Project Work Bags

These project bags have been on my list to make for quite some time. I decided I would use up some of my “I Love to Quilt Blocks” blocks from here. I had an idea of what I wanted to make and looked at a number of tutorials; this was one I followed.

Here is are some of the things I though about as I made my bags.

1. Borders: The bag would be big enough to carry 12 1/2″ unfinished blocks. My blocks would finish at 12″, so I wanted to add borders to make the block/bag finish around 16″. I used 2 1/2″ borders for the blocks.

2. Iron on Vinyl: These blocks are appliquéd using a fusible. Some are sewn down, some are not. I decided that putting some of the Heat-N-Bond Iron-on Vinyl* on the block would do 2 things: 1) preserve the letters from getting destroyed, and 2) allow things to move in and out of the bag easily.

3. Quilting: I wanted some stability so I used Soft and Stable* rather than batting. I love the way it worked out. It really does make the bag stable. I quilted in the ditch then a few lines through the center of the blocks.

4. Zippers & Vinyl Window: I attached 2 – 3″ wide strips of cotton fabric to either side of the zipper, folded edged toward zipper teeth. One had had 1/4″ folded and pressed toward the wrong side to accommodate the vinyl. The the clear vinyl* was cut at about 12-13″. A third piece of cotton fabric was used attached to the bottom of the bag, again folded in half and with a folded hem that enclosed the vinyl – raw edges towards the edge of the quilted piece.

5. Handles & Binding: I needed 70″ of binding and 32″ of ribbon to finish the bags. I sewed the handles down first, the binding second. I also sewed the binding to the back and brought it to the from to be sewn down by machine.

Miracle of miracles my new machine did not balk once at any of the fabrics or thickness. My only struggle was keeping the vinyl off the table as it would get stuck, but it was actually pretty easy once I encountered it a few times! I think the bags are looking for some projects to be put into them, and I have a few I can use to fill them up!

Now, if we could only get out and sew with our buddies, but for, it will have to hold some future projects and look pretty in my studio! This is one of my UFOs for 2020 ….only 1 more to finish for the PhD and 1 new project. This is also my one monthly goal (OMG) for this month.

Coming Up on the Blog:
#TTot22 – 12/22
2020 Monthly Color Block Finish
Punch Needle UFO 12/28
My Stitching Resolution 12/30
Best of 2020
#2021PlanningParty

Linking Up:
PhD in 2020
OMG

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