Hot Blossom Tote

The July Tote project from Stitchin' Heaven uses Hot Blossom fabrics by Josephne Kimberling for Robert Kaufman to make a huge , curvy bucket style tote bag. The pattern is free from several sites and includes a pattern for a cute little coin purse.

The pattern is pretty straight forward but that didn't stop me from changing it to meet my individual needs. Here's what I came up with:

The curvy shape is simple delicious. I added ties on the sides to accentuate the curviness and to make the top opening smaller. Without the ties the opening is a 6" x 11" , with the ties tied tightly the opening about 2" x 11". Untied this bag could hold a whole shopping trip of purchases, at least two shoe boxes of goodies, tied it still holds quite a lot, just with a smaller opening. Other adjustments included using fusible fleece on the front and back instead of interfacing, quilting the front and back panels and the addition of Timtex in the bottom and half way up the sides for a firmer bottom. I did add a hanging cell phone pocket and no other pockets are included.

I made the coin purse before I made the bigger bag. That was a good choice on my part as it gave me some time to experiment with the tiny ruffles. The coin case is supposed to be closed with a magnetic catch which seemed odd to me so I use a little zipper as a closure. Its cute but I think I should make another if I ever gave this away.

The magazine included this month was the magazine with its annual top ten quiilt shops. I always enjoy that issue as it is fun to see shops that you can't physically visit. Also, each shop designs a quilt that generally is easy and a neat varation on an old favorite.

I am still enjoying this monthly program and can't wait to see what they come up with each month. I was shopping the other day at Dillard's while carrying the Simply 'Bow'dacious bag from this program. The buyer came up to me and wanted to know where I got the bag and if I had others to sell to her. I am not a production sewer so this opportunity will probably pass but I certainly left with a bounce in my step. When I got home I did look at my stash in a different way.

I hope your week is going well. I am still praying for rain and with any luck tomorrow thunderstorms will bring a few needed inches of rain. Wish I knew a rain dance.