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QuiltCon Recap: Part 1

I have been itching to write this post for days! When I thought about what I wanted to talk about in this post, I realized I have about 2 or 3 posts worth of stuff. So I decided I will break the posts up over the weekend to share about my trip.

I had a fantastic time at QuiltCon and I am excited to share with you. I figured I would work a little bit backwards which would explain my silence here on the blog for weeks.

My last day at QuiltCon I woke up with a insane sore throat, I was suspicious it may just be from talking a ton and not getting much sleep, but as the day progressed I felt worse and worse. I left for the airport at 3:00pm and eventually I made it to PHX at 8:30pm. When I landed I had full chills, fever, and thought they might need to wheel me to my husband who was picking me up. Sadly I new at this point I was definitely sick with something contagious, so I only got to peek in on my little ones and couldn't hug or even touch them. Since this was my first time away from both of my kiddos this was pretty much torture. I went to the doctor the next day and it turned out I had a major  for the first time in 8 years strep throat and I think also a sinus infection! Yuck, that is seriously not fun as an adult, I felt like such a wimp. I laid in bed for days, and today I am still super tired and weak, but back at my routine.

February was an overwhelmingly busy month for me. About 2 1/2 weeks before QuiltCon I got an email from the Modern Quilt Guild, wondering if I may be able to do a full website and redesign of their blog, all before QuiltCon, at first I thought whoa thats not even possible (usually that takes 3-4 months), but the project sounded so much fun! And it really was a ton of fun, I stayed up till about 3 am for both weeks, but the site launched just in the nick of time on last tuesday. If you haven't got to see it yet be sure to go check it out at themodernquiltguild.com. There will be much more exciting stuff coming the the website this summer as well.

Since I was so swamped before QuiltCon I didn't even get to formally blog about all the things that I made for the trip. 

Patchwork Duffel

As you know from a previous post that I received an amazing weekender bag as a swap gift. I planned to put all my class supplies and purse and such in that bag to tote around QuiltCon. Lately I have had a total bag sewing itch so I decided to make myself a duffle bag which I would use for all my clothes and travel supplies. 

I got a duffel bag a few years ago as a freebie at a Jewelry convention I went too. I always hated the look of it, but loved the size, shape and everything about the bag. So I started by look at the bag closely and taking some rough measurements. Then sat down and did some math and planning and began working on the bag. First I started with a random Triangle Wheel Block I had made a while back for a tutorial. I picked out fabrics from my stash to go with the block and begin piecing together fabrics to be the proper size. This type of improv quilting is so much fun for me and probably my favorite. Once I had all the individual pieces ready, I basted then on batting and FMQ quilted them.

I didn't really have a plan for the quilting, I just decided to sample a bunch of different quilting designs in each piece of the panel, switching thread as needed. I ended up using all 40wt Aurifil thread in gray, pink and black.

For the straps I used black cotton webbing and to make it a bit prettier I added gray poly ribbon to the webbing.

One of the things I really like about my old duffel bag was that there were two zippers that met in the middle. So I made sure to include this feature in this bag which really allows you to stuff the bag super super full! It is sort of hard to tell in the pictures, but I also quilted my first name in the pink of the top panel.

For the inside I used gray Cotton Duck which is what keep the bag standing on its out, but it isn't so stiff you can fold it up when your done with it. The inside has a large pocket for keys, cell phone charger, etc. and the inside also has a patchwork removable base. I added a red binding on all the seams on the inside to finish things nicely. On the bottom of the bag I wanted to be able to protect my precious patchwork and quilting so I purchased some purse feet at Joann's, which are really easy to install. 

Overall it was a super fun project! It is a really simple bag to make, and I am really thinking about making a pattern with 3 sizes, I would say this one would fall into the medium size.

Pile O' Fabric Name Tag

The next thing I wanted to make was a name tag to wear. I knew I wanted to embroider my logo, but wasn't sure what else to do. I sat around for a while thinking about it and thought, wait a minute, I need a Pile O' Fabric! First I started with only a small pile, but you know me I just kept adding to it and before long my pile was HUGE! :)

When I did the embroidery I used this Pellon Stabilizer which you can print on your inkjet and then stitch onto your project and stitch through. It is a nice idea, but for this project when I washed the tag it got super sticky stiff and incredibly wrinkly. For the fabric I just used heat n'bond light and fused some scraps and cut out little stacks of fabric, fused them on and them did some messy stitching around each pile to give the look of an actual pile. 

On the backside I created a little card pocket to put all my business cards. The lanyard just ties in a bow at whatever length I would like.

Pleated Tote Bag

Once I was in bag mode, I of course thought of one more bag I may need. I wanted a little tote for my wallet and if I wanted to walk around Austin without carrying my weekender with all my class supplies. I recently saw a free pattern from Ellen Luckett Baker for a Pleated Tote Bag

I made mine version with an Amy Butler floral print for the outside and a Lotta Jansdotter stripe print for the lining. This was a super super easy pattern and took me under an hour to make. I think this would make a great gift tote! If I made it again I think I would add some nice pockets to the inside maybe even a zipper pocket, so I could have a little place for my keys, cell phone and such.

Pincushion for Swap

One of the super fun events I was planning for QuiltCon was the Skill Builder BOM Meetup, and we planned to swap pin cushions. I will share more about the dinner later, but here is the little pin cushion I made.

Patchwork Camera Strap Cover

Lastly I wanted to make a strap cover for my Canon which was super quick and improv, I used the same fabrics from my tag to match.

Tomorrow I will be back again to actually start talking about QuiltCon and my trip. Don't forget to enter today's Fabric Giveaway Friday, this week it is sponsored by Surly Sheep!

Alyssa

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Creator of Pile O' Fabric

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