Allow me to acquaintmyself!

Hey guys! Welcome to my day on the hop, hosted by the lovely Beth from Plum and June. Tessa, from The Sewing Chick, is also featured today, so click over there too!

I want to thank Beth for putting this hop together - I think most of my followers are fellow hoppers! So many of you may already know me, but for those of you who don't...

My name is Bethany, I'm 30, and I live in Michigan with my fiance and our two cats. I work full time as an industrial designer. If I'm not quilting, I'm probably reading, gardening or hanging out with my fiance. I am a total introvert, so sewing is a good hobby for me... :)

I've been sewing for a couple years, and quilting for about a year. I'm still learning with every quilt I make, but I think I'm slowly getting better. Lately I haven't had as much any time to sew, because I'm gettting married very soon - September 15th! I/we put all of the planning off until June, if that gives you a little insight to my personality. ;) Needless to say, we are scrambling to nail down all the details, and sewing has taken a back seat! 

Blog hopper topics

Quilting tips: Pfsshh! I have none. Fail. :) I will tell you something that has made my life easier though. I keep a funnel and a large container of water in my craft room so I can fill my iron up on the fly and not have to walk all the way to the bathroom! Laziness or masterful planning skills.. take your pick. ;)

Blogging tips: I haven't been blogging long enough to give out tips, but something that I've noticed is that you will get as much out of your blog as you put into it. Taking the extra time to email someone or comment on their blog builds relationships (and gains followers!).

Favorite fabric: My favorite fabrics in my stash have come from thrift and antique stores. I love having something unique!
Favorite craft book: When I first learned how to sew, I had a lot of fun with the book, One Yard Wonders. When I first learned to quilt, The Practical Guide to Patchwork was my go-to reference! (Big surprise there, huh?!)

Favorite book: No way can I pick one! I LOVE reading. My favorite genres are science fiction and young adult. Some favorites (of all genres) include.. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Patrick Ness, 3 book series), The Book Thief (MarKus Zusak), Gone With the Wind, 1984, and of course, Harry Potter.

Favorite children's book: Hmm, I remember reading a lot of Boxcar Children, Babysitter's Club, Road Dahl, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Sideways Stories from Wayside High, off the top of my head!
Favorite quilting tool: Recently I discovered this little bar that attaches to my walking foot to help me sew parallel lines - I never knew what it was for! But if I really had to pick a favorite quilting tool, it would be my free motion foot, because I love fmq. :)
Favorite music to listen to while quilting: My favorite type of music is electronic, and I think you could consider it a "hobby" or at least a passion. My first CD was FatboySlim's Better Living Through Chemistry (1996) and ever since then I've been addicted to the crazy sounds of techno. I love going to concerts and festivals (like the Detroit Electronic Music Festival) and listening to my very talented friend create live mixes. I always feel embarrassed admitting it because it's kind of weird, but what can I say. :P 

If I'm not listening to music I have Harry Potter audiobooks on, or podcasts. I listen to a wide variety of podcasts, including many on quilting!

Favorite TV show while hand stitching: So many! Favorites of all time include Felicity (oh Ben, swoon!), Road To Avonlea (probably a lot of my Canadian readers know of this one!), Downton Abbey, and if I'm feeling lazy I'll throw on HGTV. :) I just finished watching the "Battlestar Galactica" series and I really liked it. I've got to choose a new show to watch now, maybe Dr. Who!

Binding - by hand or by machine?: Always by machine, unless it's a gift.
If I'd only known - what you wish you knew about blogging before you started your blog: Before I was blogging, I was reading a lot of blogs, so I can't really say anything surprised me, aside from how friendly everyone is.

Tute time! (heh)
I have a confession to make. :/ I really rushed this project, and it shows. If I had time I would make a second one, with all the improvements, but until September 15th free time is sparse. (And if anyone is wondering, my sister isn't getting her birthday quilt in time! LOL)

I wanted to make a travel makeup case, similar to an expensive one I saw in a gift shop this summer, by a designer well known for her colorful prints and quilted texture.

 Oh my grossness, that binding is an atrocity.

Here are my disclaimers before I get to the step-by-step instructions guidelines:

• I used 9" zippers, but that is the only measurement I knew of while I was making this.
• There is no way to close it. #embarrassing I just didn't get that far. My plan is to eventually sew a tie to the bottom of the bag so that when it's closed I slip the tie through the loop and knot it.
• I used pre-packaged binding from JoAnns. I said it, and it's true. :-O

Here we go..

 1. Cut a front piece of fabric, a back piece of fabric, and the batting piece for the middle. I started with slightly larger than 9" (for the 9" zippers), and about 22ish inches long. Baste and quilt as desired.

2. Trim it down to 9" wide by 20" long.

3. Optional. Trace a round object onto two of the corners and cut them out.

4. Optional. Sew a little hook to the short end with the rounded corners, if you think it will come in handy for hanging it up or using this loop as part of the system that will keep this shut.
(Other options to keep the case shut would be buttons, velcro, snaps, another zipper, etc...)

5. This is where it gets a bit murky.. You will need to cut two rectangular pieces of fabric to sew to the zipper, for each pocket you want. I went with two pockets, so I did this twice. The finished pocket dimension is 6" by 9". Fold the fabric over on the top and bottom edges and sew it directly to the main, quilted piece of fabric.

6. This is possibly the worst picture I've ever put on my blog. :P If you'd like to have an area for makeup brushes, you'll need a back piece of fabric and a front piece of fabric. I also included a "flap" to keep the brushes from falling out.

When you have the zippered pockets sewn in, and the brush holder area pinned in, you just have to bind the edges all around, which fix everything in place. Hopefully if you are actually using this tutorial it wasn't completely useless! :D

I leave you with my very pooped looking cat.

Thank you for visiting! And thanks again to Beth!