Because I Needed a Finish

My current quilt project is in time-out. I’ll spare you the full story, but highlights include me sewing many straight lines of quilting, me stubbornly continuing even though the quilting didn’t look so great, and me spending many hours ripping all of it out. Sigh. My crafty little heart needed a finish.

So I turned to Lazy Girl Design’s Mini Miranda Bag. If you’re new to From Bolt to Beauty, you’ll quickly learn that I like making the same bags again and again. They’re my slam-dunk in-between-quilts projects. I’ve made this pattern three times before, all as gifts. This version, however, is for me.

Compared to my experiences with my Cosmo Bag, this pattern was easy. I paired Anna Maria Horner’s Postage Due, from her Dowry line, with Quilter’s Linen in chocolate and lined the bag with Michael Miller’s Cotton Couture in teal. The inside pockets were made with Twill Bouquet, another Dowry fabric, and I finished the bag by using some Clover handles instead of making ones out of fabric. Although the construction is straight-forward, the result is elegant, don’t you think?

I was happy to use some of my AMH stash. I love her work, but so many of her designs have big repeats. It breaks my heart to chop them up for the sake of a quilt. (I could say the same of Amy Butler’s fabric designs.) Of course, fussy-cutting around the motifs created a lot of waste. I’ll have to put the remnants to good use. Maybe they’ll end up in a quilt after all.

Speaking of quilts, it’s time to deal with the aforementioned one. I tweaked something on my machine and am ready to give it another go. Wish me luck!

Linking up to Sew Cute Tuesday, Let’s Bee Social, Fresh Sewing Day, Needle and Thread Thursday, TGIFF at Quokka Quilts, and Finish It Up Friday ...