Color Blocking A Bag

For someone who had to be up and dressed and out of the house early yesterday, it took forever to get going. It was almost noon before Barb and I managed to settle down in the studio and get to work. Of course, she slept in, puttered around slowly, and went for a walk while I went for a mammogram and to the gym. Hmm... no comparison... but necessary.

The idea for the bag that I'm working on now comes from the bottom picture on OOP McCall's 3136. It's a barrel bag. The ends are round. Sandi - the woman who will get this bag - is very athletic so I'm aiming for a sports bag of sorts. She can use it for anything; that was simply my starting point. I wanted the long shape of that bag with different ends so I changed them to the medium version of McCall's 5822, the pattern I used for the last bag.

It has taken two days to create the bag fabric. The main piece is 25" x 45". Each section was quilted individually and then joined together using bias strips. The striped sections were not quite long enough so I added a strip of red to one end. The blue section was long enough only I made a thinking error, wacked it in half, and had to piece it back together. For some reason, I was thinking of the bag as pieced at the bottom while stitching it to be pieced through the middle from zipper edge to zipper edge. Yes... Well... the blue fabric strip would have worked either way only I'd already wacked off the piece before I realized my error. That meant coming up with a solution. This is more interesting. Solutions often are.

The main piece is HUGE for one bag. It's because it wraps all the way around but... it's still huge. I had that piece all finished and was congratulating myself and then I realized I needed end pieces too. There was a big enough scrap of the beige fabric that I layered and quilted but there wasn't enough of any other fabric for the other end however, there was an unquilted scrap of the blue and a quilted one. I quilted the scrap piece and then joined them with a bias strip. The section right of the strip was quilted two days before the section to the left. The stitches are similar but the ones on the right are further apart and looser. Your mood always comes out in your stitching. I was in a hurry.

Blue, red, and green are a triadic color scheme. In particular, my favourite shade of lime green and a denim-like blue form a triadic with a dusty red. When I was studying with Liz Berg, one of my assignments was to produce a whole series of pieces in this color scheme which was an interesting struggle since I'm not that fond of red BUT... it was helpful information for blending the lime hand into this bag. I used two shades of lime along the zipper edge - one of which is the exact fabric of the hand - and a green zipper that mimics the shade in the striped fabric. Today, I plan to add a dark lime pocket to one end which will further help to blend in the green of the hand. It's color blocking on a bag.

I'm enjoying the step by step process of creating these bags and the challenge of working with the two hands as well as the challenge of using what is already in the studio. This particular bag will be 24" wide because that's the length of the longest zipper I had that would work. A few times, I've caught myself thinking of running to Fabricland to pick up this or that item and I haven't. Instead, I've made the best choice I could from what was in the studio and it has worked out AND...

... I'm having a delightful time. There's no way to explain how different it is to create when you're not thinking about a business or students or marketability in any way. I am having fun - plain ordinary doing it because I want to with no other purpose in mind - fun. It's good. For some of you, that's an every day occurrence. For me, it's been over twenty-five years. These bags have no purpose beyond a challenge to myself that will eventually leave the studio as gifts for nine women.

So far, I've made three bags in two weeks. At that rate, it's going to take me another four or so weeks to finish this project. When I realized that, I worried about losing readership because some people are going to get bored reading about bags. They want to see fashion sewing. That has worried me and I've had some chats with myself about how I'm not creating nor writing to please the audience and I don't need to tap dance in any way to maintain readership. I imagine that thought will reappear occasionally and I'll continue to deal with it so I'd appreciate your comments if you're enjoying the bags and if not, I hope you'll come back in a few weeks when I return to fashion sewing.

When you're quilting fabric, it's rather boring and repetitive. There's a LOT of time to think. Yesterday, I thought about how we are each at individual places in our lives. The path you're on may not be the path I'm on and yet there are times when paths and lives and thoughts intersect, when what one person is learning is of value to another even though those paths differ. That's one of the things I enjoy about reading blogs - different perspectives. Coincidentally, there was this comment from Rose that echoed my thoughts.

Rose wrote - I read Barbara Sher's book, Wishcraft, about 25 years ago. It had so much meaning then that I saved it. It's only been collecting dust since. If I read it again, I might find it ridiculous. I think so much of the appropriateness of "book wisdom" depends up a person's state of mind at the time. With that said, I agree with you about the "catchy phrases" and your philosophy about reality.

Yes. And I agree with you about the appropriateness of book wisdom. Putting in quotes is a bit like a one sided book review. It highlights the impact on me and yet without my perspective and experiences is perhaps meaningless. My hope is that those quotes do find meaning with some readers who are at a similar point in life to mine.

I tend to be an all or nothing person. I'm SO ABSOLUTELY in to this particular activity and then I am SO ABSOLUTELY NOT. It's a learning about myself that I'm trying to remain aware of to prevent pendulum swings of the extreme. Right now, I am feeling such tremendous relief having decided not to have a creative business. I can't explain the load that has lifted and how it has changed how I think and function in the studio. I can't articulate how fabulous it is. It's a bit like falling in love again. It's new and fresh and giddy and light hearted and fun. If I had read those words from Barbara's book even a year ago, they wouldn't have resonated. They only do so now because of where I'm at on my path BUT... there are a lot of women my age in the world and I hope that all of us can explore new ideas and freedoms.

The first time I read Wishcraft was about thirty years ago. I've re-read it every ten years or so and each time I get something new out of it. It's a powerful book. The key point I retained from the original reading was if you want to do something, figure out how it's done and do it. Don't let not knowing or a piece of paper hold you back. That's a concept I've been able to carry with me.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - finishing that big piece of fabric for this bag