Garden-Themed Totebag

Last week I mentioned that I'd had another commissioned totebag. Well, it has now been delivered to a very happy customer. She gave me a bit of an idea of what colours based on two makeup bags she'd seen on my Instagram feed, the navy one that was a gift and the black and white one in my shop. So here is where we ended up:

Quite the departure! 

After several photos of various fabric combinations, in navies or black and white combos, she said she thought she preferred lighter colours. Back to the stash I went, pulling out some lighter blues, and adding in coordinating tonals and prints. She loved the main floral on the front of the bag, and wanted the brick-like pink, and thought maybe some tan, green and a little bit darker of a blue... Did I have any butterfly fabric?

Well, the beauty of making this bag is that it only needs fat quarters and fat eighths, with yardage for the lining. Into my scraps boxes I went, remembering a fat quarter of a beautiful blue butterfly fabric... Well, she fell in love with it. Now it's not exactly the same blue as in the floral, but I know that going a little bit lighter or darker within a colour is always good. The sand fabric provided the tan and when I showed her the Soft Blooms cream and the Northcott lighter blue garden-theme tone on tone, we were almost there. I was pretty sure I had a tonal deeper blue, and found the leftover of another Northcott fabric, one I'd used in the Rosebud Garland runner that was in Make Modern a year and a half ago. (see sidebar) It was perfection! We had our six. Er, seven. She loved the sand fabric so I said I'd put a couple of squares of it on the back of the bag.

If the top band is plain enough I like to do ribbon candy there for a little punch

Originally the big blue butterfly fabric was going to be the narrower panel on the right side of the bag; the larger one goes on the left of the bag. However, a design change had to happen because in order to keep that butterfly as intact as possible, (remember, I only have a fat quarter of this fabric), I had to put it on the left. Although I lost a half inch in the seams, it still looks just about perfect. I always try to blend the panel fabrics into the panel as best I can, but this was the most intense one I’ve ever done.

So that gorgeous butterfly got a little extra special custom quilting💙

She chose the garden-themed tone on tone for the lining (I had enough yardage of it and the floral).

I was able to get the bag done on Saturday, so I took it to her on Sunday. You might recall she’s one of my Yin students. I've made a few bags for students, and when she saw mine and another one on someone's shoulder, she asked where we got them, and thus another order was made (and delivered)!

When she had told me she wanted to order a bag, I said I could make a matching makeup bag if she liked, and she said oh for sure! I got that done on Monday.

I used the floral for the lining so the two bags are similar but slightly different. I also added a ligh swirly pink, a batik cream, and another bricks fabric for interest.

I love that zipper tape from Zipper Valley. The teeth are rose gold. I’ve had this chunk for some time, but the pull is from the order I just made. I always do the Noodlehead style of ‘open wide’ bag. I'll take this to her on Sunday!

Because it’s almost as easy to make two bags as to just make one, I always make them in pairs. Since I sold the grey one a month or two ago, I decided that would be the second one I’d make. 

I love using my silky rayon threads collection to do the quilting and topstitching. 

The grey one has brand new zipper tape and pull from the most recent order. You can purchase it here!

I love the centre greyp fabric. It has positive messages in colours of the rainbow across a grey background.

ToteBag Stats:

Size: 20" along the top edge x 16" high x 4" width

Pattern: Positive Flow by moi!
Fabric: Soft Blooms by RJR Fabrics, Cranston Print Works VIP, My Backyard Garden by Quest for a Cure by Northcott Fabrics, blue tonal by Deborah Edwards for Northcott Fabrics, the sand is Timeless Treasure Fabrics, no clue on the pink bricks or butterfly fat quarters

Batting: Pellon Fusible Fleece though I did not fuse it

Lining: My Backyard Garden by Quest for a Cure by Northcott Fabrics

Quilted: on Avril, 17 558 stitches

Threads: pieced with Exquisite polyester on my Bernina; quilted with Essential and Aurifil cottons; Fufus rayon in the bobbin

Linking up

My Quilt Infatuation

Alycia Quilts

From Bolt to Beauty

Songbird Designs

Note to those in my annual QAL: be sure to link up your quilt or quilt top in the previous post to be eligible for the prizes!