Christmas sewing progress/alterations with hicups & post for the Chookshed Challenge 2025 is coming...

My next post will be for the Chookshed Challenge 2025 linkup, so keep your eyes peeled for the post and make your list of 10 goals.  Your goals are yours.  They don't have to be finishes, and anything related to sewing goes. We have lots of fun working together and seeing those fun projects progress.

Here is the new badge!  You all truly brighten my day!  

First off, my three grand daughters are each getting a quilt.  One still needs a binding.  The littlest gets the blue and pink one.  "Q" gets the elephant one, and "A" will get the tea pots.    "A" asked me months ago if I would make her a quilt.  I told her I already had a few made but hadn't decided which one was hers.  We talked about them (she never saw them) and she insisted that the tea pots would be perfect for her.

The three are shown below with the binding cut and ready for the tea pots. 

 

I need to press the creases out of these babies before I wrap them.  They have been stored all year.

Let's get up close and personal...

Look at the cute backing...

Elephant Celestial Stars

Teapots - made from my stash...

Yes, I love using the leftovers on the back.  Yes, I think it is cool even if it makes some of you cringe.  The "not so favorite" blocks often make the back more interesting.

I have to show my Christmas quilts around the house as well.  We quilters love to share the holidays with our quilts, don't we?  I do have more to put on the beds, but I have been crazy sewing and haven't gotten to it yet.

I thought I would take a minute and share some success and hiccup stories about my Christmas sewing these past weeks. I have learned SO MUCH about bag making!  I will say, that even with some hicups, I have absolutely enjoyed them!

For some reason, I love to design and make things my own.  Whenever I make someone else's pattern, my mind is constantly thinking about what changes I want to add to make it my own style.  Well, I have certainly been doing that with my bags.  Yes, it has slowed me down.  Yes, I have made errors.  Yes, it has been fun anyway.

First alteration...

I added a collapsible pocket to my "A Place For Everything Bags".  This was easy and went with perfect smoothness because it is the same size bag (horizontally) as another ByAnnie pattern bag I made earlier this year.  The "Carry-All Tote" had these kind of pockets in it.  I LOVE THEM!!!

The orange one on the left is a collapsible pocket.

You can put wider things in the collapsible pockets like books, diapers, little shirts,  etc...

Note:  I added a little "Chris" to my photo.  Thanks for the lovely book about your daughter.

The rust one on the right is a collapsible pocket.

These bags will go my two new baby boy grands.  Their moms will appreciate having pockets to organize "little" things in.  As the boys grow, they can pack up their little toys and still have room for their clothes, shoes, whatever.  The pages velcro in and can be used in the bag or as a separate organizer all by themselves if you remove them.

2nd Alteration...

I added applique' to the Duck, Duck, Goose bag to go along with the Duck, Duck, Goose quilt.

I also followed Denise's wonderful advice and bought some Gossie & Gertie books to go with the set.  They are PERFECT.  One more is on its way from Amazon.

Duck, Duck, Goose still needs hand applique'.  Don't worry, I will get it done.  Yes, I did some minor altering on it too.  Where you see smaller square was supposed to be very large blocks of one color fabric.

Of course little cowboy needed some books too...  He has two more coming as well.

Third Alteration...

I added a slip pocket behind the zipper pocket on the front of the bags.

So, I didn't like seeing the handles inside the zipper pocket like the first bag I made for myself.

All I did was add an extra layer with interfacing sandwiched between two pieces of fabric and bound the top.  Result = extra pockets & no more window into the handles.  

Look at this cute zipper...  I bought an old bag at a thrift store and picked the zipper out.  It was cheaper than buying the zipper and looks great on this bag.  Need hardware for your bags?  Just cut it off an old one.

Yes, I do plan to make zipper pulls for all my zippers in these bags.  It is last on the list!

4th Alteration...

I added pockets to the inside of a pocketless bag.  I mean, any bag is better with pockets, right?  Well, I was successful adding collapsible pockets to the inside; however, I forgot that the lining wrapped around to form all sides of the bag, not just one side.

My collapsible pockets really would look better if they came further around the inside of the bag.  I am not fixing this bag, but a lesson was learned.

5th alteration

Zipper pocket inside the bag:  Ummmm... it was a little too low.  I learned on the first bag, so I will be trimming this one down and adding more to the bottom of the lining to improve it.

I will made adjustments to the collapsible pockets as well.

6th alteration...

I love my Diddles bag but have wished it has see-through pockets.  When I made these bags for my girls, it took some effort, thinking, rethinking, and error making to make it happen.  I do love the way they turned out.  It WAS WORTH IT!  I used both mesh and vinyl to create every pocket with a window.