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I love the messenger bag pattern from Zakka Style. I must have used it close to 15 times by now. My mom commissioned 6 more when she visited a few weeks ago. I did a "rush order" on the Ostrich one so she could give it as a belated birthday gift and I made the rest to take home when I went to the wedding last weekend.

I had a lot of fun mixing and matching prints and colors for all the bags. I also enjoyed using different techniques to embellish the front flaps.

Bag #1 - Reds and browns. I used some Flea market fancy and Birds and the bees in this one. I love how versitile and sophisticated it looks. The main body of the bag is a gray duck canvas.

 

Bag #2 - Purples and oranges. I toned down the bright purple and orange with some green architectures in the inside flap. I used freezer paper applique on the front. The main body of the bag is a gray duck canvas.

 

Bag #3 - Purple paw print! This one has a raw edge appliqued paw print. The inside is loads of fun with bright colors and some fruits. You can't see it but the outside pockets are lined with snail fabric. I had a lot of fun mixing prints and colors in this one. The main body of the bag is Essex yarn dyed linen in denim.

 

Bag #4 - Purple Explosison. This one is for my mom. She went through my stash and pulled out ALL my purples. She requested that I use them all and I tried to restrain her but it didn't work. In the end I used a little bit of almost all my purples. I also added some decorative stitching on the front flap. The main body of the bag is Essex yarn dyed linen in black.

 

Bag #5 - Purple Diamond. This one just might be my favorite. I used some New Leaf and waterfront park. I love how the purples and orange really pop with the main fabric (Essex yarn dyed linen in black). 

Can you tell most of my mom's friends really love purple?? Thanks for being my best client, Mom! Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and TGIFF which is over at Quilter in the Closet today.

It's been a while...

Oh Hai! I'm back. I lost my sewjo for a spell there but thankfully it was only temporary. Here is a finish from about two weeks ago. Another Zakka Style messenger bag. This one is for my aunt Kathy. She is a kookie geologist who lives on a farm and owns goats and alpacas. I aspire to grow up just like her!!

Ostrich fabric appliqued on the front is perfectly fitting. My mom commissioned this bag and she said she and Kathy are the two old birds.

The body of the bag is yarn dyed linen in denim. The inside is lined with birds and the bees fabric. The pockets are a dinosaur text print (Geology rocks!!) The inside flap is a honeybee print that I wish I bought more of.

The strap is a home dec fabric that has an underwater scene on it. I like that the turtles and fish peep out from the sea fronds.

It is a good thing I love making these bags. My mom commissioned another 5 from me.

I hope I didn't lose too many readers in that dry spell.

Messengers galore.

Three more messenger bags from Zakka Style. Commissioned by my mom for a few family members.

 

I really can't decide which is my fav.

I pulled all the fabrics from my stash and scavenged for the hardware. I didn't have to buy anything new to make these and that is so satisfying.

 

The left one is the inside of the octopus bag, the middle one is the left of the ribbons bag and the right one is the inside of the dragonfly bag.

 

This bag was made for my cousin who loves dragonflies. She is graduating from college this December. The inside is bright with pinks and purples.

 

This one is for another cousin who loves octopi. She is so fun and funky so I had a great time finding fabrics for her.  The outer pockets are lined with robots from the mastermind collection at connecting threads. 

The inner flap is a sea turtle from the same fabric that I used for the octopus on the outside. I also used some crazy multicolored dots for the inside and a green Nicey Jane print. Happy Birthday Anna, hope you like it.

This bag is for my Aunt's birthday. She used to work for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and this print reminded me of seaweed. I love the inside of this one. Purple, pink and yellow.

Got these done marathon style over the weekend so my mom could take them back with her to Baltimore on Monday. I hope everyone likes their new bags! And once again I was coerced into making things not on my list for 2012 finishes. It really isn't hard to distract me. ooh shiny thing...

A few weekend finishes

Sometimes you sew all weekend and it feels like you made little progress. This was not one of those weekends.

Wine totes as a christmas gift for my labs gift exchange. We are doing a dirty santa thing or something.

Used this pattern from Needle and Spatula blog. I found it on Pinterest. I made one slight but significant alteration to the pattern that I think will make construction a lot easier. I did not cut out the holes in the outer or lining fabric before sewing the two pieces together. Instead I lined them up, drew my stitch line onto the backside of the outer fabric, stitched it and then cut out the center. That way you don't have to worry about lining up any holes or sewing things that are cut on the bias. Make sense?

Artsy!

I also finished two of my Christmas pillows. Only one more to do for those of you keeping track of that sort of thing.

This one is QAYG log cabins. I decided to do binding to finish this one.

 

Spinning stars pillow complete. Hand quilted and trimmed with little pom-poms. Aww.

 

Close up of all my hard work.

Yep I also made another Zakka messenger bag. I love this pattern. This one is a commissioned piece for one of my very cool coworkers.

 

I used canvas for the outside to give it some durability. Habitat prints in the lining and outer pockets, Hope valley for the inner pockets and bias tape.

 

Back of the bag and back of my pup. HA.

Mucho thanks to Kim for finding the hardware for this bag.

Linking up with Plum and June Monday link up. 

And with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesdays

Zakka Style: A review

Here is a review of all the projects from the Zakka Style book by Rashida Coleman-Hale. I made 14 of the 24 projects for the Zakka Style SAL. That's more than half!

You can also check it out on my flickr for additional photos.

Week 24: Nested boxes

Blogged here.

The best part: Being able to nest them - and quilting such a manageable sized project is always a treat.

The worst part: hand-stitching the boxes together

Would I make it again: Yes

Week 20- Little pocket pillowcase

Blogged here.

The best part: Making the pocket

The worst part: The pillow hem not lining up with the body. 

Would I make it again: The pocket for sure. I may try again on the pillowcase but I would not construct it the way it was presented.

Week 18- bread basket

The best part: fussy cut chickens!

The worst part: Stitching the tight corners of the handles.

Would I make it again: Maybe, I don't know what I would do with it. This one was used for transporting cookies and then for holding my thread spools

Week 17- linen bag

The best part: playing with different patchworks on the front

The worst part: realizing it is too small to be functional

Would I make it again: Yes but I would resize it.

Week 16- patchwork ribbon

The best part: Using the last little bits of scraps from my mom's bargello quilt. And I get to wrap up the quilt with this ribbon

The worst part: The raw edges fraying

Would I make it again: Yes if I had long strips of patchwork leftover from a project.

Week 14- water bottle holder

The best part: Quilting the bottom

The worst part: Sewing on buttons

Would I make it again: Yes but I would make it taller.

Week 13- patchwork potholders

The best part: making the patchwork top and having the pleasure of sewing bias binding around a curve (not sarcasm!)

The worst part: none that I can remember.

Would I make it again: Yes. These will make great gifts.

Week 11- Orchard path pouch

The best part: English paper piecing for the first time.

The worst part: Getting the corners to match up

Would I make it again: Yes. It is a great size. It currently houses all my dry erase markers.

Week 10- Zip organizer

The best part: Picking out crazy neon fabric for the case.

The worst part: finishing it with the zipper and lots of layers. It does not look polished. Just don't look too close

Would I make it again: Yes. I need to try it again to perfect it

Week 9- Stem messenger bag

The best part: Picking out leaf fabrics and making my own strap. This was also my first bag

The worst part: Top stitching through many layers.

Would I make it again: Obviously. I made two of the messenger bags. I think this was my favorite projects. The first one I followed the book. The second one just has an elephant on the front. I whipped it up in a frenzy for a friend who needed a large bag for a trip she was taking the next day.

Week 8- Zakka block quilt

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The best part: Quilting zig-zag lines. I also really liked the fabric I chose and making the back. And  also everything about this cause I like quilts the best. Oh, I donated it so that felt pretty good too!

The worst part: Nothing.

Would I make it again: Yes! The top came together in one night. I made the whole thing in a weekend even with all the quilting.

Week 7- mug rug

The best part: rain lines

The worst part: my swirls in the clouds look baaaad.

Would I make it again: Maybe. I don't really get mug rugs.

Week 6- magnets

The best part: fussy cut bun

The worst part: turning it right side out and stitching it closed

Would I make it again: Sure

Week 3- patchwork pincushion

The best part: using the baking girl scouts patch 

The worst part: Getting the button just so.

Would I make it again: Yes.

Weeks I skipped:

Week 23- message board (eh, not my cuppa tea)

Week 22- pleated coin purse (maybe if I run across a metal frame)

Week 21- photo frame (not enough sewing for my taste)

Week 19- sweet sugar cookie sack (maybe when I have kids)

Week 15- elephant bookmark (bookmarks don't fit in my kindle)

Week 12- hand warmers (maybe but not with creepy faces)
Week 5- patchwork pencil case (I really want to make this)
Week 4-Sewing kit (will make eventually)
Week 2-house pouch (could be fun)
Week I- zig-zag tote (on my to do list)

Thank you to Lindsey and Amy for hosting! Also thank you readers because I just hit 1000 pageviews!!