Teachers Bag

At our Rotary Cutters Quilting Group meetings of May and June, all except one of our members stitched Teachers Bags.  I am not sure where the name originated from, but that is what these bags are locally referred to.  Elsa, who won first prize at Bloemshow 2023 with her bag, told us all the tips and tricks she used for her show piece.  From first drawing the template for the bag by measuring the plastic file organizer which are used as an insert, to hiding the zips ends as well as the side pockets and various other practical advice.

I rummaged in my drawers for fabric and found this pastel-colored floral piece which I paired with tie dye fabric bought earlier this year from Curtain Dream.  Locally the same fabric is sold at almost double the price, so I will definitely support them again in the future.  

On the side pockets I embroidered designs from the Flower Market Set 2 by Hatched in Africa which I bought earlier this year when Secrets of Embroidery held their Gold, Silver and Diamond sale.  It is like an online shopping mall where various designers sell their artwork.  During this sale design sets which normally sell for $35 or more are marked down to $1 - for sure a sale one shouldn't miss out on.

                                        I think these designs compliment the fabric excellent. 

 

The file organizer looks like this

and here it is in inserted inside the bag

with the bag fully opened.

Closed the bag looks like this.

To help keep the loose flaps on top in place, Elsa gave us the advice to add some weight to it which I did by adding blue and pink satin ribbon with these beautiful large beads.  I also add the same beads with a tassel to the side pocket's zips and some small blue and turquois flower buttons to the top of the straps.

Elsa's bag

Frances's bag

Rika's bag

2023 is turning out to be a very fruitful year for our group with 3 projects already done and a new project starting with our next meeting on the 11th of July.

Online shopping

I discovered Fabric8 at the beginning of the year and it is just my kind of shop with handy tools, notions and gadgets for machine embroidery, sewing, quilting, knitting and crochet as well as some arts and other crafts.  Being a Brother retailer as well suits me just fine.  On Saturday night, I put my order in and yesterday it arrived.  I am very impressed with their speed, their prices and variety of products.

On the left-hand side is a ruler handle with suckers as well as two little plastic sucker hooks which when stuck to the side of the machine will hold small scissors etc. They even sell these nifty stands for cellphones.  My husband bought one some time ago at our local Pick and Pay which is always in demand by somebody.  These 3 will sure come in handy.  With me always losing pins around the whole house, one can never have enough magnets to try and keep those pins in check.

Using 505 temporary glue spray when embroidering, I got a glue and residue eraser which I hope will remove the glue stains when they occasionally happen without having to wash the item to remove it.  As I am always in need of fasteners for various charms, beads etc. I bought a packet each gold and silver Globe Pins. Another item I don't seem to ever have enough of, is quilting safety pins as well as the small fabric clips which is very handy for binding and other sewing needs.  I also bought a bottle of fabric glue and an adjustable rainbow thimble which have a raised rim to keep the needle from slipping.

Talking about those stray pins, I also bought a telescopic magnetic pick-up stick.  For ruler quilting, I got a sewing gauge.  Fabric8 included a small thank you gift of a sticker, two buttons, two metal clips and a fabric label.  Underneath these items is a non-slip anti scalding iron cloth.

As well as stocking Brother parts, they have a wide variety of generic presser feet and I bought a few.  From top to bottom they are a Clear presser foot, a Red Line presser foot, a Roller presser foot, a Seam Guide presser foot and a Teflon one.  On the right is a Bulky Seam Jumper and a magnetic metal sewing guide.  I also got a packet of Brother bobbins as I regularly run out of empty bobbins as well as a cleaning brush.  The Bulky Seam Jumper with two different thicknesses slide beneath the presser feet to help make the transition over bulky seams smooth.

Now to just get stitching.  With the cold winter nights we are currently experiencing, I prefer to bask in front of the fire.  And I have heaps of embroidery to do. 

Do have a look at Fabric8 when you are in need of just about anything.  Even the courier fees are very reasonable, and my package arrived within 3 business days with this cute message on the box:

Sew Happy Bom - Block 2

The instructions for block two arrived last week.  So as soon as I was able to stitch the block, I got stitching and in no time the block was done.  Now to wait for the next one.

Another Biscornu Set

Whilst embroidering a set for my friend, I decided to make a set for myself as well using more vibrant colors. 

This embroidery designs can be found here: Biscornu 2

 

Biscornu set

For years I admired the Biscornu design set of Artistic Designs.  When the Biscornu Set 2 was on sale earlier this year, I bought it and embroidered a set for my dear friend of the past 42 years as a birthday present.  I used a light cream fabric with subtle colors giving it an antique look.

The set consist of a rotary cutter case, a scissor pocket and fob and the biscornu pincushion.

Sew Happy BOM

A member of our quilting group told us some time ago about this free block of the month hosted by Jaquelynne Stevens.  It is a small runner or wall hanging consisting of 4 blocks done over 4 months.  After selecting fabrics from my stash, I started cutting and finished the first block yesterday.

If you are interested, just click here.

Key fobs

At our Rotary Cutters quilt group meeting held the 4th of April 2023, we made key fobs for the General Meeting of the Oranje Quilters Guild this coming Saturday, the 13th of May which we will host together with another group, the Gouedrade.

Elsa de Wet, the vice chairperson of the Guild and one of our group members proposed this idea as a welcoming gift to be handed out at the meeting.

We all brought along felt, batting, buttons, beads etc. and started cutting and stitching.  Marietjie van Rensburg and I did all the machine stitching whilst the other members did all the hand stitching. 

We worked together as a team creating a seamless unit each with her own task.  Even when I stitched one of them horribly crooked, Rika van der Merwe didn't complain or ask me to unpick it.  She merely cut it straight.

We started at 14h00 and slaved away until 18h30 at which time we had 33 finished.

Frances van Schalkwyk finished another 7 at home and Angeline du Plessis made another 10 bringing the total amount to 50.  I tasked my husband with the job of adding the key rings.  He used a staple remover to open the rings and slide the fobs through. Easy! They turned out absolutely beautiful each with it's own personality.

Thank you girls!  We made a mean team.

For more info of the Oranje Quilters Guild, visit the blog here or the Facebook page here.