Willow & Co // Senna Tote Bag

It has been awhile since I have found "that perfect bag pattern", but a few weeks ago I made the Senna Tote from Willow & Co Patterns and I am loving it!

I had so much fun selecting the fabrics for this bag. I finally decided to use some old Pat Bravo Carnaby Street fabric I had stashed away waiting for the perfect project. I paired it with a solid teal Mochi Linen from Moda not only because it matched, but to add some extra weight/body to the bottom and straps.

The pattern is well-written and everything went to together smoothly! I really like the curved zipper aspect and the fold-over slouch is too perfect. The only change I will make on future ones is to make the straps a tad longer as it sits right under the arm currently.

I have a feeling a few lucky friends will be getting Senna Totes as gifts this year! ;)

I am pretty happy with my first one, and have been using it everyday // it even went on its first trip to Vegas and was the perfect size carry on travel bag && it fit everything with room to spare, which means there really is a first time for everything!

Pattern: Senna Tote by Willow & Co Patterns available here.

Fabrics: Go Go London Powdery // Pat Bravo - Carnaby Street for Art Gallery Fabrics
               Mochi Dot Linen Solid Turquoise // Moda Fabrics available here.
           

TULA PINK // 100 Modern Quilt Blocks City Sampler QAL

I am so excited to announce that I have joined the newest Tula Pink quilt along!

I will be using all Tula Pink fabrics for the main focal points of the blocks and a lot of the coordinating pieces as well. I am mixing in KONA cotton and other little blenders when I need to. I love that you get to name your blocks as you go along, this has helped me really connect with my work, and I just know when I am done I will cherish this quilt forever, I mean, who wouldn't cherish an all Tula quilt right?!

Here are a couple links to the quilt along:
http://www.sewsweetness.com/2013/04/tula-pink-city-sampler-sew-along.html
http://www.sewsweetness.com/2013/05/city-sampler-quilt-along-blocks-1-2-and.html

It is being held by some fabulous ladies whom I just adore! Sara from Sew Sweetness, Julie of JayBird Quilts, Emily Herrick of Crazy Old Ladies Quilts, and Gina Pina.

Each week (Monday - Monday), we do three blocks following the order of the book. Here are my
blocks 1 -3:

Block 1: Rainy Day
Block 2: Harmony
Block 3: In Orbit

So far I have been able to use fabrics from my stash and our shop as we have a lot of Tula's lines, but I know soon I will be purchasing more to add! I have some Plume, Parisville and Full Moon Forest from way back when that I have in my special stash that I cannot wait to pull out. I also am dying for Acacia to come out and am having a hard time realizing I won't get to use it until September.

I have started early on next week's blocks as well, as I will be out of town a few days and do not want to fall behind, plus they really are quite addicting. Every night this week before bed, I find myself just having to cut & finish one block. They are perfect for those who do not have a lot of time to commit to quilting and want to spread it out over time!

This quilt along takes us through January with three blocks a week, and I cannot wait to start seeing the quilt come together!

Feel free to email, tweet, fb or insta me to follow along or join in - or stop by the shop and I would be more than happy to show you my progress and chat about the book/blocks & help pick out fabrics!

Spring Sewing // Amy Butler Style

Seriously, how amazing has this weather been? Keep it up Oregon!
In addition to soaking up this rare May sunshine & warmth, the past couple weeks I have been working hard on a couple projects to take to Quilt Market, as well as to display the new fabric in our shop. I haven't had a chance to do a photo shoot with either bag, but here is a sneak peek with more to come this weekend!

Amy Butler Charm Clutch Pattern x Alexander Henry x KONA

Amy Butler Reversible Sunday Sling Pattern x Kaffe Fassett

With my at-home studio being almost complete, I have been able to sew more often, which means lots of new, fun displays for the shop!

Weekender By the Sea // Tula Pink x Amy Butler

"Weekender By the Sea"
(name via Tula Pink)
Somehow in the daily grind of life, I never managed to write a blog post for my recent project, Tula Pink x Amy Butler Weekender Bag. I had wanted to make Amy Butler's Weekender Bag for quite some time, but was waiting for the right fabric, and Tula's Pink's The Birds and the Bees line just so happened to be it! As soon as we got the fabric in, I just knew that I had to have a Weekender Bag.

I have heard lots of fellow sewer's reservations and hesitation about tackling the Weekender, but I found it to be a rather enjoyable project and I have to say it is my favorite bag ever, I used it all the time.  The bag is definitely not for beginners, and is quite time consuming, but all in all I am very happy with it and can't wait to make more!

I followed the pattern pretty much to a t, my only change in the future will be more padding in the straps as I use it to haul around heavy items.

Not only was I excited to have met Tula Pink and Amy Butler at Spring Quilt Market in KC, but because of them have a bag I love. In addition, Tula Pink happened to Facebook, Instagram, Tweet and Blog about my bag *insert star struck status here*.

"Every so often someone will e-mail me pictures of a project using my fabrics that blows me away.  This is one of those cases.  I’m obviously a huge fan of my own fabric, and i’ve always loved this particular Amy Butler bag pattern. Seeing them work so well together makes me smile.  Thank you Shawna Haynes for making this and for originally sharing a photo on my Facebook page.  I encourage you all to share your projects using Tula Pink on my Facebook wall or by hashtagging #TulaPink on Instagram.  I’m always keeping an eye out for fantastic stuff like this to post!" - Tula Pink