A few years ago I bought a Swedish quilting magazine called FatQuarter as I loved the Klädnyps-strut  (peg bag to non-Swedish speaking quilters!) that was on the front cover. When I went to the Autumn Quilt Festival at Duxford, I bought some super fabric from the Cross Patch stall. This fabric is from the "Washday" range by Makower has a wonderful retro feel to it, and it's just perfect for this peg bag pattern. I also bought a few reels of beautiful Aurifil threads in a selection of colours from the quilt show, and the grey coloured thread that I'd bought blended beautifully with this fabric. This pattern is available from Lappe-Elisa in Sweden, and although the instructions are in Swedish, the photo-style diagrams are really easy to follow. I used Pellon wadding for this project and this is fully machine washable - the design also has a clip so it will hang on your washing line and can slide easily along the line. An ordinary washing line will look SO posh with this pag bag adorned on it!!

Yayyyy!! I have some great news for all you quilters who wanted to get this pattern for the Swedish pegbag "Klädnyps-strut", and were disappointed because the magazine had sold out - the pattern is now available over here at the Swedish online quilt shop Lapp-Elisa - hurry before they sell out!! My top tip if you have problems understanding the instructions is to use Google Translate - however there are good photographs in the pattern and it includes the template for the base and the pegbag.  Honestly, if it was really complicated I wouldn't have able to make it - anyway, good luck with making it! And please contact me if you manage to make one - I'd love to hear how many of these are being made around the world!
*Update - I have been inundated with emails from quilters requesting a translation of this pattern and complaining that they cannot understand the instructions - firstly yes, the instructions are all in Swedish, (afterall it is a Swedish pattern!!) and secondly this is not my design, the pattern is designed by  LENA S PÅLSON.  

As you can see I have been very busy sewing several of these cute peg bags - Klädnyps-strut. These are made with a pattern from a Swedish quilting magazine, FatQuarter, issue 02/2009, and no, they are not all for me!! Although they do look very smart on my washing line! (if you would like this pattern, try this Swedish online store Lapp-Elisa to see if Elisabeth has a copy of the magazine left). The brown one was made with some black and brown batiks, and I think it looks fabulous. I used cotton and polyester 80/20 wadding for the cone, quilted with a black Mettler quilting thread "in-the-ditch" and used fast-to-fuse for the base plate, to keep it firm. This one was for a friend Emma's dad - she wanted one that would look "manly" for him!.....

.....and then my daughter Beth also wanted one. At the time, she has just moved to reading to live with her boyfriend fro a few months, and had been keeping her pegs in an empty plastic ice-cream tub - well, I couldn't let her keep doing that, could I?? So I quickly whipped up a Klädnyps-strut for her too, made with some beautiful Lecien fabric, and used fast-to-fuse for both the body and base. 

Well I finally got around to making myself one of these bags to keep my clothes pegs in - "Klädnyps-strut". This was a Swedish pattern from a quilting magazine called FatQuarter, issue 02/2009 (available from Lapp-Elisa) - and no, I don't speak Swedish either, just incase you were wondering!! I can tell you, these instructions were a bit tricky, as I don't read Swedish, so I just used the photo diagrams!! As you can see, I have been using some Flower Sugar II fabric. This range is by Lecien, and I absolutely love it, especially when it is trimmed with some extra wide ric-rac. It always makes me think of Cath Kidston florals, a little bit retro-housewife. I had made several of these peg bags a few years ago as gifts for friends, and never actually made one for myself!! So, out came the sewing machine this afternoon and I set to work. When I made these before, I found the base a bit floppy so I used a double layer of pelon fusible wadding and lots of quilting to give it a stiff bottom.....

.....today I tried using some stiffer interfacing than I have used before, to give the main part of the peg bag a bit more "body" but found it quite difficult to sew with, especially trying to sew the main part of the bag to the base as it wasn't very flexible. Next time I'll just use the stiff one in the bottom. Despite it being more than a little bit tricky to sew, I was really pleased with the overall result - and it's MUCH more exclusive than Cath Kidston!!! - and fancy that - my clothes pegs co-ordinate with the Flower sugar fabric perfectly!! It even has a special hook to clip it onto your washing line. And I think you'll all agree I really do have the smartest washing line in Suffolk hehehe!!!