New Bag

Because we all know I don't have enough to do....nor do I have enough bags! This was sent to me by someone on one of my email lists and I just had to do it. I made the big version of the bag over the weekend, I'm making the smaller version today.

I'm having a really hard time lately getting pictures that are true to color. On this bag, the upper and lower pieces are a beautiful, bright yellow and the colors in the floral are comparably rich. This bag is quite large and will make a perfect bag when we are out for the day as it will hold the things Ruthie needs, and even a small sewing project should I want to bring one along (let's face it, I nearly always bring one along!)

It has a pocket both front and back on the outside, between the handles. It's hard to see because it's made of the same fabric. The pattern calls for a pocket only on the back, but I loved it so much (and had enough quilted fabric left) to put one on each side. These will be perfect for keys, phone, glasses, etc, those little things that I need easy access to. I decided I needed 2 of these since I never put my keys with my glasses or phone to prevent them getting scratched.

This is an inside view of the bag. You can see that attached to each side is a separate piece that is subdivided by sewn lines into 3 pockets. So in addition to the large inner space, there are 6 inside and 2 outside pockets to keep track of smaller items and the smaller inside pocket will even hold a water bottle so it doesn't tip over.

I put a separate quilted piece in the bottom with a cardboard insert so that it gave the bottom some stability. This is removable so that the bag can be washed.

The most time consuming part of making this (by far) was quilting the main pieces together. This was done in one large piece, 54 x 44, it took a long time to mark and a long time to quilt as it's 3/4 inch cross-hatched.

The piece for the smaller bag is considerably smaller, only 18 by 44, so I'm nearly done marking that and should have no trouble finishing this bag today unless some unexpected things come up. I'll also be cutting pieces for (and hopefully starting) the next table topper. I have a quilt in the hoop that I'm hand quilting and it's coming along nicely. I'm getting anxious to get this one done. I'm also keeping an eye out for fabric for the signature quilt for the party.

And just for fun, here is Ruthie, ready for a "nerf war." This is the activity of late that is driving me crazy, LOL. Each of my boys takes up residence on one floor of the house. We have a tri-level with a very open floorplan, from the stairway all levels can be seen. They hide behind things and try to hit each other with the nerf darts, last one "standing" wins. In spite of our small house, they love this game and will play for quite some time, of course that leaves the rest of us walking through a battle field! I'm looking forward to when they can take this game outside, but for now am glad they have a way to use up some energy. Ruthie loves to get in on the action, she carries a nerf gun and runs around saying "psshew, psshew"... her version of "pow pow."

Tonight we'll be watching Idol, so I doubt I'll have to sew through a war today, but that will be a perfect time for handwork so I'd better get going and get my machine work done for the day. Happy Quilting!

Sue and Ruthie