Bag of Bags

Pillowcase come in all sizes and shapes... I came up with this one, not to be a pillowcase, but a bag of bags.  I have several shopping bags that fold up pretty compact to make them easy to carry to the store.  Problem is to remember to take them into the store when you get there.  A couple weeks ago my dear friend gave me a bundle of mesh sacks to put your produce in.  I determined that if I made a sack to carry all the shopping bags and the new mesh bags... I might remember to actually use them. Quick to make and a stash buster.  So far it is working pretty nicely... I have remembered to use my shopping bags, more than a couple times already.

About a year ago I went to a quilt show and found a booth with some awesome quilts.  They made it sound like an easy process, so I just had to have one of the patterns... of course it cost way more than I should have paid.  When I got home and had a chance to sit and go through the instructions on how this quilt was done, I put it aside and determined I would have to wait until I felt like spending enough time to figure out how to proceed.  Fast forward a year and I was no further with figuring out the pattern... then I get an email from a local quilt shop that they were going to have a class on the process by this designer.  I jumped at the chance to get past the intimidation of this pattern.  Signed my friend up with me and the adventure has begun.  Downside of my pattern, that I have had for a year now is... it is one of the larger patterns.  My friend's quilt is probably one third the size of my sea turtle.  It would have been so much easier to start off small.

The process is broken down into two classes.  The first class was to explain the process and show some finished samples.  We were given homework to be done before the second class, which is to be about a month later.  These are art quilts, which is something I have not really thought about doing before.  It has taken me out of my comfort zone, which does not mean I am having difficulty doing this, but I am having a problem playing by the rules.  I can think of lots of ways to do things different than we are supposed to be doing them...




This process uses lots of Steam a Seam 2... and lots of cutouts.  The instructions basically have you fusing everything.  Not previously having a great love for fusing, I was reluctant to add SAS2 to all of the background pieces. I grabbed several scraps and started piecing them to make my background by sewing them together.  One of the homework instructions was to put SAS2 on the background pieces... but DO NOT fuse them in place.  All the pieces are supposed to be sorted and brought to class to begin the construction process.

With my background having no stability, as it would as fused background, I thought I needed to stiffen it up a bit, so I used full strength liquid starch and my backyard lawn for a dryer.  After I pressed the semi finished background, I found the hole which will be covered by the turtle, had an unstable edge, so I basted in another piece of fabric to make the background one whole piece.

One of the neat features of SAS2 is it is repositionable, and only becomes permanently fused when you use steam in the pressing process.  We were instructed to temporarily build the main character of the quilt on a stabilizer called Pattern Ease... but only to prep the background pieces... I am now potentially in hot water... I am quite sure.

Once I filled the hole to semi stabilize the background... I figured I was already in trouble, so I cut the turtle out and will be ready to start embellishing at the class.  I have more than a couple bags with cutouts of fish, shells and flowers. It is still another week before the class, so if I am already in hot water... guess I could start embellishing.