Carry All Tote, a fun new project using Curated Blooms fabric.

Time for a new project! 

There is something fun about making tote bags and I still just love my pattern, Carry All Tote.  It's such a fun and relatively easy pattern. 

The first thing to do is to sew a bunch of 2 1/2" strips together, I used one Rolie Polie (jelly roll) of my Curated Blooms fabric.  I really loved piecing the strips together in what looks like a natural ombre effect.  I also did a little bit of strip piecing and moving those strips in a kind of bargello effect for parts of the bag.  You can see in the photo above how the piecing looked.

I love how it turned out with the piecing and the quilting. I used a simple muslin for the backing, knowing it would be covered up, and one layer of batting.  I did a quick and simple edge to edge swirl on my computerized quilting machine.  

The outside of the bag has a fun little pocket and I got to add my favorite green fabric as a nice little accent. It goes well with the bargello look. 

It is so fun having all 21 patterns of Curated Blooms fabric line in one project like this.  The orientation of the bag and the flap complement each other nicely. 

I admit I was a little worried about the flap of the bag going well with the back of the bag, the side with the green shown above, but once I got the whole bag situated it looked a lot better. 

The main cream print of Curated Blooms is perfect for the inside of the bag.  I really love how it came together with the auburn and blush prints. 

This bag is perfect for me to carry my computer and my graph paper for writing patterns.  I take it with me when I travel. 

It really is a fun and simple pattern and it was so lovely being able to finish a project.  I don't get into the studio as much as I would like to, so this was a treat.