Hello 2020!

How does a quilter start the new year? With a fresh rotary blade and a new needle for the sewing machine. These are some of the happiest things!

I have had a few yards of Pellon Flex Foam in my studio for a while. I finally decided to give a go. This is the backside of a quilted piece for a project.

This is the front side of the resulting piece. I rediscovered By Annie patterns and decided to give one of the free patterns a try. I chose the Easy Does It bag because I knew I had all the parts to make one. By Annie also has a free instructional video to make this bag and I recommend it if you are giving them a try. I consider myself a practiced bag maker and I'm glad watched the videos. Totally worth the time.

I created my quilted fabric with a simple crosshatch. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but I was pleased with how it came out. I've been trying to figure out the easiest way to do this with my embroidery machine. That's still a thought experiment.

The first thing I did was put some of the binding on the outside instead of the inside. I chose to consider it a creative design choice and continued construction. This is no fault of the written or video instructions, just me not paying attention to what I was doing. It doesn't affect the finish or the quality of the finished bag. 

This was a project where the overuse of Craft Clips seemed to make sense. I'm not saying everything lined up perfectly (it didn't) I'm just saying I did try really hard to make it so.

Somehow, the sides of the bag aren't quite lined up right. I'm not entirely sure where I went wrong. That's why the bag sits a little sideways. It's still a bag and I'm sure I'll make more. The pattern called for a single-pull zip but I had a few of these in my zipper collection and I think it is a nice touch. 

The bias binding used in this project was great! I might cut it a smidgen wider next time just so I can feel a little more comfortable with the finish. I'm still very pleased with the resulting bag and I'm not afraid to size up, down, or make another. I wonder if piping would make the seams too bulky? That might be a nice customization. And a pocket on the inside might be nice. So many ideas on how to modify the pattern.

Tools and Supplies (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Replacement Rotary Blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Pellon Flex Foam
Craft Clips