The Rain Settles in… Still Looking for Inspiration

The weather is looking pretty dreary here in Portland. It looks like the rainy season has definitely arrived.

I worked pretty late last night and had to be on a Zoom meeting this morning at 8 am, so I made a point of stepping away from my desk this afternoon for a full hour-long walk with the boys. There would be no evening walk with all this rain.

I ran across the prettiest little maple tree on our walk. Just look at these gorgeous colors!!!

Since I was going to be in the house all evening, I decided to sit in on the monthly meeting of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. I had the meeting running on my laptop while I did some stuff in my sewing room. I straightened up a few things, cleaned off my cutting table, and put together some fabrics for the KFC and low volume white fabrics quilt I’m thinking about.

It’s all bundled nicely in a big zip lock bag and has been put away in the closet in my sewing room. I’m going to force myself to finish at least one other quilt top before I start this one.

Here’s some of the Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics in this bag.

There are 12 different KFC fabrics and 12 different white with black fabrics. it’s entirely possible that some of those fabrics will change before I actually start cutting.

I did sew three strip tube sets for my Aborginal trip around the world quilt while I listened to a presentation by a quilt historian in the guild meeting.

I’m a little anxious to see what this quilt will look like when I get more blocks done. It’s definitely going to be chaotic. I’m hoping it will actually calm down just a little once there are more blocks and the patterns made by the diagonal lines is more apparent. It will probably look totally different!

Those fabrics are so gorgeous! Here’s another strip set.

And here’s the third one I made tonight.

I might make a few more strip sets before I start cutting the ones I made tonight. Then I’ll be able to have a good stack to pin to keep my hand busy during long Zoom calls.

I’ve had a little flurry of Frankenbags appear in my email box and social media feeds over the last few days. So here’s the latest collection.

This first one was made by Jan Ballentyne in New Zealand. Jan made this bag from fabrics that were left to her by her dear friend who passed away. She said it took her some time to get to where she could work with the fabrics. She will gift this bag to her granddaughter Lily when they are able to visit each other again.

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This story just makes my heart feel like it’s getting too big for my chest! What a wonderful and loving gift to make.

This next bag was made by Marty Link. She did a lot of customization to this bag, which I love. She made the handle just a single strap attached at the side seams of the bag… which I’ve actually been thinking about doing, and now I think I have to do it!!! I do have some hardware that I purchased a couple of years ago.

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She also added lots of pockets and some foam to make the bottom more rigid. I love it that I get so many ideas from all these photos that my readers submit!

Next up is this bag from Laura Fitzgerald. She used Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics that were left over from a quilt she made. I just love all these cool greens with the blues! I love the way she did her piecing. There little bits of organization, then all kinds of wonderful chaos! And hey… y’all are knocking me out with your linings! No beige linings here!!!

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This next bag was made by Judy O’Connor. For her handles, she used some cork that she had laying around that she knew would be perfect for a project some day. And the bag is made from really lovely batiks. I love the simple horizontal strips with the little dragon flies. And those diagonal lines are fantastic!!! I just love batiks and this bag looks so squishy and comfy!

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Next up is this bag made by Niki Sager… it’s pretty freaking amazing! First off… I love the black and white crumb piecing. And the way she combined it with those little cat panels… so good! And that fun panel on the other side with all the strong black and whites and the little touches of pink… well, it just all works so well! And look at that lining. Bazinga!!! Love it!

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Last up tonight is this bag from Anita Goodson. first off… I just love the print on the front. I know I have some of that in my stash, but I can’t think of the name. I love those big floral blocks with the graphic black and whites. And those stripes across the top and sides play so well with the blooms. Very nice!

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Thanks to everyone who sent photos. This was a really good batch of bags. And now I’m feeling a little of that inspiration I’ve been looking for!