Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I had a bit of the pink fabric left over after making the binding for the the very pink laptop tote, so I made a couple of luggage tags (with a plastic window for a business card). You’d never miss these if they were on your luggage at the baggage carousel — they are very distinctive! And bright.

I only made two this afternoon and they’re available from my Etsy store if you want a unique, colorful gift or stocking filler (yes, some people — very weirdorganised ones — are buying Christmas gifts now…). I still have a little more of the striped pink fabric left, but not the fabric used for the strap though — that’s all gone now.

And Sue, I won’t let you buy them! You already have pink luggage tags from me, and your obsession with pink stuff is bordering on manic! 😉

Pink luggage tags

My friend Sue in San Diego said she liked my other colourful laptop bag, but there was too much blue and green in it for her, and could I make a pink one. Well, I needed to test the laptop pattern I’ve written a final time (I will be selling it in my Etsy store soon…), so I figured I may as well hunt out some pink fabric from my stash and see what I could do.

I cut it out and got started at yesterday’s craft afternoon, and finished it today after getting the power brick and mouse dimensions from Sue. It’s hard to see in this photo, but there’s lots of wavy pink quilting over the main fabric, and the cross-hatch quilting on the contrast fabric. It’s pink!

Very pink laptop bag

If Sue doesn’t want it, I’ll be selling it in my store. No surprises! Sue *loved* it, so it will be winging it’s way across the Pacific Ocean tomorrow sometime.

My friend Char wanted a gift for her good friend MaryEllen, so she asked if I had any frog fabric and if I could make a tote bag for MaryEllen (who loves frogs). I found some musical frogs at one of the local fabric stores — and Char loved it! She said MaryEllen was into music too, and the fabric was just perfect.

MaryEllen's froggie tote bag --- with bonus luggage tag

I was going to make a tote bag using my laptop bag pattern, but then realised that a better tote bag for MaryEllen’s would be one with a base and with inside pockets. So I found a free pattern on the internet and proceeded to adapt and modify it.

The frog bag ended up having inside pockets on both front and back (the original pattern only had pockets on one side), and a wider base, and different handles, and… well, lots of other modifications!

Tote bag: Inside pockets and base; velcro closures

I had fun making it and adapting the pattern, even though I stuffed up the free motion quilting at one point and had to unpick a big section. I added a bonus luggage tag in the same fabrics (which Char wasn’t expecting) and mailed it off to the US. It arrived yesterday, and both Char and MaryEllen love it. A perfect ‘Thank you’ gift for Char’s good friend MaryEllen!

Close-up of fabric and free motion quilting

When I get some free time, I’ll consider writing up the modified pattern in full and making it available on my Etsy store. But not this week!

I’ve just added a quilted laptop sleeve/tote/bag and matching luggage tags to my Etsy store. They’re bright! 😉

• Tote: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25830180
• Luggage tag: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6695506&section_id=6122839

Some pics:

So, there I was, happily free motion quilting away on a big piece of fabric… I got to an edge and stopped to relax my shoulders a bit (free motion quilting requires a LOT of concentration — making sure your fingers don’t go under the needle for one!, watching where your stitching is going so that you don’t cross any other line of stitching [for stippling], checking that the ‘pattern’ you’re following in your head is still coming out right, etc.).

And when I stopped to check my work I realised that something was wrong — I’d stitched the overhanging piece of fabric to the back! Arrggh! This meant a LOT of unpicking and then trying to join up the ends and get back into the rhythm of the quilting without the joins being noticeable. That added at least an extra 30 minutes to the project’s time, but I think I got it right.

Here’s a pic of what NOT to do:

Oops! Pin the excess fabric back BEFORE starting free motion quilting

My friend Bobbie has decided that we need a challenge — a quilting/crafting challenge that is. She’s decided to invite 5 friends for a weekend retreat in September at her wonderful rammed earth house, and I’m honoured to be chosen.

The challenge started off mysteriously — Bobbie asked to bring along an issue of any magazine that our husbands, sons etc. get. Four of us met at the Craft Fair on the weekend and we exchanged magazines. The challenge is to make something from the inspiration you get from page 35 of the magazine you received!

Flora got a computer magazine from me — and page 35 was an ad, but at least it had some bright colours; Michelle won’t get her magazine for a few days as Glenys wasn’t able to come to the Fair; Bobbie got a dog magazine from Flora and her page 35 had all sorts of dogs in coats, as well as lots of bright pink and purple; Glenys will get her magazine in the mail from Bobbie; and I got  a reptiles magazine from Michelle! I love reptiles so I was pretty chuffed — and even more excited when I opened page 35 to see a whole swag of bright green chameleons!!

The other part of the challenge is that we have to use a technique we’ve never tried before somewhere in the piece we make. And we have to have our creation completed by the end of September when we all get together for a ‘show and tell’. I have NO idea what I’ll make, but I know that I’m going to enjoy the process.

Challenge rules for Year 1 (2009), as set by Bobbie:

Parameters:

1. Select a magazine that has nothing to do with quilting/patchwork/sewing.
2. Swap magazines with the person nominated on the list.
3. Open to page 35 and use that page for your inspiration to begin.

Other conditions:

• Can be any project, any size
• Must be finished by retreat date
• Must not be revealed beforehand to any other participant
• Must include a technique you have never tried before

On Sunday, my friend Bobbie and I drove to Perth and back, just to attend the Perth Craft and Quilt Fair at the Convention Centre. It was a long day — nearly 7 hours of driving, and 7 hours on our feet at the Fair. But it was absolutely worth it!

In addition to lots of booths selling all sorts of goodies, there were several quilt exhibitions with the most fabulous pieces of art (it was hard to call most of them ‘quilts’ — at least in the traditional sense of the word). The West Australian Quilting Association (WAQA) had their annual exhibition with many prize-winning quilts displayed in all sorts of categories; it was the last chance to see the “Under Flynn’s Wings” exhibition of quilts made to celebrate 80 years of the Royal Flying Doctor Service; and the 30 winning finalists from the Australian Patchwork and Quilting competition I entered my dragonfly quilt into were on display. There were other exhibitions too, but as they were all in the one large hall, it was hard to tell them apart.

We were allowed to take photos for non-commercial purposes, so I did! My pics are here, but there was no way my photos could do justice to the incredible techniques or amazing artistic detail from some very creative women (I don’t think any of the quilts were made by men, but someone please correct me if I’m wrong). It was hard to pick a favourite, but for sheer gob-smacking, jaw-dropping awesomeness, I couldn’t go past the farm scene.

Bobbie and I had lunch with our friend Michelle, from Raggedy Stitches. Michelle had a booth, but she has some great staff so she was able to get away for 30 minutes or so.

I also spent some time catching up with Susan, my work colleague — we last saw each other in February, though we talk on the phone almost every day.

(I just realised that I hadn’t mentioned that late last year I entered my dragonfly quilt into a national competition! 30 finalists were selected — I wasn’t one of them, but I got a letter from the magazine asking me to send them my quilt to be professionally photographed as they want to include it in an issue later this year. How cool is that? Of course, now that I’ve seen the finalists, my quilt looks like a very poor relation in comparison…)