Two things
I worked on two things almost exclusively this week, well actually one tiny thing and one gigantic-seemingly-unsolvable thing. On a whim, while cleaning up my workspace I ran into my bag of goodies from last year’s Houston Fall Market. Market is so. much. fun! All the vendors are showing their wares and new stuff, giving away samples and projects. One of those that I came upon was a kit to make Annie’s Flipping Out Bag.
It was a complete kit and I thought what fun that would be!
In all fairness, I am NOT a bag maker. When I go to quilt shows (remember them, quilt shows???) I buy bags that other people make and are cute. I KNOW how hard and time consuming it is to make a bag. But this one was so stinkin’ cute and it was little and all kitted up…. What could go wrong?
First, this is the best written pattern I think I’ve seen. She anticipates your misunderstanding and your errors. Her directions are so clear and well-written. But man, this was some super fussy sewing!
That is a 3″ circle – you’re trying to put binding on a 3″ circle! Really? At one point you are trying to sew down this piece, the bottom, to the main body of the bag. Again, a 3″ circle, waaaay too small to fit over the end of your machine. So dog gone fussy. But I actually did the first part well.
I did everything well in fact until the last step – you have to sew the bound bottom to the bound main body, that is 8.4 million layers, on a 3″ circle. I just couldn’t. No, just no. So I thought, I will just hand sew it. That worked well, a little tacky, but hey, good enough. But, it didn’t fit right because it was designed to be sewn as a seam on the inside of the circle, not the outside as I sewed it. Again, that would have been hand sewing through 8.4 million layers.
So here we go, final product:
Note the red arrow pointing to the dumpy part. That’s because I joined the 2 pieces in the wrong spot. It kinda looks like me, 3 months into the COVID, a little dumpy with a bulgey part!
Once it was done I decided I did not like the topstitching. I used a light gray, but it came off as white and looked a little tacky:
Now that I’m all cocky about using paint, ink and markers since I took Betty Busby’s class, I decided to get out my Tombow and make it the color I wanted:
You can see the top part is the “new” color and the bottom part the tacky gray. Small touch but I’m glad I fixed it.
Here she is all full of goodies:
I know, she’s still looking kind of dumpy….
So Jenny will not be bag making anytime soon! Yes, I know I could have purchased the add-on video, but I don’t see myself as a bag maker in the future so I left that one alone. This was a mere diversion, something I took up on one of the many sleepless nights I have. This is not COVID-related insomnia, I think it’s 65-yrs-old-related. It was a great thing to be doing at 2AM.
The entire rest of my week was consumed by tech. I am trying to get all that I need to teach and lecture online. This is daunting. I teach free motion quilting and I need different things than a teacher that teaches, say, piecing. I figure I’ll need 4 stations and I’ll need to figure out how to go seamlessly to all 4 stations within a live teaching session. I do have some live online gigs booked already and I need to be ready to kill it!
My lecture is polished and ready to go. I feel like I’ve conquered Zoom but I haven’t been tested yet. Zoom really is pretty simple. Did you know there is a “touch up my appearance” button? You need to find it if you do Zoom. You’re welcome.
I have to take this a step at a time because I can’t see the whole picture; I don’t know what that looks like. So here’s a typical day. I figure out how to rig up my camera so that I get an overhead shot. This involves bungy cords, free weights and using equipment in “unusual off-label” ways is how I describe it. But dang, doesn’t this look professional?
The only thing I need to do here is move it a wee bit up so there’s no boob action going on:-)
That makes me realize oh, I need to hook the sound to my phone. Oh, I don’t have a sound jack on my phone. Go to Mr. Amazon and order a thingy that takes me from an “oval” (I don’t know the names of these things!) to an audio jack. I wait for that, it arrives, plug it in and then I realize, oh, now I need a cable that goes from an “oval” to a USB so that my laptop becomes Command Central. And so it goes…..
I have bought all this stuff that either is the wrong connection, I don’t need after all or doesn’t do what I thought it would:
There’s a lot’o money there. And then some of it is just junk like the thingy with the arrow below:
It showed up on my timeline and was supposed to hold my cell phone right in front of me. Hah! Not! Cheap plastic piece ‘o crap. There’s more junk than this but I figure you’re over the tech photos by now. If you are a techie, you are probably feeling sorry for me right now. You should.
I put in an order for 4 sets of Applipops, gonna go full tilt on those, just so much fun! Once I get going on a project I will let you know. I’ll join the other bloggers on Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday!
Haha! I take a good old steel can, like from tomato sauce, wash it well, soak off the label, and put STUFF in it!!
LOL! Yes, that is a much simpler solution. It was so seductive, all kitted up, just waiting for me to sew it together. What could go wrong, it’s a small project. Tomato can – do you have a pattern for that? :-)
I can totally relate to the techy “assimilation.” But, hey, you forgot to mention the very important haircut. It looks like you got one.
Yup, got me a haircut and life is better! I am still working on the assimilation part. Ugh
Whoa! You *are* focused! Lyric Kinard did a post somewhere or other where she talked about setting up her studio for teaching online. It’s all wires and screens to me…! As for the bulgey bag — I’m with you! I tried to do three cosmetic bags for Xmas gifts a few years back. Took me *days*! I’d be in tears long before I finished that cutie you made. It’s the same with masks. I’ve made two, and I quit. Too fussy. Gave fabric to two friends who were into mass production — and may there be a special place in Heaven for them when this is all over! Hugs across the continent — and have fun filming!
I am in a private group of teachers that are going on-line and Lyric is the lead. Her set up is great! Oh, cosmetic bags, three! I feel sorry for newer sewers who see one of those patterns and are like lamb-to-the-slaughter. They might think it is them and give up. There should be warning stickers! Hugs back!!
Oh, Jenni. You make such lovely quilts. You should leave the bag making to duffers like me who don’t have your creative skills. :)
Oh Donna, bag-making is a high skill set! We each have our own strengths.
I really enjoyed to read your blogpost!
Aw, thank you Vera!
I took your advice and bought two sets of both sizes of Applipops. I love them! I am doing a small art quilt just using circles. In particular the smallest circle they have. It is so easy. There’s no way I could make such a small circle with any other method.
Oh show me, show me!
Love your haircut. Your talents are with your incredible free motion. Forget those little cutesy bags. I follow your book and feel like you can teach anything. Looking forward to your zoom classes.
Thank you Lynne! I am out of the bag making business for sure! Thank you for the encouragement. I am excited about the possibilities of online teaching.
Jenny, you look great! Getting your hair cut does wonders for your morale and you feel lighter too! I feel your pain about trying to get the tech equipment just right. My one and only tip I can share with you is…. a selfie stick! I picked up one at a discount store and found out that you can unscrew the top part that holds your phone and it screws into a regular camera tripod. I use a tiny bungee cord to keep it in place when I have it at unusual angles. I just have to be careful at not bumping into the tripod legs. Good luck with the Zoom delivery. I took your class in Houston and you are a wonderful teacher!
W
Well you made my day Connie – thank you for your compliments! Unfortunately my tech issues are complex with sound and getting multiple views to show one-at-a-time but I hope to get help on that this week. Wish me luck!
I checked my Zoom settings and found that the “touch up my appearance” button was already enabled. That makes me saaaad to know it’s as good as it’s going to get. Glad you found it.
Are you looking straight at the camera spot so that you are looking into my eyes? I keep trying to figure this out!
Jenny, I love the way you dive into a new challenge fearlessly, whether it’s quilting or tech related. You are going to rock the online teaching. And yes, I can relate to the trial and error — and the expense! — involved in trying to figure out which cables and gadgets you need and which ones make you feel stupid for ordering them. I’ve been trying to record vocal track videos for the virtual choir videos our minister of music and church tech team have been doing for online worship every week, which requires me to listen/watch a video of the band on device one, with sound coming through earphones so the band track isn’t picked up on my vocal recording, which I’m recording on my iPhone that is mounted on a tripod so the video doesn’t wobble, while following the music PDF on my iPad. So this simple video requires one iPhone, a tripod, my husband’s iPad Mini that I’m using to play the band tracks I’m singing along with, and a new pair of Airpods Pro (because my other earphone choices were a pair of over-ear noise canceling headphones that made it so I couldn’t hear my own voice singing, or a pair of over ear bone induction headphones that actually sit on my cheekbones, and those were making the band track audible in my recording). Other choir members are using lap top computers, but I don’t have a laptop — I have a desktop Mac with a giant 28″ monitor for design work, and I can’t carry that upstairs to a quiet corner of the house where I can record without background noise from family members, dogs, etc… I can only imagine how much more complicated the tech considerations are when you need to be able to demonstrate quilting techniques from a variety of different stations, etc. But if anyone is up to the task, it’s you!
I am amazed at what you are doing – way more complicated than what I’m doing! What a gift to the choir you are. Good luck – this stuff is a muddle.
— Oooh, almost forgot! I recently discovered the Applipops as well, and I also ordered a couple sets of them! I’ll still use my Perfect Circles from Karen Kay Buckley for the sizes that aren’t available in Applipops, but I am so looking forward speeding up the prep of applique circles by eliminating that hand sewn gathering thread around the perimeter of every little circle. The one piece of the puzzle I haven’t gotten my hands on yet is the special starch they recommend. I usually use Niagara, Best Press or Faultless for starch and press applique prep, but the Applipops web site says to use something different. Can’t remember the name. Anyway, I’m up to my armpits in the custom long arm quilting of my Spirit Song quilt right now, so I’ve got those fancy Applipops sitting on my dresser in the package they arrived in, waiting for me to finish that quilt before I start playing with them. I am looking forward to seeing what you make with yours!
You’re going to love Applippps! The only thing about starch is you need the liquid kind not the spray kind. You can also use Elmer’s glue. Elmer’s works great but it’s just a little harder to peel the circle off the washer.