Part 1: Let's Design ~ Tote Bag Tutorial & Giveaway!

Read to the end to learn how to win a finished bag or kit!
Part 2 of the Tutorial posted on Mon. Jan. 23! 

The tote bag we're going to make is my "To Market, To Market" bag.  This is the first pattern I designed ~ about 8 years ago!  I've had plenty of time to think about different ways to use and improve this basic pattern, so we're going to take this little plain Jane and glam it up!  You have access to the original pattern in this post, and you're welcome to make as many of the bags as you want for yourself, for gifts or for craft sales or fund raisers.  I do appreciate receiving credit for the design. 

 

About Designing:  Ideas for designs can come from all sorts of places.  Personally, I think they're floating around invisibly in the air we breathe, and if we have a mind like a fresh damp sponge, some of them will get stuck in our brains.  Highly scientific, I know.  I keep a small spiral notebook in my handbag for ideas that come to mind when I'm out shopping or running errands ~ jotting down a thought or a very rough sketch will let me recall it later.  I have notebooks in most of the rooms in my house just because I need to record ideas promptly since it appears I now have the memory span of a fruit fly!  The notebooks all get returned to my studio, so I can always find them ~ eventually.  One of my designing friends makes sketches on receipts and stores them in a folder, which would spell catastrophe for me!  Your own method of capturing ideas will evolve, but do keep notes of some sort.  Even the most brilliant ideas ~ the ones that you know will completely transform western civilization ~ will go AWOL without documentation!  I've discovered Pinterest (a virtual bulletin board), and find it to be an invaluable aid for gathering design inspiration from the far reaches of the web.  Hop on over there if you haven't met yet.  You have to ask to be invited to join, but I think it only took a couple of days for me.

The Idea:  I was still teaching when I designed this bag, and I needed something that was sturdy and could be laundered (germ laden fifth graders, you know) for carrying items back and forth to school.  I also wanted a totebag I could use for grocery shopping which would hold a good number of items, but not so large that I wouldn't be able to lift or carry it.  It needed to be sturdy ~ no seams pulling apart or handles tearing the fabric.  The last thing you need is a loaded bag of whatever falling apart and scattering your eggs, books, tampons, etc all over the filthy wet sidewalk!  I hate lots of waste, so I spent quite a bit of time doodling a variety of lay-outs to use the fabric efficiently.  Now that fabric prices are higher, that's even a better reason!

Honestly, the design of my pattern cover leaves a lot, and I mean a lot, to be desired and I have no idea what I was thinking!  The pattern market is flooded with fantastically creative designers who hire fantastically creative graphic artists to design their fantastically creative pattern covers.  Designing an awesome pattern is just the beginning.  You've got to find a way to make your pattern cover stand out from the thousands of other patterns to get noticed.  Look at these covers.

You'll notice that even though the products range from traditional to mod, the pattern covers all are bright, clean looking and not cluttered.  The photos of the items are focused, detailed, and interesting.  Note that the products are all shot at an angle which is more eye catching than straight on. I love the Melly & Me photo of the dolphin at the beach!  I'd never attempt to market a pattern that was just black & white ~ again what was I thinking?  Some pattern designers (although I do love their designs!) try to stand out by making the physical size of the pattern larger or a different shape from the usual 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" fold of the majority of patterns.  As an ex-quilt shop owner, I've got to tell you, I hated, despised, loathed, the unusual sizes because they wasted my precious display space.  Like I said, I hate waste ~ well except that stuff in the fridge.

What Can We Do with This Pattern?:  I've had loads of feedback on this bag from customers who purchased a finished bag from me or bought the pattern and made bags - lots of bags.  After all the customer response and my own daily use of the bag, I know it's a really functional little work horse.  (I have all my patterns field tested prior to publication.  I ask for brutally honest feedback on clarity of instruction, graphics etc.  If something doesn't work I'd like to fix it prior to publication rather than have 100's or 1000's of nice ladies ripping their hair out and cursing me to kingdom come.  If you're interested in testing patterns for me, let me know.  I send everything you need, you get to keep the finished product.  All I want back is that brutally honest feedback.)  So how can we update this bag a bit?

• Fuse batting to the lining to give the bag a bit more body.
• Use two fabrics for the front and back exterior instead of one.
• Move the pocket up and add a contrasting fabric trim and ribbon to the top.
• Since there is a thicker body, end the handles under the pocket (you'd never be able to sew through all those layers if you attached the handles as per the pattern.
• Add more trims!  Embellishment, embellishment, embellishment.  I love being a girl!
• Ok, I've got some sort of font problem but I can't fix it so I'm going to ignore it.  You ignore it too, and we'll just get on with this!
  

 The Pattern:  You can print it off by right clicking on the pictures, "save as", name it & save it in a folder you can actually find again.  I know, I know, my photos aren't the best, but hey, it's free, right?  If you'd like a real paper pattern, send me $1.00 and a stamped ($.64), self-addressed 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" manilla envelope and I'll get it in the mail to you pronto! (Angela Blair, P.O. Box 168, New Albin, IA 52160) 

Page 1

Page 2

Don't panic - I'll scan the pattern asap so you'll be able to have a good copy!

 

 




 

Page 3

Pg 3 Detail

Pg 2 Detail

Materials:

• 1/2 yd fabric for lining
• 2 fat quarters for exterior
• 1 fat quarter for pocket
• Fat eighth for pocket trim
• 2 yds of 1" wide cotton belting (preshrink in HOT water)  Cheep Trims is a good resource for trims of all kind - good prices, decent quality, although all are sold on rolls.  Share with a friend!
• 4 yds  Correction.. 2 yards of 1/4" to 5/8" wide ribbon (I used velvet) to trim the belting. 1 1/2yds  of 1 1/2" wide jacquard ribbon for top band trim and pocket, but this is your bag, so do what you like!
• 1/2 yd fusible fleece.  I like HTC fusible fleece.  I find it less problematic than many fusibles although there may be some new product out there I don't know about that works better.  Fusible fleece and interfacing are used extensively in my handbag designs and I grew weary of standing for hours upon long boring hours fusing with an iron.  I now use a Simplicity Press for all my fusing and find it to be efficient, fast and I have much, much fewer issues with applying fusibles - no bubbling fabric!!  I'd begin a begging campaign now, if I were you ~ birthday, anniversary, Christmas (too far away, really), or just go buy one for yourself because if anyone ever deserved such a cool tool, you do!
• YOU WILL GET REVISED DIRECTIONS FOR THE BAG ON MONDAY, SO DON'T CUT ANYTHING OUT, unless you're making the original bag and not the revised bag!

Simplicity Press

 Fabric Selection:  I always begin a project with a fabric I absolutely love.  I have sincerely attempted to use fabrics that don't sing to me, but there's always been a sad outcome.  If you're not in love, you're just not in love.  Some things we just don't mess with.

Round 1

Round 1.  The fabrics on the far left and far right are pieces I purchased from Contemporary Cloth and I've been waiting for something special to use them in.  I'm loving grey this year ~ well I was feeling very affectionate toward grey last year, but now it's love.  I pulled a variety of other fabrics I thought might work.  I generally don't stick to one particular collection of fabrics, although occasionally there's a collection that is just smashing and resistance is futile.  My personal opinion is that mixing patterns from different designers up creates a richer visual pallet.  Oh my, such art speak!

Round 2

Round 2.  I eliminated fabrics, but loved those balls on a string - they have a great vertical line sort of quality in contrast to the overall patterns of the other fabrics.  I wanted to pick up the blue in the center of the lotus flower, and found these three blue/green fabrics to play with!  I like all three, but that blue Lonni Rossi on the right has some metallic highlights that sure sparked things up a bit.  It is also a "calmer" pattern, and gives your eye a place to "rest".  Wouldn't Amelia Bedelia have fun with this?


The blue with the yellow scrolls in round 3 and the lime green with blue in round 4 seem to get lost.

Round 3

Round 4

 

Round 5

This is IT!  Notice how the blue metallic pattern brings out the blue in the Amy Butler lotus pattern.  I really like the intensity of the blue and the metallic lines.  Paying attention to the types of patterns is a huge "make it or break it" factor in putting together fabrics that "sing" (Ameila, where are you?) when combined.  From the top we have a very regular, evenly spaced repeat floral, then a monochromatic blue subtle geometric, random, bold line pattern, then a very large random floral, then an implied vertical line, geometric ball pattern.  Variety is an important concept in design, but tricky because you can't just throw a bunch of things together randomly and expect it to work.  You want variety, but you also need some repetition.  The repetition occurs with the blue in the lotus flowers playing with the blue geometric.  The color of the blue fabric is intense, but the pattern is subtle so it doesn't compete with the other 3 patterns.  The large floral below the blue has the blue and grey of the lotus pattern.  The bottom pattern contains the same grey that is in the large floral and the lotus blossom, and a similar gold that's in the lotus.  When I taught fabric selection at our quilt shop, students just "played" with selecting fabrics that worked together following these same concepts.  Once you grasp some of these basic design "rules" (flexible) you can start to apply them to your own work.  Give yourself time to just play with your fabrics and forget about making a finished product.  Pull a fabric you love, and then bring in 5 more fabrics that work with it, then 10 more, etc.  Invite a quilting friend or friends over and do this together - most importantly talk about what works, what doesn't work and why it works or not!  The more you experiment, the better you'll get at it.  I promise this will happen!  You can always e-mail me if you have questions.

Final Fabric Selections... (I think):

Doubt Creeps In ~ Vintage Buttons?

I think this may be it.....
If you're wondering where on earth that light grey on the left side of the bag came from, it screamed from my fabric stash to please be included!  Sometimes these things happen...

Should I use the blue on the top band too?  How about using the same fabric on the right side as the lining?

Add a Vintage Button?  Seems too plain without the ribbon on the pocket trim...

Well, this is the bottom line about designing - there's no absolute perfect answer.  You just pull it together as best you can ~ until you love it!  Well, it needs to be functional too!

Monday is Part 2 of This Tutorial!  You have the weekend to gather your fabrics together.  Don't cut yet - exact measurements will be given Monday - unless you want to make the original "to Market to Market" tote following the pattern directions exactly.  I'll walk you step by step through the construction of the bag on Monday!

Want to Win a Finished "to Market, to Market" Totebag or a Kit?
Being the generous and warm hearted woman I am (ask anyone...) I want to give one of you the totebag I make in the tutorial, and another lucky duck will get a kit featuring the exact same fabrics.  I'm so nice I'm even including the fusible fleece, trims, buttons, why the entire shebang.  How oh, how to win?
There is a catch!  You have to tell me (e-mail me, include it in your comment, send a telepathic message - nope that one doesn't work) how many of these things you are doing because you can have up THREE chances to win one of these awesome prizes!  Each thing you do earns you one chance in the drawing!  The big bonus is that they're super easy things to do!

1. Leave me a comment on THIS post.  I'd really like to know what styles of fabric you purchase and like the best.
2. Post about the giveaway on your Facebook page with a link back to Summer Kitchen Quilts.  If you don't Facebook, it's a great way to keep in touch with friend and family, or become completely obsessed by it (don't do that, ok?)
3. If you have a blog, write a short blurb about this fabulous giveaway with a link back to, yes, this will probably be a huge surprise, Summer Kitchen Quilts. 

I love to share the blessings!  If you don't know about the Sue Spargo Pincushion and Needle Keep Giveaway, scroll down.  I'm giving away three kits.  You can still enter to win until midnight on Monday!

   
                                                                

Tutorial, Totebag & Free Pattern Giveaway on Friday!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow.  I'm doing a tutorial on my first bag design and giving away #1 the finished totebag I demonstrate,  #2 a complete kit for another totebag, and #3 you can use my pattern for free!  We're going to explore design variations and fabric selections.

Blessings!
 


Be sure to sign up for the Yellow Bird Pincushion Giveaway!   

A Little Giveaway

I'm so excited to have so many visitors.  I feel like the song "if I knew you were comin', I'da baked a cake".  Well, no cakes, but how about a kit for the pattern Sue made for Yellow Bird Art?  In fact, three kits, including Sue's pattern "Yellow Bird Needle and Pin Keeper", the cotton and hand-dyed wool fabrics (I dye wool from time to time), the lining and batting, and the embellishments.  While I don't have the wonderful heshi beads that Sue does, I've substituted some glam vintage sequins I got from Tinsel Trading.  If you'd like the heshi beads, you can purchase them from Sue.


Here's how you can enter to win one of the three kits ~ each of these will count as one entry - so the more you do, the more entries you will have.  BE SURE to let me know how many of these you're doing in your comment so that I can enter you in the drawing the correct number of times!  *Include your blog addy in your comment so we can all come visit you!

• Leave a blog comment about what you want to find in a quilting blog.  I want this blog to be a place you want to visit!
• Make a Facebook comment with a link to Summer Kitchen Quilts.
  
• Post about the giveaway on your blog with a link back to Summer Kitchen Quilts.

Enter until midnight on Monday, January 23, 2012!  I'll use a random number generator (any suggestions as to which to use?) to select the 3 winners and will announce them on Tuesday morning. 

Be sure to stop back this week!  On Friday, I'll be introducing my first pattern ~ a quick and easy little tote bag.  It's simple enough for a young seamstress (I had an 11yr old in a class) to successfully sew, and fast enough for you to whip the totes out for gifts in about an hour.  I'll have a short tutorial and a kit to give away!

If you're looking for the post I wrote about Sue, it's a post down!  Please consider following Summer Kitchen Quilts.  You'll learn about the design process from finding inspiration to drafting patterns to marketing!   A little bit of daily life will get thrown in and hopefully you'll learn a bit, have a laugh or two, and meet other interesting women.

Blessings ~ Angela

P.S.  I'll ship overseas!

Welcome!

Thanks for dropping by ~ I very much appreciate your visit.  I'd love to have you follow.  We're gonna have some fun here, uh-huh, uh-huh!

Women Who Inspire Me ~ Sue Spargo

Pin Wheel Pin Keeper

I really can't remember if I first spoke with Sue in 2005 or 2006 after we opened Yellow Bird Art.  I owned a couple of her patterns prior to opening our shop, and found them utterly charming.  I loved the reference to traditional quilts, but there was something new going on with the pieced backgrounds and whimsical compositions, as well as the fabrics she selected.  Her work was a perfect fit for the style of our shop.  One of our goals with opening Yellow Bird Art was to provide inspirational teaching for our patrons, and Amy and I both thought Sue's work was the best way we could think of to begin the mission.  I was so surprised when Sue answered her phone (being sort of a star in our eyes).  She has a very soft, calm voice, and after a bit of discussion we decided on Crimson Clove for the class project.

Crimson Clove

 I was incredibly nervous when I drove to the airport to pick Sue up for that first workshop.  She had graciously agreed to stay at our home (after I assured her that we weren't weird people who'd put her on a cot in a damp basement) to save some money since we were a new shop.  The woman I picked up at the airport was quiet and unassuming.  I thought she was probably shy, but I discovered that she isn't. She's a quiet person and always seemed so calm to me.  I can hardly tell you how delightful it was to get to know Sue - she's very interested in things going on around her and in the world.  She has a keen sense of observation - she notices the small stuff and it shows up in her work.   She's one of those people who really listens when you have a conversation.
          

Urban Sac

Flower Bed

Our first class was small, but the second year the group was larger.  Those who came the first year came the second year and brought others along and that continued each year until we had to set limits on how many could take the workshops.  Sue and I would always spend time discussing the project she'd share with our quilters.  We wanted to provide a platform to allow Sue to expand her ideas with our very enthusiastic quilters and provide challenging but not overwhelming learning opportunities. Quilters admired Sue's teaching style - laid back, attentive, informative - time spent with her just feels comfortable.  Sue is one of those teachers who really connects with her students.  She'd always bring along a selection of her quilts, including whatever new project she had going to inspire students.  Although some of her techniques could look daunting at first view, she would thoroughly explain and demonstrate so that even our least confident quilter felt like she could master the work by the end of the workshop.  That takes a lot of teaching talent.  Although some quilters are most comfortable duplicating work (and there is nothing wrong with that - you're still going to make it your own) Sue always encourages those who want to follow their own muse.  Sue's belief in the students' inherent creativity gave them a new view of their own creativity, and we witnessed amazingly original designs unfold as quilters learned new techniques.

The Last Sue Spargo Class at Yellow Bird Art

Altered Textures

When you take a class with Sue it always looks like these photos with  Sue bent over a project with a group of students clustering around her.  We found Sue to be incredibly kind, generous and patient.  As her own style and method of working developed she encouraged others to expand their own creative "vocabulary".


We were always so thrilled to see Sue's work starting to appear in magazines like American Patchwork & Quilting, Australian Homespun Magazine, and Quiltmania.  Electric quilt produced a stand alone CD of Sue's quilt designs.  She appeared on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims.

Pat Sloan interviewed her on Creative Talk Show.  She traveled to Vietnam with DellaQ to teach Vietnam quilters at Vietnam Quilts http://youtu.be/fr0Oavmxa6Y embellishment techniques.  She leads travel/quilt groups to Italy, she's working on a book that will be published by Quiltmania.  Renaissance Ribbons is producing delicious ribbons Sue and her sister have designed.  These are just highlights!

Sue is experiencing great success with her art!  Now, here's the thing.....some people are changed (negatively) by this sort of attention and success.  Yet Sue remains the same grounded, kind, sincere person she was when we first met her.

But, wait there's more.....  and it's the most important part.

Sue was married - a stay at home mom with four children who had a hobby she loved - quilting.  One day, out of the blue, Sue became a single parent - divorced.  She suddenly became THE financial support of her family.  She had been trained as a nurse in South Africa, but not licensed in the US, so that wasn't an option.

Silk Road

Crimson Tweed

I can't image the emotional upheaval and sorrow that must have enveloped this family.  What do you do to provide for your children?  How do you take care of your own needs?  This situation could create a bitter heart in the most resolute of us.  Yet, Sue and her four children have risen above all of it and what a fantastic story it is.  Sue's family - her parents, her sister, Wendy , and her four children all bonded together to tap into Sue's natural artistic talents and began a business called Sue Spargo Folk Art Quilts. Sue designed quilt patterns, self published books with her father's assistance, Wendy dyes the wool, velvet and silk fabrics and designs jewelry, together Sue and Wendy designed a line of fabric for P & B and they collaborate designing color lines, and all her children have worked in the business whether helping design items with Sue, or assisting with the packing and mailing of purchases to customers.  Together they overcame what could have been a huge catastrophe and created success on many levels.

Hand Dyed Wools & Velvets

Unique Embellishments

Sue has inspired me in so many ways ~

• She trusted her own talent (passion) to bring success - with loads of hard work!
• She didn't give up when it would have been easy to do so.
• She remained a kind-hearted, generous person.
• I've never heard her say an unkind thing about anyone.
• She remains positive about all the good things this life can hold for us.
• She stayed steady as a mom.  Her children's success in life is a testimony to a loving family.
• She is receptive to new experiences in life - she's a woman who rises to the challenge.
• She's not afraid to take risks.
• She perseveres.
• Her faith is steady.
• She continually pushes her artistic boundaries and is always exploring new avenues of creativity.

Amelia Pillow

Circle of Friends Pillow

Yellow Bird Pincushion & Needle Keep Sue designed for our shop!

I'd bet that most of us can easily identify with that fear that accompanies change in our lives.  What should you do?  Is what you want to do good enough?  Will people like your work and respond favorably?  Then there's the really big question - do I really have any original talent or creativity?  Amy and I often referred to our "talentless boob" moments of doubt.  Finding admirable qualities in someone else can - at least I believe this - help us to find our own bearings.  They become a sort of reality touchstone.  When you witness someone face a dramatic challenge and not only overcome it, but use it as a springboard to something more meaningful in life it gives hope.  Of course we have to find our own authentic voice and that takes dedication, a willingness to take chances (some of which may fail), the determination to persevere when things don't come out right and plain old roll up your sleeves hard work.

Thanks Sue, for the inspiration!  You've touched my life (and I bet many others') with your gentle and optimistic approach to life.

Oh, she has a sense of humor too!

You're the best!


Blessings!   
Angela 

New Year ~ New Roof

Tackling a huge remodeling project like this at our ages (63 & 72) perhaps wasn't the most brilliant thing we've ever done, however we are coming into the home stretch.  Much to some of our neighbors' dismay - perhaps horror - we picked an unusual color for the roof.

There was much discussion - some of it a bit heated - about roofing.  My first choice was a nice dark charcoal grey asphalt 20+ year roof.  That went out the window with budget overruns.  My husband was all in favor of metal from the first - something to do with never having to deal with a roof again.  So, graciously accepting metal as my only option, I selected a lovely color called "Slate Brown".  It was a great color ~ just a nice greyish brown color.  George wanted something a little more daring.... It's called "Rustic Red".  Making the decision to be a play fair sort of wife (having had so many things in the house go my way), I thought it only right to let himself pick the color although I was worried about ending up with a Christmas house.  Yesterday morning when I saw the metal roofing stacked in the backyard, I almost fainted.  ORANGE!  Rusty orange, maybe but definitely orange. This is not going to work with the trim colors I already picked out - a nice warm milk chocolate brown, a deeper olive green and deep red for the doors.  Panic kicked in for a few minutes and then a new color scheme came to mind..... keep the chocolate brown - it will be on the roof trim and around the doors.  I'll find a nice creamy cream - think pale buttery color for around the windows and paint the doors a mustard yellow.  I think it will work.  Eventually there will be shutters and window boxes as well....

Of course painting won't happen until this spring - although you'd think it was spring already.  January 11 and it's about 45F outside - normally we should be experiencing highs of 12F and lows of -10F.  Not that I'm not enjoying the weather, or that my Amish roofers aren't appreciating the weather.  Just makes me feel a little edgy about what spring and summer 2012 temperatures will be.

The inside of the house is coming along - here's the almost finished kitchen.  Penny - my oldest daughter was busy cooking for us at Christmas.  We kept some of the original 1950's base cabinets, painted them,

distressed them, and put on new hardware.  The tall cabinet you see in back of Penny is a combination.  The bottom cab was in the house.  The top cab we purchased for $60 and put beadboard on the back, crown molding on the top - painted it and hooray!  We wanted it to look like it had always been in this house, which I think it does. 

I was thrilled to discover the top cabinet has plate rails.  Funny, but I never thought our dinnerware was a big deal (we were both studio potters in another, younger part of our lives.  I've never owned commercial dinnerware.).  My dishes have chips on the rims of bowls and plates, and the glazes are scuffed from years of use, but they look amazing displayed in the glass cabinet!  Later I'll show you pictures of my most venerable 1950's GE PINK built in oven and cooktop.  The island cabinets are all Ikea.  Bless Ikea for fantastic designs and even more fantastic prices.

Amy, Matthew & Lola, and Robert (Matt's partner)

An almost picture perfect living room.

When I think of my studio, the movie "Apocalypse Now" comes to mind.  Late in the movie, Martin Sheen's character encounters Marlon Brando's renegade gone native officer deep in a dark cave - body painted up, voice growly.  Brando says something to the effect of , "the horror of it, the horror of it".  That's pretty much the way I'm feeling about my studio.  As work as been done in one room or another, "stuff" got moved from this room to that room, back to this room and and back again.  Unfortunately my studio has become some sort of landing place for much of that stuff.  All the work I've done in there to get my things unpacked and organized has been done with me sucking my gut in while I scooch sideways through stacks of *#!p.  Most of which has nothing to do with me or sewing or jewelry or pattern designing.  Grrrrrr  My goal for next week is to make all this turn into an organized studio one can walk through without risking life or limb.

Do come visit again!  I've got exciting things planned for this blog.  Beginning this Friday, the post will feature a woman who has inspired me to push forward in my goals whether they be creative or spiritual.  The inspiration post will be the 2nd Friday of each month, and I'm looking forward to introducing you to some amazing women!

Other things on my to do list include tutorials, an inside glimpse into what goes into designing a pattern, the chance to purchase new patterns (and/or kits) prior to public publication, of course some give aways (who doesn't love that?), and free patterns for my blog readers.  That's just to get started!

Blessings!  Angela