Exclusive Retreat and Show N Tell Bag! (Design Wall Monday)

Sometimes you gotta stop "planning" a project...and just DO IT!   My sweet friend Kathy Case and I have been collecting "Sewing Notions" Fabric for as long as we can remember.    Never knew what we were going to do with them all.   But there was always this undeniable pull to buy them.   Usually just a fat quarter, sometimes yardage.   I mean what can you REALLY do with all these fabrics that call to us but have a 18-24" repeat??   How can you cut into it??  But you have to have them right?!

We piled them all into totes and started sharing, digging and cutting.   5 1/2" squares we thought, that's big enough to be able to fussy cut some of the really cute things in the fabric.  We were looking for a quilt to do together, but 5 1/2" squares seemed just too big to really have any kind of actual pattern.   Plus, this isn't one of those things you can really use a color palette for.  But every fabric has scissors, sewing machines, spools of thread, a quilt block, a pincushion....something!

Sewing Notions & Quilting Themed Fabric Pile

We made sure we had at LEAST a 5 1/2" square of each other's fabric.   Some of the prints where small, so those were turned into 4 patchs  (3" x 3" squares to get 5 1/2")  More importantly, friendship is in this bag.  Fabrics gifted over the years from Rosie, Lois, Kathy, Vicki, SueBabe... Just because.   Fabrics won in our guild silent auction at Spring & Fall retreats. They are all in there.   And to top it off!   We were contagious!   Jerilyn has one!  Lori had 5 and made two more with us!  Marlene has one!   And even Charlotte climbed up on the wagon!

Modified Chubby Charmer Bag

The pattern is called "Chubby Charmer Tote Pattern".   The Designer is Penny Sturges and the publisher is Quilts Illustrated.   You can get the pattern here if you are interested.  Or ask your local quilt shop to order it!   The pattern called for (48) 5" squares, great project for a charm pack!   Like I said, we modified the pattern. We went with 66 5 1/2" squares and left off the corners from each side. It was already a BIG bag to start with.  Now it's HUuuuuuge!   

Love this tote!

Those are REALLY big bananas mind you, but it gives you an idea.   The reason it's so big is because not only did we have MORE than enough Sewing Notions Fabric to make every square different, but we wanted to be able to use our bags specifically for retreats!   Nothing ever seems to fit our sheets, clothes, towel and a quilt for the bed.   Now we have one!    

Had to add Magnet Snaps 

I just added the Magnet snaps to both sides of mine so that when it's NOT completely stuffed full, the corners would fold in.   Otherwise, you can't get through doorways without rubbing up against something, or risking tearing the bag. 

The second reason we wanted them so big is that when we go to guild meetings, we are SO proud to be showing off our completed quilts.   How sad is it that we stuff them in a garbage bag or something equivalent in order to be able to "hide & carry" them until the moment of the big reveal??   Well no more for this girl!   I can fit two (or probably more) queen size quilts in this baby!!   Woot Woot!   

Holds TWO full quilts!

Kathy did her lining with this cute little sea-green fabric that appeared at the last minute!   So I took a piece of that just before I sewed the final seams and made an interior pocket out of it!    I'm going to find a pigment pen and write on it "Kathy's lining - had to have it!"

So that's what I did all weekend!!   Excited to be just in time to post it for "Design Wall Monday!" Take a peek at other design walls over at Patchwork Times and Monday Making!

EDITED & UPDATED: I forgot to mention a REALLY important detail!  My appreciation for the Singer Model 301 was completely renewed doing this project!  I used my Vintage Suzy Centennial Singer 99 to piece the blocks together.  But then I snapped the belt on her (my fault, it was an old rubber one that was cracked, I had been meaning to replace it).   So I bounced over to my tablemate's Singer 301 to finish up.  The side\bottom seams on this bag are as follows: (Main fabric, batting, Lining + Main Fabric, batting, Lining)... 6 layers.   This is where it gets good!!   With the plastic machines that I USED to use, I would have been hesitant to even try to top-stitch around the rim when I was done.   That sweet little 301 didn't even hesitate, groan or growl!   So that top-stitch went through 6 layers, PLUS the folded seam allowances from both sides!   That is 12 LAYERS!!   Perfect stitch all the way around.   That, in my humble opinion, is the end all to be all selling point of these beautiful gear-driven machines!