I changed a couple of things when I made it this time and if I make another one I will change several more things. I love pockets, but this one has back to back pockets that don’t seem to work for me. If I put items in the outside pockets there really isn’t space for items in the inside pockets.

I decided that my Note Taker cover was a little boring so I pieced a few extra pieces of fabric to the cover to add some interest. I also added a polymer clay button that I created to coordinate with the fabric.

These are some quick photos taken at my recent Guild meeting.

We got together from about 10 to 3 the first day and were able to get the outside of the bags done. On our second day we each finished our bags. We all left out the center pocket, but 2 of us created a pocket that we can put in or take out of the bag. I originally was planning to put in the center pocket, but changed my mind at the last minute. Since I had already created the pocket I  just put on a binding to cover the raw edges instead of sewing it into the bag.

For this bag I started with white on white and black & white fabric that I dyed. This created some fun fabrics to work with. I also used 3 different fabrics for the exterior of the bag. I find it fun to make some of the pockets an accent color.

I generally like to work with smaller pieces of fabric. I find that I get the type of modeling that I like best working in 1 yard or smaller pieces, so I wasn’t sure how this would work out. I was pretty careful about my process. I wanted to make sure that I got full coverage of the brown dye on all the fabric.

I put the fabric in a bucket on the counter and I set a punch bowl in my sink. I slowly started to pull one end of the fabric out of the bucket and into the punch bowl. As I did, I poured some of the dye into the punch bowl. I scrunched the fabric around in the dye until it was completely covered. I continued to feed fabric out of the bucket and into the punch bowl working the fabric in the dye. When the dye got low, I just added more dye to the punch bowl. I continued this process until all the fabric and dye was in the punch bowl.

Once the fabric was completely saturated with dye I placed it in a bucket to batch. I poured the dye from the punch bowl over the fabric in the bucket. I let this batch for 24 hours before I began rinsing.

Since this was a high thread count fabric, it doesn’t fray much. After washing and ironing the fabric, I just put it on the table. Raw edges and all. They have a nice soft edge to them, that looks fine to me. I think I will keep this tablecloth around for the next year or so to see if the large dinner gatherings continue.

With a fun new tablecloth I really wanted to finish some placemats that I started back in 2005 that I never finished. They were all pieced with scraps, but they didn’t have backs or quilting done. While I was dying the tablecloth I also put some fabric in black dye to use for the backing of the placemats. I have made placemats in the past that had no batting in the middle. I really liked the flat appearance of the placemat, but they didn’t offer a lot of protection for the table. I decided to try something different. I lined the placemats with flannel. It is not as thick as batting, but it provides a little more protection to the table below. I prewashed and shrunk all of the flannel so that the placemats would continue to lie flat after washing and I did some minimal quilting to hold everything together. I am really pleased with how they worked out.

I was attending the Ricky Tims Seminar and decided that I really needed that tote to carry my materials, snacks, water and an umbrella. So, 2 days before the class I set out to make a new Professional Tote.

I went through my stash of hand dyed fabric to find large enough pieces that would coordinate with each other. I didn’t have anything as big as what the pattern called for so I started breaking up the pattern pieces into smaller groups. I ended up using 4 different fabrics. The most noticeable difference I made was to make all of the outside pockets out of different fabric than the outer fabric. I think it added a lot of interest to the bag.

I also decided that for this one, I wouldn’t include the middle pocket on the inside of the tote. It seemed I always wanted to put something in the bag that was wider than one side of the tote. Of course, for the seminar, we had a lot of paper, having the center pocket would have been very nice…. No problem, I’ll just make another one with a center pocket.

The bag worked great for the seminar. I was very pleased that I stayed up late the night before the seminar to finish it.

Three days before my departure I started making the Professional Tote. It has lots of compartments and pockets. Just what I love. I finished it at 11pm the night before my flight and it worked great.

Now that I am home I will have to make it again using my hand-dyed fabrics.

I also volunteered to do a demo at club last Saturday. I have something I call a thread catcher that I enjoy making. There are many commercial versions available, but I like mine because it holds a paper lunch sack. That makes it very easy to empty and keeps the fabric nice and clean. I updated my instructions for how I am currently making. Them I made 3 samples each finished to a different stage, so that they wouldn’t have to watch me complete every step entirely. Watching someone sew multiple seams is never that much fun. I had fun and the project was well received.

I also finished the last of the Wedding pieces. I made table numbers and Place Cards. I will have to talk a new picture of all of the pieces.

My last project for the week was a purse for my sister-in-law. When friends or family get married I put together an emergency kit of things the bridal party might need for the day. Each time I put one together I make a bag or container to put everything in. This time I made a reversible purse. The wedding colors are green and yellow, so one side is green fabrics and the other side are yellow fabrics. I created a polymer clay button to act as a weight on the purse flap.