Thursday, August 30, 2018

La Conner Tote

You know those charm packs that you keep hoarding? Well, it's time to break them out and use them. Today I am sharing my bag that I made using the La Conner Tote pattern from Jeri Brandvig. You can find the free tutorial on YouTube. The pattern calls for 4" squares, but I just didn't want to cut down all the charm squares plus I need a new beach bag.

I started out by laying out the charm squares and seeing if I need to change out the placement on some of them. When I was happy with how they all look, I took pins and pinned each row together that way I don't lose my placement. From their I started assembly line sewing each row together. I had two charm packs so the front and back panels are the same. I had some fusible foam laying around so I used that instead of the non-fusible foam. It was so much easier to use.


The other thing I had to decide on was whether I wanted to quilt the panels. At first I just didn't feel like it but something was nagging at me so I just decided to go for it and get the panels quilted. I am really happy I did it. The panels look so much nicer with the quilting.


I added four large interior pockets plus a slot for pens. Nothing like digging for your pens when you need them. The other thing I did was added a magnetic snap to keep the bag closed. This bag turned out to be 23" wide x 15" tall x 5.75" deep. It will make a wonderful beach bag.


Be sure to hop on over to the Fat Quarter Shop's blog to check out all the other participants and their beautiful bags and the free pattern is also available.

Linking to:


Finish or Not Friday
Show Off Saturday

7 comments:

Carol Swift said...

Your bag turned out really beautiful and the quilting looks perfect on it!

Jeanna said...

I've seen many versions of this bag or something similar and I like yours the best. (I'm not just saying that because we're friends...LOL) The quilting adds a lot to the design and the inside pockets are great. I need to learn how to add the magnetic snap. That is a useful feature.

Louise said...

It turned out great, Liz! Quilting makes everything better :)

Louise said...

Whoops, sorry, Kim! Not sure where "Liz" came from. Maybe my brain was thinking "Lily" but knew that wasn't right and clearly the L and the I got stuck in there :)

LadySchep said...

Stunning. I love how defined the quilting is on the foam interfacing.

Run 'n Stitch said...

What a great idea for a bag and yours is stunning. Thank you for the tips!

Myra @ Busy Hands Quilts said...

Love your bag! It's so bright and happy. Thanks for linking to Finished or Not Friday!