Take Off Tote

I've been doing secret sewing on a quilt top that can't be shared which is why I haven't really been blogging. That said, I finished up my IG Mini Swap quilt, received one in turn, and have made a few other small things recently. This is a round up post of the things I've been working on other than the one big quilt top (and it will be big at 93" square).

To start: my mom's birthday quilt. It hasn't actually made it to her because of the backing, unfortunately flipping over on itself for the last column, and me not having had a chance to unpick that column of quilting to redo it then bind. That said, she knows she's getting it and has seen it in person. It fits with the color scheme of the living room at her house perfectly. And you can see that I'm now using the Singer 66 for my quilting, and the stitches are great.

Pippa wanted to show you what the extension table is really for:

 And the whole quilt laid out on my bed, which is queen sized for reference. This quilt is a throw, not full bed sized though.

 My IG Mini Swap quilt as I was quilting it. I did pebbles in the background areas.

 And here it is, unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it once it was bound before it went off in the mail to England.

 This is a block that I made nearly two years ago (maybe a little more). I decided it will become a pillow cover and I wanted to practice hooked swirls. I still need more practice, but adding to FMQ repetoire with small scale practice is always good.

 This is the IG Mini Swap that I received. Quilts From the Attic made this for me, and he based the nautical theme off the fact that I'm in the Navy. Plus, he sent some nice goodies along.

 And here it is hanging on my dining room wall. I hung it within 20 minutes of receiving it. I love the colors and the matchstick quilting. Before you ask - no the flags don't spell anything, most of them are just made up and don't follow actual flags.

 And here is another long standing flimsy that I've had, and I decided to practice meandering feathers on the chevrons.

 And the completed mini, which will also likely become a pillow cover.

 And then lastly, over the weekend I got the pattern for the Take Off Tote from Dog Under my Desk. I love her patterns since they have photos of every step of the way. The pattern for this bag was 43 pages including the pattern pieces, around 30 of actual step by step instructions. I was never confused and it came together in about 4 hours total. I also learned a new zipper technique. Between the straps on the back, it has instead of a pocket, a slide so that it can sit on top of a rolling suitcase and not slip off. That's why it's called the Take Off Tote.  These fabrics came from Jo-Ann where I had gone to get the needed interfacing since they were on crazy sale, and I love swirls and polka dots, can't go wrong with either.

Interior has a big double pocket.

 I really like the wide open zip on the top of this, very easy to see things in the bag and not be searching for something that has slipped to the bottom. It also has a firm base, and the pattern includes a pocket to slide in a piece of cardboard, or in my case, plastic template cut to size.