Friday, October 4, 2024

Another Positive Flow Totebag

If you saw my post on Instagram on last Monday, September 23,  of the two sides of a totebag that has been calling my name for months, then this finish will come as no surprise.


This is one of three projects in my Positive Flow pattern which is available in my Etsy shop. I had originally wanted to make a Fall-themed bag using a block from my soon-to-be-released quilt pattern, and I pulled out this assemblage of fabric chunks I’d put together almost a year ago with the idea of making a bag for my shop. Well, out the window went the new bag, and, scampering around like the squirrel she is, in came this bag, begging to be made.

So I listened, though I really shouldn’t have, and made the two sides.


Then, thinking that itch was scratched, I went back to my regular must-be-done-because-deadlines programming.
✅I finished these four makeup bags for my shop,


✅Got the new quilt pattern finished and sent off to my tester and math/pieces/typos-checker in Scotland, Michelle. It’s for this quilt, which was featured in McCalls Quilts magazine in 2019, long overdue for me to publish it.


✅Finished my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt on Monday, the 30th, blog post is here, and then the bag waved at me from the design wall. I mean madly flailing-waving. Okay I did go to Fabricland on the weekend and purchase some muslin for making the quilt sandwich for it and another bag or two. So I reasoned that it, like the RSC quilt, could go this coming Monday (lots of MMMondays) with me when I do another Quilt Tales for the Heart and Mind presentation, this one in Norwich for the Quaker Quilt Guild. My friend Cindy of Stitchin at Home, who a lot of you follow, asked me a while back if I would present to her guild and wow, here it is in a few days! I always give a free PDF of the Scrappy Stars RSC quilt to the guild where I speak to share with their members, so that is why I wanted the actual quilt with me. I also sell my patterns for at the guild so it’s nice to have some fresh, examples for people to see,☺️ which is why I listened to the bag!



It didn’t take but a hot minute to cut the muslin, I already had a leftover chunk of Warm and Natural cotton batting from a recent quilt finish saved specifically for a bag, so onto April it went and off we went, happily quilting it.

That beautiful blue thread is Connecting Threads Essential 100% cotton 21144, Persian Blue.

I did this bag a little differently, joining the three components and then layering it and quilting all three at once. It worked just fine. Previously I’d quilted each side and the base individually and joined them after they were quilted. 

When I started cutting the bag pieces out, I realized that I needed one more fabric and settled on this beautiful older one from my stash. I can’t tell you how good it feels to get some of these 'patiently waiting' fabrics into projects!


Here is the other side. One of the things I love about this bag is that the sides are not identical. I had to get MacGyver to take the shot in his Costa Rica part of our garden! I am 5’2” to give you an idea of how massive the elephant ears are. The big banana is now 10.5 feet tall!


I am once again, pleased by my impatiens bushes! The ones above are the smallest ones. The ones below are some of the largest, at 31.5” tall, taller than the hydrangea, almost as tall as the azalea!


Once I started cutting these out, I realized I wanted to keep this for me. That gorgeous Kasbah medallion fabric is just so me. You may recall, I used it for the back of my recent Orinoco Flow cushion cover. I also love the turquoise dots fabric, a another from Michael Miller Fabrics.

Since I'd decided this is my bag, when it came to the lining, I wanted to use a special-to-me fabric, so I dove into my turquoise yardage stack and came up with a few good possibilities. I settled on this one which, interestingly enough, as these things go, is another print from the line that I just used for the backing of Orinoco Flow!


I had enough to do the lining and one of the pockets; not quite a fat quarter is all that’s left. I could've squeezed out the second pocket but a contrasting fabric from the outer bag fabrics would be good too. Since I am keeping this baby, I decided to experiment with making a zippered pocket as I want to use it as a carry-on, like I did the very first one I made. 


Here is a closeup of the quilting on the front side. I did a jigsaw meander all over the back side. On the front I did a swirl and hook flow in the Kasbah fabric, intersecting straight lines through the plus blocks with matching Essential threads, 21144 Persian Blue, 21160 Parchment, and  21221variegated Ocean Jewels. I did a floppy feather flow in the turquoise dotted fabric with 21221. Simple straight lines went through the front band.

A little fussy cutting of Kasbah as best I could with the little fabric left was done on the side of the plus blocks panel.

I’ll be ‘breaking it in’ by using it as my yoga bag when I teach on Sunday.🩵😁💙 On Monday it will travel with me to Norwich!

Quilt Stats:
Size: 20” side x 16" high
Fabric: stash and scraps: Kasbah and Waterfront Park by Violet Craft both for Michael Miller Fabrics, Northcott, Benartex
Batting: Warm and Natural cotton
Lining: leftover yardage of Northcott Treasures of the Gypsies by Marilyn S. Doheny
Quilted: on Avril: 19 150 stitches
Threads: pieced on my Bernina; quilted with Essential cotton by Connecting Threads, Bottom Line and Robison Anton rayon black in the bobbin








8 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful bag, and looks so handy! And, wow on your garden, too. Those elephant ears and impatiens are amazing!

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  2. Gorgeous bag and a lovely post about quilting & gardening. My word those elephant ears are amazing & would really tower over me, as I've shrunk to 4'10.5" now after being 5' and a half inch at my tallest. (giggle). Take care & hugs from Oz.

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  3. Great looking bag! I didn't know there were impatience bushes!

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  4. Hi Sandra,
    Love the bag, wonderful colours. The pattern (new) from 2019, is beautiful - the colours, the quilting, and the border print edging takes it to the next level, not surprised it was in the McCalls Quilts mag. Your garden is wonderful, so amazing to see such a tropical hideaway in Ontario, it's lovely.
    Lost the dog in June, less than 2 months before her 16th birthday. My Mom's memory is getting worse, and Freya kept me sane. Mom kept asking if we could get another dog (after I explained about Freya for the umpteenth time). So found a Belgian Tervuren breeder in Vermont, we drove there to get her in August, and Mom navigated - I think it was good for her. Carri is 3 months, and 20 lbs., and a lot of work, but I'm so much more relaxed. Still miss my best girl though.
    You take care, and enjoy Norwich. All the best, D.

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  5. What a gorgeous bag! I love the colors and that lining is so much fun! I am glad you had a piece you loved for that all important part of the bag. It is fabulous on you...

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  6. Love your designs! How does one get to be a pattern tester?!

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    Replies
    1. Well, one suggestion is to maybe include your email in your comment so I could personally reply to you ;-)

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