Labor Day Sale

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Have a great weekend everyone!

Sewvivor - Bag Challenge

I have to admit that this Challenge was one that I was most excited about - I love a good bag!  I originally thought about another Weekender but decided to try out a new tote pattern for this challenge.  Turns out I love it and can't wait to make another one!  

It's no secret that I love a black and white polka dot background as well as incorporating mini blocks whenever possible on a bag and this one is no exception.  I contacted Mahriam of Three Owls Handmade to see if she'd let me use her pattern and was thrilled when she agreed.  (I believe it will be available to on her website soon!)  The Nova Tote pattern calls for a canvas bag with a featured block for the center front pocket; however I pieced nearly all of the bag. 

It all started with a mini Thimble Blossoms Swoon block.  One of the reasons I have enjoyed mini blocks lately is they allow me to work on precision piecing and my technique with all the small pieces.  The mini Swoon is the star of the front pocket of the bag and I flanked it with strips of coordinating prints.  

For the back, I used four mini Spools and then made twelve scrappy hourglass blocks for the center panel. 

There was a fair amount of math involved to make sure that everything would line up correctly after the straps were attached. :-)

This was my first time using Soft & Stable for a bag and I really love how the bag maintains a great shape even with nothing in it.  For the front panel, I quilted a piece of Essex linen with straight lines so that the pocket panel would be the main focus.  

The straps and bottom of the bag are also Essex linen and lined with Soft & Stable as well.  

I fused SF-101 behind the linen and the pieced panels before quilting to help add more stability and keep the pieced panels from shifting too much while quilting. 

Since I had piecing on the back and the front pocket panel meeting at the sides, I decided to add a strip of piping down the sides of the bag.  I love how this adds a little something and gives that "break" I was looking for between the two panels. 

The top of the bag, inside pocket, and front exterior pocket are all bound with a red print and finished by hand on the inside of the bag. 

The bag is fully lined and I added a couple of features here as well.  I sewed a panel on one side to make three pockets across the back inside of the bag.  The bag is a great size (about 20 inches across at the top and about 15 inches tall), so I also added a key fob so I wouldn't have to rummage for my keys when out and about.

Overall I love how it turned out and can't wait to carry it all over the place!

I hope you'll stop by Rachel's blog and vote on the Bag Challenge Round!  See all the entries herehttp://www.familyeverafterblog.com/2014/08/sewvivor-3-quilted-bag-projects-voting.html.

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Project Details: 
Patterns Used:  Nova Tote (to be published soon) - Three Owls Handmade; Mini Swoon & Spools - Thimble Blossoms
Fabrics: RK Essex Linen Yarn Dye Black; Moda Essential Dots White Black (block background & pocket linings); Daysail by Bonnie & Camille for Moda (blocks - due out in February 2015); Miss Kate by Bonnie & Camille for Moda (bag lining); April Showers by Bonnie & Camille for Moda (bindings)
Notions/Other: Soft & Stable - By Annie; Pellon SF-101, Aurifil 50 wt thread

Miss Kate Yardage!

Just a quick post tonight to share that Miss Kate yardage is arriving on Tuesday!  You can now order yardage and we will ship as soon as it comes in!

Happy Sewing! :-)

Modern Building Blocks Patterns Available

Hey y'all!

The Modern Building Blocks Quilt Patterns are now available!  They have been selling like hot cakes this afternoon and I've already ordered more just in case!  :-)

If you preordered the kit, the pattern is included and those will be arriving in September and we will get them shipped out as soon as they arrive.

Camille and Carrie are sewing the quilt together with #modabuildingblocks on IG. Will you quilt along?  :-)

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Christmas in July Project Link Up Winners

Hello again!

With all the commotion from Sewvivor and our upcoming move, I failed to post our Christmas in July Link Up Winners!

Thanks to everyone who followed along with our series and stopped by to visit all our friends' tutorials!  And now for the winners of the Link Up ... 

The Grand Prize winner is Brandy!

And the 1st Prize winner is Vicki F! 

Congrats ladies!  Please email us at sewlux (at) gmail (dot) com and we'll get your prizes sent over!

Happy Sewing!  :-) 

Sewvivor Nautical Challenge Entry

Welcome to my Sewvivor Challenge 1 Post!  I must admit that I was beyond excited to make the Top 16 and although there was some anxiety involved as I hemmed and hawed over the layout, I really enjoyed making my project for this challenge. 

First a little about my concept and inspiration ... 

Have you ever found yourself telling someone that you sew or quilt for your sanity? Some of you may even sport the popular "I quilt so I don't kill people" t-shirt!  We love spending time cutting our favorite fabrics and sewing them back together to create something new.  And we're involved in blogging and sharing our work on Instagram and other social media because we crave community in our craft. 

My challenge project was designed as both a representation of that sentiment (sewing for sanity) as well as a celebration of community. Community has meant so much to me as so many people graciously "threw me a line" during a particularly difficult season of life earlier this year.  

In February, my father passed away unexpectedly.  My world was rocked.  And it seemed like my own Titanic was sinking. And you know who was among the first people to show up?  Some of my real-life sewing friends.  They didn't politely ask or offer their help - they just showed up.  I will always be grateful. 

Since then, my personal "life preservers" have stepped in when I needed them most.  Some picked up my slack at work - insisting upon their assistance even when my pride insisted they didn't. Some remembered to ask how I was - knowing full well that I might not say "fine" and they were okay with that.  And some told me to "just keep sewing" when at first it seemed I could find no joy even at my machine.  

For me, this mini celebrates the community built on our common love of fabric and thread.  

I could not be more grateful for my own little community of life preservers - some quilty and some not. (You know who you are.) 

But as my dad once wrote, "Enough crap - on with the show!"  

Here's more about my project ... 

Once I honed in on my theme for this mini quilt, I started by making a bunch of mini Cheerio blocks (by Camille Roskelley featured in Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine Issue 8).  By changing the color way and setting these blocks on point, they made perfect life preserver rings!  

I used a variety of white and cream low volume prints and reds for the rings and used a pretty aqua print from Sphere by Zen Chic for all of the watery background.  

(horrible phone picture ... sorry!) 

Once I pieced all the blocks, I laid them out and sashed them together.  I used some strips to fill in the zig zag of space between the rows and used some half square triangles to set them and create a larger rectangle with each set of rings. 

Since my background fabric is directional, I took care to fussy cut and keep the lines in the print going horizontal whenever possible. I included a strip of aqua between to provide space for the flags to hang and added a 3" border prior to quilting.   

I did some free motion wavy lines throughout the entire background of the quilt, but chose to add in some spirals in the center of all the rings to help accentuate the circular shape.  

I chose to leave the rings unquilted so they would appear to sit above the quilted portion and "float in the water."

One of the things I really wanted to include from the very beginning when I first started sketching this concept was nautical flags spelling either "sew" or "quilt."  I ended up spelling "quilt" and made the flags by piecing 3.5" squares and adding a backing (like making a small pillow) to finish them off nicely. 

Before sewing the fronts to the backs, I stitched a two inch piece of twill tape to the top of each flag back to provide a little channel to string some rope through later. The 3" finished flags are strung across the quilt with some thin rope, which is knotted and tacked down at the sides of the quilt. 

These flags were super fun to piece (and applique!) and I love how they dangle above the water.  The finished project measures about 20" x 30" and was backed in a red print and bound with a red and white stripe.

I'm thrilled to have this celebratory mini hanging in my sewing room!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll take the time to vote for your favorite nautical project (hopefully mine! :-).  I'll be anxiously awaiting the results and working on an epic bag should I get to round two!

(Edited at 12:40 PM - the voting link is now available!  :-) 

Happy Sewing!  :-)

Far Far Away & Mini Medallion

Happy Wednesday!

Just a few things to share with you today ...

The Far Far Away Reprint from Heather Ross has arrived!  Stash your favorites - see them all here.

Our Moving Sale is still going on ... save an extra 15% off all sale prints and bundles now through 8/10/14 with coupon code MOVE15.

And, our Mini Medallion QAL over at Clover & Violet is coming along.  Get the pattern for the next border here.

Happy Sewing!  :-)