Seeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww

I actually got to sew!  Yay! I sewed some on Sunday.  I decided I wanted to try (and succeed this time) the tube quilting ruler I got at the quilt show a few weeks ago.  My first go wasn't very successful.  So I re-read the instructions (vague) and I watched the tutorial on YouTube that the Missouri Star Quilt Co has on there, and I decided to give it a shot - mostly successful this time!  :-)

I had 4 squares after sewing the tubes together and cutting.  Four successful squares.  I decided to try to make a tote out of them.  I had leftover fabric from what I had bought to make the tubes with (even after a few unsuccessful tries).  I decided to take 3 of the squares, cut strips for the sides, and free motion quilt (fmq) all of the pieces.  I've been practicing my fmqing because I'm getting geared up for using the long arm quilting machine at the local quilt shop in July.  :-) :-) :-)

So here are the pieces all quilted.

Gotta close for now - storms coming!

Ok, I'm back.  Storms blew thru last night and all is well.....so here are the rest of the pics and story! :-)

These are the sides.  I stenciled a pattern on them and then free motion quilted around it.  Wondering now if it would have been better to use a walking foot or regular foot, and followed the pattern with regular sewing.  Anyway, it's interesting- looks good but it's deceiving - the flip side tells how much practice I still need! Ha ha.

The back side.............

This is all the bits put together.  The final outcome of my tote (that I made without a pattern).

This is the inside of the bag - the bag turned wrong side out.  It really could be reversible.  I need practice on making linings for bags.  I attached the handles inside because I was experimenting with out to attach the lining and just didn't bother with getting the handles between the 2 layers.

Notice the handles - I did blue on the light side, and a light gray on the dark side.  They have batting in them and are comfy on the shoulder. 



There is a pocket near the bottom - it also was not placed correctly.  Again, I need practice!

Here is a close up of the sides now that they are attached to the front and back panels.






Not too shabby..........

So this is my tote.  I really like it.  My next one will be 2 blocks wide, and not as deep - only one block deep. I will have the same sides, and the sides will also be the bottom (instead of a block on the bottom).  A woman can never have too many totes!









My next project will be a bag holder for my daughter since she's been asking for one for months and I haven't gotten around to making it.  So that is today's project, and then some knitting.  I think I finally found a knitting pattern I can follow..............lol.