Project Remix ~ Road Trip Bag ~ Kindred Spirits

Here is my Project Remix Road Trip Bag 

all ready to ride! 

I sewed this fun pillow and book bag for the
Blog Remix 

@
The Jolly Jabber

You may find the original tutorial by clicking on this link ...

FQS Road Trip Bag Tutorial



For my Road Trip Bag I used
Anne of Green Gables Kindred Spirits Fabric by Riley Blake

These fabrics are sew pretty!

These are the pieces to my bag.
I added a couple of design options.  

I added a flap with snaps to the outer pocket.

It still fits a good sized hardcover book
and you can snap it closed to keep it from sliding out
on the ground.

If you are like me, you are always dumping bags
at the beach or in the park and have to pick them up
and clean them off.

So I also added ...

an inner zipper pocket to keep small items, like a pocket wallet, secure.

I cut a 10" by 18" rectangle
and used a 10" zipper for the inner pocket\.

I cut a 14" by 4.5" rectangle for the outer flap

I used my Babyville Boutique Snap Pliers

... to add pink flower shaped snaps to the outer flap.

The reverse side of my bag is plain and the inner pocket is on the same side
as the outer pocket so this side may be used as a pillow in the car.

Even though my bag may be used as a pillow case,
I could not resist making a special pillow  from these pretty fabrics.
to go into my bag.

I cut blocks from the panel border for the front of my pillow.

I made an envelope style pillow back
to which I added snaps to hold it closed.
This is one of my favorite pillow back methods.

My Road Trip Bag and Pillow are ready for summer adventures.

I will be gifting this bag to a girl who is of the age I was the first time I read
Anne of Green Gables.
It is still one of my favorite stories.

What are your favorite child hood books
that you would like to make a Road Trip bag 
for a young reader that you know?

My Cutting Table Today ~ Embracing the Brace

After an afternoon and evening of rest 

and a night of wearing the wrist brace, 

my hand is feeling better 

sew  ...

nn my cutting table today!

This lovely fabric ...

Kindred Spirits @ Riley Blake Designs

As you can see in the background, my quilty kitties are hard at work helping me.

Maestro is (almost) in the basket on the archway.

When she curls up she fits. 

There is a lot of Maestro to love ... ;) 

Katniss is comfy on the quilt on the back of the sofa

 where she can monitor the bird activity outside. 

Nutmeg has snagged the coveted red sewing chair next to my red computer chair today.

I am at the computer typing and sipping the last of my morning cuppa coffee.

The brace is awkward but helping my 

Quilters' Carpal Tunnel

Another thing that is helping is that my hubby got out his heavy duty wrench before he went to work yesterday and unfroze my cutting table and raised it to its highest level.

Wondering what this is on my cutting table?

It is a 3 lb weight I use to hold my long ruler in place when I am making long cuts.

Works much better than the handle grips and such that I have tried.

I am fortunate that my dining room cutting table,

which is also our dining room table,

is an antique drafting table

with an adjustable cast iron base.

My hubby bought it when he was a young single guy

 and turned it into his dining room table.

It is a bear of a piece of furniture to move

and he says it is staying with the house forever.

You can see the rust on the newly exposed extension pipe.

Today I like it.

My hubby will not like it the next time we need to use this table for dining

and he has to lower it to the level of our chairs.

I suppose I could move the counter height chairs from the kitchen table in here instead.

I'll let you know the next time we have guests at our table ... ;) 

The other weight is on my mouse pad today.

It has been put into use today while I have removed the brace to air out my wrist.

I have not had to take any ibuprofen today ... :)

I also use these as actual weights to maintain my upper arm strength.

Every little bit helps.

What ideas do you have to share 

to help keep your quilty wrists healthy?

I am always looking for new ways to make my quilty life happier.

Have a happy quilty day! 

Kindred Spirit Sewing

Looks like a mini Happy Block with a border twist.

Makes me happy ... :-) 

It is called "Peek A Boo" and is Block 16 of the 

Canadian Quilter's 52 Blocks in 52 Weeks

I have been sewing a  Scrappy Version of this quilt 

and will continue to make blocks for that one, too.

This is a new quilt start.

This Fat Quarter Bundle, panel and green print fabric just arrived today

to brighten my day.

I have been eyeing this fabric in the "Coming Soon" section at the

Kindred Spirit Fabric @ Fat Quarter Shop

This bright and happy collection is by

Jill Howarth for Riley Blake Designs

I also pulled an aqua dot from my stash as a possible background white. 

I fussy cut these pieces for this block.

I will be going back and making the first 15 blocks and continuing on

I will be sewing both versions of this quilt for the quiltalong.

Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books from my childhood.

I like the PBS production of this with  Ella Ballentine as Anne,

Martin Sheen as Matthew and Sara Botsford as Marilla. 

I am a traditionalist when it comes to screen versions of a beloved book.

Looking forward to sewing more blocks.

:-)