Owner of sewhooked.com and fandominstitches.com. #quiltforgood advocate. Quilt designer, instructor, Talk to Me Tuesday founder & contributor, cat mom, and craft enabler.
Today found me at yet another meeting for The Linus Connection. I’ve mentioned in the past that our numbers were low and that the continued shortage was weighing on myself and the other volunteers.
Thanks to our very diligent volunteers and some serious recruiting, our numbers are back up again and we’ve even been able to set aside blankets for the camps we donate to each summer!
I’d like to say a huge heartfelt thanks to all of my online friends that have donated to my favorite charity and encourage every crafty person out there to make something for a charity in your location. There are loads of organizations out there just like The Linus Connection that could use your crafty skills! Whether you knit a cap, crochet a scarf or make a quilt, whether you do it once a year or once a week, use your crafty skills for good and help change your world. Volunteering for a good cause pays in love and friendship. It’s one of the best non-paying jobs you’ll ever have!
These blankets and quilts were donated through Go Get Granny & Log Cabins For Linus (aka, my online friends!). Thanks a million times to each of you for your time, your talent and your general all-around awesomeness!
I will continue to accept donations until the end of March, so just a couple more weeks now! If you still have something you’d like to share with Linus, please contact me for my mailing address.
What, you might ask, does this vinyl Christmas tablecloth have to do with a design wall? Well, let me tell ya!
A little birdie told me that I could use a flannel-backed tablecloth for a design wall. Okay, it was Marge (hi, Marge!), who has one in her sewing room, and it works great for her.
The idea has been at the back of my mind for months, but I didn’t have a spare wall. After debating with myself, and lots of cleaning and re-arranging in my sewing/craft room (including giving up a table…GASP!), I am the proud owner of an absolutely free design wall, courtesy of an upcycled tablecloth pulled out of my Christmas stuff!
I love that I’ve been able to put the otherwise unused tablecloth to good use!
The tablecloth was very wrinkled, so I put my iron on the lowest setting and gently ironed the flannel side, leaving the iron on the fabric as little as possible. It smoothed the tablecloth out great, now it has no wrinkly bits!
I applied the tablecloth to the wall just like you’d cover a frame or a seat cushion. One pin in the top and the bottom, then one in each side, smoothing and pinning around until it was taut. It was literally about a 5 minute job.
New design wall shown with donated orphan blocks.
Fun, huh? This is not my idea, but it’s easy and inexpensive, and every quilter needs a design wall, so I had to share!
I really was going to make this my Wordless Wednesday, but I just can’t do it! I see photos all the time of quilts and quilt blocks that people around the world have made using my patterns and Guest Designer patterns from sewhooked. Seeing one in person? Absolutely priceless!
This quilt was made by Dianne Ferguson, owner of Honey Bee Quilt Store, for her teenage daughter. She’s hand embroidered quotes from the books all around the quilt, starting at the top left with the first sentence from book one and ending with the last sentence from book seven. She plans on quilting it soon, so I’ll definitely have to take another picture then!
Dianne is now my boss at Honey Bee Quilt Store…but she started this quilt well before I started working there. How’s that for cool?!
This week’s Guest Designer profile is of the awesomely talented Marissa, another gem from Harry Potter Paper Piecing. We’ve been online friends for a while now and I look forward to seeing what designs she’s working on next!
Marissa at the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science
Name and where you’re from:
The name they gave me is Marissa and I go by MKissa on the interwebz. I was raised in Costa Mesa, CA and now reside in the city of Orange, still in CA (7 minutes and 3 freeways from Disneyland).
Website/blog/online store or other place where your patterns or photos of your work can be found? Public Blog (Mostly Craft Stuff) Etsy Livejournal (Mostly Friends Only, but I’m always looking for new friends)
How long have you been paper piecing and/or quilting?
I’ve been paper piecing since July/August or 2008 and have been seriously quilting for about just as long, although I recently found a quilt top that I made when I was 13ish… so really… about 14 years. 🙂 I started paper piecing when I came across the HP paper piecing community on LJ and immediately jumped in.
What do you use own your block designs for?
Quilt labels, contest entries, and my Buffy designs will be a wall hanging or in their own quilt.
When did you start designing?
April 2009
Was there a particular inspiration to draw your first pattern?
I needed a label for a pair of quilts I was making for a friend that was having twins… the quilts had monkeys and bananas on them, so I decided that a banana pattern would definitely do the trick.
Do you remember what your first design was?
See above
Do you have a favorite among your own designs?
I am currently working on some Buffy designs and am really happy to bring another of my favorite fandoms to the quilt world.
What do you use to design your patterns? Paper and pencil, a specific software, etc.
I was using Microsoft publisher, but I am switching over to Illustrator or Photoshop since I just got Creative Suite for my home computer.
How has the online community changed the way you craft/quilt/design, etc.?
Oh my gosh yes! It has taught me to take inspiration from everywhere. My online friends have taught me that if you don’t know how to do something and want to do it you can figure it out. My friends are always encouraging, willing to lend a helping hand, give some great advice, or point me in the direction of a favorited tutorial.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m 28, and live with my MAN and our two cats (Rupert & Dexter). I work full time as the Event Coordinator for a non-profit in the city of Orange (where we live) and I work part time as an assistant manager at a local pizza joint. Most of the time that I am crafting I am ignoring some other chore that should be done or staying up way past my bedtime, but I love it, and it is my ME time, which is oh so important.
This week’s Guest Designer Profile brings you a brand new paper pieced designer. So far, sewhooked only hosts one of Mary’s designs, but it’s lovely, as I’m sure you’ll agree!
Name and where you’re from:
I am Mary Groesbeck. I am from Louisiana (just the first 20 years). Does that make me sound old? I now have two homes. We live in Las Vegas on school days and in a 120-year old farm in Minnesota the rest of the time. No website, store, or anywhere else (except I like to put my photos on my facebook).
How long have you been paper piecing and/or quilting?
I made my first quilt in high school (a very large cathedral window made entirely by hand). I first paper-pieced about 12 years ago, and havemade entire queen-size quilts from paper-piecing, but nothing like the HP one I’m working on.
What do you use own your block designs for?
I am making two (yes, two) identical king-size quilts for my daughters. BTW, nobody tell my youngest that there are Twilight squares! Some are my own design, most are from sewhooked, and some are appliqued. I put my daughters on the Hogwart’s Express with Harry, and each quilt with have the initials “HP” along with my daughter’s initials.
When did you start designing?
Although I have designed quilts before, I never “designed” my own paper-pieced pattern until a few weeks ago. I have done really diverse paper-piecing, from large pictorials with tiny pieces to very simply blocks. But, Jennifer’s tutorial inspired me, and I thought, “I have a coloring book site, I have Photoshop, why not?” BTW, I am a digital scrapbooker also, so Photoshop comes naturally.
Was there a particular inspiration to draw your first pattern? Do you remember what your first design was? Do you have a favorite among your own designs?
My first paper-pieced design was the Engine of the Hogwart’s Express. Then the passenger car. Then Crookshanks. I’m on a roll now. My favorite so far is Crookshanks, mainly because I’m really a cat person.
How has the online community changed the way you craft/quilt/design, etc.?
I have one hour to myself every morning. I either quilt or scrap. Since I joined this community [Harry Potter Paper Piecing], I haven’t made ONE page for my scrapbook! My goal is either one page for the scrapbook or one quilt square per day.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I do have a full-time job, second to being a mom. If I could just quilt all day, I would be in heaven. I have a husband (21 years) and two daughters (16 and 13), who both play competitive volleyball and hope to be in the olympics (preferably before I die or run out of training money). I have a long-arm quilting machine at the farm that I’ve practiced on but never really had to guts to use–but still believe I will any day now.
I love the feeling of creating something. I very seldom just make something as designed. I like adding my personal touch (often so subtle that no one notices). For instance, on my Hedwig, the white-on-white fabric for her wings has a snowflake pattern–because she’s a snow owl. This makes me happy, even if no on else knows. My knight bus has tractor wheels….to bring a little of the farm to it….just for fun, not because a knight bus particularly needs tractor wheels.
Just over a year ago, I made a Monk’s Bag from Purl Bee’s tutorial (sadly Purl Bee no longer exists as of 2023).
I used the heck out of that bag, so much so that the strap and bottom of the bag frayed through in places.
What I discovered over the course of the year I carried this bag was that I loved the shape and the length of the strap but that I needed a bit more. I need a bigger bag with more pockets. I also need a sturdier bag that holds its shape a bit better without the fabric wearing through.
When my daughter asked for a school bag to carry her supplies in that could do double duty as a purse, I once again turned to the Monk’s Bag pattern. This time, I made changes to the bag so it would hold up to her day-to-day life as a high school student. She also needed a bigger, sturdier bag, so I plotted changes that would work for both of us.
The construction of the Monk’s Bag is ideal for pockets that are built right into the lining, which is what I do here. I think you’ll find these pockets both easy to add and very sturdy! I’ve also added interfacing to the outside bag pieces, which gives the bag more body and will (hopefully!) help avoid the wear that developed in my original Monk’s Bag.
The basic idea of this tutorial is the same as the Purl Bee bag, but there are quite a few additional steps as well as a number of construction changes.
The words below are all my own, but in an effort to make this easy to understand without disrespecting the original tutorial, I’ll mark any instruction or supplies that I have not changed with an asterisk*.
You will need:
rotary cutter & ruler
coordinating thread
iron & ironing board
stencil & paint (optional)
pins
fabric marking pencil, pen or chalk
Fabric 1: 1 yard, cut in the following pieces(in the sample, this is the golden brown fabric)
2 – 11″ x 14″ (outside center panel). OPTIONAL – Stencil a coordinating design on one of the outside center panels. More on that in the instructions.
2 – 6.5″ x 34″ (inside handles)*
2 – 11″ x 21″ (inside center panel pockets)
1 – 2.5″ x 6.5″ (inside side loop)
Fabric 2:1 yard , cut in the following pieces (in the sample, this is the black patterned batik)
2 – 11″ x 14″ (inside center panel)
2 – 6.5″ x 34″ (outside handles)*
1 – 6.5″ x 21″ (inside handle pocket 1)
1 – 6.5″ x 15″ (inside handle pocket 2)
Lightweight Fusible Interfacing:
2 – 11″ x 14″ (outside center panel)
2 – 6.5″ x 34″ (outside handles)
1 – 6″ x 6″ (inside side loop reinforcement)
All seam allowances are 1/2″ except where noted.*
Fold and press the 2.5″ x 6.5″ (inside side loop) in half. Fold in the two sides in to the center and press again. It should look like what you see above.
Use a decorative or heavy stitch and stitch down the length of the fabric at least three times. This is a loop to hang keys and pens from, so it’s important that it be sturdy. I use a triple straight stitch in the example.
If you’d like to stencil a design on the front of your bag, it’s easier to do it before assembly. I took a photo of the pattern on the black batik, then increased the size slightly and printed that onto the matte side of a piece of freezer paper. For more on freezer paper stenciling see this text tutorial or this video.
Collect your bag pieces and sort them into outside and lining pieces.
Iron the 6.5″ x 34″ (outside handles) pieces of interfacing to the 2 – 6.5″ x 34″ (outside handles) pieces of fabric. Interfacing tends to be less wide than fabric, so piece it if necessary to get the correct length.
Repeat the process for the outside center panel pieces. You should have seam allowance outside the interfacing on the side edges of of the center pieces, but not on the top and bottom.
Pin one handle to each side of the center panel. Mark 1/2″ at the top of each side. Stitch down each side, taking care not to stitch past the 1/2″ mark on the top of each center panel.
Press the seam allowance toward the bag handles. Press a 1/2″ seam allowance on the inside of the handles and along the center panel. I find this much easier to do at this step than after the bag is assembled.
Attach handles to opposite center panel, also marking 1/2″ from the top. Repeat pressing seam allowance along handles and top of center panel.
Fold the bag in half with center panels matching. Stitch across the bottom of the bag.*
Unfold seam allowance on end of handles. Pin together and stitch.*
Press the center open, then re-press 1/2″ seam allowance.
The outside of the bag is complete! Now, on to the lining, which is a bit more involved.
Collect your inside pocket pieces.
Fold each pocket piece in half across the width of the pocket. Press and stitch across the top. I used a combination of stitches just for fun!
Place the center panel pocked on the right side of the inside center panel. Pin and baste with a 1/4″ seam allowance along the raw edges. If desired, you can add additional stitching lines to break up the pocket. I left one full size and put a center stitching line down the other. The full sized pocket is great for magazines or papers and the split pocket is great for my checkbook, calendar, cell phone, camera, etc.
Repeat the process with inside handle pocket 1 and 2. Position the inside side loop even with the top of handle pocket 1. Pin each side. I use the longer pocket to carry my glasses case and the smaller pocket for gum and miscellaneous small items.
Baste pockets and loop in place.
Iron 6″x6″ fusible interfacing to the back of the loop. On the front side, secure on each side approximately 2″ from the outside edges.
Inside pieces, all basted and ready to go.
The inside is assembled identically to the outside. You can see here that after the handles are attached to the inside center panel, the sides of the pockets have been secured in place.
Repeat all steps for bag assembly using a 1/2″ seam allowance on all pieces except for joining the two straps. Use a 5/8″ seam allowance there. Remember to press the straps and top of the center panel in 1/2″, just like on the outside of the bag.
Here’s the lining all assembled. You can see that the bag could easily be reversible!
Place the lining inside the bag, with wrong sides matching. I wanted the loop inside the bag to be towards the front side when I carry it so I could easily hook my keys on it, so I put the bag on my preferred shoulder for bag carrying to make sure the loop was just where I wanted it.
Match all seams and pin, pin, pin! Top stitch close to the edge. I tried to stay about 1/8″ in. Remove the pins and you’re done!
My finished Monk’s Bag 2.0. This is the third Monk’s bag I’ve made and I carry it every day. I’m constantly getting compliments and questions about the bag, which makes it even more awesome to carry!
Action shot! Can I just tell you, I love the heck out of that loop for my keys! It’s easy to reach and I never lose them anymore. I liberated the hook from one of my kids old backpacks. You can also find them in all sizes in the rope section of any hardware store.
My bag (L) and my daughter’s bag (R). What a difference fabric makes!
Thank you Purl Bee for the awesome original bag tutorial! I hope you take this tut in homage, as it’s intended. 🙂
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