First, I owe you a snowflake block from Friday and it will be on my blog this Wednesday! It was a crazy fabric week with first Notting Hill and then Lucky Penny arriving in our shop. If you are craving new fabric, these lines are both GORGEOUS!
Heidi and Lori hosted the Long Weekender blog hop recently and I managed to finish mine just in the nick of time to participate. Here is side one of my Weekender:
And here is side two:
Each piece of fabric in this bag mean something to me. I fussycut the daylights out of some of my most precious fabrics to make it special. This Heather Ross fox print was gifted to me by the wonderful Michelle a few years ago now and I have been hoarding hanging on to it waiting for just the right project. I even sent a bit home with my mom for cutting out all of my weekender pieces. My mother is a saint.
On the second side, I included Heather Ross frogs. We refer to my little girl as ‘froggy’ and have since she was born. A few weeks ago, she looked at me after I called her a frog and told me, ‘Mommy, my name’s Abby’. She is getting so big.
My dreams for a simpler life are captured
As are my sewing roots: learning to sew clothing for myself
Every time I tried to persuade myself to use just a solid piece, I instantly knew I would regret it later, so aside from the lining, handles and the bottom, the entire thing is pieced. After piecing, I quilted each piece onto batting and duck cloth a la Elizabeth at Oh, Fransson. I blame her for all of the time I spent on this bag.
But I love the results, even if they were a month (more, actually) in the making. The question I get most when people see my bag is ‘would you make another one?’ My answer is a resounding yes. This bag is SO great. It’s a great size.
If you are making one, my tips would be:
Go SLOW. Amy mentions this in her pattern. She’s serious. If you get frustrated with it, just walk away for a little while.
Add pockets to the lining. It make a huge difference!
I made my straps 7″ wide and added 9″ to the length. If I had it to do over, I would also double the amount of interfacing inside of them.
Shorten the zipper. It goes down into the pockets and that is a bit annoying.
Take a deep breath. If I can do it, anyone can!
Thanks for stopping by!
Oh my gosh, Amanda, it’s absolutely stunning! Those foxes just melt my heart, and I love all the text prints. Beautiful, beautiful job!
Love this!
your bag is SO cute with those stars! I just love it!
Love it! Thanks for all the tips 🙂
I love your version of this bag Amanda! It makes me want to make a quilted bag as well. I agree with you, I would definitely make this bag again!
it’s beautiful! I am so impressed!
I’ve been wanting to make this bag ~ you’ve done an incredible work of art ~ think I’ll need to make it now after seeing yours!
It’s a glorious finish – you should be SO proud of it! 🙂
Beautiful! I love how you pieced it! It certainly makes it one of a kind!
You did a fabulous job! I love your use of light and dark fabrics!
fabulous bag! Just lovely.
I think this bag is perfect and love it even more knowing the back stories on the fabrics!!
What a fabulous bag! I love all your fabric bits – so much work for such a beautiful result!!
WOW! It is so beautiful! It was so striking and I loved it right away but reading about how much thought and love went into it makes it even better! Thank you for the nice things you said about Full Moon Lagoon. It made me so happy to read your comments!
you are so talented!
so, so, so, so pretty. i’m glad you stuck it out and didn’t use solid pieces – it was worth it! i’m not to the point where i would say i’d make another, though. 😉
That is just wonderful, I love all the small pieces and that stars are really great.
It’s a gorgeous bag, Manda! I love how you’ve put so much thought into each piece to make something you will really enjoy for a long time. It turned out wonderfully.
(And not a saint at all… I just love you very much!)
Oh this turned out gorgeous!! Still trying to get my supplies together, but this is definitely joining my inspiration photos!! Thanks for all the tips, it’s beautiful ;D
It turned out so beautifully! Great job! If I ever finish my first one (which is lying in panels on my sewing room floor) I would like to try the quilt as you go next time.