Thursday, December 21, 2017

Read Tote Bag - A Collaborative Project


Years ago (gosh, I can't believe it really has been years!), when my daughter lived at home, she would piddle with sewing and quilting from time to time. A few months ago when I cleaned out the sewing room, I found her box of fabric and projects.


There was this page of ideas.


And this piece as a beginning. Hers actually stopped with six yellow "books", I added the two on the right. Since I was certain she had long forgotten about this project, I decided to finish it for her Christmas gift.


I love those elephants. They had to find their way into this project.


I did not want to leave the other side of the tote blank so I found some letters and made an applique monogram.


My favorite part of this project was the quilting. From a distance, all the yellow rectangles look more like a cityscape to me, so I quilted the word "Read" to help them become the book spines they were intended to be.


The rest of the background is filled with flowers. The books are stitched near the ditch with a dark gray thread.


The letters are stitched down and outlined with a circle using matching yellow thread.


Then more fun flowers quilted all over the background.


I love the proportion of the monogram. It is just enough to keep this side of the tote from being boring.


The inside is lined with a green fabric pulled because of those cute elephants, which also had to be added as a pocket. The handle is some scraps sewn to a belting/handle base.

I put her original drawing in the bag with some other goodies before gifting it to her. She already has it as we got together a week ago since we won't be together for Christmas. She loved receiving it just as much as I loved making it.


Projects that connect us in a special way with people and events are the ones I enjoy the most.

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

8 comments :

  1. Oh, this is the kind of project I LOVE reading about! So meaningful. I'm sure your daughter will treasure it. I am curious, I have not made any bags before but long admired the ones I have seen made. About how long would you estimate it took you to make this one?

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    1. Thank you, Janice. That is a good question. A simple tote like this one made from a pattern or tutorial doesn't take long, maybe two hours. I probably spent about eight hours on this one, and that is mostly on making design choices. What size? What fabric for the liner? How many and what size pockets? What font for the monogram? What quilting motif? What style handles? I do enjoy the process so it is something I take my time on.

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  2. That turned out beautifully and I am sure your daughter will get a real thrill out of it. The colors and quilting are fantastic too.

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    1. Thank you. I wasn't sure she would remember starting the original piece, but she immediately recognized it. It was fun seeing her reaction.

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  3. Great story and an AWESOME bag!! LOVE the monogram detail that you added (and the fact that you created the project from your daughter's design.)

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    1. Thank you! We worked together on several projects while she was still living at home so it was nice to be able to do it again even though she has been out on her own for several years.

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  4. How lovely to complete the tote bag which your daughter designed and started. Such a nice surprise fr her to receive it, and she must have been thrilled!

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    1. Thank you. Yes, she was thrilled. I'm hoping maybe we can find another project to work on together, even if we do live in different states now.

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