Beach bags or grocery totes ?

Last Summer when I went to the Southbank Craftfair I made a couple of totes in preparation but never took any photos of it. I didn't sell them and have used them ever since for grocery shopping. A few weeks ago my lovely friend Leigh spotted them and asked me to make her a couple too. I was only to happy to oblige.

I made the bags from a laminated version of the 'Going Coastal' fabric from Crazy Old Ladies.

 

I used this tutorial which was very easy to follow. Sewing with laminated fabric can be a little tricky as it has a tendency to slip in the machine. It also doesn't like pins very much. But it was still fairly easy and I did not have any problems sewing the bags. I have read on many blogs over the years to which length people go through to be able to sew laminate (putting tape under the sewing foot etc)  but the solution for me was simple; I used my walking foot throughout the whole process. And I really don't think you need anything else (that is if you have a walking foot). By doing so the fabric went smoothly through the machine. Pinning is a bit of pain but this is a simple bag with a little pouch at the front and really doesn't need all that much pinning. The most I pinned where the straps. 

Last year in October Laurie Wisbrun sewed herself a gorgeous raincoat from laminated fabric. She used clover clips instead of pins and can you read in this post her experience of sewing with laminate.

What astonished me most with this fabric is how incredible durable the bags are and how much weight they can carry. This is after all normal quilting weight which happens to be laminated. When I go shopping with my scooter I have regularly both bags full, one hanging from each handlebar. And with full I mean heavy stuff, such as pints of milk, juice, apple etc., we are talking up to 4 kg at times.

And the bags are large enough also to take to the beach which is where they really belong.

A day at the beach II - a finished quilt -

The second installment of my 'A day a the beach' quilt is finished. It was such joy to work with those fabrics again and doubly so to be able to include the lovely vintage pieces my customer sent me.
So have a look with me !

I included the ships and liberal amounts of the vintage shirt in the front of the quilt. Isn't it wonderful how they work together so well with the 'Going Coastal' fabric.

I decided on a pieced back and used all the remaining 'Going Coastal' fabric :-(  (but the Crazy old Ladies are bringing out another stunning nautical themed collection in the next months !!) and also again some of the vintage shirt fabric.

I quilted in my customary straight lines  with varying numbers of rows, sometimes one on each stitch line and sometimes two.

I am particularity happy with the binding as it is a wide stripy number that I recently bought and I think it underlines the nautical theme of the quilt rather nicely.  The fabric is the navy cabana stripe from the 'It's a shore thing' collection by Jack and Lulu for dear Stella Fabrics.

And last but not least the obligatory photo of the finished quilt with its striking binding.

Let's hope my customer love it as much as I do !

A day at the beach II

Over the past two years I was lucky enough to have had a few commissions and I was doubly lucky that all of them were great and interesting commissions.

The most interesting one so far is the one I am working on at the moment. About 2 months ago or so I got an e-mail from a gentlemen who lives in the Mediterranean asking me if I could make him a quilt like 'A day at the beach' but a litter larger. He also asked if I would be happy to include some vintage fabric he would sent me, amongst them a few old Paul Smith shirts. Of course I was happy to include other fabrics. So the vintage shirts arrived one day and I was astounded how incredibly soft they were (well I guess one should expect that from a Paul Smith shirt) and then a few weeks later more fabric arrived amongst them those beautiful embroidered pieces and the appliqued boats.

So of I went and pulled out the remainder of my 'Going Coastal' fabric and started to work this week on piecing a quilt top and quilt back. 

I framed the ships in red and navy to make make sure they stand out in the overall design. The shirts were cut into squares and the embroidery pieces cut to size and scattered amongst the other squares.

I am so pleased how it turned out and how wonderful the vintage fabric works together with the modern fabric. And now I am off to the most joyous task of quilting. 

A day at the beach - a finished quilt

This morning after a seemingly never ending work week I spend some enjoyable time finishing my 'A day at the beach' quilt and I am very very happy with it. I absolutely loved working with these fabrics and really enjoyed every stitch of the quilting.

The front is is made of squares from the wonderful 'Going Coastal' fabric collection from 'Crazy Old Ladies' with some added solids.

Front

The back of the quilt features also a print of the same collection called 'Patchwork' Plaid. When I saw this print the first time I knew I wanted this one for the back of a quilt. I added a few blocks of solids to mirror those used on the front.

I felt because the quilt pattern is rather on the simple side that the quilt was in need of heavy quilting. So I quilted it in sets of 3 diagonal lines which did take some time and about five and half bobbin wheels ! It gives the quilt added structure while still maintaining enough drape.

I don't know about you but I kinda think this would make a lovely quilt for a boy. It measures 62 x 47 inches (or 157 x 120 cm).

For the binding I chose again a stripy number in white and red which gives the quilt a much needed frame.
 

 

I quilted in my favorite Gueterman Sulky but not with 1072 but instead with an ever so slightly variegated white green thread (no 4027) which worked fantastic here as it is soft enough for the back and bright enough for the front. 

I have listed this quilt in my Etsy shop !

 Lovely weekend every body !

A day at the Beach

.... or in praise of the humble square....

Remember my delight when finally the 'Going Coastal' line by 'Crazy Old Ladies' came out ?
That was back in September. One might think all the uhhing and aahhing about it would have led to quilt straight away but I couldn't make up my mind which pattern to use. Particularly problematic proofed the bottle tops as they are difficult to fussy cut owing to the lack of surrounding solid space. In addition I did not want to cut through them under any circumstances. So in the end I decided on the humble square.

I don't know about you but I do rack my brain to the point of overdrive to find the best pattern for the fabric and often think first of the humble square but then disregard it at the same moment because it is "to easy". And then after a while of trawling through flickr and all my books I find myself going back to it because it is the best choice for the fabric. And I think this is the case here again.
I actually think some of my best quilts are made of squares. While going back to look for them on my blog I found that I actually only made 4 quilts from squares and I always thought it was way more. My favourites are 'Sleeping beauty' and 'Hey Ho Sailor', which actually sailed as far as to New Zealand where it found a new home. What do you think about the humble square ?

Last Sunday after I finally warmed up a trifle I cut all the fabric and pieced the top for the most part (well that is another advantage of the humble square; it is fast and undemanding). I added a few solids because I can never not put a bit of solid fabric in a quilt. To jazz it up this baby here needs a lot of quilting, don't you think ?

Stash Note 28

I am not going Postal but Coastal for a change.
All Summer I have been waiting for this addition to my stash to arrive. I saw the preview of this collection on the Fat Quarterly blog one day and was immediately hooked.  The creative mind behind this fabric is Emily Herrick from  Crazy Old Ladies Quilts.


I have no idea why the blog is called like that but I can assure you there is absolutely nothing 'Old Lady' about this collections. It is colourful, fresh, innovative and vibrant. This isn't the entire set as I think Michael Miller have some trouble with the delivery but this will already give you a fair idea about the fabulousness of it all.

The bottle tops is my favourite print and I think this will make a wonderful quilt back,
don't you agree ?

All bought at Fabricworm.