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quilting for travel!

I am doing some quilting for travel I have planned (world cruise!), and am very pleased with the results! First, since I am taking some quilting with me, I wanted a soft (squishable in suitcase) "box" for my needle case, beeswax, some threaders, thread, scissors, thimbles, thread, copy of pattern, etc. I couldn't find anything I liked for sale, so I made one! It is 6" by 6" and 2" deep, with an 18" zipper around 3 sides of the top. I used scrap fabric with a pattern conducive to wholecloth quilting for the outside, and a complimentary color for the insides, and made 6 very small quilted pieces -- two 6 by 6, and four 2 by 6 (top, bottom, and 4 sides). I used bias binding around all pieces, stitched them together, and added the zipper. I had scraps of batting, of course, and a bit of spare fabric, so I also made a matching pin cushion. The case came out very nicely! The other item I am making is a quilted tote bag, which will be about 14" tall, 11" wide, and 4" front to back. I am also doing wholecloth quilting for it, using some rather funny "northwoods" pattern fabric printed to look like a quilt for the outside, and a coordinating color for the inside. The "northwoods" fabric is excellent for wholecloth quilting since the printed "quilting lines" are well-spaced, and it looks great done with black thread. I have made two patches of that fabric for pockets to be sewn to the inside of the tote bag after the quilting is finished, and a separate little zipped bag to slip inside the tote bag. Again, I will bind the pieces with navy blue bias binding and stitch those together for the body of the tote bag. For handles I am using a 1" wide navy webbing, and will make them plenty long so it will be comfortable over the shoulder. I am very pleased, and will be ready for some serious stitching with the other stitchers on board!

Reply to
Mary
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What a clever idea! (Photo?) Does the "box" coordinate with the tote? This sounds like the perfect gift for a lot of people I could think of. Roberta in D

"Mary" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@q4g2000prc.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

On Aug 23, 12:34 pm, "Roberta Zollner" wrote:

I don't know how to post a photo --- sorry! The "box" doesn't coordinate with the tote bag. It is a quilt-like pattern in green and white print with 1" squares in green pattern separated by 1/2" white sashing pattern. Both the squares and sashing patterns are somewhat busy, and the the green is a kelly green, which I thought was simply too much for a tote. I put 9 squares centered on the top (3 x 3) surrounded by sashing pattern -- same on the bottom -- and rows of 3 on the side pieces. I did the whole cloth quilting with kelly green thread (outlined the squares), and used kelly green bias tape and zipper. The fabric I used on the inside (and bottom of the pin cusion) is a very busy tiny-flower print of navy flowers covering dark mossy green. Quite frankly, if I had a quilting friend who liked to take stitching with her, I think it would make a great gift, particularly if I could find some good pins with plastic top knots that matched the colors in the "box" and matching pin cushion. For a gift I would probably also toss in a couple of threaders, a new beeswax holder, a new seam ripper, and a retractable tape measure and/ or short ruler. For a really special friend I might also toss in a fancy "stork" scissor. Other than the bias binding and zipper, everything was made with scraps. I just happened to have the right binding, zipper, and thread swimming around in my "miscellaneous" bag in the closet, so this project has cost me exactly nothing! By the way, it takes 2 packages of bias binding. It will squish in my suitcase nicely, and with the sides things won't roll out onto the floor. I'm very pleased with it.

For the tote bag, it, too, is using 2 packages of bias binding. I had a fairly large scrap of the "northwoods" fabric for the outside, and 2 fat quarters of a very busy tiny-print fabric that goes well with the outside. The 2 pockets I will attach, and the small zipper case to tuck into the tote, are done inside and out with the "northwoods" fabric. The small zipper case is built around a 6" zipper I had on hand and turns out to be about the size of an open wallet. The pockets to attach to the inside of the tote are one about 4" deep and

5" wide, and one about 8" deep and 5" wide I thought would be handy for a pair of oversized sunglasses.

Yep, I'm a cheapskate! I occasionally find lovely totes, etc. for sale, but the good ones and the ones I like are rather expensive, so I prefer to give it all a bit of thought and then rummage around in the scraps to see what I can make.

Reply to
Mary

Cheapskates of the world unite! Thanks for the details, might have to give this a try. Roberta in D, Queen of the Scrap Heap

"Mary" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@r23g2000prd.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

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