notes from Terry Ann

Bonus Pocket for the Tag Along Tote

When I was growing up, every time our family went somewhere, we had to wait for my mom to change purses so that her purse matched her outfit. I never would have guessed that I would be doing the same thing 30 years later! I have had so much fun making Tag Along Totes that every time I’m in a quilt shop I grab three fat quarters to make another one. It’s addicting! These are a few of my favorites.

 
I like to put an extra pocket on the inside of my totes for glasses and a pen. There was room in the pattern instructions for either an optional zipper OR an optional pocket, and it took me forever to decide which one to leave out! The zipper won the spot in the pattern so here are instructions for the pocket:

 

Cut a 5" x 12" rectangle from leftover fabric. Fold it in half and stitch 1/4" seams along the sides.

Turn it right side out and press. Fold the raw edges up 1/4" and press. The pocket in the photo is kind of upside down with the raw edges along the top edge - but you are smart and you probably already figured that out!

Mark a line 1" from the edge - this is where you'll stitch to make the pen pocket.

 

Place the pocket on the lining side of your bag back, with the folded top edge of the pocket 1-3/4" from the top edge of the bag. Stitch in place close to the sides and bottom the pocket. Stitch on the marked 1" line to make the pen pocket.

Finish the bag according to the pattern instructions, and voila! I couldn't wait to show you the pocket - now I'll have to go back and attach the handles . . . but my glasses are right there so I can see to do it.

What Do You Collect?

I collect all things Fiesta along with lots of other colorful dishes and pottery. Because storage is getting to be a problem, any serving dishes and platters have to be round or oval because the odd shaped ones are just too hard to stack in the cupboard. This summer on the way to Megan's college orientation in Philadelphia, I dragged my family to the Homer Laughlin factory store in Newell, West Virginia where Fiesta is made. They were thrilled. I just found out that Fiesta will be adding brown to the color lineup in December - yippee!!

Some of my collections are a "love at first sight" thing where I can't resist the color or the shape of   something and just have to have it. Other collections happen accidently, like the rubber duckies that multiply without my consent. How on earth did that Hooters duck get into the "yellow and white" collection??

We've been cleaning and I've come across this really old matchbook collection. 25 years ago, my roommate and I used to pick up matchbooks everywhere we went. I had always intended to have some of them mounted in a frame. Somewhere, there are several magazine photos I've saved of exactly how that will look. You'd better check back daily to see the update on that plan, I'm sure it will happen any minute!

Creativity: Where do ideas come from?

I have a very short attention span, and I'm usually working on many projects at a time, jumping back and forth between them depending on what I feel like doing. I'll work on a quilt until I get stuck and then I set it aside and work on something else.  I get some of my best ideas when I'm in the shower, and I've been known to stay up almost all night when I have a really good book. Somehow everything all comes together in the end.

I belong to an online book club, and every day Suzanne emails me her daily column along with an excerpt from a business book. Each week there is a different book. I mostly just read Suzanne's column, but every once in a while the book is so interesting that I have to reserve it at the library or buy it so I can finish it right away. I used to subscribe to her mystery and fiction book clubs too but there were way too many good books and I am so easily distracted . . .

One of the books that I'm reading now is "The Riddle: Where ideas come from and how to have better ones", by Andrew Razeghi. I am amazed to find out that actual studies have been done that explain why I get such good ideas in the shower! Scientists have pinpointed which part of the brain is the part for creative thinking, and they have studied how the brain processes several things at once, so that you can be solving a problem that you don't even realize you're thinking about.

An example given of creative thinking is how Henry Ford came up with the the assembly line by combining practices from other industries in a new way to make cars. My Best Press bottle cover idea came about after reading Mary's suggestion to make the wine tote from my Let's Do Lunch in different sizes. Then I was looking at pictures from the Rosebud Cottage retreat - one of the quilters covered her best Press bottle with an antique crocheted cover, so of course I had to have a cute cover on my bottle, too. I guess I'm more like Henry Ford than I ever knew...

Best Press Bag

Which bottle of Mary Ellen's Best Press would you rather use?
Or give as a gift to your best quilting buddy?
I decorated mine with a yo-yo and a button. Send me a comment about how you'll decorate yours and I'll enter you in a drawing to win my Let's Do Lunch book.  Two names will be drawn at random on December 1st so the winners can make some easy table runners or tote bags for holiday gifts.

Let's get started. Cut two 9-1/2" squares - one main color and one lining. I used two of the Paisley Party prints that Liz Lois and I designed for Red Rooster. Note from Sheila G in CA: If you have an older bottle, cut your squares 10-1/2" to accommodate the girth!

Stitch the two squares together using a 1/4" seam.

Fold it in half and stitch  a scant 1/4" seam along the long edge.

Fold the lining fabric over the main color - it will wrap around the 1/4" seam so that 1/4" of the lining shows next to the main color. The lining will be on the outside and the main color will be on the inside. Topstitch along the seam as shown.

Press the long seam. If you position the bag on the edge of the ironing board you can press it without making any creases in the bag.

Place the bag on your cutting mat with the long seam centered. Trim the raw edges even at the bottom of the bag. (the bottom of the bag is shown at the right in the photo) Stitch a 1/4" seam along the trimmed edge.

Fold each bottom corner as shown and mark a line 1" over from the point. Stitch on the lines. This will make the bottom of the bag flat.

Turn the bag right side out. Fold the cuff down about 2-1/4" and adjust it to fit the bottle. Tie a contrasting piece of rick rack or ribbon around the cuff for a quick gift or go hog wild and really doll it up! Believe it or not, it took me longer to find a matching button than it did to make the whole bag!

To make the travel size bag, cut two rectangles 7" x 8". Stitch them together along the 7" edge. When making the corners, measure over 3/4" from the point.
 

 Here's another quick gift for you to make .

 

The directions for this wine tote are on page 11 of my Let's Do Lunch book. I'm not good at pouring wine - just look at all the bubbles. I've had more practice pouring beer . . .  Look on the back cover of your book to see how nice it looks after the guys at the printer photoshopped the bubbles out. If you don't have the book yet, ask for it at your local quilt shop. 

 

Start a Color Journal

Look what came in the mail! Maria Peagler was kind enough to send me a copy of her new book about color. I like the chapter about keeping a color journal.

Right now, I have a couple of folders stuffed full of magazine clippings and ideas - but it never dawned on me to keep a separate one just for color ideas. I even have several piles of fabrics grouped together on my counter that I can't break up because what if I can't come up with that wonderful combination again? I could just snap a photo and put it in my color journal. Thanks Maria!

 

Orange in London

My daughter Megan is 19 today. She is in London for a semester of study abroad. Here is her foot in some London leaves.

Here it is again. I love how she switched the colors in these photos.

Here is the rest of her. Happy Birthday Megan!

Goodbye First Grade Quilt

Derek, my 22 year old son, has finally worn out his favorite quilt that I made him when he was in first grade. So it's time to make a new one. He has very definite opinions - he likes batiks, and quilts that are symmetrical with interesting details. I collected some green and blue fat quarters and he helped me pull more from my stash . . .  maybe I could have skipped the shopping part!

Tonight I cut out all the pieces and it sure seems like there are a million of them!
He chose the Star Sprinkles pattern -  it was a toss-up between Star Sprinkles and Happy Hour, and of course he chose the one with more pieces. He works for us here at Atkinson Designs - shipping books and patterns and doing office work - so he has had plenty of time to think about which quilt he wants. That also means that he's here every day to ask "Is my quilt done yet?"

Pick a Peck of Pretty Paisley Party

Roseanne Kermes packed a suitcase full of Paisley Party fat quarters for the quilters to play with at her Rosebud's Cottage retreat. I wonder if there are any left?

Fat Sack

Pretty AND practical.

MATERIALS: You'll need 1 yd. of fabric and matching thread. I used August Fields by Amy Butler. It's a decorator weight fabric in a scrumptious color. NOTE: 1-3/8 yds. of 58"-60" wide fabric will make two bags.

Cut one 19" x 36" for the bag and two 4" x 36" for the handles.

Cut one 12-1/2" x 19" for the bag bottom.

Fold and press one edge of each handle under 1/4".

Fold and press the other edge under 1-1/4".

Fold it in half and press.

Stitch close to the edges of the handles. This will be a lot faster if you don't lose one of the handles somewhere in your sewing room like I did!

Fold and press a crease to mark the center of 19" x 36" bag rectangle as shown.

Press a double 1" hem  on each end. Stitch close to both edges of the hem.

Pin the handle in place as shown. The ends of the handles will be 10-1/2" down from the top and the sides of the handles will be 5-1/2" over from the raw edge.

Stitch the handles in place, stitching on top of the previous stitching along the edges of the handles and across the handle even with the hem stitching line.

Press a crease to mark the center of the 12-1/2" x 19" bag bottom. Press under 1/4" along the long edges.

Pin the bottom section on top of the bag, matching center creases. It will cover the raw edges of the handle ends. Stitch close to the pressed edge and again 1/4" away.

Place pins as shown, 4" on each side of the center crease at the bottom of the bag.

Fold the bag in half, wrong sides together.

Fold the top layer down, creasing across between the pins.

Repeat with the other side of the bag. There will be a big pleat as shown.

Stitch the side seams using a 1/4" seam, catching all layers of the pleat. Zig-zag the raw edges to keep them from raveling. I like to use either a 3-step zig zag or a feather stitch because it flattens the seam and finishes the edge at the same time.

Here is how your bag will look. Doesn't Kirk make a great knuckle model?

When you turn the bag right side out, the corners will look like this.

Cut a piece of foam core or cardboard 8" x 10" for inside the bottom of the bag. See Nov. 5 post "After the Election".

Time to go shopping! This bag is a perfect size - even when it its full of cans, it's not too heavy! Because it is fat, it won't tip over in the car, even if your driving is like mine . . .

After the election

This morning on my way out to the mailbox to get my newspaper, I took down my election sign. My first thought was "I wish they would have given us a smaller sign, because now we have to get rid of it." That thought was instantly followed by "Wow, this would be perfect to cut up and use in the bottom of a tote bag!" The sign is made of two layers of lightweight plastic with foam core in between - what could be better?  I used my Olfa rotary cutter and it was really easy to cut.

Look at how nice the grocery tote stands up with its new bottom. But it still is a very ugly bag - I think I need to make a new bag! Off to the sewing machine . . .