The bag for me

You know I love the Zoe bag. I have made 4 of them now, and helped someone make a 5th. Somehow, the red bag didn't ever get posted here. (Made in June 2013!) It made an appearance on Flickr, but not here.
After using the aqua (green?) bag for a while, I wanted to add some more custom pockets. I found a red tablecloth at Target and used some fat quarters from my stash and went to town.

For fun, all the Zoe bags together:

For reference, the grey bag was made with shirting or suiting (not sure which), but it is very lightweight. Having seen it in use for months now, I needed to have used interfacing everywhere the grey fabric was used. It is very squished, especially the handle. The cotton bags hold up very well. I wash mine about every six weeks in cold water and line dry. Then lightly iron them, no steam. Then coat them with Scotchgard fabric protector. They still look great.

2 New Bags

In December I made two bags as gifts. One of them was a small messenger type bag and the other was another Zoe Messenger bag.

Sariah's bag

The smaller bag I made for a long-time friend who I had not seen in person in 9 years. While she lives in another state, her parents live near us and since she was coming to visit them for the holidays, we were finally able to meet up and catch up. I wanted to give her something special, as well as useful, so I found a bag pattern that I could make using some fun fabric I won a while back.

I made the whole thing all the way to the last step (topstitch) and it looked really funky. The flap was too small for the bag and it looked terrible. I had stitched from about 7:30 or 8 pm until after midnight. Problem #1 was I should not sew when I am tired. I went to bed really upset about it and woke up realizing the mistake I had made was assembling the bag with a too small seam allowance. I had 3 choices, live with it and gift it as is, live with it and stick in the closet or disassemble it all and put it back together correctly. I had about an hour to finish it, so I ripped it apart and reassembled it. Thankfully, she was running late so I was given a little more time to finish it. I was much happier with it and gave it to her. She seemed happy with it so it was worth the time.
I added custom pockets to it, because I love pockets. :) I need to re-size them for next time I make this bag though. The edges ended up really close to/in the seam allowance.

Interior pockets

Bag number 2 has been on my mind for a few months. I have a friend who loved my first Zoe bag and wanted one. I told her I would be happy to make one, just bring me the fabric and I would do it.

Black and White and Grape Zoe

Then later, it seemed like she was going through a rough patch and I decided to gift it instead. I messaged her husband for color ideas and started the fabric hunt. I looked and looked and could not find anything that looked like something she would like. I wanted to get the bag done, but I didn't want to settle on just any old fabric. Since we were going to Texas for the holidays, I knew I could look at at least 3 quilt shops there, plus look at Hobby Lobby.
I had success at the first shop! (The super fabulous Quilt Asylum in McKinney).
My daughter helped me tremendously in choosing just the right combination and it really turned out great. I almost wanted to keep it for myself. :)

Exterior pocket

Cute little Hedgies as a surprise inside.

 I gifted it Sunday and she liked it. Yay!


 

Uptown Zoe Messenger Bag

I love making the Zoe Messenger bag by Schlosser Designs and I had an excuse to make another for a friend who needed a classic but useful and stylish bag. She told me to make it with neutral colors, no frills, and it needs to look nice with a variety of styles. I think I succeeded. She loved it anyway. The grey fabric is a shirting with a subtle wine colored stripe running through it. The wine colored fabric I have no idea beyond that it is from David Textiles.
And just for fun I added a matching pen I made with the wine colored fabric.

Linking up with Randi at Show and Tell Tuesday.

 

Sewing like mad!

It seems that I have been sewing non-stop for the last little while, but I couldn't show any of it. I still can't show some of it. But one fun and new for me project is a tote bag with super cute applique that I have had the privilege to pattern test.
Erin Schlosser of Schlosser Designs created it with Melissa at Iza Pearl Design.


Unfortunately I got hung up in my testing when I went to my thread box for my light blue thread and it was gone! I needed it to quilt the front and back of the bag. The quilting is the last step before assembly. So, my bag was stuck in limbo until I could get to the store for more thread. (And I missed my deadline.)
I got thread today and the plan is to quilt the rest and assemble it tomorrow. But in the meantime, you can see my cutie sassy girl that is appliqued on the front.

Waiting patiently for quilting.

 I have appliqued very little previously and with not very good results when I did. But this time I did awesome! (Except for that dainty little mouth, which had me nearly cursing as I messed it up again and again.) But it turned out alright. She has a cute tie that goes on her neck where the scarf "ties" under her chin. Did I already say super cute? Well, can you blame me?

You can see photos of the full bag and the other tester's bags on Erin's website HERE

The pattern is now up for sale as a PDF download or a hard copy in Erin's shop. 

She has a lot of fun patterns and they are easy to follow. I have made the Zoe Messenger bag

and the Floral Clutch.

I have plans to make a Reversible Grocery Tote soon.
Go check them out!


Another item in the works is a baby quilt for a friend who is the wife of my husband's co-worker. The wives of 5D Robotics all get along great and we get together for movie musical night, birthdays, movie premiers, things like that. 3 of those ladies are expecting babies in March, so we are having a lunch to celebrate the new arrivals on the 18th.
This quilt is for the gal who we know is having a girl. There is also a boy on the way (my sister in law), and a surprise baby.

It is not really "baby" fabric, but it is  pretty. I have been hoarding it for something special. It is Tidbits by Kari Ramsay of Fresh Cut Quilts. By coincidence the pattern is from her too, CrissCross, though I think it is a discontinued one. I have had it for a long time.  I think it was the second printed pattern I ever bought. I am not making the full quilt, just 12 blocks instead of 20 and no borders (probably).
 I messed up the cutting so I was forced into doing the blocks the way you see below, instead of all the florals being on the corners. I think it will be okay. There are green and pinks still to come. This is just the yellow and brown set.



I have not worked on any UFOs since I finished the pillow. But that is okay! :) They are not going anywhere.

Have a great weekend!