I took a crazy quilting class with Barbara Randle in March 2006 and LOVED IT! We made the Museum Bag in class. However, my sister went on a "I must have it" campaign, so she ended up with the original and I bought a kit to make another one for myself. Since the class, I made more bags and a little photo album cover for 4"x6" pictures (many from her kits). I have collected lots of fabric, yarn, beaded fringe, and doodads for more projects and am ready to jump into some of the projects in her books or Vogue patterns. My next project is to crazy quilt lampshade covers for the dining room chandelier.
You can buy Barbara's kits at www.randledesigns.com. Be sure to sign up for her monthly newsletters as she usually discounts a kit each month.
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THE STORY BEHIND THE FOUR PICTURES OF THE SISSY POOH-POOH BAG ABOVE: I was reading through the entries in one of my daily Friends
of PatternReview summary e-mails and noticed that there was a "Handbag Contest" notation
at the top of a review.I was on hold waiting for some very dreaded dental surgery and very bummed
out by it, so I thought that entering this contest would be a good distraction
during the wait.Also, I promised my
sister (Sissy Pooh-Pooh) that I would make her another crazy-quilted bag while I'm making one for
myself.
Since I wanted a much larger bag than the smaller ones I've made
in the past, I decided on this 9" wide x 8" deep x 13" tall bag from Barbara
Randle's book "More Crazy Quilting with Attitude."For quite a while I've been collecting
fabrics for crazy-quilted projects from quilt shows, Barbara's online specials,
years of Evening Star's monthly mailings, and miscellaneous fabric stores.They are arranged by color in two drawers
that I pulled and took to the cutting table.I yanked out pieces and cut them into 3' strips that I tossed into a
basket.I then placed the basket by my
sewing machine and proceeded to dig through the strips to start the piecing.
Most of the fabrics in the pieceworked pockets are silks
that are sewn to a canvas backing.The
decorative stitching along the seamlines is rayon thread for the high
sheen.The couched fibers on top are
yarns from my stash, as are the fringed trims.The "I see you" cotton lining is a darling cotton from my stash -- I love
that the eyes are looking back at you when you are looking into the bag.The other outside fabrics are also from my
stash.The front, back, and front flat
fabric is a shiny (probably polyester) fabric from my stash that in my dreams
would be an evening jacket.The fabric
for the two ends and the 35"-long shoulder strap is a black cotton with
multi-colored strips of a slubbed fiber woven into it.The bottom is a black cotton jacquard -- again
from my stash.
The canvas backing behind the crazy quilting provides
support, as well as interfacing in the front and back pieces and fusible fleece
and grosgrain ribbon inside the shoulder strap.The bottom is reinforced with plastic needlepoint canvas and a piece of 1/8"-thick
hobby wood.Since I don't feel that the
plastic canvas provides enough support for the bottom, I used it as a support
for the metal feet at each corner (they are punched through the fabric and canvas,
and the brad ends are opened on the top side of the canvas).Then I cut a piece of hobby wood with my
Dremel to fit the bottom, rounded the corners and edges with my little Ryobi
sander, and glued it on top of the plastic canvas.The whole mess is covered by the bag's
lining.
In addition to the four crazy-quilted pockets on the
outside, I added an inside pocket cut from a psychedelic cotton.I sewed my ID label to the pocket before
sewing it to the lining.(The ID label
is variegated ribbon silk-screened with black Jacquard textile paint.I ordered the customized silk screen from
marcytilton.com.)Even though the top
flap acts as a closure, I added a plastic clasp sewn to a bright-colored ribbon
to the inside.If my sister doesn't want
to use the clasp, it easily drops into the bag via the ribbon.
The finishing touch is the hanging chachki of two metal
monogram trinkets purchased for 25 cents each in a "dig through" sale. Pictures of the various parts are in the pdf document below.
Hey, Sissy Pooh-Pooh, look at what I'm
sending to you!!
