Posted on by agilejack

Being Productive on a Hot Weekend

Our high temp yesterday was 106. It’s supposed to hit 115 today. This is the hottest it’s ever been in Portland–ever. We still have one more day over 100 and then it starts to settle down into the lower 90s. Still hot, but not hellish.

So I’ve been hunkered down in the house being productive. Friday night I started the panels for this bag and I finished it up yesterday. Today it’s in the mail.

I always love seeing a piece of fabric as it’s quilted. It’s so pretty under the needle.

I had plenty of time left in the day once this bag was done so I started another project I’ve been wanting to do. I covered this little wooden box with Kaffe’s Paisley Jungle in tangerine.

I painted the box first so that the bare wood wouldn’t show through any inaccuracies in applying the fabric.

The orange paint was the EXACT color of orange in the fabric!

After painting the box I applied pieces of fabric using Mod Podge. I cut the pieces of fabric to size for each side of the box with a small overlap for the corners.

After getting all the fabric applied to the box and giving the Mod Podge plenty of time to dry in the hellish hot air outside, I sanded the box to make it smooth.

Once it was all nice and smooth, I sprayed it with a matte sealant.

Here’s a bunch of photos because it’s so pretty.

I don’t remember when I last saw temperatures this high. Today it was 100 degrees by noon. Knowing that my dogs would not be happy sitting inside inactive all day, we took early walks Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, we were out walking by about 8:30 am. Today we were out the door at 7 am and it was already about 75 degrees and about 50% humidity.

We walked about 4.5 miles and stuck to the shady trail as much as we could. We walked a bit slowly toward the end. We were all glad to get home and into the cool house.

The temps are supposed to be ridiculously high again Monday and then it should start cooling down a bit. 95 will seem like fall compared to this!

30 Replies to “Being Productive on a Hot Weekend”

      1. I didn’t know ModPodge was still around. I think the last time I used it was in the 1970s. Your little box is adorable. (and a lot of work)

      2. Thanks Wanda!
        I’ve seen people covering furniture with fabric recently using ModPodge. It is a tried and true product! And the box wasn’t as much work as I thought it would be. the worst part was all the loose threads that got stuck in the glue. The orange paint made it MUCH easier to put the fabric on. Perfection was not necessary.

    1. These are all Kaffe Fassett Collective Fabrics. There is some Sunburst in blue, some Paper Weight in teal and algae, some spots, some Mille Fiore in blue. Some Jumble, some Aboriginal Dots. I think that’s about it.
      Anne

      Reply

  4. We too are hot here in Cabo. our dog is under the AC ….only a 15 min walk today. Just moved my sewing, painting art room…just so hard in this heat, but a storm is coming, so I can sew next week…great boxes Lynn

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    Reply

  5. Another beautiful bag ! Love the pretty box, would make a sweet gift with the fabric in it, or anything else for that matter !
    I bet Bender is more than happy to have the extra fur gone with the unbearable heat going on out there. I enjoy your blog and Instagram posting’s I often share with my partner, he gets a chuckle over the dogs ! Keep cool.

    Reply

    1. Thanks! And the idea of using the box to gift fabric is fantastic! Imagine a little package of fat quarters in there! thanks for the idea!
      Anne

      Reply

  6. The blue bag is so pretty and I love your Kaffe fabric box! Hopefully the heat will end soon, hang in there 😅

    Reply

  9. Another splendid bag in beautiful blues and yellows, the star of the post for me is the stunning covered box, absolutely gorgeous.

    Reply

    1. I use my walking foot for the handles, to quilt the panels, to sew the quilted panels together, to sew the lining (only because I use the edge of my walking foot for my seam allowance guide and I want it all consistent) and for sewing the lining to the bag top. I use a regular foot for the final line of topstitching since my walking foot will skip stitches going from thinner spots to really thick spots. There are some thick spots around the top of the bag.

      that’s more info than you asked for!

      Anne

      Reply

  13. When I printed your tutorial the link to the faux leather did not appear. Can you provide that again?
    Love your bags!

    Reply

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