After I finished the Free-Wheeling Single Girl quilt, I got on a roll and have been working like the energizer bunny getting things that have been sitting around done. 

The longest project waiting to get my attention was my Sew Together Bag that I made in 2014!! I never liked the binding that I used on it and the zipper was not a good one. I kept it hidden in a cupboard all these years and never used it because I didn't like it. You can read about my Sew Together Bag here if you want. 

This is the before...

And this is how it looks now! So much better, don't you think?! The binding and zipper that I have been dreading to redo these last 5 years, gave me no trouble at all! I am no longer ashamed of it! In fact, I want to make another one!!

I also made some journal covers for notebooks just for fun. This one is going to be used for keeping track of quilt ideas and notes on the quilts I am working on. The pattern I used is the Quilted Bible Cover tutorial by Amy Ellis.

My traveling journal got a new cover, too. 

Last spring, I basted 3 baby quilts and then they sat. Here are two of them. The third is waiting for binding. 

 The center block of this quilt was a test block variation I was trying out and it turned into an orphan block. I snowballed the corners and framed it out until it was big enough to use as a baby quilt. 

This baby quilt used the leftover half-square triangles that were cut off in the making of Love You More quilt that I made in the spring. 

After taking almost 3 months off from playing in my sewing room, I seriously wondered if I would ever enjoy my hobby again. I still have some projects I need to get to that I am not super excited about. I figure they can sit until I am. In the meantime, I am only going to work on things that bring happiness. 

Next time I will share the two big projects that I finished! 

After I finished the Free-Wheeling Single Girl quilt, I got on a roll and have been working like the energizer bunny getting things that have been sitting around done. 

The longest project waiting to get my attention was my Sew Together Bag that I made in 2014!! I never liked the binding that I used on it and the zipper was not a good one. I kept it hidden in a cupboard all these years and never used it because I didn't like it. You can read about my Sew Together Bag here if you want. 

This is the before...

And this is how it looks now! So much better, don't you think?! The binding and zipper that I have been dreading to redo these last 5 years, gave me no trouble at all! I am no longer ashamed of it! In fact, I want to make another one!!

I also made some journal covers for notebooks just for fun. This one is going to be used for keeping track of quilt ideas and notes on the quilts I am working on. The pattern I used is the Quilted Bible Cover tutorial by Amy Ellis.

My traveling journal got a new cover, too. 

Last spring, I basted 3 baby quilts and then they sat. Here are two of them. The third is waiting for binding. 

 The center block of this quilt was a test block variation I was trying out and it turned into an orphan block. I snowballed the corners and framed it out until it was big enough to use as a baby quilt. 

This baby quilt used the leftover half-square triangles that were cut off in the making of Love You More quilt that I made in the spring. 

After taking almost 3 months off from playing in my sewing room, I seriously wondered if I would ever enjoy my hobby again. I still have some projects I need to get to that I am not super excited about. I figure they can sit until I am. In the meantime, I am only going to work on things that bring happiness. 

Next time I will share the two big projects that I finished! 

Here it is. My first Sew Together Bag, by Sew Demented. I am going to assume you all have seen this cool bag already. Its been on the blogging scene for a while. Give it a Google or search Pinterest and you will have a ton of hits for pictures and tips. 

My thoughts on making this bag:

~  The best help is a quilt along by The Quilt Barn. I would have ended up seriously frustrated without her pictures and explanations. Bookmark it! You will not be sorry!

~ I did quilt as you go with scraps I already had. Next time, I would leave making the outside shell for last. My inside lining ended up being bigger so I had to trim that down. I would have much rather have made the outside shell bigger.

~ Use a longer zipper than the 18" one recommend. You can always trim it smaller if you want. The only zipper I had laying around long enough for the outside was a 20" white one, which I ended up not trimming.  Next time, I will buy zippers for this project with a larger zipper pull and wider tape on the outside. For pure aesthetics I should have used different binding fabric. I don't like the contrast of the binding with the bright white zipper. No, I am not going to redo it. *see below*

~ The part I struggled with the most was the binding. I did lots of ripping and starting over and it still looks sloppy. I had to walk away from it a couple of times. Lots of deep breathing and convincing myself I could get it done. A zipper with wider tape would have helped. I cannot stress enough to use  thread that matches your fabric in your bobbin and top thread. It helps hide the less than perfect sewing. 

I love the inside of the bag! This is really a very clever pattern and it isn't very hard. Fiddily, yes, to be sure, but not hard. 

Will I make this bag again? Yes!!  Now that I understand how it all works, I am hoping it will go much smoother and easier. 

How many of you have made a Sew Together Bag? Do you have any tips you would like to share? 

Don't forget to sign up for my Pay It Forward day 2 giveaway!=D

Here it is. My first Sew Together Bag, by Sew Demented. I am going to assume you all have seen this cool bag already. Its been on the blogging scene for a while. Give it a Google or search Pinterest and you will have a ton of hits for pictures and tips. 

My thoughts on making this bag:

~  The best help is a quilt along by The Quilt Barn. I would have ended up seriously frustrated without her pictures and explanations. Bookmark it! You will not be sorry!

~ I did quilt as you go with scraps I already had. Next time, I would leave making the outside shell for last. My inside lining ended up being bigger so I had to trim that down. I would have much rather have made the outside shell bigger.

~ Use a longer zipper than the 18" one recommend. You can always trim it smaller if you want. The only zipper I had laying around long enough for the outside was a 20" white one, which I ended up not trimming.  Next time, I will buy zippers for this project with a larger zipper pull and wider tape on the outside. For pure aesthetics I should have used different binding fabric. I don't like the contrast of the binding with the bright white zipper. No, I am not going to redo it. *see below*

~ The part I struggled with the most was the binding. I did lots of ripping and starting over and it still looks sloppy. I had to walk away from it a couple of times. Lots of deep breathing and convincing myself I could get it done. A zipper with wider tape would have helped. I cannot stress enough to use  thread that matches your fabric in your bobbin and top thread. It helps hide the less than perfect sewing. 

I love the inside of the bag! This is really a very clever pattern and it isn't very hard. Fiddily, yes, to be sure, but not hard. 

Will I make this bag again? Yes!!  Now that I understand how it all works, I am hoping it will go much smoother and easier. 

How many of you have made a Sew Together Bag? Do you have any tips you would like to share? 

Don't forget to sign up for my Pay It Forward day 2 giveaway!=D