Bag Ladies of Norwood

October Weekend Part Six! Beautiful Bags and Wonderful WIPs!

Although Pat is widely acknowledged as our resident bag-making expert, Valerie gave her a run for her money at our October quilting weekend! In addition to her boxy pouch, seen here, she also made lots and lots of other bags, using a variety of techniques.

Valerie is making a gazillion draw string bags to give out at a Christmas party for Veterans. We lost track of how many were in the two piles.

Valerie is a vinyl-virgin no more! She plunged in and made two different types of bags with vinyl accents. Naturally, I bought some vinyl on the way home...

The bag on the left is from the pattern, Safe Trip by Cabbage Rose, and the bag at right is Bridget's Bagettes by Atkinson Designs. Love the sock monkey fabric!

These black bags are Valerie's own design for a friend's cell phone.

Pat took these quilted squares...

And turned them into two Halloween trick or treat bags for her grandsons, Matthew and Ryan.

I bet that Matthew and Ryan can put A LOT of candy in these bags!

Here are some wonderful WIPs.

Joannie spent most of her weekend quilting a baby quilt for her sister Mary. Mary's son and his wife are expecting a baby--Mary's first grandchild!

A joint effort, stitched by Mary and quilted by Joannie.

Joannie did finish the quilting, but Mary whisked the quilt away early on Sunday morning before I could get a photo. The quilt was a big hit at the baby shower last weekend.

Lynne is working on these very cool blocks with curved piecing. This pattern is Steam Punk by Australian designer, Jen Kingwell.

Lynne has a great eye for color and pattern.

Joan S. was making a baby quilt with adorable novelty prints.

I spy a lion! What do you see?

We also enjoyed a visit from Mason and Juliana. Mom Jen evaded the camera. Here they are visiting with Kim G. and Nancy D., admiring Kim's Mr. Potato Head pillowcases. Nancy made each of the kids a boxy pouch. They were thrilled. We made sure to give the kids A LOT of candy while they visited!

Linking up on Friday to Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? from Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Finished Projects from the October Weekend

October Weekend, Part 5: Finished Quilts and Finished Tops

Despite spending most of her weekend machine quilting a baby quilt that her sister Mary is giving as a shower gift, Joannie also finished the most beautiful quilt for her own daughter Jill (complete with label!).

Gorgeous!

Some of my favorite colors...

Jill just got her first apartment. She even sent Joannie a photo of the quilt on her bed. Looks great! I wonder if Jill's bedroom is always this neat!

Pat finished this cute Halloween quilt top.

It says, "Don't text and fly" on the bottom.

By late Sunday afternoon, I finished the top of Dr. D'Esopo's quilt. And I found the perfect fabric for the backing already in my Stash!

The quilt pattern was easy but tedious! All the left over triangles went into the pet pillows.

Emma finished a quilt for her American Girl doll. She has a family of 13 of them, so I expect she'll want to make another one!

Such happy colors! I'm sure Emma's doll will like her new quilt!

Marion finished the top of her Radio Way quilt.

I brought this kit home for Marion from the Houston Quilt Festival last year. She super-sized it! Looks great!

Come back soon, because there is still more from our October weekend including some awesome bags, besides those ubiquitous boxy pouches, and some great WIPs (works in progress)! This is the longest weekend post that I've ever serialized, but don't fret, our November Cape Weekend approaches... more blog fodder!

Linking up on Friday to Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? from Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Strip Therapy Part 4: Ten More Blocks

Where has Strip Therapy gone? Last seen on July 26th in my blog... Last night I made 10 more blocks for my Strip Therapy Quilt. Where does the time go?

The colors appear a little washed out here, but the blocks are just beautiful in person.

To read the first post (and see the first 20 blocks) on Strip Therapy, click here. To see the second post and see the next 10 blocks, click here. The last dozen can be seen at the link at the top of the page. I have now completed 52 blocks. I have 12 more to go! I'm using colors at random so it will be fun to see how the final quilt presents itself.

Don't be fooled, although the finish line is in sight, I have plenty of other projects to distract myself with! Tomorrow, Marion, Joannie, and I will attempt to make Boxy Pouches!

Linking up on Friday to Richard and Tanya's Link a Finish Friday and Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? from Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Thanks for visiting!

And more on the October Quilt Weekend coming soon too!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

The Girls of October

October Weekend Part 4: Putting Faces to Names

We often bemoan the fact that we rarely take a group photo at our Brown Bagger events. It's awfully hard to entice a group of busy quilters into leaving their machines and posing for a photo.

Here's a group photo of our weekend:

The room we sew in is not large. It holds16 tables that are set up in four groups of four with room for two ironing boards and snacks. We talk across each other all weekend, so it is a lively gathering. While we don't have assigned seats, we generally have been sitting in the same place for about 20 years. Once in a while Joannie goes wild and switches tables.

Here's a round the room tour:

As soon as you come in the door, you will find Jo Ann E.

Jo Ann E.

Also found at Jo Ann E.'s table are Debbie, Lexine and Valerie.

Debbie

Lexine

Valerie

Nancy D. is the brave soul who sits next to the outside door. Freezing in the winter and hot in the summer!

Sitting with Nancy D. this weekend were Joanne S., Sally and Kim P.

Joanne S. with her lovely niece Emma. Nancy D. gave Emma the boxy pouch she is holding.

Kim P.

Sally in the foreground, Emma photobombing in the rear.

At the next set of tables were Kim G., Lynne, Lori, Joan S. and Joannie C.  Lori was only able to come on Friday and Saturday and Joan S. was only able to make it on Sunday, so we played musical quilting tables.

Kim G.

Lynne

Lori

Joan S.

Joannie C.

Last, but not least, you will find Marion, Pat, and me. Sue A. also joined us on Friday and evaded my camera! We thought Joan S. would sit with us on Saturday and Sunday, but she ended up in Lori's empty spot.

Marion

Pat

Moi!

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

When Life Gives You Scraps...

October Weekend Part 3: 101 Uses for Fabric Scraps

You've heard of Rapunzel who could turn straw into gold? Quilters are kind of like that too.

Remember this photo that I showed you the other day?

WWSM (What would Sally make?)

Sally is making string-pieced blocks for her Bonnie Hunter's Jamestown Landing quilt. They are pieced on top of a paper backing. She is using very, very small scraps.

Sally took this class at the Vermont Quilt Festival this year. You can even see her in Bonnie's blog post about the class. She is in the fourth photo down, on the far left hand side, wearing a red shirt. The pattern is in Bonnie's String Fling book.

How about this picture?

These bags are filled with love.

Some people might think this is trash. But to others, it can be treasure. When I went to QuiltPort USA this past April, the weekend's organizer, Melly Rubins, had a trash bag at the end of every cutting table. Everyone was asked to use the bag for fabric scraps only. At the end of the weekend, Melly collected all the little scraps and used them to stuff pet pillows which she donates to her local animal shelter. She inspired me to do this too, so I have started to save my scraps. It's caught on among my Brown Bagger quilting friends, and they are starting to save their scraps for me too! I call it "Shreds for Beds."

Even the tiniest of scraps add up to comfort and love in a pet pillow! No fabric is too old or too ugly!

Here I am with Marion stuffing our first pet pillow of the weekend.

Thanks to all the girls, no fabric shreds went into the trash this weekend and we stuffed four pet pillows. Thanks also to
Kim P. who donated two huge bags of shreds that we used for some of the stuffing.

And here's a shout out to my best pet bed helper!

Emma stuffed at least two pet pillows all by herself! Thanks Emma!

A funny story about Emma. Emma was an enthusiastic helper and went around the room collecting scrap fabrics during the quilt weekend. At one point, she almost cleaned off Sally's table because she thought I could use all those tiny pieces for dog bed pillow stuffing... luckily Sally intercepted her!

My co-worker Jen volunteers at the South Shore animal rescue every week and I filled the back seat of her car with eight pet pillows on Monday. She was thrilled.

This next project isn't exactly scraps, but it also uses very small pieces of fabric.

The amazingly talented Kim P. is working on the Snake River log cabin, shown on the cover of Judy Martin's Log Cabin Quilt Book. You can see the very detailed diagram that Kim is working from. Here is one of Kim's finished blocks. There are A LOT of pieces and A LOT of blocks in this quilt. No, Kim is not finished yet (this is no Quilt in a Day), but she is working on it quite determinedly.

Still a few more blog posts to come about our October Weekend. I took A LOT of photos to make up for some lack of prior blogging (yes, I heard you Complaint Department).

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts and
Crazy Mom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!

Read my other non-quilting blog here. I'd love it if you signed up to subscribe!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Boxy Pouch Fever

October Weekend Part 2: Boxy Pouch Making of Epic Proportions!

Let's just say that Nancy D. started it all here...

It swept across the room. Kim P. succumbed quickly.

Then Valerie fell.

And then there was Pat. She got it so bad, she made two on Sunday morning. Over-achiever that she is, she even lined them in vinyl.

Eventually Sally got the bug and made one on late Sunday afternoon.

I may have gone to the fabric store this afternoon to look at zippers and interfacing... Okay, I admit it, Marion, Joannie, and I are going to try making one next Saturday.

Is there a boxy pouch in your future?

Here is the video that Nancy D. used.

And here is a boxy pouch tutorial that I found online.

More October weekend fun soon!

Linking up on Friday to Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts and
Crazy Mom Quilts. Thanks for visiting!

Read my other non-quilting blog here. I'd love it if you signed up to subscribe!
Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

October Quilt Weekend: Sneak Preview

Sunday: 8:15 am. 32 degrees. Must get dressed, i.e., throw sweatshirt and jacket over pajamas, and walk the pug boys. Then shower and head back to my quilt weekend! I took lots of photos.

Here's a sneak preview...

JoAnn E. gave us the first Show and Tell.

A gorgeous log cabin quilt for her niece. Not in JoAnn's usual color palette of browns. So cool and contemporary. I love it!

Kim G. was quick to follow.

Kim G., at left, aided by Lexine, show off Kim's latest Kaffe creation. I need to make this! So sunny and bright!

The littlest Brown Bagger came by on Saturday afternoon. Hello Emma!

Looks like Nancy D. is making more boxy pouches...

Come back soon and find out...

What is in all these bags?

What is Pat making with this pile of squares?

What is Sally making with all these little pieces?

How is Dr. D'Esopo's quilt coming along?

Why is Joannie quilting someone else's project?

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy