Reuable Produce Bags

I'll be back later this year with an easy DIY tutorial for these bags, but in the meantime, you can order them through my Etsy shop here.

 The first batch I made were from plain white cotton double gauze. The side and bottom seams are done with a french seam that covers all the raw edges of the fabric.

 The top cotton drawstring is threaded through a simple casing and finished with an overhand knot.

 Stays tight from the grocery store to home and is easy to open and close.

 And then I tried to brand them with my logo using block printing. I really enjoyed doing this but due to customer request and the extra time required, I am no longer putting printing on the bags.

 Because not all bulk items come in large quantities, I've changed things up and added a medium and a small bag to the line up.

 And I bought a serger to do the side and bottom seams. AND I recruited my daughter-in-law, Leanne to make these for me.

She now makes and finishes all the reusable produce bags in my Etsy shop. If you're in the Calgary area, contact me direct at magpiequilts(at)gmail(dot)com and we can arrange a pick up time and a local discount!

What other reusable products do you think we should make?
--Ann

Quilt Guild 9-patch exchange

It's always an adventure to take part in a guild activity and this one was something I had wanted to do for a long time. So many quilt shows I've been to have had quilts made from 9-patch exchanges and it was only a matter of time before I was able to be part of such an exchange.

 Every month, we had a colour and were to bring 10 nine patch blocks made from that colour. Our exchange hosts were particular that these were pieced accurately and it made the end product so much easier. In return for the 10 blocks we brought, we received 10 all different ones back. So in effect, we brought 10 the same and got 10 different in the same colours.

 These sat for a while in my unfinished pile, and all I knew is that I wanted the end result to be a rainbow quilt. When I finally put the blocks up on the design wall, I realized I would need to make a few more of some colours and had extra of others.

I found this great rainbow fabric for a border and it's all ready to get quilted as soon as I find a backing fabric that will be as awesome as the front.

All in all, this was a pretty easy quilt to put together and I have a few extra blocks to begin the next version!

--Ann

Pizza Box Challenge

Last year my guild held a pizza box challenge. Everyone was given a pizza box and the instructions were that you could put any instructions in the box and also a piece of fabric if you wanted. The boxes were passed from person to person and at the end, everyone in the exchange would have made a block for your quilt with your instructions.

I didn't spend too much time thinking about what I wanted as I wanted to keep things simple. I put in a piece of bright blue fabric (I think it was about 1.5m) and the instructions to make your favourite block, using the theme of blue and white and the fabric provided should be included in the block.

 There were 8 people in the group I was exchanging with and when I got my pizza box back, I added another 8 blocks to make 16.

 I ended up adding some yellow to the blocks I made - for some reason, it just adds a little sparkle to the overall quilt.

A blue print for sashing and borders and it's ready to go to the quilters!

Sampler quilts are really a great way to use up scraps and to try new techniques. It was fun to see the different blocks made by my guild exchange group, even though our skill levels range from beginner to advanced.

I can't wait to show you this one all quilted and finished!

--Ann