Reversible Fabric Bowls--Gertie Writes

Hi--I'm Gertie, Terry's inner squirrel. Today, I'm writing her blog post!

At Terry's virtual quilting retreat last month, Linda P provided a demonstration of how to make a fabric bowl. She did a great job making the process look simple and the retreat committee provided the stabilizer along with several fat quarters to make one bowl.

Marking placement for the opposite side

During the retreat, I tried to convince Terry to stop working on her "important" project and sew this bowl. She ignored me. I chirped in her ear. I swished my tail for three days to no avail. Terry stuck to her project. I pouted for three days after the retreat ended.

Inner square fused

After my pout, I continued to "encourage" Terry to make a bowl. When I told her that a bowl would be a good hostess gift for the trip she is about to take, Terry decided to stitch two. Hallelujah! I got to pick the fabrics. Terry cut two 10 inch squares and two three inch squares for each bowl. I chose fabrics that contrasted. 

Marking and cutting the darts

She fused the inner bowl fabric to the Pellon 72F Peltex Ultra-firm stabilizer. Terry repeated the process to fuse the outer bowl fabric to the same stabilizer. This product is fusible on both sides. It is a firm stabilizer. . .similar to the brim  in a man's ball cap. Terry used Steam-a-Seam 2 as the fusible on the three inch squares.

Darts cut in second bowl

She marked and cut the darts. I encouraged her to change the placement of the darts as well as the varying the length and the width of them in the second bowl. Surprise, she listened to me!

First stitching of zigzag on the darts 

Terry satin stitched the three inch squares to the center of the bowl. She found that using a three width and a .5 length worked well for the first stitching. She then re-stitched the section again using a four width and .4 length zigzag stitch. I liked the way the stitch looked after the second stitching.

Second stitching of zigzag on darts

Then she zigzag stitched the darts together. It was so exciting to watch her gently pull the edges of the dart together and stitch. As she stitched the bowls began to take shape. I liked seeing how the dart placement affected the bowl shape. I started talking to Terry about stitching "wonky" darts on the next bowl; but, she said two were enough. . . for now! She also stitched the darts twice using the same stitch length and stitch width that she liked stitching the three inch squares.

Inside of finished bowl with darts in the center
of the 10 inch square

She trimmed the outer edges to ensure the edges was smooth. Finally, she finished the edge with satin stitching the edge twice. She used an orange Floriani 40 weight polyester thread. This was goal number nine on Terry's March list. 

Inside of finished bowl number two
with darts on the edges of the bowl

The bowls are reversible. I think that she should make lots more of these fabric bowls. Terry said she might make more if I could determine a use for them. Sometimes, Terry is too darn practical! For now, I'll settle for the might because she didn't say no!

Finished bowls upside down with the thread used 
for the satin stitching

It took her about an hour and a half to construct the bowls which includes selecting the fabric and thread. She used about a quarter of a yard of scraps which brings her total fabric use from her stash to 34 and one quarter yards this year. 

Side view of the bowls

Thank you Linda P for demonstrating how to make fabric bowls. I plan to "encourage" Terry to stitch more! I'm linking to Cynthia and Oh Scrap/Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework. I'm planning to give my tail a rest and enjoy all the scrappy projects there for awhile. I hope you will join me.