Supersize Me

A while back I picked up a Moda fabrics Scrap Bag. I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do with it when I bought it. Not long ago I decided it was time to get to work.

A friend had asked me about my really big tote bag (you can fit a queen-size quilt in it to take along to finish the binding or to share with guild) and when I would write the pattern. I figured this would be a great time to use up that scrap bag and make the tote. I trimmed the selvages off and cut the pieces to a somewhat uniform length.

Then I pieced the strips into panels for quilting.

I used what I learned at the Quilt Soup class at the Longarm Network class in Virginia to help me quilt the panels. Swirls and ribbons and meanders! Oh, my!

Quilting small pieces on the long arm makes the work go rather quickly. The batting was leftover from some other project.

I trimmed the panels and sewed the two together along three sides.

Then I cut the corners out to box the bottom corners. The bag is big, so the cutouts are pretty good size, too.

Then I did the same with the lining and pinned it together. This is the outside of the bag before I added the handles and the lining.

This is a very simple tote bag. I plan on releasing a pattern at some point because I have been asked about it a few times. Do you have bag-making techniques hat you go back to again and again?

Day 4 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Shop Small Saturday Recap

Yes, this is a week late, but I wanted to save it for a Saturday to share it.

I popped over to the Cloverhill Yarn shop in Catonsville, MD and picked up two yummy skeins of Tempting Ewe. If you haven't tried this local delicacy, you should. Now to decide what to make.

I also stopped in to Spring Water Designs in Columbia, MD, for their sale and to pick up some more fabrics for the new Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt. I certainly don't need more fabric, but that rarely stops me from buying it.

Day 3 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

2016 Mystery Quilt: Clue #1

This will by third foray into the Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt world.

In late October she shared her color choices for the 2016 Mystery Quilt called En Provence. As I have in past years, I've selected my own colors to make this mystery my own. It worked out great for my last two (Grand Illusion and Allietare) so I was pretty confident when picking different colors this year. To learn about the En Provence mystery I recommend you head over to Bonnie Hunter's website and read all about it under the En Provence tab. I won't repeat it here.

I was feeling pressed for time, so I picked a single print for each of my colors. That was going great until the first clue came out. Then I had to race to the store and buy all those black-on-white prints. They are something I don't have much of, so it wasn't that traumatic. I've since added a couple more prints to the stack but you get the general idea from this photo.

I took my time, and a couple days, to stitch up clue number one.

As I usually do, I made more than I needed, but only by a handful. If you want to know how many are required, I'll just point you right back to Quiltville.

If you haven't joined in, there is still plenty of time to get started. Don't delay, the pattern is only free for a short time.

If you want to see some of the other great mystery quilts you need to go check out the link party hosted on Bonnie's site.

Day 2 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

The beautiful and talented Cheryl Sleboda over at Muppin.com has challenged the lot of us to use the month of December to blog more regularly. Build habits, practice, and get better at it. I figured I would jump in with both crazy feet and give it a go. Don't expect exceptional posts, or even daily posts, but I'm going to give it a shot.

To get us started here are some of the things that I want to accomplish in the next 31 days:

I want to stop sharing in-progress photos of this shawl. It is turning out to be such a great shawl and I want it finished and blocked and gifted by the end of the year.
Pattern: Virus Shawl
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici, color: Time Traveler (no longer available but they have some awesome new colors to check out)

I want to sit down and write the pattern for this tote. If it is good enough for me to make five of them then it is good enough to write down and publish.

I want to finish this super yummy shawl knit up in sport weight. At the expense of sounding like the rest of the internet: winter is coming.
Pattern: Stephen West, West Knits Best Knits Number 1 - Shawls, Garter Breeze (also available on Ravelry as Smooth Move)
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Sport in three blues, two purples and one green (Stroll Sport is no longer available from Knit Picks)

I want to finish up two more charity quilts to drop off at the last meeting of the year of the Annapolis Quilts For Kids.

Continue to make progress on the 2016 Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt En Provence.

I'm sure I have plenty of other things to do. Things I should be doing, things I could be doing, and so many things! I hope to fill the month with photos and little stories about the crafting insanity that is December.

So go check out the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge to see who is participating and share some blog love.

Day 1 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.