Thursday, May 16, 2013

Folded Fabric Star: Tote Bag Edition

Though my soul may set in darkness,
It will rise in perfect light,
I have loved the stars too fondly
To be fearful of the night.
–Sarah Williams

Once upon a time, I saw a really cool folded fabric star. And so, of course, I had to make my own.

I went to the tutorial, decided I was definitely not going to make a pot holder, got my fabrics ready and made a tote bag. Geta deserves the credit for the tote bag idea. I made the straps nice and long so that I could comfortably put it over my shoulder and not have the bag hitting me just under the armpit.

I had most of this bag finished before I dropped Grace off for her three-week spa vacation on April 10th. As a matter of fact, on the day I took her in I only needed to put on the binding around the top of the bag, but didn't dare take the time to do it for fear of missing the repair man's pick-up time {which is not an exact time; just whenever he gets to the shop on that particular Wednesday} and have to wait another week. By the time I got Grace back on May 3rd, I'd moved on to other things and this bag sat for another couple of weeks. Sometime very early this week, or maybe even late last week, I lost my mojo. I got kind of worried there for a bit, when my funk lasted for more than a day or two and my desire to sew completely vanished. I picked this back up with the hope that doing something easy that would lead to a quick finish would put me back in my groove. It didn't really. I finished this several days ago and wasn't super excited about it. Eventually my mojo came back all on its own, though, and I am really happy with how it turned out.

The red center of the star isn't quite large enough. While I actually did read through the directions, when it came time to place the fabrics, I just looked at the pictures and missed the part about moving the second fabric ½” down from the first and leaving ¼” between fabrics after that. But there was no way I was unpicking. Next time I'll remember. And there probably will be a next time because I need a cool tote bag for church. I added an extra color, using nine fabrics instead of just eight. To compensate, I increased the base fabric and the width of the fabric rectangles by ½”. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I kept the quilting simple. Actually, I just copied the quilting in the tutorial, not wanting to distract from the star of the show, the folded fabric star. And I didn't think the bag itself needed anything fancy, either. I just did straight lines on the front and diamonds, or intersecting lines at a 45˚ angle on the sides and back.

I'm using this as my “go bag” for hand sewing projects. I almost always take a little something to work on when I know I'm going to be sitting and waiting, like at the doctor's office or the driver license division or a book signing. I've been using ziplock bags, which keep the project clean, but they're a little tricky to juggle when the waiting stops and the business to attend to commences. I'll keep my Stitchy Kit inside it all the time, and I'll probably still use ziplock bags to hold my projects, but I'll slip those inside the tote bag when it is time to go. Functional and fabulous, no?

Today's post brought to you by:
Show Off Friday at Pieceful Life

My 2013 Finishes

23 comments:

Kristy @ Quiet Play said...

That is such a gorgeous bag!! Love it!

Schulz Family said...

Wow fabulous and the sewing kit is to die for.

mom said...

wow pretty cool!

elizabeth said...

Gorgeous, I have been wanting to try that folded star!
Well done : )

Paulette said...

That is beautiful, E.! Makes me wish I could reach through the screen to touch it--all that wonderful, colorful texture!

Sarah @ Georgia Girl Quilts said...

That star is gorgeous. I absolutely love it!

Mara said...

I love it, this is gorgeous, I want to make one now too!

Richard Healey said...

I love that start it is fantastic. They did a demo of how to do those at our quilt guild meeting would love to try one some day.

Shay said...

It's so beautiful and uniquely different E. Love it !

Lane said...

It's lovely Elizabeth. It must have taken a good bit of patience and it came out wonderfully. Lane

Jennifer Lovell said...

Go ahead and put this in your pile of cutest creations ever, okay? I love rainbow things. This one is super fun, practical, and I just love it. Great job!

Jill said...

My kids love to pack a Go bag. Thing is, they often don't use most of what they pack. I'm sure that won't be the case with your LOVELY Go bag. Awesome!

Geta Grama said...

Glad to see it finishing on a bag, Elizabeth! I love the colors and the texture! Love your other rainbow items too!

Jennifer @ Quilts by Jen said...

wow wow wow. Love that star. Thanks for sharing it on LAFF so we could see it!

Pat Bravo said...

I love that you used my Indie fabrics! It's beautiful! Please enter your project in my Instagram contest! http://patbravodesign.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-groovy-instagram-contest.html

Thanks again and good luck!

Peach Rainbow said...

Just saw this on Pat Bravo's Pinterest board.
It's so beautiful :D

laura g said...

I stopped scrolling on my computer when i spotted this star!! it is just stunnimg1 i HAVE to make one,,,, or two,,,, or maybe three! I really love this! your choice of colors is beautiful, I can see this as all kinds of gifts,,, is so many colors,, I just might have to make myself a couple a tote bags too! than k you so much for the inspiration!
laura-g

Anonymous said...

Glad you got your MoJo back I know that feeling and it sucks.
You do such beautiful work.
thanks for sharing

Unknown said...

Semplicemente S T U P E N D A!!!!

Maria - Pink Pony Design said...

So much fun to see my tutorial used in such a fantastic way! =D Lovely bag and star! <3

Jan Skewes said...

Wow can I do that

Unknown said...

I thank you for that wonderful work , am new in quilting and still learning.

Unknown said...

Wow that is wonderful Quilting, am new still learning and am loving it.