hexagons pattern. I originally designed Floating Hexagons in 2017 and worked with amazing testers at the end of the year. It has been a long time coming, and I'm so pleased to be sharing it with you today. I was inspired to work with solids, and I wanted to work with a block-based design with a twist, playing with placement of my hexagons to create interesting negative space. Floating Hexagons is a beginner friendly block-based design in three sizes.

Last month I shared my Petting Zoo version of Floating Hexagons. This variation features different fabrics in each of the hexagons.

As a bonus, you can choose to make five blocks from the baby or lap size quilt to make a table runner, as I did for Modern by the Yard for my Fall Fleurish runner.

A great big thank you to my testers, Anja, Laura, and Mary. (See their versions here.) Since I chose to change the construction method of my hexagons after my testers created their quilts, I worked with Sarah Ruiz for technical editing. She was fabulous to work with. I appreciate her keen eye and I look forward to working with her again.