Where did I go?

It's been two months since I last wrote, and I can't quite account for it.
Except that my brain was on vacation, apparently.

I would come look at my embarrassingly huge lovely stash every morning and every evening, and pat my sewing machine hello, and then, incomprehensibly, Turn My Back On Them. I had nothing to say in fabric. I didn't sew; the muse left me.

Glad to say she returned :) and I'm now back in the thick of things. I am working again on my Summersville quilt. I had a vision for a house, so I made one - with fussy cut windows! squeal! - but she is really too big at 16" square. It's fun to play, though...

I STILL have to finish my sister's challah cover, which needs exactly 30 minutes of sewing and ironing to add the lining - what is with me? I have two options for lining - not sure which way to go... Sister mine, if you have an opinion - which you surely will! - speak now, or forever hold your peace!

 

I also NEEDED a lunch bag. I worked for the last 2 years in a school, and I got to eat the delicious-in-a-gross-kind-of-way lunch every day (as evidenced by my waistline). Now that I have a new job, I'm brown bagging it every day, with little plastic and glass containers of food, and ugh, I've been carrying them in a shopping bag.

Check THIS out!

I made up the pattern. I am a genius that way.

1. Sew 2 rectangles together along 3 sides. Sew 2 MORE rectangles together along 3 sides.

2. Do that thing where you sew across the seams of a flat bag and make it miraculously dimensional. (Ahem, this is apparently called "boxing the corners".)

3. Say "Thank you!" in a breathy and wondrous voice to the Higher Power of your choice when it works, and you didn't even lose any fingers in the process.

4. Turn one of these pockets right side out, and smush the other one -still right side IN - inside it. This comprises 99% of your new bag-to-be. Congratulations. You are nearly a new bag owner.

5. Straight stitch around the top of the bag just to give you some (false) sense of control, and trim the edge above the stitching line a bit to make it neat.

6. Use pre-fab bias tape for the top and at the spot where they overlap, Don't Turn Under The Edges. Go wild! Let a little raw edge into your life!

7. Sew 2 rectangles into straps and top stitch 'em down. Do the same with a teeny bit of velcro on the inside.

Behold! The Lunch Bag Cometh!

Sometime in the next 6 months, I have a quilt to make for someone's special birthday and 2 small gifts for my parents (don't tell!) Also, I have a cunning plan up my sleeve for a bear's paw quilt, but I cannot reveal it yet...

Linking up with Quilt Story and Live a Colorful Life and Confessions of a Fabric Addict!