for the first time in forever, i did a swap!
there was awhile back where i did a LOT of swaps (primarily in my craftster days) but it also seems like the swapping concept totally died out on instagram. it is weird how these things come in waves. anywho, my friend angelina added me to her online crew of sewing/quilting type and at some point during one of the saturday night hangouts, they suggested a halloween themed swap.
simple small item, sounded easy enough, so why not put off all other things and jump on in?
sounds like my style.
once the wait was over, i was given angelina's name to create something for. i decided that i would create a tote bag using one of the fussy cut sampler blocks from the class she did in 2018, but make it "spooky." i switched between a handful of fabric ideas before settling on using a bunch of the fabrics from moda's ghouls and goodies. this line was just TOO CUTE to pass up, and PERFECT for fussy cutting.
i used one of the blocks from chapter 6 (
see the catasaurus version here) and the majority of it all is the ghouls and goodies line. the black squares are moda grunge (holla!) and the witch boots i believe are riley blake. those teeny tiny kitties were just too cute to not arrange this way!
when crating the front of the back itself, i used this star print i picked up locally from
swifty stitches. i didn't use a specific tutorial for the bag/block placement, but instead just doodled up some measurements in my bullet journal and went for it. the bottom strip is probably an inch bigger than the top one, just to give it a little more weight visually. things i learned in photography classes do in fact pay off with quilting!
for the back of the bag, i considered just doing a solid... but i kind of went on an impulse buying spree and had so many cure prints leftover that i hadn't used yet! i made 3 strips of fabrics of varying colorways and prints, pieced them together and wha laa! one fabulous bag back. as far as the quilting goes, i primarily did a stitch in the ditch on both the front and the back of the bag, and then did a skinny straight line stitch on all the black. on the front, the vertical and horizontal lines intersect in the corners. keeping it simple sure helped my sanity! i probably should have layered the batting with some muslin to stabilize it a little bit better when quilting, but i still think it turned out great.
the purple clothesline from the collection was something that i instantly knew would be the lining. i couldn't bring myself to cut it up and loose bits of it because of how insanely cute it was. i sewed up the sides, squared up the bottom and then attached at the top. i should have left a hole in the side to flip it right side out, but instead i left the hole in the top and closed it up when top stitching. if i made a tote again, which could easily happen, that is what i'd do instead.
fot the straps i started off a little bit wider, but once i got the inner witch boot strips cut, they needed to come down a smidge, so the focal could be on the boots in the center of the lining. i kept the star black consistent on top and sewed the 3 layers together before flipping right side out. top stitched the edge and about a quarter of an inch away and they were perfect! i also wanted to include one of my new quilt tags on to my bag, so after realizing i could have sewn it in the seam of the lining (fail) i cut it down to size and sewed it on to the inside of the strap. i love how it turned out there, and i might just need to order some square tags now specifically for these kinds of projects!
while i might tweak the creation process of this bag, i have no regrets in the final result!
i'm so glad i went with this one line of fabric... and it honestly made me want to keep making fussy cut sampler blocks for a halloween quilt. but then i swiftly reminded myself i have a list a mile long to deal with, and that fleeting idea will have to wait for another day (or year).
happy spooky season!
