Out with the old...

And in with the new.

2015 brought many life changes for me - some good, some bad - and had me re-evaluating the load I placed on myself with work, family, hobbies and other commitments. As much as I wanted sewing to be a priority because I enjoy it... over the summer I was so overwhelmed that sewing became an obligation and no longer very enjoyable. I dropped some sewing commitments that I enjoyed and wanted to be a part of, but just couldn't handle at the time and took a general hiatus from all things sewing related for about 6 months.

In the new year I'd like to keep up with the blog in order to keep track of my progress and not have to track down pictures of my makes, but I'm not sure if it will be realistic or not to make that resolution. Regardless I wanted to do a re-cap because even though I had a really turbulent year I still got a lot of sewing done.

I finished 1 baby quilt for a co-worker, and completed 3 tops from my long suffering WIP pile (not pictured are my first gemstone quilt blocks assembled into a baby quilt - I will use it to practice some FMQ).

1. Baby Quilter's Mixology medallion (blogged here)  2. Heather Ross Saw Tooth Stars (twin size)  3. starting to quilt my massive queen sized X-Plus quilt at the Nov. DCMQG retreat

I had the good fortune to attend 3 quilting retreats this year - Sew South, Mid Atlantic Mod, and the November DCMQG retreat. Sew South and Mod were back-to-back in April so I was a little burnt out sewing wise by MOD time but it was still a great couple of weeks. I participated in Secret Sister/Sewist at both retreats, and a private swap with my friend Jess at MOD.

1. Sew Together Bag made for Laurel, my Sew South secret sister (pic by @singallyouwant)  2. items made for my Mid Atlantic Mod Secret Sewist, Cathy from the Philly MQG (pic by Cathy)  3. Mug rug for Laurel (pic by @singallyouwant)  4. Jess with the Aeroplane Bag I made her, and me with my amazing mini she made me at Mid Atlantic Mod

I also participated in 5 mini quilt swaps (4 hosted through Instagram and 1 at Mid Atlantic Mod), and a guild hoop art swap.

1. Schnitzel and Boo mini for @fernsfrocks  2. Rainbow mini for @blotchandthrum  3. Selvedge mini quilt for Mid Atlantic MOD  4. Cotton +Steel mini for @eloquentmime  5. Anna Maria Horner mini for @emileemason  6. Winter Solstace hoop art for @smartash (DCMQG swap)

I also participated in my first craft show. I didn't sell much at the show, but I sold several items to co-workers who saw my pictures on Facebook. All-in-all it was a good experience and something that I hope to do again in 2016.

I wasn't going to set any year-long goals for myself but I did think of two that are pretty non-specific: 1. make things for me and my family/friends  2. use fabric in my stash! I did treat myself to a new sewing machine last month... so here's to getting stuff done in 2016!

Since I'm generally terrible at blogging, you can follow along on my Instagram where I'm much more active. Happy New Year :)

A Lovely Year of Finishes: Aeroplane Bag March Finish

Well ladies and gents, I finished myself a piece for #travelhandmade.  In the eleventh hour last night I was finished... too bad I finished it too late on March 31 to take satisfactory pictures and post to the link-up.

March really was just a whirlwind of activity... Lots of Master Gardener stuff gearing up... where the heck did the month go???  Lucky for me, the weather was super crummy and I had two glorious days of pretty much nothing to do except sew this past weekend.

Part of my goal this month was to make myself an Aeroplane Bag by SewSweetness so I would have something to tote my sewing machine with me to Mid Atlantic Mod.

I am so pleased with how it turned out!  And, with the exception of the AMH Dowry print and interfacings, I had all of the other fabrics on-hand.

Since I sew mainly at night, it's difficult for me to get good "in-progress" pictures, but I did end up posting a lot of my progress on my instagram

I pulled the fabric on our very rainy and gloomy Sunday afternoon, and started cutting around 4:30.  I kept sewing until around 11pm and got both outer and lining panels completed.  On Monday night after work I attached the zipper and finished the entire bag around 10pm.  So from start to finish the bag took me about 11 hours (including breaks)... not too shabby.

I still consider myself a "confident beginner" when it comes to projects, especially non-quilting projects.  This bag was definitely a challenge for me, but I wouldn't say that it was difficult, it just forced me to try new things (zippers still intimidate me).  I will definitely purchase more of Sara's patterns in the future.  Her instructions are amazing and made the whole process much easier.  The splitting zipper made installation  a breeze and also helped ease the assembly process.  I did end up having to do some hand stitching around the zipper ends, but I think that's more because of my lack of experience than anything else.

As I mentioned before, the outer main fabric is Anna Maria Horner Dowry "Postage Due" in Berry.  This is the only fabric that I purchased for this project.  The straps and bottom fabric are made from Anna Maria Horner Field Study "Fine Feathered" in Denim, and the yard I had in the stash is sadly now reduced to scraps because I made a booboo cutting the first time.

The lining is Kona Kale which coordinates pretty well with the green on the main print.  I was originally going to use a different Dowry print for the pocket lining, but settled on the cute navy dots from DS Quilts Blossom Reel collection at Joann's.

Since I chose to make the large size, it fits my sewing machine perfectly, with spare room on the the sides for my extension table, cord and foot pedal.  I may use some of the leftover Peltex to make a more stable bottom just to support the weight of the machine.  I don't think this is absolutely necessary, the bag construction is sturdy, I'm just not as confident in my bag-making abilities to trust my seams, lol.

I purchased this pattern and all fabrics with my own funds and did not get compensated in any way for this post.