221. Nearly-Perfect Travel Tote from Simplicity 4535

I've mentioned before my quest to create the perfect carry-on travel bag, after not being able to purchase one that fits my exacting needs.  Simplicity 4535 is as close as I've come so far, and it's pretty close!

Most U.S. airlines define the maximum size carry-on as 35 linear inches.  The dimensions of View D total 33 linear inches, so I went with this tote.  It's bigger than it appears in the photo because the bag has 7 inches depth.  And as always, it's those little customized pockets and other details that really make or break the bag.

220. My first handmade swimsuit! KwikSew 3779

Today was the perfect day for an adventure: a swimsuit-sewing kind of adventure!  I've sewn some undies, and figured it couldn't be too much more difficult to sew a swimsuit.  Good news is that I was right about that.  :)

It took me at least 2 years to do this because...

• I'd spent so much on store-bought suits and felt that, even though they weren't the best fit and style for me, I wanted to feel I'd gotten my money's worth by wearing them more... 
• I couldn't find a great current pattern... 
• Of vintage swimsuit patterns, many of the styles I loved were made for woven fabrics, back in the days when you wore a swimsuit to lounge, not to swim...
• Sometimes I have so many things I want to sew that I don't know where to begin!  The swimsuit never made it to the top of the queue.

Why today?  First pool party of the season!  If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is!!!!

219. Super-Simple Baby Girl Quilt

Still alive, working like a crazed beast and loving every moment, and somehow still sewing.  Oh, I remember:  people around me still insist on having babies.  As long as they invite me to a shower, I will shun the baby registry and head instead to the fabric store for quilt fabrics.  This is for a baby girl, whose parents are doing a pink and brown, woodland creatures theme.  I did get some owl / woodland fabric from Etsy for a separate blanket, but that didn't get finished in time!  Luckily, the quilt did.  Here it is, front:

And a collage of front and back (pink and white cotton gingham), with dogs:

The dog on left is ours; the dog on right was a 2-week foster dog, who was almost identical in size to our dog, but only 5 months old.  I didn't ask the dogs to walk all over the quilt, but it must have been really cozy.  :)

Can I say that the fabric store is the only place left in the world where I allow myself to feel judged?  I swear, in asking the fabric cutter to help me decide between various colors for binding, I showed her the quilt top (which features five 8.5" x 10.5" colored rectangles), and she asked me, "Is that it?"  I said, "This is the quilt top."  And she said, "You aren't adding anything else"

!!!!!!!!!

No, I'm not adding anything else.  I am not a professional quilter.  I don't have a lot of "patience" for "precision" and "accuracy" and can't keep track of lots of little bits of fabric.  At the fabric store, where you'd think the goal is for employees to show enthusiasm and support for their customers' projects, I felt a little deflated!  Boo and hiss.

Well, the quilt is done and I was proud to offer it as our gift.  Maybe I will choose another fabric store next time.

218: Pinterest and the Zigzag Crib Quilt

Pinterest has grown up and gotten grown-up problems: there have been rumblings about copyright and legal liability when pinning photos, with ex-users saying Pinterest made it easy for us to casually and frequently pin other people's content, but covered itself by burying in its terms of use agreement a bunch of verbiage that users really ought to carefully clear copyright on the stuff they pin or they could be in big legal trouble (Pinterest recently updated their Terms of Use - but I haven't picked through it with a fine-toothed comb yet, so if you have a summary, feel free to lay it out there).

Before this serious stuff, the joke among Pinterest users was that it was the most beautiful, addictive time waster ever! And while I could see that, the best thing Pinterest has done for me is visually catalog all the things I want to TRY. And it surprises me how much I do end up trying! Among recipes, this vegan burger is a winner every time, these skinny monkey cookies are popular among all our household members, and these harvest pies we're the most effort I've ever put into one dish -- and I was glad about it every bite I took.

I've also tried some cool crafts I've found on Pinterest. When three good friends announced babies-in-the-making this spring and summer, I knew it was time to let the quiltspiration come. I started pinning quilts that caught my eye, and a few motifs kept surfacing, like the zigzag quilt. I am not the most precise sewist, so piecing triangles was not in my future. I remembered seeing (not on Pinterest, ironically) a great tutorial on zigzag quilts built from strips sewn together, then cut into squares. The zigzag dream felt achievable! My friend Shannon was sure that her baby boy's room would be decorated in blues and browns, so I chose to do a few rows of blue and brown zigzags on a cream background for her baby's quilt.

I'm really fast behind the machine, but am probably slower than average with measuring, cutting, pressing, etc. It took me an hour to press the prewashed fabric, cut the strips, sew them together, and cut the squares. It took about another hour to lay them out and assemble the quilt top. One more hour to figure out Plan B when I realized my fabric for the backing wasn't enough (used a cream-and-navy micro houndstooth print from the stash), quilt the top-batting-backing (only used horizontal stitches, about 5 inches apart), and sew on the binding.

Four hours for a finished crib quilt - finished size approx. 42" x 56" - is totally reasonable for me, and I have to credit my machine for much of that ease. The two things my little machine doesn't usually handle well are heavy fabrics and quilts, but the stars were with me on this quilt, and I hope they will be with me on the future quilts, too. There was so little squishing between the feed dogs it was like I was using a walking foot when I wasn't!

Don't call me a quilter yet, but I am encouraged by this experience and am going into the next two baby quilts with an open mind and lots of visual inspiration.  ;)