Follow the Rules!

I signed up to receive the Modern Quilt Guild's Spring 2016 challenge fabric in December 2015 and the fabric was distributed at a Greenville MQG meeting earlier this year. We each received 3/4 yard of Riley Blake's Sashing Stash in black and white by Eleanor Dugan.

Running short on time and not really inspired as to what to make, I decided a Becca Bag zippered pouch would be perfect for this fabric if I fussy cut the design elements.  I made another Becca Bag from Cotton and Steel fabrics which you can see here.

Becca Bag made from Riley Blake Sashing Stash and Circle Dot

When I factor in the planning of best how to showcase which element of fabric and then fussy cutting them, this Becca Bag took longer than most, but I think it was worth it.

In the fabric were half square triangles, and, what I would call, Seminole patchwork.

Riley Blake's Sashing Stash  fabric

Also included were flying geese, a checker board and large chevrons.

Riley Blake Sashing Stash fabric

I decided to piece the panel for the pouch from the flying geese and chevron.  For the flying geese, I left 1/8" of the black border showing one either side of the flying geese.

Flying geese from Sashing Stash after sewing in the zipper for the Becca Bag

After inserting the zipper, I quilted along the edge and through the center of flying geese.    I was surprised to line up the flying geese perfectly when reassembling the zipper.

Flying Geese aligned on the Becca Bag after sewing in the zipper

And for the chevron, I left 1/8" of the white showing above the chevron and made the bottom edge of the chevron the base of the pouch.  I outlined and quilted along the top and bottom of the chevrons.

I made a smaller gusset than called for so the bottom edge of the chevron would fall at the base of the bag. And since I had quilted along this edge it actually gave the bag bottom more definition.

Base of Becca Bag

Here's where things went terribly wrong...excited about my finish (before the May 31st revised deadline) and wanting to share on Instgram, I referred to the challenge rules and guidelines for the proper hashtag to use when posting.  And there it was, not necessarily in black and white, 

You may use corresponding Riley Blake C100 and C120 solids.

How could I have done that..we even talked about using solids at Greenville MQG meeting.  But that slipped my mine and I purchased Riley Blake Circle Dot and used it as my accent color.  And while the color red, in my opinion, always looks good with black and white, in this case, I disqualified my entry! It was too late to search out and order a coordinating solid.

MQG Riley Blake Spring 2016 Fabric Challenge rules

And since I broke the rules and wasn't able to enter my bag, I'm still happy with the outcome. Here you can see the quilting detail on the chevron and the pull tab I made from the 'wrong' coordinating fabric.

Becca Bag quilting and pull tab detail

 I used a black zipper slide/pull tab and braided bakers twine for the zipper pull tab.

Becca Bag with red and black zipper by Paige Alexander

I used a Riley Blake dot for the lining and like the how the quilting secures the lining and I finished the raw edges by overlocking the seams.

So my advice when making a challenge piece is...Follow the Rules!

The Riley Blake Sashing Stash Fabric Challenge winners can be seen here. Congrats to all!

I have definitely learned my lesson and am linking to Lessons Learned with Afton at Quilting Mod.

And, though it is small, it's a finish and linking to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Sarah at Sarah Goer Quilts hosting Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday and Show Off Saturday.

2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

Be sure to stop back Monday, the 13th, when the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop kicks off.  I'm part of The Sewcial Network hive hosted by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl.  Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs is hosting Miss Bee Hivin' and Stephanie at Late Night Quilter is hosting the Hive Sewciety.

Becca Bags Zippered Pouches

When a local quilt shop offered a class on the Becca Bags, I signed up immediately.  I was curious about Joan Hawley's one-zip technique where you only use one side of the zipper tape and feed it back through the zipper pull.

Becca Bags by Paige Alexander made with Cotton + Steel fabrics

And with this method, it eliminates having to cover the zipper ends resulting in a very neat zip pouch. See how the bags stand open so well with gussets sewn into the bottom of both bags.

Dreamy Fusible, a high loft fusible fleece, was sandwiched between the two layers.  The pattern calls for topstitching only at the top of the bag near the zipper, but I like the look, especially from the inside of the bag, when it is quilted.  I quickly added some straight line quilting using the walking foot.

Becca Bags made using the one-zip technique

I added a few lines of quilting on top section of the larger bag, but on the smaller bag, I quilted between the arrows all the way down.

You can see the zipper pull on the smaller bag is a natural color.  I had to rob it from another zipper. As the pattern warns, you must use the same brand of zipper tape and tabs for them to be interchangeable.  I had several Coats & Clark's all purpose polyester zippers on hand and used them, but YKK zipper tabs are sold in bulk, where you can color coordinate the zipper tape and tabs.

Becca Bags with quilting

Below is another picture of the other side.  You can see here where the grab tab was made from a section of the zipper tape.  I used grosgrain ribbon on hand for the zipper pull.

Becca Bag

As I mentioned before in this blog post and this one too, I am headed to Sewtopia Atlanta soon and made these bags for the blind swap.  I fussy cut the the top section to include South Carolina, my home state and Georgia, where Sewtopia will take place.

Becca Bag with fussy cutting to include South Carolina and Georgia

I can see making more Becca bags in the future and want to try using denim in place of fleece like Nicole of Mama Love Quilts just did in her zipperd pouch.

Zippered Pouch Stats:

• Finished sizes:  4" x 6" small zip pouch and 6" x 8" large zip pouch
• Pattern:  Becca Bags by Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs
• Zipper: 22" Coats & Clarks mfg. by Talon (older)  
• Fabrics: All Cotton + Steel - Metallic Arrows in Navy by Melody Miller; Diningcar in Coral, State Words in Teal, and Palm Springs in Teal by Alexia Marcelle Abegg
• Fusible Fleece: Dreamy Fusible, high loft polyester
• Thread: Aurifil and Mettler

And, by the way, as attendees of Sewtopia, we will be touring the design studios of Cotton + Steel. How exciting is that?  I found a great post here by Apartment Therapy that gives a sneak peak into their studio.

Linking up to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Celtic Thistle Stitches hosting Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday this week, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Whoop, There It Is! and Show Off Saturday.