Thursday, August 18, 2016

Carry All Tote remake...

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After such a busy spring/summer teaching schedule, I was desperate to make things. Teaching is a wonderful thing that I get to do, but I am happiest when I am creating. So, this summer I finished my Metro Medallion, Just Call Me Modern and I wanted to make my Carry All Tote pattern again. This project was meant as a gift though, so it was a lot more fun to make.  I planned on making 4 totes, but I am a huge under-estimator (is that a word?) when it comes to the time it takes me to do things.  I forget to factor in every day life, which is wonderfully crazy.

Anyway, I sewed some jelly roll strips together.  This fabric line is Bright Sun by Sherri and Chelsi of A Quilting Life.  It is by far my favorite fabric line they have designed and is perfect for a fun summer time tote.

I sewed the strips together then loaded them onto my machine with 2 layers of batting and a muslin backing.  I quilted a fun free motion flower-swirl-pebble design and I really love how the texture shows up. I used a cream colored Glide thread for the stitching. 

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Here is a fun view of the back.  I really had fun quilting this up.

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Once the quilting is all finished, then you have to cut out all the pieces for the totes.  This part is hard for me because I hate ruining the beautiful quilting.  I make sure to sew a stay-stitch around each piece so that my quilting stitches don't come out during assembly.

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After I gifted this tote to my mom, she loved it! - I was able to get a couple of pictures.  This is the front view.

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And the back.  So cute!

Want to make your own?  You'll need a jelly roll, or a honey bun with some yardage and you can buy the pattern here!

PS - you can make two totes out of one jelly roll - or just use 20 strips instead of the 40 honey bun strips the pattern calls for. Have fun!

4 comments:

Leeanne said...

Under-estimator........that's me EVERY day!!! There should some help line :-)
Love the quilting, fabulous textures and your bag design is super groovie!

LuAnn Kessi said...

Hey Judi.....thanks for sharing such inspiration! Your mom is a lucky girl. Thanks for taking the time to share this with all of us.

My Best To You,
LuAnn in Oregon
luannkessi.blogspot.com

KaHolly said...

It's quite lovely! I love the flower-swirl-pebble quilting very much. Someday, I'd like to be that good!

Gemini Jen NZ said...

I am right with you on the under-estimating, happens all the time! Love the bag, looks great. I know what you mean about the need to be able to create, that's my down-time go-to activity.