Hello, Saturday!  This is Block 10 of the Sewcial Bee Sampler Quilt presented each week by Maureen Cracknell Handmade and Sharon Holland Designs.  I surprised myself when this block turned out.  Quarter Square Triangles sounded just too complex to work, but these are better than most of my Half Square Triangles.

Of course, I did receive Jasmine's two paws of approval this week - so how wrong could it go?

New Project - Kennel Mats!

A new friend from the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers, Sharon at YellowCatQuiltDesigns shared a post about making kennel mats for her local shelter.  We had purchased some items for the local shelter and when we dropped them off I had Lance check if they'd be interested in kennel mats and they gave him a very enthusiastic - YES!  The cats (and dogs) get to take their mats to their new home.  I'm hoping to make many more of these.

I've not done a lot of applique so when the blanket stitch left the pinked edges sticking out like claws it was a total accident.  But I love it and will try to do it on purpose next time.  Also did a little bit of straight line quilting with the walking foot, too.  It occurred to me this might be a good way to practice free motion quilting as well.  The mats are about 12" by 18" and I'm already planning the scraps for my next couple of mats. Thank you, Sharon, this is fun!

Practical Project Bags

Another Short Project

Bought the pattern for this on Craftsy after reading about sewing with vinyl and seeing similar bags online, but I really wanted serious directions rather than trying to figure it out as I went along.  The pattern was simple to understand, though fairly complex.  If you've put in a zipper before the only real challenge is sewing with the vinyl.

I did buy a teflon foot which worked pretty well but I ended up using the backing paper on the vinyl as tissue paper to keep the vinyl off the machine surface.  Anywhere it touches the metal, the vinyl sticks.  So, you're kind of doing a balancing act while trying to sew a straight line.  However, once you get the hang of it, the project moves right along.  This bag used an 18"x 10" piece of vinyl on front and back - so see through - And with a 17" zipper was about 18" square without the handle.  (Sorry for the fuzzy picture.) I used it immediately to store the materials for the Mystery Project which I'll finish up next week. Here's a picture of the empty bag, too.

I tried to get Jasmine to peek through the bag for me but she was taking a serious nap.  Sewing is very tiring for her some days. That's pretty much it for this week.  Join me next week to see how the Mystery Project Box is finished up.  Til then, take care and have a lovely week.  Debbie