This summer the Camp Nerd Games challenged us to create a project using a round cookie cutter. Meanwhile, in the Quiltalong, @AudiobookLover challenged us to create our own fabric for a project. I decided to try combining the prompts, to see what I could come up with. I had a collection of Solar Printed fabrics that we created at the Midwest Meetup in 2023, that I had never used in a project. While it would fulfill the Quiltalong challenge, it also felt like I’d be cheating, because I had created the fabric in the past. So I decided to use the fabric I had created, to create new fabric specifically for that challenge.
I took the cookie cutter from the Nerd Games, and used it to draw out circles on one of each color of my solar prints. That didn’t feel like enough to work with, so I went looking for other shapes. I ended up finding a larger circle cutter, that came with a kids handprint kit, and a star shaped cookie cutter we used to make Christmas ornaments last year. I traced one of each on each of the colors too. I found a fat quarter in my stash of white on white polka dots, and layered the shapes on top, trying to get an even balance of colors.
I did some wonky quilting stitching on the edge of each one, going around 3-4 times per shape with white thread. Then some meandering quilting with white thread in the background area. I trimmed the whole thing down and cut it into two panels.
For the bottoms I quilted some solid black with straight line quilting, and an extra layer of fabric, to make the bottom really sturdy. I used black cotton webbing for the handles, catching it in the seam between the top and bottom, and stitching it down along the top panels.
After it was fully assembled, I added and extra square and X of stitching through all the layers, to make it stronger. Inside there is a single 6" deep pocket on one side, featuring one of the solar prints of bugs & buttons, and large enough to fit a wallet.
On the opposite side, there is one long pocket 6" deep, that I created out of 3 solar prints, then stitched channels in on each seam line, to turn it into 3 pockets. The blue section is definitely big enough for a large smartphone; the pink can hold pens and lip balm, and the yellow is a larger section that could hold something like a planner.
It’s pretty big tote; about 17 " tall, 13" across, 4" deep. Here it is holding 18 kids picture books from the library! There’s even room for more, if my shoulder could take it.
Thanks to both the Camp Nerd Games and Quiltalong for continuing to inspire us all to create more each and every day!
). Lovely bag all around!