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.

Whale and dolphin tote bag

My daughter, Erica, is a sometimes sewer. Sometimes she'll get an idea for a project and have to sew it up right away and sometimes she sews out of need, especially when it comes to making cute gifts for her friends.

This time, her friend Jacqueline is heading off for an internship in Hawaii to study dolphins and whales (how's that for an awesome internship!). It's also Jacqueline's birthday this month.

I just happened to have an old fabric panel that had a square of whales, dolphins, turtles, and manatees. The whales and dolphins were the perfect thing for the front and back of a basic tote bag. Erica was a little bit worried that it wasn't going to be young enough or hip enough with the panels. We spent a good bit of time digging through my fabric stash looking for something to add a modern touch. Once we found these dots, she knew it was going to work out just fine. She quilted the panels by outlining the major lines in each picture and adding some wavy lines.

The orange dot forms a pocket on each side of the bag. The original pocket was way too deep for a hand to fit in, so a quick line of stitching to shorten it up took care of it. The pocket is just right for a phone or sunglasses.

 

The inside is lined with a Kaffe Fassett paperweight print in a light color so it's easier to see the contents inside the bag. There's a bright yellow divided pocket on one side.

Erica doesn't have quite the passion for sewing that I do, but she certainly "gets it" and is super supportive of everything I do. It's fun to have a partner in crime from time to time, and fun to watch another creative mind turn out a fabulous project. I think Jacqueline is going to love it.