Cute Zippered Clutch

 

My Cute Clutch from the new Quilts and More Magazine.  Another one of our YOU BE THE DESIGNER classes in March.

Lucky for me, the pattern calls for 2” squares.  If you follow along here at the FNQ blog, you know I have a jillion 2” squares thanks to an overflowing scrap bin, go cutter, and a great hubby.

Instead of buttons for embellishments, I went with yo-yo’s.  If we’ve met at a quilt show, you know why .

I also opted for a boxed instead of curved & pleated bottom.  It’s 6x9, a great size for a wristlet or to toss into your bigger purse.

I have a few copies of the magazine left.  Email me if you are interested!

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A Trip to the Hardware Store and a new clutch

 

What do they have in common?

 

Inside the top band is a section of metal tape measure!  Have you ever snapped a tape measure in the wrong direction?  SNAP!

 

The {genious} Stitchin Sisters captured that bit of knowledge & put it to use in Snap Happy. 

 

This cute clutch takes about 15 minutes to make, start to finish!  I used Sugar Pop from Moda to match my Purse-O-Nality purse plus a FQ of an RJR print in a deeper pink.

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A purse with Purse-O-Nality!

Another purse in our You be the Designer Class Series in March  is the Pretty Pockets Purse-O-Nality purse.  

My purse uses Sugar Pop which is just such a fun line.

There are 2 pockets outside & 2 inside.  I used a magnetic snap on one of the pockets and for the purse closure.  

The pattern called for using 2 D-rings in the strap, but I didn’t see where they really provided a benefit, so I left them out.  The strap configuration in this purse is pretty interesting with a single over-the-shoulder strap, but dual straps coming off the purse body.  Nice for balance.

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Mini Bow Tucks Purse

Part of our You be the Designer Class Series in March is the Mini Bow Tucks Purse.

I showed you a pic last week of the larger size in beautiful reds.  This purse uses fabrics from Luna Notte by 3 Sisters from Moda.

Last week I received a question about how the closure on this purse looked, so I am posting a pic to show the interior of the purse.  I did not add a magnetic closure to this purse, but it would be easy to do so.  This specific purse has a button & loop closure.  I used a fabric covered button, as I do in most of my bags, because I personally think it adds a professional, designer touch.

You can see that the side ties provide the bow & tuck of the bow tucks namesake.

 

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My finished Round Robin Quilt

In our eBay Quilter’s Corner group, several of us did a rag quilt round robin the past several months.

This week, my quilt came home.  Oh it is just wonderful!  I spent the last couple evenings clipping away & here is my wonderful 30’s inspired rag quilt.

Ballerina Fairies

What little girl didn’t twirl like a ballerina in her life?

This new collection by Ingrid Slyder for Moda is the inspiration for many girly things to come.

See how the pink sugar pops match it {awesome}

Nice hints of green in the prints also gives you another color to use for contrast!

March class calendar posted!

In our town, Vera Bradley is all the rage.  I have nothing against the line, but what shocks me is the simple designs and the value received.

So, I am going to inspire folks to BE YOUR OWN DESIGNER!

We are offering 8 purse classes in March so you can design your own killer handbag ensemble.  And what is better than being out & someone saying,  “I love your purse!”  {beaming} you can say, “thanks, I made it!”

My First Scrappy Finish of the Year

oh yes, there will be more!  I have already pressed a whole stack for the next one; I mean, why the iron is hot (pun intended).

So, here she is.  A nice big queen at about 92*96.  I am also piecing 12” squares for the backing so this quilt is helping the old scrap & remnant pile a bunch!

I suppose I should point out that the quilt is draped over, so you can’t really see the whole thing, but you can get the gist of it.

We are calling this my hubby’s first quilt, since he cut all those wonderful 2” squares with the Go! cutter for me last fall while I was off at quilt shows.  In terms some of us older folks might understand, “It’s a quilt, & I helped!”  If you don’t get that, don’t worry…I am just in my giddy-finished mode.

So, are you working on your scrap quilt to enter it in our Scrap Quilt Challenge?  Do you need encouragement?  Join us in our facebook group to chat it up!

Deadline to upload your pic to flickr is 2/28!

Fabrics N Quilts welcomes Sewline!

As I said yesterday, I am sold on the Sewline ceramic pencils. (At least that is what I was trying to convey.)

The ceramic lead just glides on the fabric without snagging and it does not dry out like fine line markers.

Convinced that the Sewline Products are all of the same quality & ingenuity, I am happy to announce we are carrying the entire line of Sewline Products at Fabrics N Quilts!

Notion Reviews & a cute table runner too!

You may remember that I used a pink Sewline mechanical marking pencil to mark the borders on a recent project for the Fair.

I washed this quilt by hand and didn’t realize until it was dry that I had not removed all the pink marks.  They were faint, but I knew they were there.  So I wanted to make sure that the “fail” was on my end & not on the product.

Enter my hidden 9 patch table runner:

I am not a big “test on swatch of fabric before using on project” kind of gal.  I figure most folks aren’t.  You can (hopefully) see that the marks washed out completely using regular wash & dry cycles in the machine.

I used fabric from 3 different manufacturers in this top, so it was a perfect candidate.  The florals in the center are leftover charms from a Boutique charm pack (moda), the dots along the edge are from Georgia by Pat Sloan (P&B) and the marble is one of our staples from Choice Fabrics.

I quilted the runner, top & bottom, with a variegated thread from Maxi lock.

BUT WAIT!  I tested another notion on this project too!

Heat Press Batting Together

We all love using up our scraps.  After all, those little leftover bits cost the same amount as the pieces used in the original project!

This is a great alternative to whip or zigzag stitching your batting scraps!  My main concern was if the batting would look flat (versus my beloved crinkled, antique-y post wash look) where the heat press had been used.  I can’t see any difference in the quilted runner; can’t detect where the line of heat press is located.

Like most small package notions, directions are scarce. 

.. so..mini tute time, here’s how I used it:

First I lay my 2 pieces of batting with an overlap of an inch or so and cut through the layers. 

This way I have a perfect joint to match up.  I do this same thing when whipstitching, but I cut curved not straight lines.

No, I cut the length of heat press & positioned it on the batting

using the lowest setting of cotton as directed.

As I worked down the seam, I used my fingertips on my non-iron hand to push the 2 pieces together.  Just until they touch, not overlapping the layers.

Now, the directions didn’t specify whether just one side of the batting was enough of a bond or if you should bond both sides.  I think this would be most dependent on how dense your quilting will be.  I hadn’t decided on design yet, so I bonded both sides of the batting.

And there you have it!  Now hope that the bag of batting scraps you have can be put to use in new projects!

Been feeling nostalgic this week

I seem to be picking lots of reproduction prints for our deal of the day this week!

Today’s no exception!

Save 50% off this great Nancy Mahoney print

Click above to see our side deal that is 35% off!

And don’t forget that you can subscribe to and RSS feed on any page of our site!

A little store touring

It’s been another busy week here at Fabrics N Quilts!  We received our new display units and have had fun rearranging fabrics.  Thought I would share a few pics.

 

A rainbow of solids & wide range of children’s prints

One of our new displays with quilt backing, cowboy & calico prints

Another one of the new shelves (right) with a rainbow of marbles

The other side of the new rack (batiks, tone on tone, Moda Crackle) & in the distance, our Moda Bake Shop

Civil war reproductions (mmmm, warm tones)

Collections: Aloha, Sophisticate, Sugar Pop, Dr. Seuss

 

So there are some pics to inspire you plan a trip, or a virtual one through our webstore!

One for everyone!

So, my dear customer has 3 boys under the age of 5 (I get tired just thinking about her mornings).  Her oldest boy, Ashton is into Buzz Lightyear.  Now he’s styling.

This fabric from Springs is not yet online, but drop me a message here if you would like a closer look.

 

Mom deserves some pampering too so this nice big bag is big enough to carry packages to the post office, files home from the office, or changes of clothes.  To make life a little more on-the-go, she has a matching wristlet for running into the store on the fly.

These fabrics are from Birdie (Me & My Sister and Moda)

 

Now the younger 2 boys require a little extra packing.  This fabric will soon be listed online from South Seas.  The panel, The Wind It Up Toy Shoppe, is ADORABLE and perfect for the little boy you need to quilt for.  Again, if you are interested in this print before I get it in the online shop, just drop a note here & I’ll email you right back!

This matching zippy pouch is for all those small incidentals you don’t want to have to dig for in the diaper bag.  I added a little 1” gusset so it could handle meds or whatever.  I used the Knick Knack Sack pattern as my roadmap on these zippy’s though I changed up the dimensions to meet the customer’s needs.

It’s Talkin’ Tuesdays!

We are excited to sponsor #talknt on twitter again tonight!

Just search twitter for #talknt starting at 9pm EST or use http://tweetchat.com/room/talknt  (this is the best for me).

We will be giving away prize packs that include the Sugar Pop charm pack, 1 yard of Bella Solid in Natural PLUS a charm pack friendly pattern!

See you tonight!