It's the BIG day

If you've followed Stash Manicure, you are well aware that the BIG WantobeQuilter event is in full swing. I am so thrilled to be a part of it all. Madame Samm called me last month and invited me to post today. I almost jumped out of my chair with joy, when I got the call!

For those who have followed my blog, you might have seen this tutorial previously as the TSA approved bag. Yes, it is a quart size bag that the TSA allows for taking liquids thru security in the airports here in the US, but it's so versatile, that its uses are endless. Like you saw today, it's the perfect way to keep all those sewing supplies together, along with projects, patterns, and just about anything you need to organize.

I'm very excited about finding new quilters and bringing them into our folds. Those of us who have been around awhile, have found "tons" of support from each other thru blogging. I know I can speak for all of us, in saying "welcome", to all new quilters. I hope to teach and inspire each of you. I'm open to any and all questions you might have, and will freely share any of my knowledge (or lack of)  :-)  :-)  :-) with everyone!

Welcome Welcome--- "Orange" you glad you found us?  :-)

In honor of this auspicious occasion, I am giving away this set of bags, (hot off the cutting board).   You don't have to be a Wantobe Quilter either. Everyone is eligible to win. Just become a follower and leave me a comment on this post. For those who are following already, just leave me a comment telling me so, and what you would like to see from me, in the future. I will be picking a winner on Saturday Aug 6th.

Best wishes and good luck to you all!! You know we are all winners, when we follow Stash Manicure!

Storage bags (your gonna need em for all your winnings)

Here is a repeat of my blog post on Stash Manicure!

"Orange" you glad you stumbled across this fabulous blog? Today we are going to put together something we can "all" use every day. Threads, notions, pieces and parts, patterns and pages, where do we put them all? How do we store them? Transporting them all to classes, seeing where things are... Help me, Help me!!!

Now, your just gonna love how fast and easy it is going to be, to accomplish even for brand new sewers and quilters. So lets jump in and get our feet wet! Supplies are simple, we are going to need some transparent plastic, ribbon, fabric for binding (leftover binding if you have it, is perfect) and Velcro along with our regular sewing supplies and we are ready to go! Oh yes, when stitching of plastic, we need either a Teflon foot for the sewing machine, or some tear away stabilizer, which I personally love. It makes things very easy to sew and rips right off when your done. That darn plastic loves to cling to the foot and bed of our machines.

The transparent plastic we are going to need, comes from fabric stores in the USA, like JoAnn's Fabrics, Hancock's, Hobby Lobby and Wal Mart's if you are lucky enough to still have one by you that sells fabrics. I seldom see plastic in quilt shops. It does come in different weights. I personally like the medium weight. It is heavy enough for my needs and still very easy to stitch on. This photo shows the paper that comes with this particular brand, if you have never seen it before.

                                                      


Let's start by cutting a piece of plastic 7 1/2" wide and 18" long. It's hard to see, so I put a piece of tear away under it.

Find the center of each 7 1/2" side, which is going to be the top of our bag when complete. Mark it, as best you can. I used a pen. You don't want to use a pin, or you will have a hole in the plastic. You are going to take a 3" piece of ribbon, fold it in half and stitch it to that center mark on each end. These will be our tabs for opening our bag when it's complete.

                                                     


Now, we are going to cut 2, 1 1/4" wide pieces of fabric for binding, the tops of our bag. Fold it over 1/4" and press.

                                                       
 
 

                                                          Flip your bag over, so the ribbon we just attached is on the bottom and stitch your binding down on each end. Your just folded and pressed side is at the bottom. Placing the tear away stabilizer underneath, will keep the plastic from sticking to the bed of the machine.

                                                       
Rip off the tear away, flip over your binding and stitch it down to the front side. You will be putting the tear away under you foot for this step, again. Just "butt" it up to your binding so the plastic is covered and doesn't drag on your machine foot. When complete we will just tear it off again.

Here we are going to attach a 7 1/4" piece of Velcro to each end, "butting" it up to the binding we just attached. By using this measurement, it just catches in the side seam and holds, but doesn't add too much bulk in the seam. Make sure your ribbon side is face down and the ribbon is pulled up and out of the way before you stitch the Velcro down. Hook side on one end and loop side on the other.

Almost to the finish line here. We are now going to fold our bag in half, sticking the Velcro together, forming our bag. Cut a 2" wide piece fabric for the binding. Measure carefully the length you will need for each side allowing a little extra to press under at the top and bottom of each piece. We are going to attach it just like we were binding a quilt.

                                                       

This is what my bag looked like before I pulled the tear away off. I am going to flip my bag over one last time and stitch the binding down.

                                                               


VIOLA!! "Orange" you surprised at how easy that was? This one is the size of a quart ziploc bag, but I of course, don't need to tell you, this can be done in any number of sizes, to fit our stitching needs. "Citrus" to say - oops I mean suffice to say, I am now organized and I can "see" what I need, for my next project!

PS: Thank you sooooooo much "M" Samm for having me back. I am thrilled to be a part of this "great" time on Stash Manicure!

Note: Comments for the give-a-way need to be left on "It's the Big Day" post!