A Baby Bag

I have just been as busy as a happy little bee in my sewing room lately. There has been no lack of projects keeping me occupied, a situation I hope will continue for a good while to come. So many of the things I have recently worked on were near-finishes, and with the efforts of the past couple of days, I can now count them as finishes. Yeah!

The baby quilt I finished off and wrote about in this post, now has a sweet bag made of the same fabrics. I will use it as a gift bag for the quilt; I hope that the new momma will use it as a diaper bag or a grocery bag. It could serve mulitple uses.

After playing around with remnants from the quilt and ending up with this star, I arrived at the decision to turn the star block into a panel for a bag. I worked on it most of one day this week, and I am pleased with my results.

We have had such cloudy days lately, that I set the bag on a barstool in the window to get adequate lighting. I lined the star block and used it to form a front pocket. The strap is filled with a scrap of batting to make it comfortable as a cross-body bag or a shoulder bag.

Inside, I have two smaller pockets made with the larger yellow and white dot fabric. I had a clasp on hand, so I inserted it to keep small things like pacifiers and rattles from falling out. You can see the front pocket opened up in this picture, too.

And tucked into the bag is the quilt, awaiting the birth of the baby it is made for. I am happy to have this project finished, and checked off my to-do list. I am also eager to meet the little girl when she arrives, and give her her first quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Fun Lasts All Month

Did you enjoy visiting all the quilt bloggers in yesterday's Meet and Greet? I admit that I had several things planned yesterday which prevented me visiting everyone. Have no fear! The event lasts all month, so we have plenty of time to visit the participants and enter the give away with each visit. Sweet.

I have a quick little project to share today. The cross body bag I made a couple weeks ago has been serving it's intended purpose, and I have used it quite happily. If I have any complaints about it, though, it is too big. a bag of this sort needs to be more compact. With that thought in mind, I decided to make another.

I made minor changes on this bag. Of course, it is smaller. The first bag measured 11x13 inches. This new bag measures 8x11 inches. It feels more comfortable at this size. I have repeated a picture of the first bag here for comparison.

Another change is obvious; I quilted this one. And I changed the closure method. I went with a loop and button. I am not exactly thrilled with my button choice as this one seems too bright. I am gonna' try rubbing it with some brown shoe polish to dull it a bit. And, the hardware has the addition of the clips onto the D-rings.

I plan to continue honing my skills on these bags. They are quick finishes, and the results are pleasing.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Cross-Body Bag

Sometimes, a gal has to mix it up a little bit. I have been putting off things right and left, lately, and last evening I jumped into making a bag without hesitation.

The prompt for this wild hair notion was having an excess of bag/purse hardware in my possession. I had no plans for making a bag, but when a big ol' pile of D-rings, clasps and buckles takes up a whole storage tub, one must take action.

First decision: what fabric to use? I conquered this quickly - Kaffe Fassett. My tubs of this stuff runneth over.

I have no confidence when it comes to what constitutes fashionable handbag design and color, so I trusted divine intervention. *grin*

I started with the tree fabric, Verbena. I have avoided using this fabric in quilts as it seemed a shame to cut those trees into little bits. A purse or bag seemed more fitting. Then I added the paisley, Jungle Stripe. For the lining and pockets, I selected Spot in rust and purple.

Second decision: What size? I had a few requirements. One, I wanted my bag to be cross-body style, contain at least one pocket for my iPhone, not be too bulky yet easily contain my wallet, sunglasses, and perhaps a small notepad. Plus, I needed to use some of the hardware I have on hand.

I consulted a few online patterns to see general sizes, and created as I went. I measured out the iPhone pocket simply by tracing around my phone, allowing for depth. I sewed the Verbena fabric onto the Jungle Stripe, applied fusible batting for sturdiness, figured out the strap and D-ring configuration and the magnetic snap closure.

The snap required the use of pliers to push the prongs closed inside the lining. I used a skanky pair from DH's toolbox which left a mess on the fabric.

Before tackling the other side, I fashioned some little booties for the dirty pliers.

And it's a good thing I did, because look at the mess it would have left on my lining.

I have not tried to clean the the oily residue, but I intend to give it a shot. Hopefully I can remove most of it. Lesson learned: put clean pliers in the sewing room.

And now for some pictures of my finished bag. I am very happy with the results and will probably make more. I will consider quilting on the next bag and perhaps trying out a zipper pocket. Options are limitless.

Are you creating anything beautiful today?

Happy Quilting, Friends!