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You are here: Home / Archives for quilting

How to sew a quilted tote bag

August 1, 2018 By Kirsty 12 Comments

You really, really need a quilted tote bag. You might not know it yet, but you do!

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Tote bags are super handy for carrying things, and carrying them gently. We’ve had a few fabric library bags get holes in them from book corners. Quilted tote bags are much better at withstanding this type of wear.

Quilted tote bags are also very handy for long trips in the car (when the bag’s full of clothes, on the way to an overnight stay with grandparents) as they double as a pillow.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

This quilted tote bag came to be when I was sent some lovely fabric panels from a soon-to-be released fabric line called Alphabet Safari.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

The artwork is by a talented local Australian designer (Jennifer Bell of Creative Monsoon) and the fabric will be available in October. My youngest son saw the animal panels and fell head over heels in love with the lion, so I asked if he’d like a bag. A very big YES was the answer.

If you’d like a PDF of the instructions for this quilted tote bag pattern, you’ll find a spot to put in your email address at the bottom of the post.

What you need to make a quilted tote bag

two of the fabric panels, one for each side of the quilted tote

two fat quarters, one for each side of the quilted tote

one half yard of fabric for the lining

one fat quarter of fabric for the handles

2 pieces of batting approx. 19″ x 22-1/2″ each

Sewing your quilted tote bag

First of all, trim two of the individual panels from the yardage. It’s normal for printed designs not to be perfectly square, so don’t sweat it if you find you need to trim a bit extra on some parts.

From each of the fat quarters for the tote sides you need to cut 3 strips 3″ x 21″ and one strip 5″ x 21″.

All seams are a quarter inch.

Sew a 3″ strip to the long edges of the fabric panel, press to the dark side and trim the edges flush with the panel.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Then sew a 3″ strip to the top of the panel and a 5″ strip to the bottom, press to the dark side and trim edges flush with the panel.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Repeat this for the other panel with the other FQ strips.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Check that both of your panels are the same size (trim if required). Mine came out at 16- 3/8″ x 20-1/4″. Feel free to trim yours down to a rounder figure (I just wanted to maximise my fabric).

Quilt your fabric panels

Baste each panel to one of the batting pieces. I used basting spray, but basting pins will do the job too. I wanted to mention that I used this Dream Green quilt batting* . It’s made from recycled plastic bottles, which is fantastic! I’m not a fan of pure polyester for bed quilts, but for things like bags, table runners and wall hangings it’s a great choice. And now it’s more environmentally friendly!

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

For the quilting I decided to go with a cross hatch quilt design, which I marked out with a hera marker*.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

If you want a more structured bag then aim for lots of dense quilting. If a floppier, more pillow-worthy finish would suit you then ease up on the amount of quilting. Details of how I measured and marked my panels can be found in the PDF handout (see below to have it emailed to you).

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Once you’ve finished quilting your panels, trim them again to remove excess batting. You might find that you need to trim your panels down a smidge to get them square again. And you want them to both be the same size as we’re about to sew them together.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Sew the quilted tote bag outer layer

Place the panels right sides together and pin around 3 sides (leave the top edge open). Sew all 3 edges together. I used my walking foot as there are quite a few layers involved here.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Next we’re going to box the bottom corners, so that the bag has a bit of body. (I forgot to press my bag seams open before this step, I would recommend you do that first.) Keep the bag inside out, and pull the two panels apart down near the corner. The aim is to line up the bottom seam with the adjacent side seam and make a triangle from the corner.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

This triangle can be flattened down on your cutting mat (it should be close to a 90 degree triangle). Mark 2″ along each side and draw a diagonal line between the points with a pencil.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Sew along the pencil line and then trim the corner a quarter inch from the line.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Repeat with the other corner at the bottom of the bag. Turn the bag right side out and press.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Sew the quilted tote bag lining

From your half yard of fabric cut a piece 15-7/8″ x 40-1/4″. This measurement is based on my panels being 16-3/8″ x 20-1/4″ before I sewed them together. If you have trimmed your panels to a different size, this is how to work out what size you need to cut your lining:

Take a quarter inch away from your panel width measurement. Take your panel length and double it, then take away a quarter inch. Or for those of us who love equations:

[Panel width – 1/4″]  x [ (Panel length x 2) – 1/4″]

I like to make the lining a little smaller than the bag’s outer layer so it fits nicely in there.

Take the lining fabric and fold it in half along its length, and then sew down both sides (keep the top edge open).

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Leave the lining inside out and box the corners as we did for the bag outer. (Again, I forgot to iron my seams open, learn from my mistake!)

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Fold the top edge of the bag lining over a half inch toward the wrong side and press in place. Do the same for the bag outer layer.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Sew the tote bag handles

Take the fat quarter for your handles and cut two strips 4-1/2″ x 21″. Fold one strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. Open the strip up again and fold the long edges in from each side to meet in the middle, along the pressed line. Press in place.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Fold the fabric strip in half again, along the first pressed line. Both your raw edges are now nicely stowed away. Sew a seam down each side of the strip to hold it all in place. I like to sew several lines – I like the look and think it makes the handles a bit stronger. (If you’re concerned about strength you could also iron on a strip of interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric before you make the handles.) Do the same to the other strip so you have two handles.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Assemble your quilted tote bag

Here we go – we’re on the home stretch now. This is where the magic happens!

Take the bag outer (right side out) and the bag liner (wrong side out) and fit them together. The liner will be inside the bag outer and the wrong sides of each will be touching. Line up the folded top edges of both bag layers and then pin them together. Your handles need to be pinned in between the bag layers as well. Eye up where you’d like them to go and make sure there’s a good amount of handle between the layers (about 3/4″) so it’ll be well secured.

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

All that’s left to do is top stitch around the perimeter of the bag opening to secure the handles and join the bag liner to the outer layer. I like to do several rounds of top stitching because I know how much “love” my 7 year old gives his bags. I like those handles to be really secure!

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

And there you have it – a quilted tote bag. Soft and sturdy and ready for all manner of toting. 🙂

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Please feel free to save this tutorial to your Pinterest account. If you’d like a PDF copy of these instructions you can have it emailed to you by putting your email address in the box below. Please note that you’ll also receive my newsletter, which will keep you up to date with new tutorials, patterns and of course, outtakes. Everyone loves outtakes 🙂

Keep an eye out for Safari Alphabet fabrics in October – and if you’re a quilt shop and you’d like to stock this line, be sure to get in contact with Two Green Zebras!

Cheers and happy sewing,

Kirsty

Quilted Tote Bag pattern by Bonjour Quilts

*affiliate link

Filed Under: Blog, quilting, tutorial

Fleur Baby Quilt

May 6, 2018 By Kirsty 13 Comments

I do love a good mini quilt, but there does come a time when the walls don’t have room for any more. What to do with the pattern then? You could join several together to make a table runner, or you could include the block in a baby quilt.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

This is exactly what I decided to do with my Fleur Mini Quilt pattern.

Turn a mini quilt into a baby quilt

Putting four blocks together with some disappearing nine patch blocks makes for a fun 36.5″ x 42.5″ baby quilt.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

I had some purple fat quarters (this fabric* and this one*) from Alison Glass’ Chroma fabric line left over from another quilt. Given that Ultraviolet is this year’s Pantone Colour of the Year, I thought it a good idea to make some purple blooms.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

I made 3 blocks with the darker fabric dominant, and one block with the inverse.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

The four blocks were sewn in a column and set amongst some scrappy disappearing 9-patch blocks.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Because of the dimensions of the quilt it was quick to baste with a length of yardage. I quilted it on my machine with simple wavy lines across the horizontal axis and made binding from the leftovers of the light and dark purple fabrics.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

I machine sewed the binding for this quilt with a zigzag stitch. You can find a tutorial for how I like to do this here. It certainly makes for a quick finish.

Flower baby quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts

Sew your own

I have a project information sheet for this quilt – it builds on the instructions already in the Fleur Mini Quilt pattern to show how to turn the block into a baby quilt. It’s a free download for anyone on my newsletter list (you can join by putting your details in below):

And of course, this project sheet download would work with any pattern (a mini quilt or a standard block) you already have that finishes at 10.5″ (11″ unfinished). It’s a great way to quickly turn a few feature blocks into a lovely baby gift.

That’s it for today – happy sewing to all of you.

Don’t forget the 2018 Pantone Quilt Challenge is now open for entries. If you’ve got a purple-themed quilt, why don’t you enter too?

Fleur Baby Quilt

Dimensions: 36.5″ x 42.5″

Country: Australia

(*affiliate link)

Filed Under: quilt patterns, quilting

Fussy Cutters Club

October 20, 2017 By Kirsty 2 Comments

Angie Wilson of Gnome Angel has written a book!

Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book

It’s a ripper, as we like to say in Australia (meaning it’s great) so you should get yourself a copy – either via Amazon* (US) or the Book Depository (the rest of the world). You can also find all sorts of good info on the book (including details on the International Swap) at the Fussy Cutters Club website.

Reading the book, I was definitely inspired to try several projects (Angie’s advice makes fussy cutting achievable for anyone). I loved the idea of a rainbow of flying geese as seen in the Flock of Seagulls table runner project, but there was one problem – I don’t use table runners!

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

The two tables in my house that can accommodate a runner (dining table and coffee table) are always being used for painting, Lego, matchbox cars, board games and colouring-in. A table runner would just be pushed aside for the majority of the day. So what to do?

My solution to this problem was to convert the table runner into a baby quilt. That way I would have a bright and beautiful quilt to give as a gift.

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

I made the table runner from scraps and had a lot of fun deciding on my colour order.

Fabric Audition - Bonjour Quilts

Once the table runner patchwork was made I used it as a central panel and extended it into a 39″ x 49-1/2″ baby quilt with disappearing nine patch blocks.

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

If you’d like to do the same, I’ve got a PDF download that explains how I made mine (you’ll still need Angie’s book to make the table runner panel – my instructions just cover making it large enough to be a quilt). Pop your details in below to receive the PDF.

I used a Denyse Schmidt fabric for the backing and quilted with wavy lines, guided by the patchwork.

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

I used a mix of teal offcuts to make the binding.

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

I think it makes for a fun, scrappy and colourful quilt!

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

There are lots of people joining in to welcome Angie’s book into the world. Check out all these other stops on the book tour:

  • 7 October 2017 – C&T Publishing
  • 8 October 2017 – Lisa @ Sweet Little Pretties
  • 10 October 2017 – Alyce @ Blossom Heart Quilts
  • 12 October 2017 – Kerry @ Kid Giddy [GIVEAWAY]
  • 14 October 2017 – Cat @hellofromcat
  • 16 October 2017 – Molli Sparkles [GIVEAWAY]
  • 18 October 2017 – Peta @ She Quilts A Lot
  • 20 October 2017 – Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts
  • 22 October 2017 – Nicole @ Snips Snippets
  • 24 October 2017 – Bernie @ Needle & Foot [GIVEAWAY]
  • 26 October 2017 – Kristy @ Quiet Play
  • 28 October 2017 – Lucy @ Charm About You
  • 30 October 2017 – Sandy @ UpStairsHobbyRoom [GIVEAWAY]
  • 1 November 2017 – Raylee @ Sunflower Quilting [GIVEAWAY]
  • 3 November 2017 – Bec @ Skyberries
  • 4 November 2017 – Angie @ GnomeAngel

I hope you get the chance to try some fussy cutting projects of your own!

Until next time,

Kirsty x

Flock of Seagulls Quilt made from Angie Wilson's Fussy Cutters Club book by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts

*affiliate link

Filed Under: quilting

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