I Passed the Weekender Test!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 
In the sewing world, the pattern Weekender is sort of a test of wills. Everyone loves the bag, designed and written by Amy Butler, but many have struggled through it with all of it's difficult directions. Because of this, I had always been leary of diving in and making it.
But after seeing Elizabeth's quilt as you go weekender bag, I knew I had to finally make one for QuiltCon. I had lots of help and tips from many people who sewed it before me.
I found quilting the pattern pieces, lots of fun, but much more time-intensive than I thought. However, I really love the outcome and would do it again!
The best tip that I received was from Kim, she suggested to hand stitch the corners where most of the bulk and many layers make it difficult to sew on any machine.
One problem I ran into was I cut the pattern pieces all out of duck canvas, then lay the batting over it. I had planned to use the canvas as my guide to trim down the batting and piecing. But once I started to piece and quilt as you go, the pattern pieces sometimes became miss shaped. Next time instead of cutting the pieces first, I will cut the pieces a little bit bigger and then trim down the entire piece.
Reader Comments (6)
It turned out great! Yay!
You did an outstanding job! Wow!
Great job Heather! - I am wanting to do this QAYG, did you end up forgoing the lining? or did you put in a lining?
I did put in a lining too. I also interfaced the lining then you have to hand stitch it to the zipper. :)
Heather--You are ahmazing! Love your blog. See you in class on Saturday!
it looks great. I'm about to tackle this bag too, we're doing it together at the East Midlands Guild meeting next week!