Mama K Breaking Bath

The Lisa Frank-esque quilt of my dreams 💜🌈🦄. Mostly done piecing together this baby quilt for a beloved co-worker (I’m cutting it close, since she’s due at the end of May 😅). It’s ’s “Lisa the Unicorn” pattern - I’ve always wanted to try her patterns (because they are adorable) but was always a bit intimidated (since they looked pretty complex). This quilt was an excuse to take the leap and I was happily surprised that it was really quite doable, provided I kept all the tiny pieces well labeled (very well written instructions). Still need to add the sashing and borders (think Andy Warhol style block of 4), quilt it, and bind it - probably doable a week or so, right? 😅

Last month, did an anonymous swap where you gave a yard or two of fabric and in return got someone else’s fabric in exchange. We were given a month to turn the other person’s fabric into a bag (pattern of our choosing). We swapped back at the April meeting. I made the cat bag from fabric from an anonymous donor (who was tasked with making a bag from the donated fabric they received, etc). It was a fun challenge to work with fabric selected by someone else (the cat and black speckled fabric were the donated fabrics I had to work with - the speckled fabric wasn’t quite enough for the bag’s lining, so I used it for the pocket lining and used my own black Big Sur canvas for the bag’s inner lining. Not going to lie, I definitely had some anxiety returning the bag I made to a fellow bag-maker, who I’m sure can see all its flaws and imperfections 😅. I hope their happy with it 🤞

It was so fun to get a bag made from the fabric I donated. I have a decent stash of Marimekko fabric I bought over 20 years ago, that I’ve been meaning to use but have also always felt a little reticent to cut into. This swap was a good excuse to rip off the bandaid and put the onus of how to use it on someone else 😂. My swap partner did such a beautiful job, and I love my bag (which I used at the farmer’s market this AM).

Side note, I have yet to figure out a good way to take photos of bags to show off their best features. Work in progress… 😅

Trying something new. Things I’ve learned so far: I’m terrible at sew alongs (as I’m like 3 months ahead of schedule 😅), 1” squares are very small, and I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of fabrics…

Finally finished the for my bestie . She wanted a bag with owls but I couldn’t find canvas fabric with a print I liked enough. Luckily exists for this exact reason - you can basically get any print (pre-existing or self created) printed onto nearly type of fabric. And you don’t even have to buy a whole bolt of fabric! I think I maybe only bought 1.5 yards?! Anyhow, it was my first time using their services, and I was highly impressed and will def do again if the fabric in my head doesn’t match what’s actually being sold in stores.

*Inside lining fabric was picked by the 80s kid in me who still loves Lisa Frank 🩷🦄💜

All the zips ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🩷

Finally finished piecing together my economy block quilt. Now to baste it (which I *loathe*) and quilt it (I’m a bit nervous tackling with my domestic machine)… here goes nothing!🪡🧵

It be like that sometimes… 🙃🫠

Finished! Side note - Sadie wants me to mention how much she helped during the sewing process. This was the face she made right before I kicked her off the quilt so I could keep sewing 😾

… and then I discovered bag making, and I’m afraid I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole (with no desire to emerge any time soon). Bags, unlike quilts, are relatively quick to make (again, I say relatively, since bags are days and quilts can be weeks/months), and you can modify and adapt patterns to suit your needs. These bags are “Oxbow totes” (overnight and regular size), pattern by . The strawberry overnight tote was my 1st (I always keep the first, as it’s usually far from perfect and I consider it a dry-run), and discovered that, moving forward, I’d prefer longer shoulder straps, chose to divide the interior pocket (which I didn’t do the first time, though it was a presented option), etc. The combo of structure/patterns plus ability to deviate from said structure once you “get it” is my personal drug of choice. If you need me, I’ll be in tote city… 😅👜

Baby quilt for my new nephew, Noah, born this past August. Celtic Crossing 2.0 pattern from . Free motion quilting by moi.