My First Charmed Bag

5" tumbler

I spied the bright yellow and black design of Lemon Tree and knew immediately this CHARM was ideal for my dream quilted bag!
I chose the "Natalie Dawn 5"tumbler" http://www.missouriquiltco.com for the shape of my blocks.
Assembling the charms gave me enough fabric for the front and back panels, leaving six charms for inside pockets.

Tumblers sewn into one piece

Once I had the tumblers sewn together, I sandwiched with cotton batting and a stiff interfacing. Then, I quilted the front and back, using the "stitch in the ditch" method.

Inside pockets made with charms

The pockets already make me smile. I know it'll be so fun digging into my bag and finding these cute little side pockets! It might even make it easier to find the tiny things!

Solid black quilted for stability

For the bottom, bands, and straps, I chose a solid black fabric, quilting the bottom & side bands in one inch squares to give a stable, but cute look. The zipper is 22" allowing a good view of the contents of my finished bag.

Wrong! Little black bands need to go on top!

Ach! My difficulty began in the middle of assembling the assortment of pieces to make this 3-sectioned bag. The flat instructions convinced me that I needed dimensional visuals to combine the inside sections with the outer pieces! So, I carried all my pieces to a nearby fabric store where 4 of us mulled over the instructions, leaving me even more confused!

Dream Bag!

My dreams of carrying this quilted bag were sacked and stuffed in the project bin to wait for an attitude adjustment! I knew I needed help to calmly read and visualize the instructions again. Hindering my progress was not the well-written instructions, but quite evidently, a mistake in my assembling efforts.

Two weeks later, I brought my mess to a co-worker. She looked at my meager attempt and the assortment of pieces. She read, re-read the instructions, checking all my markings, then re-reading again! She decided to carry my project home and look at it in leisure, but, to my surprise, she returned shortly to excitedly showed me where I had made my terrible mistake! Two pieces were sewn upside down, muddling my attempts at the next step!

Taking shape!

From that moment on, I longed for the workday to end so that I could run home to my sewing machine! It would take a little "reverse sewing" (ripping out) before I could re-piece the order of assembly, but I now I had vision!

The mess is beginning to take the shape of a quilted bag.
One more good FRIDAY NIGHT SEW-IN should give me ample time to complete this beautiful bag and have it ready to accessorize my yellow/black suit for Sunday church!