A New Bag…and the Blog Tour Day Six

While at International Quilt Market last month my friend Kaitlyn shared with me a new bag pattern, the Carry On! Travel Bag designed by Annie Unrein. I immediately fell in love with the design, and when Kaitlyn told me a small sewing machine could fit in the bag for travel…well…that’s all it took for me to purchase the pattern and put this project at the top of my list. The pattern, the zippers, and all of the hardware to make the bag are all available on Annie’s website which makes it nice for someone like me (I live in a rural area with not much access to specialty notions and trims).

I used three coordinating prints from Vanessa’s Simply Color collection (the third print isn’t pictured…I used it for the lining of the bag). There are lots of pockets–both regular slip pockets and zippered ones, and the directions are absolutely terrific. The interior has a large zipper pocket and three smaller slip pockets. The exterior of the bag has four slip pockets with a zipper pocket. Every step in the pattern is clearly detailed and easy to follow. I used Annie’s Soft & Stable for my bag; Soft & Stable is a stabilizer which gives bags and other home-decor items more body than they would have when using just batting or fusible fleece. I’ve used this material before and recommend it for the bags in my book. I had the lining, Soft & Stable, and outer bag fabric made into a quilt “sandwich” and quilted with an all-over pattern before I cut any of the pieces.

I really recommend this pattern. Highly recommend it! I haven’t made any of the other popular travel bag patterns, so I can’t compare it with anything else; however, making this bag was not difficult. It does take some time, though you can make it in a day if you don’t have a lot of other things to do. I really recommend (as the pattern suggests) using Clover binding clips instead of pins when you need to secure the layers–they were a wonderful help. Every edge is finished with binding, so there won’t be any unraveling anywhere. The results are absolutely professional because the pattern is so clearly written. And…I ‘ve already put my Janome Gem Platinum travel machine inside for a try-out…and it fit–with room to spare!
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Okay…now on to the blog tour stop for today! I can’t even tell you how much fun I have been having reading the posts…everyone has shared wonderful tips ideas and recipes! Today’s stop on the blog tour is at Amanda Murphy’s blog. Amanda also recently published a book with C&T which is absolutely beautiful! I was able to attend Amanda’s SchoolHouse presentation which was informative and inspiring! I first met Amanda a couple of years ago at market, and she is another one of those people that is just so very nice to visit with and talk to. She is incredibly creative, and I always enjoy visiting with her and seeing what she is up to!

Stop by Amanda’s blog today for a delicious recipe and a fun game to enter for a chance to win a copy of my book (International winners will receive an e-copy). Don’t forget that you can enter any of the giveaways on any of the blogs until June 14th after which winners will be announced.

Monday June 3^rdNanette at Freda’s Hive http://fredashive.blogspot.com/
Tuesday June 4^thSinta from Pink Pincushion http://pinkpincushion.blogspot.com/
Wednesday June 5^th Jodi from Pleasant Home http://www.pleasant-home.com/
Thursday June 6^th Judi from Green Fairy Quilts http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.com/
Friday June 7^thLissa of ModaLissa http://modalissa.blogspot.com/
Saturday June 8^th Amanda of AmandaMurphyDesign http://amandamurphydesign.blogspot.com/
Sunday June 9^thAnna of Thimbleanna http://thimbleanna.com/
Monday June 10^th Amy Smart of Diary of a Quilter http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/
Tuesday June 11^th Kristyne of Pretty by Hand http://prettybyhand.com/
Wednesday June 12^thSherri of A Quilting Life https://aquiltinglife.com/

Thanks so much for stopping by!