WIP Wednesday: The Next Jelly Roll Quilt

I love making jelly roll quilts. And I love the Jelly Roll Party each month at Ruth's Stitchery!

The good thing about being the lead "partier" is, I guaranteed to finish (pieced, quilted and bound!) at least 12 quilts each year. Because I make the sample every month.

This week, I'm making the sample for our January Jelly Roll Party:

The pattern is by Gudrun Erle, "Strip to Shore." Of course, I bought it because of the Navy reference!

I'm using a "Grunge" by Moda jelly roll, and the background is navy blue Grunge.

No special ruler is needed, although it is easier to square up the hexagons with a 60 degree ruler. As you might guess from my photo, the hardest thing is arranging the pieces so no same colors match. I didn't always succeed!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

To 52 Quilts' USA followers, and all the ships at sea:
Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

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Bag It: A New Bag from Sew Sweetness

I get a vicarious thrill from "test sewing" patterns for talented designers. One of my favorites is Sara Lawson of "Sew Sweetness."

Sara designs the best bags! My most recent "test sew" for Sara is the Tudor Bag.

This is a good-sized bag, about 13" by 15".  Sara included instructions for both regular handles and an adjustable shoulder strap. I found the perfect webbing for the straps at Snappy Quilts when I bought the Cotton + Steel canvas for the bag.

There is one zipper pocket on the outside, and four big pockets inside.

Believe it or not, this is the first time I've made a bag with the recessed zipper on top. And of course, I installed the zipper upside-down! Rather than struggle to open the zipper from inside the bag, I removed the zipper panels and re-attached them. I'll pay more attention to the part that reads "with the zipper facing down" next time!

I failed to take a photo of the metal "feet" attached to the bottom of the bag. This little detail really makes a professional finish to a bag. I added a shoulder strap pad, copied from the Vera Bradley Weekender bag. I don't usually use a shoulder strap, but if the bag is filled to capacity it will be heavy. So the padded strap is a good idea, I think.

This is not my favorite of Sara's bags (that would be the adorable mini train case I made last summer!) but it will make the perfect winter knitting bag.

Go to Sew Sweetness to see the bags made by Sara's other testers.

Thank you, Sara, for allowing me to test sew this bag for you!

From the desk of your