QuiltCon... Go!

In my last post I mentioned that I decided I needed a new shoulder bag for QuiltCon. That happened last Tuesday when friend Debbie S. at Big Cypress Quilters shared with me her good-looking, very practical bag. I decided on the spot I needed one too. When I got home, I bought the pattern online, and promptly printed 40-plus pages of instructions. 

This is the Traudy Triangular Shoulder Bag by Oro Rosa Patterns, a Canadian company. Because time was of the essence, I had to stick strictly with my stash. It wasn't easy to come up with the yardage and hardware needed to make it! 

I didn't have 1 yard of 54"-wide vinyl, so I cobbled together two pieces of leftover vinyl (from making wristlets) to come up with a front and back. Then I chose an Alison Glass print for the in-between sections.

This pattern is not for the faint of heart! The designer says it's for an "adventurous intermediate." I concur! The key to success is labeling all the parts, and keeping the labels on until the end. 

I had to make two trips to shops to get the proper interfacing (including Pellon Decovil Light, which I'd never heard of or used) and hardware. I have now ordered all the vinyl and hardware to make another ba. , Because I won't have grommet installation tools until that order arrives, I visited Debbie where her husband did that bit for me. 

I'm not particularly in love with my bag, mostly because of the colors, but the style of it, with two large zipper pockets, and an interior zipper pocket and slip pocket, will suit my needs. 

QuiltCon is celebrating ten years - the first show was in 2013 in Austin, Texas - and has invited members to post and share pictures from previous years. It was a fun look back through my pictures, and makes me all the more grateful about being able to attend, and have quilts in shows  - a total of 13 quilts juried into six QuiltCons. 

After perusing the QuiltCon vendor list, and thinking of solid fabric colors and thread colors I might want, I inventoried my solids, most of which are Painter's Palette by Paintbrush Studios. 

Getting pieces organized (again) was a good exercise, and helped me identify a few holes. 

And take a look at this! Yep, that's a 2.5 pound bag of spice drops! Incredible, right? These were delivered Monday and were such a surprise because the last communication from Amazon said my order (placed December 19) had been damaged and I'd receive a refund. It appears that gave my order to another supplier because Mother Bear's Candy in Pennsylvania fulfilled the order. Yay! And oh my goodness, they they taste really good! They're the best spice drops I've ever eaten. 

Now that all's right with the world, and spice drops are in my suitcase, I'm ready for QuiltCon! Linda