Pink Chalk Studio » Blog Archive » Whiplash Entry Week 6

Whiplash Entry Week 6 - Colored Pencil Roll

May 20th, 2006 by Kathy

Thank you for all the nice comments I received on last week’s Whiplash entry. I received a Whip Up Special Mention for The Yarn Farm. I’m extremely flattered, last week’s entries were the best yet. I also won Ann Wood’s acorn entry in a drawing she sponsored on her website. Life is good.

I’ve found that I spend more time engaged with all the Whiplash entries when I actually create and enter something myself. To keep it fun I’m jumping in on this final week too. I own 3 of the 4 fabulous books being offered for prizes so it must be the Whiplash Muse at work again.

My entry this week was inspired by my daughter Caitlin. She’s been carrying her set of 24 Prismacolor colored pencils with her to school and back for the past several weeks as she works on a native bird drawing project. As she rushes to pack up each morning she invariably pops open the metal box the pencils are sold in and they spill all over the bottom of her backpack.

My initial sketch was a simple zippered pouch. I then pondered a concept I’d seen a lot in the holiday catalogs, a roll which had individual slots for each pencil. As I continued to draw out the design I thought it would be cool to match a fabric to each pencil color. I’m really happy with the result. Pulling out fabrics for each color was a blast even though the process left my fabric shelves in quite a mess! I was also able to use some of my novelty fabrics that never seem to make it into my quilts.

Notes on construction: The strips are all 1″ finished (1 1/2″ cut). I used a traditional 1/4″ seam to join them. The total raw size of the roll before sewing was 24 1/2″ by 10″. I used a 3/8″ seam except on the sides. I forgot to make the end strips a bit larger to accommodate the 3/8″ seam! The bottom pocket height is 3 1/2″ finished. I experimented on the pocket design a bit and thought this height and width held the pencils in place the best. I used flannel as an interfacing on the overall design. Tami from Lemon Tree Tales had given me this idea in her comments on The Yarn Farm. It worked great! It’s soft, adds structure and looks ever so subtly puffy when quilted. A great technique. Thank you Tami! I’ve posted more detail pics of the construction process and the finished roll here.

Posted in Craftiness, Sewing | 53 Comments

53 Responses to “Whiplash Entry Week 6 - Colored Pencil Roll”

on 20 May 2006 at 11:03 pm1sheryl

Oh so pretty! I love all the colors together. That would inspire anyone to get out her colored pencils, I think.
on 20 May 2006 at 11:13 pm2Maura

I love your project. I’m the kinda gal that always has 100s of colored pencils.. each has to be the right shade of the right color. Your project is a wonderful way to tame in a beautiful way.

Great work!
Maura
on 20 May 2006 at 11:56 pm3stephanie s

i think your pencil holder is great - i love your idea of color coordinating the pencil slots. very nice
congratulations on the acorn win - you are a lucky gal!
on 21 May 2006 at 12:24 am4Gisele Schoene

What a wonderful color combination! Beautiful fabrics!
on 21 May 2006 at 12:58 am5Anamaria

Wow! That is a brilliant idea! My son uses the fat LYRA Ferby colored pencils that come in a tin, too, and would love a pencil roll like this–how fun to try to match the colors to the fabric. I need a bigger, more colorful stash!
on 21 May 2006 at 1:05 am6Meg

I think that is a brilliant idea too - my daughter would ADORE it! You’re so clever.
on 21 May 2006 at 2:46 am7Julie

Really, really nice - well made.
on 21 May 2006 at 4:33 am8lorinda

Prismacolors totally rock and so does your pencil holder! I absolutely adore the color coordination. Great job!
on 21 May 2006 at 4:34 am9mereteveian

Sweet idea and nice done!
on 21 May 2006 at 5:42 am10joanna

Here you go again! I’ve been working on pencil rolls this weekend, too…but, of course, they’re not as cute as yours (sniff, sniff!) Like the way you coordinated the fabric to the pencil colors.
on 21 May 2006 at 7:43 am11Kuky

What a wonderful idea! I love the idea of matching pencils to colored slots. It’s such a beautiful way to carry them around.
on 21 May 2006 at 9:00 am12Elisabeth Augusta

What a beautiful way to execute a great idea!
on 21 May 2006 at 2:51 pm13debra

omgoodness! Your pencil roll makes me sooooo happy, I just might have to set the pic as the wallpaper on my desktop so I can stare at it all day! I have been planning some of these–one for my son’s pencils, and one for paintbrushes for me. But the idea of coordinating the pencil color to the fabric is pure genius!!! Just looking at those yummy fabric patterns & colors inspires me to create! Awesome job–I LOVE it!!! And congratulations on your special mention
on 22 May 2006 at 2:32 am14li li

Very pretty color pencils roll!!! If only I can sew one like that.
on 22 May 2006 at 3:06 pm15Hanna

your fabric stash must be heaven! that pencil thing is sooo beautiful. wow, I just adore it!
on 22 May 2006 at 4:17 pm16Tami

Absolutely fantastic! What a great and unique pencil roll! Your daughter is very lucky … and I’m glad that the flannel technique worked well for you. Thank you for the mention … I was wondering why I had so many hits lately. I’m sure that you’ll get voted as the best color entry for whiplash.
on 22 May 2006 at 7:30 pm17Ketutar

Oh how lovely! I am mad about color pencils, and own over 400 of them - it would become a LOOOOOOOOONG roll to make for my pencils LOL But I could make something similar, one of every color in the rainbow, and one black-and-white and one brown… Thank you for the idea.
This is really lovely, and I love the combination of colors in fabrics and pencils.
on 22 May 2006 at 8:21 pm18janelle

this is wonderfully fabulous for color! love it~
on 23 May 2006 at 3:38 am19bekka

what a great idea, color coded pencil roll. this is so good. i’m envious. i want one! your colors and patterns are lovely and complement one another well.
on 23 May 2006 at 4:56 am20Melissa

This is fabulous–well done. You have had the most inspiring Whiplash entries!
on 23 May 2006 at 5:49 am21Laura

I love the colors, what a great entry!
on 23 May 2006 at 3:04 pm22Claire

Lovely! What a great idea, it’s so pretty.
on 23 May 2006 at 3:28 pm23Amy

What a beautiful, creative pencil roll! Matching the colors to the pencils is a fantastic idea and sounds like so much fun to make!! I loved putting my crayons and pencils in rainbow order as a kid so I would have loved this! God, I just want to go make one right this second.

And that crow fabric –OMG!! I can’t stand it - soooo awesome.
on 23 May 2006 at 4:08 pm24Alex

Fabulous!!! I love it!
on 24 May 2006 at 12:11 pm25Marti

What a fantastic project. And the co-ordinating colours totally appeal to the insanely organized side of myself, which is always fighting to come out. Great job!
on 24 May 2006 at 12:16 pm26Cathy

It’s wonderful. I love all the things you have shown on your blog. Lovely, lovely, lovely!
on 24 May 2006 at 2:14 pm27joyce

that is great! it reminds me of a crochet case i bought for the hooks. i love what you did w/ the fabrics.
on 24 May 2006 at 3:03 pm28hillary

very cute! I love this idea.
on 25 May 2006 at 2:13 am29Regina

Wonderful, wonderful idea!!
on 27 May 2006 at 9:21 am30Rouge Nahsam

C’est une pure merveille ! Et quelles couleurs ! J’adooooooooooore !!!
on 27 May 2006 at 11:24 pm31weirdbunny

What wonderful fabrics you have used.
on 01 Jun 2006 at 6:07 pm32Amelie

Fantastic! I’ve been thinking about an pencil roll, too, but I did not have a good idea on the design yet — yours is so wonderful, colorful, I really love it!
on 06 Jun 2006 at 5:39 pm33marietta

why did i not think of this! just like a a knitting needle case but for coloured pencils - - makes them easier to find than a zip up bag!
on 18 Oct 2006 at 9:27 am34Administrator

Andy - I’m always happy to answer questions. Just send me an e-mail or post them in another comment.
on 23 Mar 2007 at 8:00 am35Pink Chalk Studio » Blog Archive » Teaching

[…] Yesterday I taught a class on the Colored Pencil Roll at Esther’s. This student got an A+ for several reasons. […]
on 01 Apr 2007 at 5:28 am36stitch » birthday bag

[…] i think the fact that i’ve never made a tote bag before and worked it out from scratch meant i chose prolly not the most efficient way of putting it together. it was the cutting and - most of all - fusing that seemed to take forever. i pieced each side of the outer bag and lining and then fused everything onto a stiff interfacing (so there are 2 layers of interfacing throughout). i like the fact that it’s sturdy enough to stand up on its own, although i’d expect it to soften gradually with use and eventual inevitable washing. if i ever made a bag like this again i’d without doubt use a sew-in interfacing to save time. the handles were made with a bias tape maker (prym beats hemline hands down, this one flattens the fabric sufficiently to actually work!), again outer fabric and lining both interfaced (slightly narrower than the tape) then topstitched together. inspired by pink chalk studio’s fabulous pencil rolls i decided to include pencil pockets inside the bag. i interfaced one layer of the spotty lining fabric, then stitched it right side together with another layer, turned and topstitched one long edge (the top of the pocket). then topstitched the bottom edge onto the main lining piece and stitched in the pencil channels (1″ wide, marked with masking tape, which is conveniently 1″ wide). this was all done before the lining pieces were assembled. […]
on 06 Apr 2007 at 2:38 pm37Stoff-Junkie.de » Blog Archive » Verschiedene Taschen - Linkliste

[…] Stift-Rolle […]
on 07 Apr 2007 at 11:25 pm38Stoff-Junkie.de » Blog Archive » Organizer-Taschen - Linkliste

[…] Stift-Rolle […]
on 13 Jun 2007 at 10:45 am39Melissa

I saw a link to this post over at Craft Critique today (www.craftcritique.com). Great information!! Keep up the good work!!
on 02 Jul 2007 at 12:03 pm40Mary

Hi
I just rain across this when searching for color pencil patterns
It is Gorgeous, I can only imagine how thrilled your daughter was and how envious her classmates were - great job !
M
on 20 Jul 2007 at 8:31 pm41WIP Friday « mama urchin

[…] A gift for a birthday party tomorrow based on Kathy’s pencil roll. […]
on 21 Jul 2007 at 11:01 am42For Collin « mama urchin

[…] Based on Kathy’s design. […]
on 23 Jul 2007 at 10:16 am43sheree

A must try! Thanks for sharing.

Sheree
on 25 Jul 2007 at 9:22 am44Marisa

This is so amazingly cute and adorable. I MUST make one of these for my son. He will go CRAZY for it.
on 07 Aug 2007 at 2:53 pm45ann

I just finished my 1st pencil roll and love, love, love it! I can’t decide how many to make. My nieces and nephews will love them! I used black linen (remanent) for the outside and flap with the multicolored scrapes for the inside! I didn’t even have to go to the store on this 105 degree week in TN! And who said there’s no such thing as Global Warming?
on 26 Aug 2007 at 9:47 am46Emmy

amazing i love it and im off to make one myslef right now
on 28 Aug 2007 at 12:17 pm47June

This is a wonderful project and I greatly appreciate your sharing your inspiration and design creation thoughts about it.
on 17 Nov 2007 at 1:19 pm48Silent Panda

This is sooooooo beautiful and just what I was looking for. I found your website when doing a search for a pencil roll, after looking at those lovely cases that Lantern Moon makes for knitting needles. Thank you so much for sharing these pictures.
on 23 Nov 2007 at 12:50 pm49Erica

Does anyone know where I could purchase these as a (Christmas 07) gift?
Please email me at
myohiogirls@yahoo.com
Thanks, Erica Ohio
on 17 Jan 2008 at 3:12 am50Fiona

Love this pencil roll, but I’ve looked and looked at your flickr pics of it and can’t quite work something out. You have sewn up the sides and around the edge of the background of the pencil roll, but not around the edge of the front pocket, yet the layers are all separate when you put the front pocket on. How have you sewn around all the edges, when the front pocket is already on? I just can’t quite figure this one out!
Fiona
on 20 Jan 2008 at 8:48 pm51Silent Panda

Fiona, the pencil roll’s outer seams are sewn similarly to a pillow. You sew almost all the way around, with the right sides facing each other, and then you turn the whole thing right-side out again and sew the remaining hole closed neatly. This has the added benefit of neatly enclosing the outer pocket seam too. Hope this helps. By the way, her pattern is available in more detail in the book, Last Minute Quilted Gifts.
on 03 Mar 2008 at 10:43 pm52Million Stitches » January Dump

[…] I made this little artist-tote thingummy for Marita’s daughter Heidi’s birthday. The inspiration came from several places, but in the end I sat down and made it up as I went. Despite a few dud calculations, I think it turned out okay. […]
on 10 Apr 2008 at 6:49 am53January Dump » sugarlemon » sweet+sour

[…] I made this little artist-tote thingummy for Marita’s daughter Heidi’s birthday. The inspiration came from several places, but in the end I sat down and made it up as I went. Despite a few dud calculations, I think it turned out okay. […]