Music Stand Bag

I play in the local community band and our season is slowly starting.  Summer is our busiest time.  As more and more performances are cropping up on our calender, it just makes sense to keep certain items in the car, my music stand for example.  My first summer I just borrowed a stand from a fellow clarinet player, but I always felt bad about it, that I wasn't as prepared as I should be.  Last summer I found a fold up one at a yard sale for super cheap...then I would forget to bring it.  This season, I told myself I would not forget my stand, and in order to help with that, I made a bag to keep all the pieces together and make it easier to carry around.  The design came from the bag my camera tripod came in.

What you need is:
*some scrap fabric (about a 1/2 yard or so)
*cording (the length of the bag + the width of the bag + a little extra so it can hang off your shoulder)
*cord stopper
*item to go in said bag (my music stand, for example)
*rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
*gauge
*basic sewing supplies

First you want to cut a length of fabric that is about 6-8 inches longer than the stand.  I cut mine on the fold, so I only have one seam to worry about.

Next sew up the bottom.  Be sure to re-enforce it!  I used a standard 5/8" seam allowance here.

Now comes the detail work.  Make a 1/4" narrow hem on both sides at the top.  Have the hem go down about 6".  This will make your opening nice and neat.

Then press over 1/4" at the top and then fold over another inch to make the casing for your cording.

Next, feed your cording through and add the stopper.

Then keep the cording inside the bag and pin it where you want it to attach at the bottom.  Mine is about 2" from the bottom seam.  I have my cording stick out a little bit from the edge, so I can see it better when I sew the seam up.  Re-enforce where the cording is to make sure it stays put.

Finally, trim the corners and flip it right side out.  And, ta-da!  You have your very own music stand (or whatever) bag!  You can press the seams if you want, but it's not necessary.

This stays in my car and it keeps all the pieces together so they don't go sliding around everywhere in the backseat.  And with the shoulder strap, I can carry it easier to and from performances.  It's also big enough that I can stick my phone and a water bottle in there too!

An Experiment

Yesterday I went out to see what Easter candy was left (and consequence ridiculously cheap) as well as pick up potting soil and starter trays for my garden this year.  Didn't find much as far as candy goes, which is probably a good thing.  However, roaming around the garden center at Wal-Mart I found some rather sad looking berry bushes.  I've always wanted fresh raspberries, and due to their sad shape they were only a couple bucks.  It looked like they sat in the direct sun for too long and probably over watered.  I needed to get plant food anyways, so I took home a raspberry bush.  Mixed in a little fresh soil and gave it some plant food before heading off to work.  I wish I took a picture, poor thing only had one green leaf.  I found this when I got home 4 hours later...

Once a week for the next month, I will water it with the water-based plant food I have and then go down to every other week (Box recommends every 7 - 14 days during busy plant growth) and we'll see what happens.  I'm not expecting any fruit this year, but if I can at least nurse it back to health and then hopefully I can have lots of raspberries in the future!  Every week, I'll post a new picture and track its progress.

Finished Quilts

I actually finished these almost a month ago, but then all my school projects became due and life just took over.

Anywho...t-shirt quilt #2 is finished.  This is for my best friend and got it finished by his birthday!!  Yay for making goals!  Again, here is where I learned how to make my t-shirt (or memory) quilts.  I have two more planned.  One is for another totally awesome friend and the second is all my WSU shirts.  That one will be interested because I plan on using my spare set of WSU bed sheets for sashing, binding and backing material.

Also finished is the first of two blankets for my nephew.  My sister found the material kit for this one while we were going through my late mother's sewing room.  Since I know how to quilt, she handed it to me and asked me to make it for her.  It's minky fabric, which sped up the purchase of a walking foot (best investment so far!) and while the new foot has made quilting much more enjoyable, if I ever work with minky again, it will be too soon!  It sheds like no one's business when cut, it was EVERYWHERE when I took it out of the bag.  The nice thing is that it's fluffy enough that I didn't need to be too conservative with my whip stitching on the binding, just needed to make sure it was secure. It's super soft and super warm, I have a feeling mom will be using it more than baby...

Now switching gears to crochet and knitting.  At least I can work on those projects during class.  :D

Quilt Labeling

In my searches to do various quilting techniques, I kept coming across mentions of putting a label on the quilt when you were finished.  Finding how to do it was another story.  Most were telling me to add it when I did the quilting.  Well, that did me no good as I often already had the quilting part already done.  I found several different methods and finally gave in and found a way that worked best for me.

You'll need the following:

* fabric swatch (pre-washed, it can be from the fabric used in the quilt or some other scrap fabric you have laying around)

* freezer paper

* rotary cutter

* ruler

* cutting mat

* iron

* ironing board (I used my cut 'n press)

* permanent  fabric marking pen (permanent markers, such as Sharpie, will bleed and discolor over time, make sure it is a FABRIC pen.)

First cut your swatch to your desired size.  I cut mine to 4" x 5".  I have two quilts that need labels, hence the two different swatches.

After you have cut your fabric.  Cut a piece of freezer that is just a bit larger than the fabric.  You'll want at least a half inch all around.  The freezer paper helps stabilize the fabric while you write on it.  You can also use it the make fabric stiff enough to go through your printer and make your label that way.  Then mark lines on the dull side of the freezer paper about a half inch apart.  This provides a guide to help keep your writing straight, if you desire.

Take the shiny side (the side with the wax) and the place the fabric on top, right side up.  Then turn the whole thing over and iron gently.  You only want to help the fabric stick, you're not wanting a permanent bond.

Once it's all ironed, add the writing.  You can include anything you want.  The basics would be the date, who it's for (if anyone), who worked on the quilt, any special occasion, etc.

For the pens I have, it took two applications to make sure it's dark enough and heat setting was not required.  Check the instructions that came with your pen(s) to see if you need to heat set.  Gently peel the freezer paper off and discard.  Then fold the edges over a quarter-inch and press.  Next sew the label onto your quilt using a blind whip stitch.  The bottom right corner of the black is the traditional place, but you can put your label wherever you desire.

Then you're done!  Ta-dah!  Make sure the label gets a chance to lay flat overnight before you wash it.

See how pretty!!  Enjoy marking your place in history.

Quilting

Last year I made a t-shirt quilt with my college band shirts using this awesome tutorial.

While I was working on it, my friend wanted me to make one for him.  Over Christmas break he gathered all the shirts he wanted to use.  I had to get creative with some of the squares because he's so broad-shouldered that some of the designs barely fit within my 12.5" quilting square.  However with a little ingenuity, I was able to use every shirt he gave me.  I finished the top today.

Next week JoAnn's is having a good deal on the backing fabric I want to use.  So, that's on the agenda for next weekend.  The walking foot for my sewing machine came in a few weeks ago, so I'm excited to try it out.  Machine quilting my quilt was a pain in the butt, so I'm hoping that it will make things easier.

Christmas Presents Revealed

I was wanting to post this right after Christmas, but technical difficulties put a damper on things.  This past year was another "homemade" Christmas.  My family got hand painted tiles with phrases that had special meanings to them.

For some friends I made some placemats.  I started with a set I made for a friend as a wedding present.

Then I found some pretty musical Christmas ribbon.  I think it works better if I don't use wired ribbon, but that's all I find.

 This is where I learned how to make the placemats: How to make a woven placemat with ribbon

Cutting Day

Today was the day I designated as "cutting day".  I detest cutting stuff out so much, I save it all for one day.  I cut and pinned 4 placements, 3 cloth books and panels for pillows.  All why doing laundry.  Yay for productivity!!