I Fell in Love with Zippers in 2015 + a Giveaway!

I like zippers & I have for a while. Last year, I fell in LOVE with zippers.

Here are some of the things I made and what I use them for:

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The Sweet Pea Pod by Lazy Girl Designs is a new favorite of mine! It uses Joan Hawley's "One-Zip" technique and I became obsessed with changing the color of my zipper pulls! I'll warn you that they are addictive & I've made over 20 of them!

Sweet Pea Pods are great for holding all sorts of things. Wonder clips, charging cables, chocolate, Chapstick & more!

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Fobio by Lazy Girl Designs is another fun pattern. These key fobs are quick to whip up. Picking the zipper pull colors took me longer than any other step!

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Becca Bags by Lazy Girl Designs also quickly became a new favorite of mine. I've made over 20 of these as well! The 6 shown here match my Arcade Game quilt.

They make great gifts. I made this one for husband.

The pattern has 2 sizes & the small one makes a great wristlet when paired with a Fobio Key Fob.

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I had been eyeing up the Sew Together Bag by Sew Demented for a while, and once I started making them, I found all kinds of great uses for them.

Currently I am using it to hold all of my binding supplies. The 3 small zipper pockets contain my scissors, needles & safety pins. The larger pockets hold my Wonder Clips and thread.

I recommend that you follow the Sew Together Bag Sew-A-Long that was posted on Quilt Barn since the pattern does not contain photos.

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Cash & Carry by Atkinson Designs

I use a large Strip Zip to keep cash handy in my bag. It is the perfect size to keep bills without folding them.

I've also made one Twin Zip

It is basically 2 Strip Zips sewn together.

I use it when I travel. I keep cash in the one side and my receipts in the other.

I use one of the smaller strip zips for my iPad charger.

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Bridget's Bagettes by Atkinson Designs - I have a bunch of these and use them for all kinds of things. It is SUPER handy how the front is clear so I can easily keep track of what tools are where.

I also made one with Ripstop Nylon as the lining. This way it is easy to clean when I use it for makeup brush storage on the go.

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Classmate by Atkinson Designs

This fun project can hold a bunch of my notions + rulers. I use it when teaching a class or heading to a sewing retreat.

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Stowaways by Atkinson Designs

These little guys are a great way to use up scraps. 

This one holds my tissues!

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All Aboard! Train Case by Patterns by Annie

I use it to hold my EPP projects + my Tula Pink Thread Cases (Pattern adapted from APFE bag)

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Power Trip by Patterns by Annie

I made this as a holiday gift for my brother. It took 10+ hours and wasn't the most cooperative with my machine. There are some steps where you are sewing through multiple layers of foam and it took some trial & error to get my machine to do what was needed.

I followed Leslie's advice and flipped the pocket orientation.

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iCases by Patterns by Annie

I made this for my husband to match his Marvel Becca Bag above.

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I had found myself sewing quite a few zipper projects early in the year, and then I took Joan Hawley's Zip It Up! Craftsy class and my zipper project interest quickly became an obsession that took hold for the rest of year. Especially for handmade holiday gifts! I made these projects while I took Joan's class:

The Runaround Bag by Lazy Girl Designs is perfect for holding my passport, my phone & some cash when I'm at the airport.

Nikita holds all of my chargers, cables & cords.

Bendy by Lazy Girl Designs can be used for so many things! I love this pattern so much that I've made 10 of them!

Bendy works great to hold our snacks when traveling.

I lined a few of them with rip-stop nylon so that if any snacks spill... I'll have easy clean up! And I used up my brown zippers a lot faster than I had anticipated!

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I had so much fun making my Bendy snack bags that I went through my stash to find my Hershey's Miniatures fabric to make a Bendy & a Sweetpea just for toting Miniatures when I travel!

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Here are some of the many gifts I made at the end of 2015:

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Ready for today's giveaway?!? I'm giving away a bundle of supplies to make your own Bendy Bag!! You get the pattern, fusible fleece, fabric and zipper!!

The Rules

1. Leave ONE comment to enter. Make sure your contact info is in your profile or that you leave it in the comment.

2. In your comment tell us about how you will put your Bendy Bag to use or who you will gift it to this year.

3. Comment entries must be left on this blog, www.jaybirdquilts.com, to be valid. Comments sent via E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media will not be counted.

4. Simple as that!!

You have till 5PM PST on Monday, January 18th to enter. Giveaway closed.

Winner will be selected by 

True Random Number Generator.

Good luck + thanks for stopping by today!

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Congrats to Kathy!

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© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

I took a Craftsy Class! "Zip It Up" Review + a Giveaway!!!

I took my very first Craftsy Class this week! I've been a big fan of Joan Hawley's Lazy Girl Designs patterns & Press Perfect notions, so I was really excited to take my first bag making class with her and test drive the Craftsy class experience when she announced her new class, "Zip It Up," which launched last week.

It's always so great to have a chance to see Joan at quilt market & catch up over lunch or dinner. She snapped a selfie of us hanging out as spring quilt market started up this past May.

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At first I watched the class while sitting at my computer & without my supplies in front of me. This way I could learn the techniques without being distracted by my fabrics. Then, I cut my fabrics and watched the class a second time from my iPad while sewing along with Joan at my sewing machine. The class was the next best thing to having Joan here with me in the studio. I really enjoyed the class as it can often be challenging to grasp the concepts of 3D construction from a printed pattern alone.

In the opening lesson Joan covers presser feet. I'll be honest, I pretty much stick to my 1/4" foot or my walking foot for 99% of what I do. Nevertheless, I followed her directions and found that this foot allowed me to move the needle where I wanted it and sew in the middle of the zipper tape.

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First up... the Runaround bag:

Basically a zippered pocket with a strap. The pattern calls for 2 fabrics, but I opted for 3 because I didn't want an orange strap. I went with a yellow zipper to draw out some of the details in the focus fabric I picked for the bag.

I think it'll be the perfect cross-body bag at the airport to hold my phone, passport and some cash. The bag is small enough to tuck into my tote bag once we board a flight.

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Next up... Nickita:

Joan suggests some basic quilting, but of course I had to go crazy and do more. I used blue 3/4" painters tape to mark lines. I sewed them all in one direction and then a second to create a quilted diamond effect.

I picked a contrasting green zipper that brought out some of the colors in the fabric I used for the pull tabs. Joan shared a great tip about spreading out the bulk of the project layers with the V-tab placement technique.

I decided to use my Nickita bag to hold all of our extra chargers and cords. This way they will all be in one place and I won't have to search around the house next time I need one.

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Last up... Bendy:

I actually made these a few months ago when the pattern came out, but I learned a lot by watching the class and now I know that I could have done a bit better when I made them the first time.

For example, I didn't press enough at this stage. I didn't realize at the time that it wouldn't be easy to go back and press later. Lesson learned.

My set of bendy bags.

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Bendy stands up when closed.

Or when open.

Twice now I've used Bendy to hold my snacks when I travel. It is the perfect way to keep all of my yummy treats together inside my travel tote bag. The layer of fleece in the project is also just enough padding to help keep my snacks from getting crushed!

I made this Bendy by piecing together a strip of fabrics in rainbow order before making the bag.

I used a red zipper as a part of the rainbow instead of a red strip of fabric.

For the inside I used Ripstop Nylon instead of quilting cotton. It was a bit fussy to work with, but the result is totally worth it. The fabric is easy to wipe down, so now I can use this Bendy to hold makeup & toiletries without worrying about what will happen if something spills or leaks. 

I have to say the #1 thing I learned from this class would be PROPER PRESSING techniques. Often pressing can feel like one of those things you should do, but don't need to do. Joan explains the reasons WHY to press at each step which is the kind of information I need to take the time out to do it.

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If you use this link to enroll in the "Zip It Up" class before June 30th, you'll get 50% off of the class & you'll be automatically entered into a drawing to win a 2nd free Craftsy class of your choice. How cool is that?!?

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Ready for today's giveaway?!? I'm giving away a bundle of supplies to make your own Bendy Bag!! You get the pattern, fusible fleece, fabric and zipper!!

The Rules

1. Leave ONE comment to enter. Make sure your contact info is in your profile or that you leave it in the comment.

2. In your comment tell us about what will you keep in your Bendy Bag.

3. Comment entries must be left on this blog, www.jaybirdquilts.com, to be valid. Comments sent via E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social media will not be counted.

4. Simple as that!!

You have till 5PM PST on Tuesday, June 30th to enter. 

Giveaway is now closed.

Winner will be selected by 

True Random Number Generator.

Good luck + thanks for stopping by today!

© Blog post written by Julie Herman
For more information visit http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/