The Getaway Quilted Bag

Here's the bag I'm entering in the Purse Week contest hosted by A Lemon Squeezy Home. 

The inspiration behind this bag was to transform a quilting technique into something of beauty and function.


I took 11 pieces of fabric and used the stack and shuffle technique to make this bag.  Six blocks formed the front panel of this quilted bag.  Free motion quilted with metallic thread.

Three stack and shuffle blocks made up the three open pockets on the back panel.  As the name implies, the entire bag was quilted to give it shape while maintaining a degree of softness that's gentle to touch!

The side-views here show two additional open pockets.  They are great for storing your cellphone and car keys.  Notice the pocket in the left photo.  The pocket opening is asymmetrical.  It was designed especially this way to reduce bulk on the seam allowance when all the panels are sewn together. 

Here's the view of the zipper treatment for the bag opening! 

Another reason that I love making my own bag is that I can customize the lining to my specification.  There are three open pockets plus a zipper compartment to store my personal items. 

Bag measurement:  15.5" x 10.5" x 4"

Fabric used:  Japanese and Rowan cotton fabric, Japanese yarn dyed fabric

Leather straps:  24" long

Last but not least..... Special thanks to my quilting teacher, Ms. Wu, for teaching me the stack and shuffle technique and guiding me through the completion of this bag.

FMQA - First Week Wiggles

The assignment for the 1st week is wiggles.

Here's what my practice pad looks like. The gentle waves on the far right were easy to quilt as well as the "DNAs". The rest of the practice was on ribbons. I experiemented with different types of thread and tension setting. The black thread is 100% rayon embroidery thread. The thread kept on breaking and I even broke a needle!! Should I have used an embroidery needle? Overall I like the red quilting threads the best. They're sturdy and don't break as easily.

For this quilt I used: 喜佳quilting thread, bobbin thread is regular sewing thread and size 14 needle.

This is the beginning of the 1st strip - gentle wiggles followed by ribbons.

This is the end of the 1st strip: "DNA" design. I need more practice on this!

This is the beginning of the 2nd strip: gentle wiggles with leaves. I'm pleased with this especially since this was my first attempt! :)

This is the end of the 2nd strip: don't know what to call this, but it looks like waves to me!

This the backing of my quilt! As I mentioned in my previous post I used a one-sided fusible batting for this project. The quilt top is quite secured and smooth after quilting the two strips, but there's a problem with the backing. There are now ripples in the back of the quilt even though I spray basted the backing fabric to the batting.

Free Motion Quilt Along - Quilt Top

A Few Scraps is hosting a free motion quilt along.  Here's my quilt top.  It turned out better than I anticipated considering these fabric were purchased 4 years ago when I first started to quilt. 

Instead of traditional basting the top to the batting with pins or thread, I'm going to cheat a little...!  I'm going to use fusible batting for this project.  We'll see how it works out next week.

Free Motion Sampler Quilt

Wow!  Two posts in one day.  This is a rare moment for me because I've been busy all summer chauffering the kids around to their various classes.  But they will be back to school next Monday.  Yipee!

Back in May I finished my first free motion sampler quilt.  Some of the quilting designs were inspired  by  Leah Day, author of Leah Day's 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs.  http://www.freemotionquilting.blogspot.com/

Titled "Matrix" from Day 17 from Leah Day's blog.

Titled "Heat Coil"  from Day 101 from Leah Day's blog.

Titled "Rainforest Leaf" from Day 112 from Leah Day's blog.



And here's a look at my sampler quilt

You may ask why I have to complete this quilt?  This beginner level free motion sampler quit is actually a required project for my machine quilting certification class.  The advanced level class will start in October. 

Free Motion Thread Painting

Here's my first attempt at free motion thread painting. 

  So there I was holding a small piece of fabric that was initially designed for an applique, I changed my mind in the middle of the process.  Without much ado,  I proceeded to iron on light weight stablizer and took out my collection of Metteler threads.    Took out my Bernina BSR free motion foot and started my first thread painting mini-project. 

Ha! Ha!  My daughter was happy enough with the result.  The overall effect could have been better if I had a bigger piece of fabric to hold on to and I used the "BSR2" instead of "BSR1".  I'll have to try again...!