Thursday, January 31, 2008

I got a beautiful piece of fabric in the mail today



I got the beautiful piece of fabric in the mail today from Carole. Thank you so much Carole!! She thought it would go well with my collection of African fabric. I laid it out on the floor to get a good picture of it. You can see Jenny's feet just beside the fabric. As I was looking at it I thought it would make a wonderful bag ( maybe a couple of bags!!) The picture doesn't really show it off that well. I think I see a project in the future!! It certainly is a wonderful addition to my stash!!


I have been spending most of the day to today working on the diaper bag. These are all the pieces I have cut!!!


I haven't counted how many pieces there are in this bag - I bet there are over 60 - I should count them. I have been following the blog "Gone Aussie Quilting" and Heidi has made many of these bags - so I have been emailing her lately for advice. She has been very, very helpful!!


Jessica choose the fabric for the bag - it is an Kona Bay - Seattle Bay - Butterfly print in eggplant.

Jessica was looking at the various diaper bags online and they were around $60.00 -- "Don't buy a diaper bag" I said " I can make one much cheaper than $60.00 and it will be much better" Well I hope this will be better because it is certainly not going to be cheaper!! This pattern calls for almost 4 yards combined of the three different fabrics, 2 1/2 yards of Decor Bond - 3 zippers and various snaps and pull cords etc -- plus the pattern. I sure hope it turns out!!! I was think of making a "test bag" first - but I decided against that - and I am just relying heavily on advice from Heidi. I could not find the recommended Pellon Decor Bond interfacing - so I am using something from my LQS and I am a little nervous about if it is the right stuff and how well it will hold up.

I have spent most of the afternoon ironing on the interfacing. Of course I used my brand new Rowenta iron and placed one of the pieces of interfacing on upside down!! Then I spent 20 minutes scrubbing off the glue with those little tiny alcohol swabs - you know the little ones that nurses use to swab your skin before they give you the shot and then take home 2 -3 in their pockets at the end of each shift --- they do come in handy. But the iron has to be really, really cool before you try to use them!!


And here is the final picture of the Monkey quilt. The entire flimsy is together now. It really was a group effort. Even Jim got involved and suggested the off setting of the blocks - which at first I didn't like, but now I like it better than the blocks in the centre - they seem to blend in a bit more off set like that.

The snow is pretty much all gone now and it has warmed up quite a bit. I don't know what the weather forecast is for this weekend. I am working three days - all through the weekend - so I won't see what it is doing outside anyway. I doubt if I get anymore done on the bag until Monday.

I had better go - I am trying to post this and cook supper at the same time and the kitchen is starting to fill with smoke......................
Posted by Picasa

19 comments:

  1. The quilt looks great. You did a wonderful job incorporating all the suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's an absolutely gorgeous piece of fabric! How nice she was to send it! Just like you sending to me. =)

    That's going to be quite a diaper bag! You are a good friend to make it. You didn't count your time in the cost, did you? =)

    The monkey quilt is beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Pam,
    What a great piece of fabric that Carole sent you- it is a great addition to your collection of African fabrics.
    Jessica's baby quilt is fabulous- so bright and fun for your upcoming grand baby.
    YOur experience with the making of the diaper bag made me think about a time when I thought I could make my son's Halloween costume cheaper than the store bought ones-LOL His power ranger costume was definitely nicer but...
    Her bag is going to be a wonderful original that she can tell people that her mom made it, when someone asks where she got the great diaper bag.
    Regards,
    Anna
    Have a

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, no! I hope your supper was all right!
    Off-setting the blocks was pure inspiration! It frees the border design, gives it animation to match the monkeys' tricks! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm just loving your monkey quilt, the border looks entirely wonderful. Jim had a great idea offsetting the blocks.
    What a darling piece of fabric you received, and that bag pattern looks sensational!
    *hugs*
    Tazzie
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow 60 pieces, really! The monkey quilt looks wonderful. On my older, no vent holes, flat metal faced irons, I pour salt on to wax paper and iron the salt while the iron is still warm. Kinda messy, but it takes the gunk off.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jim was so right....... It looks wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like the offset blocks in the boarder. Hope the bag turns out, but of course it will be better, as it was made by you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow Momma!
    These Quilt Ladies Revere You and Your Quilting Skills. I had no idea that you had started a Cult.

    Well done mother!


    I love the Cheaky Sock Monkey Quilt and im quite looking forward to seeing this bag in all its glory!


    Now if we can just make a few decor Items for the room! Sock Monkey Mobile, Few Wall hangings, Window Dressings, Diaper Sack for the Side of the dresser, Door stopper!... hmmm what else can i come up with!


    Thanks Momma AKA Nana! Love you!

    Hunter and Jess!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love the fabric you chose for the bag. It will look really nice and definitely be nicer than anything you could buy. You'll love it and also the feeling of accomplishment!

    ReplyDelete
  11. My gosh that bag has a lot of pieces for one diaper bag. It's going to be great when all done. And that's a gorgeous piece of fabric you got from Carole.

    The off set blocks look wonderful, sometimes hubby's have good advise...lol

    ReplyDelete
  12. I hope your supper was good...........

    This bag is very useful with all these pockets....and as you well know, each woman has a lot of stuff to bring with her when she goes outside.

    The top of the blanket for the granchildren, who is going to be born, is wonderful.
    ciao ciao

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a beautiful piece of fabric!

    And I LOVE how the Monkey quilt turned out!!! Excellent use of 4 patches!

    The Professional Tote is our most popular class at my shop-we do one every quarter and it fills up fast! It's an excellent bag, but challenging.

    Have a nice weekend Pam!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi,

    Love the sock monkey quilt. Isn't that a cute bunch of fabrics? Have you seen the soft book material to go with it? I made my son a "banana" tie to go with his website.... Also made DGS a sock monkey to go with the book.

    Happy Quilting with your pretty new fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ack! I've done that to my Rowenta too! I got some of that iron cleaner in a tube. It works great but one of these days I'm going to burn my fingers. Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Beautiful pice of fabric and great quilts. Please visit my blog for my latest give away.

    http://debiquilts.blogspot.com/2008/02/one-world-one-heart-event.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love the quilt! Wow, that diaper bag has a gazilion pieces! Bags and zippers scare me! lol Geezzz, now I know what "professional" means on a patters! Have you thought about how you shall quilt it? That is really a cute quilt! BTW, loved your dd's comment! How cute!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your quilt turned out darling!!!! I love the four patches in the border - great idea!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. When I saw the first picture my thought was "I sure wish you'd offset the four patches in the side border as I think it would be more interesting". And lo and behold you did! Great minds think alike!

    ReplyDelete