Today I finished my Island Batik Ambassador project for June 🙂
In the works here for a while now, has been a new book bag for my daughter to take to music lessons. And today it’s done. It features a paper-piecing technique that is new-to-me, Island Batik fabrics, HOBBS Thermore batting and six music motif block patterns by Juliet of Tartankiwi.
Read on to see my new, and very simple, drawstring bag. And to see how the Chameleon got himself into a little strife after our latest Colour & Inspiration party. Happy Tuesday!
Bright, and bold and very orange!
You might even call this music book bag “loud”! I enjoyed this month’s Island Batik Ambassador challenge, but am also glad to have this project finished so that my daughter can start using it. Apparently she has already told her music teacher all about it, so I guess she has been looking forward to getting her new book bag.
This bag was made with fabrics and batting given to me as an Island Batik Ambassador. June’s challenge was to try a technique that we hadn’t done before, so I chose to finally get around to trying traditional paper-piecing.
Progress Notes
Two weeks ago I showed you my paper-piecing from The Tartankiwi’s pattern Sew Melodic.
This week I have sewn those pieces into a panel approximately 19″ x 27″.
I then added HOBBS Thermore batting and a backing made of leftover 5″ strips of the animal print fabrics.
To hold the layers together and give the patchwork more strength, I quilted around the musical motifs with stippling with the occasional Treble Clef motif thrown in.
Then I did simple stripes, with the aid of a quilting ruler, in the remainder of the panel. I found that doing free-motion quilting over all the seams in the paper-pieced areas was more challenging than my usual projects. In particular, it was hard to keep a steady pace and stitch length as the number of layers of fabric constantly changed. This is something I learned from this trial of paper-piecing and something I will keep in mind for the future.
I zigzagged around the edges of the trimmed panel to prevent any fraying of the batiks with use. And added two casings at the top of the panel to hold the drawstrings and finished the bag by sewing up the bottom and sides.
The drawstrings are woven ribbons from Island Batik that came tied around several fabric bundles last year. They are soft but heavy duty and will likely outlast the bag.
We are ready for action on Thursday for my daughter’s next keyboard lesson 🙂 I can assure you, she is very pleased.
On a completely different note
It’s time to look at last week’s linkies.
It was one of those weeks where the Chameleon was in the mood for a bit of adventure. So, he went camping with Mary and her new paper-pieced block designs at Made by Marney. And canoeing. Great fun, except……
….. the Chameleon hasn’t been camping before, and he got a bit scared of the wolf. So he called the police for help from Laura’s awesome panel quilt at Slice of Pi Quilts.
And in his excitement, accidentally stole the police car. Now that was an adventure!
After that little misunderstanding, he found himself behind bars.
Cosily incarcerated in a padded cell (which is BTW, really a terrific quilt by Sandra of mmm! Quilts in the latest issue of Modern by the Yard). Very clever Sandra, congratulations. Not so clever, Chameleon, pull your head in!
Don’t worry, the Chameleon has agreed to behave, has been released and is all set for a new party this week. So perhaps you can share your projects and help keep him out of trouble. Thanks!
Operation “Keep the Chameleon on the Straight and Narrow”
What are you working on, or have recently finished in your sewing room? We want to know so we can visit, be inspired and stay out of trouble. Link up a blog post, an IG post or simply a photo from your computer. See if you can get the Chameleon to turn quilted with happiness. We’d love to see your quilting colours!
- Link up your latest or recent quilt/sewing excitement. All quilt construction stages welcome – finished quilts, quilt blocks – even fabric pulls! Or inspiration sources!
- You have 50 characters in the link description…. tell us who you are and what your fantastic project is.
- URL links are not necessary to link up…. non-bloggers 100% welcome! If you don’t have a URL, you can link up with just a photo.
- Take a moment to visit some friends who came to the party – leave a little love and make their day. And a link back to Clever Chameleon is always appreciated.
- Do it now……. before you forget!
The Chameleon turns rainbow with pleasure when he hears from you. I am more reserved, so I will respond in gratitude by email instead. Now that it’s your turn…. Scroll right to the end, leave me a comment and tell me, what do you think? Thanks for connecting!
Would you like to keep in touch with Clever Chameleon and the fun quilty ideas I design as well as find all over the internet? You can follow directly for email updates, or through Bloglovin’, Pinterest, IG or FB. All your follow options can be found here. Don’t forget to link up all your current quilting projects on Tuesdays at our Colour & Inspiration Linky parties!
That is a really fantastic bag! I agree that one downside to paper piecing, especially small blocks, leads to some serious seam intersections and bulky. Quilting them is always a bit of a nailbiter, wondering if my needle will handle it. Love the addition of the treble clefs in your quilting!
I always love your little stories with Chameleon. That bag is wonderful. Your daughter will love it for sure. Bright and encouraging. I used to love to make things that our children enjoyed and used. When our son got into Boy Scouts, he and his dad with the troop went into civil war reenacting. So I made him a civil war reproduction fabric, quilt. He told everyone about it. I had so many men want me to make them one.
The bag is wonderful, but I especially like the chameleon’s adventures. You are very creative!
Love the bag. I’ve been saving ribbons from fabric bundles for years. Just haven’t decided what to do with them yet. This was a clever idea. Wish I had seen this before completing my last drawstring bag, that would have been great to use on it. Thank you for the inspiration.
So fun to see where the chameleon goes! He steals the show!
That clever chameleon has way more adventures than many of his relatives. He’s a changer.
Happy music bag, and especially like the use of the packet ribbons for the drawstring, “use it up”
That music bag turned out just fabulous! I knew your daughter would love it! Those strings were just so clever. Clever as well is your Chameleon story where my quilt put him behind bars! Thanks for the feature.
I wondered what you were going to do with those musical notation blocks! They are perfect for your daughter’s music bag, and I love the spicy orange against the cool teal blue. Beautiful finish!
The shenanigans of your chameleon are hilarious! Thanks for including me in the recap!
I love this and especially love the treble clef in the quilting, as well as the Island batik ribbon! I am sure your daughter is thrilled. And then there is that sneaky chameleon in the locks! Fun fun fun!