2015 RSC April Week 4 Is A Let's Book It Project, A Madeleine Bag

Week four, our last week to play with purple scraps. I wanted to make a purple bag or tote this month and thought I'd do it with a "Let's Book It Project!" I chose an online free pattern that I had saved in my "Favorites" file on my computer. It's a pattern for a bag featured in an "Imagine Gants" 2011 post. Racheal Gander's Madeleine Bag went together easily because of her excellent instructions and pictures. I used different Laurel Burch prints for the front, back and shoulder straps. Only small scraps of the cat paws on purple print remain. May should have bought more.

This is the other side. More cats.

This is how it started, the pattern pieces and everything I needed laid out ready to sew together to make my Madeleine Bag. I made the shoulder straps longer than the pattern using two WOF cuts. Fusible interfacing has been ironed on the backs of the pattern pieces and one of the pieces to be used in the shoulder strap. No interfacing on the rectangle for the interior zipper pocket.

Here is the magnetic closure and a zip pocket. There were instructions for a second interior pocket but I left it out. Here is the link to the FREE online pattern and instructions. Thank you, Rachael, for a cute bag pattern.

Two Finishes! A Pineapple Blossom Quilt and a Baby Quilt

I'm pleased with my finished Bonnie Hunter Pineapple Blossom Quilt. The pattern is found on Bonnie's Quiltville blog under her free patterns tab. She taught this block to the quilters in our guild during a workshop in November. I added a row to make it longer because family members request I make quilts that will cover their feet. It's scrappy and quilted with a loose free motion meander. After a go in the washer and dryer, it finished at 81" x 91.5".

While I was piecing my Pineapple Blossom blocks, I messed up four of them. The good thing about the four blocks was that I messed up all four the same way. The bad thing was that I messed up all four the SAME way! I thought they were pretty oops blocks and didn't want them to be orphan blocks long. So I sewed them together to make a baby quilt. Because the four blocks alone made a very small quilt top, I added borders until I felt it was a nice size for a baby quilt. It's quilted with a loose free motion meander. After a go in the washer and dryer, it finished at 36.5" square. This little quilt will be a charity quilt that I'll turn in at our guild's next meeting.

2015 RSC April Purple Week 3 and Hands 2 Help Quilt Progress

 

Not a lot of purple progress this week. The four crumb blocks in my last post are now two hot pads/pot holders. I made two 7" x 10" purple themed mug rugs with my batik scraps. Meaning all scraps used had some purple in them. I think they look like two miniature quilts. Two cotton knitted dishcloths made it into the picture. To see what others made with their scraps, go here Saturday morning.

 

My friend, Cathy, and I get together each month to make 8.5" red, white, and blue blocks to donate to our quilting guild's committee that turns them into quilts for hometown heroes. Pictured are my four. Cathy made four like them. The flag block is a 4.5" square of white stars on a blue background machine appliqued on the corner of a 8.5" square of a wavy red and white striped print. 

My Hands 2 Help charity quilt made with 35 Sweet 16 blocks sashed with gray is now 52" x 71". I may add 13 more Sweet 16 blocks to make it a row wider and a row longer.
My Pineapple Blossom quilt is finished. It's big. The baby quilt is finished, too. Hopefully I can take pictures of them outside tomorrow and post a picture of them Sunday.

2015 RSC April Purple Week 2, Pineapple Blossom Progress

I'm still working through my purple crumbs, skinny trimmings and scraps. The four 8.5" crumb blocks will become two hot pads next week. The other 8.5" block and four 4.5" crumb blocks will join my collections. A cotton knitted dishcloth made it into the picture. To see what others made with their purple scraps, go here Saturday morning.

I've started quilting my BH Pineapple Blossom quilt on my domestic sewing machine. My ironing board helps support some of the weight of the quilt while it's being quilted.
I messed up on four of my pineapple blocks and turned them into a charity baby quilt top. It's sandwiched with batting and a backing, ready to be quilted after I finish the big quilt. See it front and center in the picture.
No progress on my H2H Sweet 16 quilt. Maybe next week.

Let's Book It, Pick-A-Pocket Purse

I have a binder of patterns I've downloaded off the internet. They languish in the folder for years. When I was going through my patterns, I found this pattern for a Pick-a-Pocket Purse. Here is the link.

Not a difficult pattern. I think it would be easy to change the size.

And here it is with the handles extended. It's about 10" x 8" x 4" with six exterior pockets. Fully lined. This one has a French theme. It's a fun little pattern.
I'm linking to Sharon Vrooman's Let's Book It March post.

2015 RSC April Purple Week 1, Hands 2 Help Quilt Progress

The RSC color for April is purple. It's going to be a good month because I love purple. This week I made a string 12.5" block, two 5.5" string blocks and three 8.5" blocks to add to my collections. A purple cotton knitted dishcloth made it into the picture. To see what others made with their purple scraps, go here Saturday morning.

Here's a pictures of some progress on my Hands 2 Help quilt made with Sweet 16 Blocks. It's not easy to see on my tan carpeted design floor, but the 16-patch blocks are sashed with 2.5" Kona Gray strips. The corner stone squares are 2.5" squares from my scrappy squares collection. 
Update on my Pineapple Blossom Quilt's progress. It is now a quilt sandwich basted with safety pins ready to quilt. I always procrastinate on the big quilts.