Monday, June 8, 2009

vera bradley...

i've found that most people are either a fan or not a fan...
if your not... this post may not be for you...

i happen to be a fan...

what i like to do most is make things out of vera fabric...

it all started when i decided to make a quilt using the fabric napkins instead of FQs (they are 20" x 20")

my first trip to the local store that sells vera resulted in getting these nine... they had a few others but i didn't like them all...

Classic Black
Windsor Navy Lining
Windsor Navy
Java Blue
Medallion
Piccadilly Plum
Piccadilly Plum Lining
Hope Toile
Sherbet

i played in photoshop and came up with this layout with the colors i had.... the pattern is called "twist and turn" and was originally in one of the APQ magazines... they now have it on their site under "Country Windmills" as a free download...


I cut into my napkins and started making the blocks... by the time i had the units cut and sewn some new vera colors had come out...and i found more napkins of other colors and i added

Mesa Red
Kensington
Cambridge

and came up with this layout....the blocks are all sewn together... i just need to cut the sashing...put it together and finish it!

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next came my charm party tote... this pattern is addicting if you haven't tried it yet... so fast and easy!... i had already made 2 of them... i had enough scraps from my quilt blocks to get 2 charms from each color... I added in Botanica and took out Classic Black and came up with this....

the lining and straps are from the metro blue line... i love that line! (just got the natural version)

this bag is great because i can carry it with any vera purse and i'll always match!

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as soon as i made it more colors came out so i started saving them for a charm party #2 bag...



first there was
Peacock

then
Pinwheel Pink
Daisy Daisy
Yellow Bird
Raspberry Fizz

and then
Puccini
Frankly Scarlet
Caffe Latte
Night Owl
put me at 9... i only needed 3 more..

i saw a sneak peek and was so excited about purple punch.... i'd need
Hope Garden
Cupcakes Green
and Purple Punch and i'd be set...


this is purple punch... and i love it... and it came out... and they didn't make napkins... what was i to do?? i had 11 fabrics and i had been planning this bag....
i gave in and bought a "tote" and started to take it apart... i know many people told me i was nuts but i really needed the purple!!


here is the layout for my 2nd charm party tote...

and here is one of it done...

see it needed that purple!!!


so then i have 1/2 with all the stitching taken out and 1/2 a tote intact... i didn't need to cut it all up so i decided to make a tote that would be 1/2 the original and 1/2 a giant flower from the pattern... i cut and fused all the pieces and here we are...
here are the two halves.... the flower is stitched in place...
now i just need to quilt it and put the bag back together!

.....she has been in progress for too long!

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i also made this... a mini little table runner with an appliqued vera flower...

to match my mom's placemats....


she has a glass table and needs something in the middle for the napkins...salt...pepper and so on.... all the other runners i had made her were too big to go with these placemats and didn't match... it came together pretty quick... but the diagonal straight stitching took a while...

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and lastly here is what i did this past weekend...

i started making two mini miranda bags at the same time... one for me and one for a friend...

one looks like this...

and the other looks like this....it was all going well at first... but i was running out of time and my friend who was driving up to visit was almost here... so i stopped working on both and rushed to finish just the one... i had one handle on when i heard a knock on the door... so she got to watch me put the last handle on before she could enjoy it... she switched purses right away which was the best compliment i could have gotten!

side note--- here is the back of the hope garden from the purse... i followed the shapes of the flowers for the quilting... it came out pretty well and gave me lots of practice!


enjoy!!

9 comments:

rachel griffith said...

wowzier.
i just heart you and your mad skills.

Red Pepper Quilts - Rita Hodge said...

Wow, you have been so productive. What great work! Love how you practiced your free motion quilting, that's a great idea!

Thimbleanna said...

What a fun idea! I love it all -- especially your creativeness in the table runner for your mom. I live right in the heart of Vera Bradley land and I didn't realize she had napkins??? Guess I've been snoozing!

Sherri said...

Wow...so much eye candy here...what a terrific idea for the Vera Bradley napkins!

Dresden Quilter said...

Wow! Your work is amazing. I love the quilt and the bags are fantastic. I would like to be your friend. I think it is a terrific idea to use the napkins as fqs.

Unknown said...

WOW, I'm so in love with Vera Bradley. I buy the bags once they are retired. Half price. NEver thought about the napkins. I'm going now to see what they have. So cool

Joan Heinrich Callaway said...

Wow. I just kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Love the fabric, quilts, bags... Everything!

ktquilts said...

Wowsers!!! This could make Vera ,uch more fun!!!
Great idea, and thank you for sharing. (You do realize that this may kill my effort to not buy fabric!)

Blessings,
KT

Sara said...

I LOVE your Vera projects! I recently had the idea to use the Vera napkins to make a quilt and was googling to see if I could find anyone else who had done it and/or some inspiration and I came across your site. LOVE the table runner!! I think I am going to make a 9 patch quilt but haven't decided. I've been collecting napkins so I'm just about ready to go. Just wanted to leave a comment because I just love what you've done!!