Log Cabin Tote Bag

More and more I find myself trying to come up with homemade gift ideas for birthdays and special occasions.  Now that I'm getting more confidence in my sewing skills and willing to try new things, it's a little easier.  I have a friend that knits and I really enjoy all the things she has made for me, so I know homemade stuff makes a great gift.

One of the teachers I've supported the last 2 years just had a milestone birthday so I decided to make her a tote bag.  What girl doesn't like a good selection of bags??  I used beautiful batik fabrics - they make everything look richer and deeper with their wonderful colors and patterns.  I followed a pattern from AllPeopleQuilt.com.

I love having sewing gal pals to bounce ideas off of.  Deanna helped me pick the fabric colors, and Dionne and Judi gave me the button closure idea.  The pattern doesn't call for a closure so it had to be done after the fact.  I made a skinny strip of fabric and since it couldn't be installed between the lining and bag without taking it apart, I tied the ends and put beads on so it would look like a decorative addition.  I used 2 different colored beads because of the two tone log cabin.  Since I haven't met a girl yet that doesn't like a little bling, I added the jewels along the bottom edge of the blue as well.  I think it really finished the bag off and made a big difference in the final outcome.


I have a confession to make: every time I walked by the bag I couldn't help but admire it.  It was probably the sparkles... they make everything better!

I was going to put homemade cookies in the bag, but ran out of time to bake them.  I put my favorite historical fiction novel in, "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet".  A friend from England said whenever they gift a bag or purse they always put a coin in for good luck.  I found one from her birth year and added that too.

Happy Birthday Nicole!

~ Enjoy ~

Tote Bag #1 - If I Didn't Knit

First of all, I should mention there is a swear word on the bag, so anyone sensitive to language don't look at the picture.  I posted this image on a quilting forum and they deleted it because it was vulgar.   Go figure. 

A little history... I met Peggy through my friend Judi.  Peggy is Judi's best friend and as a reader of the blog you might remember Judi is a dear friend of mine, and the one that got me into quilting.  Over the holidays I saw a tote bag Peggy made that I absolutely loved.  I got the pattern but by the time I got around to using it the holidays were over. 

I had some fabric of cats playing in a basket with balls of yarn; when I found it I knew I was going to use it for my friend Renee who has two grey tabby cats and she knits.  In fact, she is the best darn knitter I know.  She makes amazing, beautiful stuff!  I decided to make that fabric into the Crabapple Hill tote bag and change the Christmas center into a panel that goes with it. 

I found some clip art, added the text, and traced it onto my center panel fabric.  From there I colored the picture with Crayola Crayons, heat set the color, then hand stitched along my tracing lines and made the bag.  My husband, who is incredibly clever, came up with the phrase on the bag since I was struggling with something funny to put on there.  I finished it off with Swarovski crystals for the eyes, nose, and to dot the I's.

I hope you like it Renee!