Wednesday, November 30, 2011

WiP Wednesday: Christmas Countdown version!

Have you gotten all your crafty Christmas items done? Not me. Not by a long shot. And on top of it all I took a commission job for two twin size quilts from my hubby's aunt for her grandbabies. What was I thinking? And I still don't have the bags done for my friend. She wanted me to make bags out of the leftover Sunbonnet Sues for her daughers and niece. I have got to get on the ball! Arrggh!

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Okay, so I don't know who all saw this one the other day but I am planning on making a mini quilt for my MIL. We discovered a shared love of fiesta ware dishes (the colors) and how we both eventually would love a mixed set of them. Since I can't afford that, I'm doing the next best thing.
Here's my doodle of it.
I only just got started on it the other day so I haven't made much progress yet.

I also have been making bags for teachers' gifts. I had two Mitzi made and I've made 3 more. Still have more to go.

Oh, and remember this?
It's had several potential homes but with Christmas coming, it is now going to the home of one of my niece's. But before it does, it has to get a bit bigger and get a back and get quilted. So here is where I am so far.
It was only 40x40 before and I wanted it to be a bit bigger since she is in high school. Her room is extremely colorful with different walls being different colors. I figured this string quilt definitely went with a "busy" theme! Oh, and the owl fleece blanket is out and ready to be cut. I hope to get that done today since the birthday party is next weekend.
Still loads to do before Christmas. I'd still love to see some finishes! How about you?

Monday, November 28, 2011

"Boo! Boo! Bow to the Queen of Putrescence!" She's the Winner!

Yup! Can't beat that for a post title! But we have to pick a winner for the giveaway of The Princess Bride book. Are you ready? I am!  Drum roll please: (ratatat-tat) .... and the winner is....



Number 21! The winner is Piece Peace who said:

Also, a follower!
Congratulations!  And thank you all for playing! I have enjoyed hearing everyone's responses about the movie!  I have notified the winner by email and will send it out as soon as I hear back from her. I finally figured out how to do the random generator widget in my post so hopefully it works correctly when I post this! Have a great day everyone!

Update: Well, I figured out how to get the widget in the post but not how to get the generated number to stay when I post it. The 21 is there when I'm editing the post and it disappears when I post it. I'm still trying!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Today is the last day to enter for my Princess Bride book giveaway! Check it out here. I will try to post the winner as soon as I get back from taking the kids to school tomorrow morning.

I forgot to mention that I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Did anyone brave Black Friday? I actually went out for just a little bit while my MIL watched the kids. She went out earlier and came by here on her way back home. But I really plan on doing some cyber buying in the morning. Good luck on sales!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

A Lesson Learned

Looking for my Princess Bride giveaway? You'll find it here.  Tomorrow is the last day! Drawing on Monday!

Isn't it interesting how God teaches lessons? My children are like most; they believe that rules are set for them just so we can sit back and laugh at how we are "ruining" their lives. Well, today my eldest learned just how untrue that is.
We live in a neighborhood but there are woods pretty far back on our property. Walk back there far enough and you will eventually walk into someone else's backyard. The rule is that our children do not go back into the woods. This came up after having to deal with ticks, scratches and occasional snake sightings. Our neighbor's kids are allowed to go through the woods. That doesn't bother me. Everyone has their own rules.
My kids went out to play with their kids before lunch. About 30-40 minutes later, my daughter came flying in the door shaking and crying. She ran to me, obviously terrified. A woman we did not know was behind her saying that she had gotten lost in the woods. It took about an hour before we got the whole story.
It seems that the neighbors had a sitter while their parents were at the football game. They and the sitter took a bout through the woods. MY children, who know they are not supposed to, decided to join them. After a while, my daughter decided to go back home; except she didn't really know where she was. And she didn't know if she was supposed to go right or left. And she couldn't find her way out of the woods. And when she did, the yards all looked the same. She ended up coming out in the yard of a couple a few streets over where a man asked her what was wrong. She was crying hysterically but told him she was lost and where she lived. He plugged it in his GPS and his wife drove her home.
Let me just say that I am VERY glad that I didn't know the part about having to be driven home by people we don't know when she first came in. I am, unfortunately, someone who tends to get angry first. Not on purpose, but it's just my first reaction, especially when tied to my own fear. She was so terrified about being lost that she has no idea just how lucky she was to come across nice people who were kind enough to bring her home.  I asked her if she understood why we make rules now. She adamantly answered, "Yes! To keep us safe!"
This whole incident not only scared her to death but scared me as well. The idea of her being in some stranger's car, the idea of her being so terrified and panicked. I just hate it. I know it actually taught her a good lesson, but I don't want her to live in fear either. This will definitely be a jumping off point for teaching many lessons in the near future.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Ideas and Progress...

As I mentioned the other day, I finally finished the back of my Embroidery 101 quilt. Then I figured out that I didn't have quite enough of the navy to make my binding. So I took a chunk of it out of the back, and filled that back up with more scraps. Here's what it looked like before.
See that large navy block? I know, I know, there are a lot of large navy blocks. I'm talking about the one on the bottom on the right. Well, I used the old seam ripper and removed that piece. It was just enough along with the piece I actually had left over. And here is what I did to that hole.
I like it better. I only wish I had taken out the one on the left instead so the navy blocks would alternate back and forth. But it's fine so I'll take it!

I also have been planning out Christmas gifts. We draw names in my husband's family and hubby got his mom's name. She hasn't been reading my blog lately so maybe I can get away with sharing this. If she chose today to start reading again, she needs to wait until tomorrow!
Anyway, she and I were talking the other day about paint changes she wants to make in her bedroom and I mentioned that they reminded me of Fiestaware dishes. If you have ever looked my Pinterest you will see that one of the VERY first pins I ever made was on my Color Inspiration board; Fiestaware dishes. And I have to say that it is right up there with The Princess Bride on how much response I got to it. I did not repin that picture; I was the original pinner (not that someone else hasn't done it, I just never saw it). Since pinning that picture 7 weeks ago, it has been repinned 45 times. Absolutely blows my mind! What were we talking about? Oh yeah, conversation with MIL.

Anyway, the colors in her bedroom make me think of some of those Fiestaware colors. The next thing she mentions is that she would love to one day have a set that consisted of all the colors. I finished her sentence for her. I have always wanted the same exact thing! And I would love to have those open-look kitchen cabinets with glass panes so you could see them. Well, I can't exactly buy her a 12 set of Fiestaware dishes, but then again, couldn't I?
Okay, so if my MIL is reading, now would be a good time to stop.

Did you stop?



Turn away now!





Are we alone yet?






Okay, so I started doodling and came up with an idea for a mini-quilt.

What do you think? I have a lot of solid scraps so hopefully I can match up enough to get the idea. I've never done a mini-quilt before so I'm not really sure how big to make it. I really just wanted to get the idea down on paper first to see if I liked the idea. I'm still trying to decide whether to add saucers under the cups, but I may just leave it like is. Oh, and I completely forgot to add this! Since Fiestaware is solid and not print, I thought I would do the dishes in solids and maybe do a print as the background to sort or look like wallpaper!
I am also dying to remember a specific teacher gift tutorial I came across several months ago. I just have this memory of someone blogging about something really cute they were doing for teachers. That's all I remember. Not real helpful. You would think I would have tagged it or pinned it or something, huh?

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Turkey Day Everyone!

My thankful list:
  • my family
  • my friends
  • health
  • my God who makes all these things possible

Give your loved ones a squeeze today! Here's hope that you and yours have a wonderful day of thankfulness and love!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Accuquilt Go! Baby at Amazon

 


***UPDATE: SewCalGal pointed out to me that QuiltinaDay has the Go! Baby for $69.65 which initially appears to be a better price. However, I ran through both systems right up to having to pay for it and here's the deal: Amazon is $74.98 with no sales tax and free shipping and handling so $74.98 is there price, period. Quilt in a Day said that $69.95 was their price BEFORE sales tax and s/h. Sales tax would take it to $74.98 and s/h for me would add another $10.21.
Please let me know if anyone has found a better deal!! Thank you SewCalGal for pointing this one out. If it hadn't been for the sales tax and s/h, it would definitely have beaten out Amazon. Or if you have some other sweet quilty deal, let me know!
Okay, so I tried twice to put a cute "Amazon plus Accuquilt" up there but it kept moving the plus sign below the other two pictures and my preview button doesn't work anymore. Arrggh!

Anyway, I noticed yesterday that Amazon has these jewels on sale for $74.98. I have not seen a price that low for the Go! Baby so I thought I'd let people know since Christmas is coming! I have no idea how long it will stay this low; not sure if it's part of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday stuff so you may need to act fast if you want it.

Disclaimer: I do not work for Accuquilt; I actually don't even own one but I think they're cool. If Accuquilt chose to grace me with one of their products, it wouldn't hurt my feelings one iota, no sirree Bob! But that is not why I chose to do this. I just think they're helpful and if I can help bloggy/quilty friends get one at a good price as a Christmas present, I'm gonna let 'em know!

WiP Wednesday

Well, as some of you know, I was complaining earlier this week about having had to refind my steam on some projects. Well, I finally made some progress! Oh, and if you are a fan of The Princess Bride movie, check here for my giveaway. I mentioned watching it with my daughter for her birthday party the other week and was inundated with so many comments from fans of the movie that I decided to give away the book. Yup! There's a book!
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced


Okay, so Number 1! I finally finished the back for Embroidery 101. Just in case you don't remember, here's the front.
Uh, hmm... well, Blogger is being Blogger and won't let me post the front so here is another option

And here is the back.

And another view. Though I just realized it may be changing a bit.

See, I bought a few fat quarters, a large floral piece and 2 yards of the navy to make the back. The navy was also supposed to be for the borders and the binding. Only thing is, I don't have enough for the binding. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to purchase more to finish it, when it just dawned on me that I could remove one of those large navy pieces on the back and replace it with more scraps and white. That way I would have enough to even everything out. Isn't it funny how seeing something up on a post makes you have ideas?

Rememer those cute lined drawstring bags I showed you last week that I'd picked up from our quilting guild's  Christmas auction? I didn't make those; those were made by Mitzi. But she let me in on her go-to tutorial for those over at Jeni's In Color Order and I made one this afternoon. I had a fat quarter shaped piece of Echino in one of my scrap bags I got from Pink Chalk a month or so ago. I had to fussy cut it, but I love how it turned out.

Yes, I know it doesn't look like the inside matches. I didn't have a hot pink piece that was big enough so I decided to match the liner to these red flowers that were sitting just below the birds. Whatsamatter? Whadya mean ya don't see any flowers? Oh, well, they kind of got eaten up by the bottom. That's okay. It's mine. I love it anyway. But I see more of these in my future. Many more! Mwahahahahahaha!
How is my owl project? Hmm,...

well, it still hasn't moved yet, but it will get done. In case you missed this one this week, I'm making a fleece blanket for one of the girls who came to my daughter's birthday party so she will get the blanket to go with her pillowcase.
What did you get done this week? Check out everyone else at Lee's!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Inconceivable! A Giveaway!

* This Giveaway is closed.

Do you remember my post a few weeks ago for my daughter's birthday? I mentioned that we watched The Princess Bride and I was overwhelmed by all the comments from people who LOVE this movie. Well, a few years ago I found out it was based on a book. A real book. This book.


Yeah, I know it's not a quilty giveaway, but who knows...maybe I'll put a fat quarter in with it or something. Here's the deal. I've read it. I love it. It's wonderful. For those of you who don't like it when a movie doesn't follow the book? Not a problem. It is almost exact. But it gives you more. You get more background history on the characters and the locations mentioned in the story. It really helps round it all out.
So for all my Princess Bride lovers, are you interested? Want a copy? I thought I'd throw this out there for you or for any Princess Bride lovers you have in your family. Maybe a Christmas gift for someone special!

What do you have to do?
1 entry - Just leave a comment here. Tell me your favorite line from the movie if you've seen it. Otherwise, any comment will do.

Bonus entry - If you're a follower, let me know in another comment.

That's it. I'll keep this open until Sunday night, 11/27. I will post a winner Monday morning. I figure I don't want to have to deal with the traffic and craziness on Black Friday but I wanted you to get it before Christmas.

Fine print: This giveaway is sponsored by me using my own money and not to promote anybody's likes or dislikes (well, except my own). Unfortunately, due to this, it is open to the United States ONLY at this time. I regret this but hopefully I will be able to open giveaways up to international commenters at a later date when there is a little more money in the bank. Thank you for participating!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Re-finding My Steam

Okay, so for a while there I was really making some progress and getting some things done. Then something happened. I pooped out. It happened about midway through the Ghastlie Blog Hop. I don't know if it just got to be a bit much or what but I had trouble getting back to my sewing room. I tried to make a cover for my Nook but decided to go the glue route instead of sewing it. WRONG CHOICE! I used the tutorial here, but it did not go well. Not because of her tutorial; because hot glue and I do not play well together. I have a tendency not to move as quickly as I should and it dries before I get the fabric down. Then I end up with lumps. Not good. So I just threw the whole idea out the window and bought one. Not that I don't love it. It is green, you know!
Now Christmas is coming up. I keep thinking I should be making things for Christmas, but my motivation was just waning. I finally got in the sewing room and started working on the back of my Embroidery 101 quilt. It's getting there.

I've also been saving my selvages. There is a lady in our quilting guild who makes things from them but I'm interested in seeing what I can come up with.
And remember the owl pillowcases for my daughter's birthday party? I found the fabric in fleece at Hobby Lobby so I'm making one of the girl's a fleece blanket to match. Her birthday is the second week in December and her mother is one of my dearest and sweetest friends.
I decided to go with green for the back of the blanket because owls I thought were red on the cotton fabric don't look so red on the fleece. The fuzzines kind of muted them a bit. When I looked back at the cotton on the pillowcases, they don't really look red but they don't really look pink. Kind of one of those Netherworld colors that exists out there in fabric land. So I decided to go with green. Not because I like it or anything.
So I am working on projects, I'm just not making much progress!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

New Notions

I ran by Hobby Lobby to pick up a new blade for my rotary cutter and came across this little jewel while I was there.
Very cool! It's just a go to guide for a bunch of embroidery stitches. I like being able to pull them up on the internet when I need them, but this will be cool to put in my project bag while I'm working on a specific piece. I really enjoyed doing the Embroidery 101 quilt from Clover and Violet; it motivated me to try more so I thought it would be nice to have something to quickly get an idea of how to do different stitches.
When you open it out, you get these stitches on one side...
and these on the other. I'm excited. Now I can put some embroidery ideas into action. Well, when I finish up some other things. I'm working hard on the back of Embroidery 101. Hope to have that one done soon!

Friday, November 18, 2011

15 Minute Cleaning Frenzy! Getting Kids to Clean

I have great difficulty getting my children to cooperate for cleaning. One of the only ways I have ever been able to get them to cooperate without any fight is what I call the "15 Minute Cleaning Frenzy." This is sort of a take off of something Fly Lady does. I yell "Go!" and turn on my iPod as loud as we will tolerate throughout the house. Usually I play music they enjoy (Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, current dance songs that are appropriate with language). They run for their rooms and start cleaning as fast as they can. I usually tell them that 15 minutes is about 4 songs. I call out a number for each song: "Song 1 done...Song 2 starting" to give them an idea how much time we have left. The original idea for this plan was that I would give them 15 minute increments to clean. Then when the songs are over, they quit wherever the are no matter if they are finished or not. After some time has passed, I call 15 minute frenzy again and they do it again.

What is interesting is what ends up happening. Without fail, they forget that they get the breaks. They actually get into it and when I call "Song 3" they will yell and say, "I need more time! Can we let it keep playing?" I am always amazed when this happens.

There are a few KEY things about this way of cleaning.
  • I always present it as a game and something that's funny.
  • I ALWAYS play too. One of the things that really gets them going is that as soon as I yell "Go!", I start running. Literally. That way whenever they look downstairs at me, they see I'm cleaning too and that I'm running too. They always think that's funny. Sometimes I like to skid through the living room on my socks so they think I'm REALLY into the race aspect of it.

Great music for cleaning...well, this is interesting topic. I do NOT like to clean to nice, relaxing music. I want to dance while I'm cleaning, or it's just that: cleaning. There are some great soundtracks or songs for cleaning that I personally like and are on my iPod, but one of my favorites is AWOL; the soundtrack to To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. This is full of great stuff and it's great for making you feel like a woman as well! My favorite track is "The Body Beautiful." The only problem is that it is not downloadable from iTunes. I used to have this CD and I'm still looking for it!

    Thursday, November 17, 2011

    'Charmed' to Meet You!

    Ooh, look who came to my house today! A lovely bunch of 28 charm squares in yellow, aqua and gray!
    I'm so excited! These are from the Yellow, Aqua and Gray Charm Swap over at Craftbuds! I was very lucky to get in on this one as it filled up very quickly. I have been waiting (rather impatiently) for them to arrive. They got them out quickly, I just don't wait well! Lindsey worked with Anna of Crafty Girls Workshop to do this wonderful swap. I chose the cheater route and just bought mine straight from Anna's shop. If you bought through her, you could have her cut them for you and everything!
    I have been racking my brain trying to come up with a good idea for charm square quilt with these. I thought about just doing a snowball quilt and adding some other fabrics I have in these colors to make it a bit larger. What is your favorite quilt pattern made from charm squares? I'd love some ideas!

    Wednesday, November 16, 2011

    Just a Little WiP

    WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

    Okay, so not a lot got done this week. I have been in a sewing funk, I think. I did finish my big bag and tutorial.
    I also finished putting the navy stripe border around my Embroidery 101 quilt. This one is finally getting closer to being done! I've been working on the back and thinking about how I want to quilt it. Sorry for the bad picture but it's raining outside so I was stuck doing an inside picture. And I really should have re-ironed it!


    Well, sadly, that's it.
    We DID have our quilting guild Christmas Auction Monday night. Everyone brought in tons of quilty and home decor goodies. We lined things up on tables with paper bags in front of each one. Each member bought tickets which they marked with their names (many of us use address labels). We walk through and put tickets in things that you want. The things you want the most get the most tickets. You can put as many tickets as you want in each bag. Mitzi and I were runners. The callers would pull a ticket for each piece while we delivered it to each winner. I spent $10 on tickets and won the following.

    Two lovely lined drawstring bags made by Mitzi! There were several and I wanted them all!
    A cute Christmas cigar box and a lined Velcro topped pouch.
    A brand new fat quarter bag to line up all my fat quarters for storage!
    A charm pack of Dogwood Trail! I've been wanting some of this!
    Some cedar and lavender sachets made as gifts for those attending!

    I loved all my goodies! Linking up to Lee. Don't forget to check everyone out!

    Monday, November 14, 2011

    Goodies in the Mail, a Guest Post, and Another Bag Idea!

    I got my fabric to finish my Embroidery 101 quilt the other day. Now that I finished my bag I can get back to it. I decided to use the scraps leftover from the quilt along with some purchased fabrics for the back. The scraps and the large yellow floral actually do appear in the quilt but the rest or others from the Just Wing It by Moda line. I got everything from the wonderful people at Sew Lux. They were so nice and quick, and when I got my order there was this sweet handwritten note on the back of their card thanking me for my order and for shopping with them 'again'! How nice is that? Not only did they take the time to handwrite a note, they took the time to acknowledge that I had purchased fabric from them before! Very sweet!

    I have leftover scraps in the baggie, the 3 top little squares are all fat quarters, the floral is a large 30" x WOF piece and the 'almost' navy stripe (yes, it's a stripe) is 2 yards. I'm doing the border out of the navy and piecing the back. I'm hoping to salvage enough of the navy to do the binding.

    I am also working with April at Kool Beenz to guest post on her blog for a link to my project bag tutorial. Very cool!
    As far as the bag idea goes, here's what I was thinking. I kept thinking I'd like to make a smaller version of the bag for travel purposes when you're working on a specific project (in other words, not so big!) and I got this idea; instead of using a single piece of fabric on the outside, why not make quilt blocks as the outside? Then I was thinking, if the block needs to be a rectangle instead of square, wouldn't my X Marks the Spot quilt block be a cool version of that?
    I want to do it in different colors to try it in somethin gelse but I really think it would make a cool bag!
    So it looks like I have another tutorial coming up before long! And if you can make the block for the bag, then you can make more than one block to make the quilt!

    Friday, November 11, 2011

    Project Bag Tutorial

    Sorry this took so long to post. I sure wish blogger could pull in pictures faster! And this tute is definitely picture heavy1
    So this is the project I have been working on intermittently over the past week or so. The last time we had a quilting guild meeting, a guest did show and tell with a project bag and I just loved it. She had made hers as one long piece (not as a bag) that folded up, sort of like a firewood carrier. She used old jeans as her pockets on the inside which I absolutely loved. When I got home I had every intention of doing something similar. Then I remembered that I had a Daisy chain Amy Butler bundle I picked up way back in March. Perfect! I will say that I used the project bag from Joann's as a starting point, but I changed all the dimensions, added pockets and made some other modifications. There were also loads of complaints about the instructions for it so I thought I would try to do a little better. I love this bag. It is large; lest I say, huge. How huge? See this bag? That's my daughter holding the handle.

    What's inside it, you say? Uh, well, ...

    that would be my 5 year old son! Yeah, to do it over again, I'm not sure I would  make it quite so big, but I really wanted my cutting board to fit in it and I don't have a small cutting board.

    I will provide large and small cutting directions, but you could really do it any size you want. You just need to make sure you do the following:
    • all side pieces (outer and liner) are exactly the same size
    • the gusset piece should be at least as long as the sum of the side and bottom measurements of your side pieces (ex. if you choose to cut your sides 26.5" x 20", the length or your gusset piece needs to be no less than 26.5 + 20 + 20 which would be 66.5")
    • your outside pieces will receive fusible interfacing; I used medium weight interfacing because mine is larger and it makes it easier to fold and store, but I may use a bit heavier on a smaller sized bag to give it more structure, maybe what they call craftbond)
    • your pocket pieces just need to fit the dimensions of your bag (no need in cutting a 26.5" wide pocket if your bag is only 20" wide)

    What you will need:
    • fabric: I used a 1 yd bundle for my large bag so that I would have different fabrics to choose from, and I had about a yard total left over. You could probably get away with 4 yards for the large bag; if you are using different fabrics from one line, remember you will need some larger pieces (at least 3/4 yard of two) to cut your two inner pieces and your two outer pieces. If not, you could do some piecing of scraps or smaller pieces to get them up to the right side. I think this would make a fabulous scrap project; in fact that may be how I do my smaller version!
    • fusible interfacing: you will need at least medium weight for this project. You might want a heavier weight for a smaller bag to help it keep it's shape.
    • scissors, cutting mat, rotary cutter, sewing machine, pins (the usual suspects)

    1. For a large bag (and I do mean large!), cut the following:
    Two outer fabric and two liner fabric: 26.5" wide by 20" tall
    One gusset for outer and one gusset for inner: 6.5" wide by 66.5" long (I like to make it a few inches longer just in case)

    For a smaller bag, cut the following:
    Two outer fabric and two liner fabric: 20.5" wide by 15.5" tall
    One gusset for outer and one gusset for inner: 5" wide by 52" long (I like to make it a few inches longer just in case)

    No matter what size bag you make, you will need the following:
    Cut one piece of fusible interfacing the size of the gusset, and two pieces the size of the outer fabric. These will ironed onto the outer pieces.

    My outer fabric on top has a strip of different fabric across the top because my fabric was too short.
    For the gusset pieces, I cut two strips the WOF and sewed them together at the end instead of cutting one long piece along the length of the selvage.  I folded each piece in half at that seam and cut my excess of the other ends. I used the excess pieces to create pockets for my bag. I ended up having two pieces with interfacing and two without, so I mixed them for the extra durability on each pocket.

    2. You are now going to start sewing the gusset to one side of the front piece. I line it up by folding each piece in half and lining up the centers. I start pinning in the center, then moving out toward each side. If you have never sewn around corners like this, I'll warn you it's tricky.
    3. Once you get it all pinned, you will start sewing. Here is how it looks pinned.
    4. I used a 3/8" seam allowance. I do the corners sort of how I do binding on a quilt. Start on one side and sew all the way to the bottom.  Stop sewing and anchor about 3/8" from the end.  As the back fabric starts to curve, I remove some of the pins off the bottom so I can straighten it as much as possible.
    I cut it, reposition it, then start sewing again. You might have a better method. Just be careful going around the corner.

    5. Once you finish one side, line up the other side and sew it as well. Be sure everything lines up as you go, especially the corners. Mine was wonky and I had to rip it and resew it.  When you get finished, you will have the outer piece done.
    6. Before sewing together your liner, you will want to sew on any pockets you want. I used one large pocket on one side for my cutting board & rulers, and smaller pockets on the other side for notions. For the large pocket, cut a piece of coordinating fabric about 36" tall by the width of the liner fabric (in my case, 26.5"). Fold the fabric in half going down and iron; it will be 18" tall by 26.5" wide. Run an edge stitch along the top. 
    When you have finished stitching, line up the pocket piece to one of the liner sides. I placed mine about 2 inches down from the top. There will be a little overhang at the bottom that will be trimmed.

    Sew a basting stitch down both sides and the bottom of the pocket through all 3 layers to hold it in place.

    Another option for making this pocket (if you do not want to use so much fabric) is to cut a piece about the same size as your side piece. Fold about one inch down at the top going toward the back and iron. Do this one more time. Iron. Now sew an edge stitch at the top edge all the way across, and another one across the bottom of the inch you folded. Baste it to the side piece the same way I explained above. Your pocket will just be thinner; one layer of fabric instead of two.
    7. If you would like some smaller pockets on the other side of the liner, now is the time to add these. I used the two pockets I created from the remainder of my gusset pieces. I placed these pieces front to front and sewed around the edge using 1/4" seam, leaving a 2-3" hole for turning. Just from my own experience, I never leave the hole near a corner. I leave it in the center of one of the sides. It is much easier to sew up a straight hole than one that rounds a corner or runs into a corner. Snip the corners off without cutting through the sewn part. This will make it easier to push your corners out.
    Now turn your piece and use something to poke your corners out (I tend to use my scissors which is not a good idea; one day that is going to end badly!). Once it is square,  fold in the opening from the turning hole to match the edges around it. Iron it down.
    I made another long pocket just like out large pocket on the other side but only did it about 8-9" high. You will cut a piece the same width of your side piece, and the height of it will be double the size you want the pocket to be. For example, I wanted my pocket to be about 8" high so I cut my piece 16" high and 26.5" wide. I then followed the same instructions for constructing a pocket that are given on step 6.

    Place your pockets approximately where you think they will work well for you and pin along each side and the bottom. The long pocket works best on the bottom because the sides and bottom will get sewn into the seam. When placing the small pockets, remember to make sure the opening from the turning hole is placed downward or on one of the sides. This will insure that it gets sewn closed when you stitch your pocket down.
    I originally wanted the bottom long pocket to be for my rulers but it kept hanging open so I chose to make it into several pockets by sewing from the top lip of the pocket, down to the bottom in intervals of several inches. This gives me several extra pockets. You can make these pockets whatever size you need.

    8. You are now going to sew your lining the same exact way you sewed your outer pieces in steps 2-5. If you are looking at the Joann.com project bag, they tell you to leave a turning hole in the lining. I do not do it this way and I think my way is easier (just my own two cents!).

    9. You should now have a completed outer shell and a completed inner shell. This next part is going to sound weird, but stay with me. Turn the shells out to exactly how they will look when they are sewn together (the outer shell will have the fabric showing outward while the lining will have the fabric showing inward). Take your outer shell and place it INSIDE the lining shell. Yes, I said that right. If you look down inside the bag, you should see fusible interfacing. If you look at the outside of the bag, you should see the wrong side of the lining. You can see this better in the picture below.
    Starting at your corners, line up and pin all the way around. I pin all 4 corners first because they HAVE to meet correctly. Sew a 3/8" seam all the way around the top except for a 4-5" hole on one of the long sides for turning.

    10. Turn your bag inside out.

    11. Once it is completely pulled out, push the liner down inside the outer fabric. Press all around the top edges and press the turning hole in. You are going to sew an edge stitch all around the edge of the top of the bag.

    12. This step is optional. When I got to this point and looked inside the bag, I noticed that the weight of the pockets seemed to pull the liner away from the outer fabric some and it was hard to get a good shot of the inside of the bag.
    (Pay no attention to the bottom long pocket; I added my pocket divisions after the fact when I figured out that it wasn't going to work the way I had it.)
    Because I wanted there to be more unity between the inner and outer shells, I actually stitched them together along the gusset.

    I know it's hard to see my pins, sorry! I put my hand inside the bag and used it along with my other hand to line up the inner and outer gussets as much as possible. Then I pinned both gussets together from one end of the bag to the other. I then stitched from the top of the bag down as close as I could to the bottom (about an inch from the bottom) about 1/4" in from either side of the gusset. I am not a professional so I did not figure out how to go around the corner. Here's a close-up of one corner of the gusset (I know there is a little pucker but it's mine and I don't care!)...

    and here's another close-up of the side view.
    I just wanted to do to help stabilize everything but it is definitely not required.

    13. Straps! I always decide on my straps last because I have to figure out exactly how the bag is going to fall against my body and how much length I am going to need. For this project, I cut four straps 2.5" by 35". Two pieces will receive interfacing and two will not. I forgot to mention it when we were using interfacing before, but there is nothing wrong with piecing interfacing. I just make sure that there is a little bit of overlap. Not much. You don't want a piece to bend funny at one place because you butted up two pieces of interfacing but they didn't meet properly.
    Line up one fused and one unfused strap right side to right side and pin. Leaving a 2-3" hole for turning, sew a 1/4" seam all the way around the edge of the strap.
    Before turning, clip the corners.
    Sew your second strap the same way and turn both inside out. Iron flat and iron opening closed.
    Sew an edge stitch all around each strap.
    Now, your straps are going to be on the bag about 4" down (the way they are attached on the Joann's bag). I pinned each strap end 4" from the bottom.
    I then lined up the pin with the top of the bag and the outside of the strap about 4 inches from the side of the bag.

    Pin in place. Follow this for all strap ends. When attaching the straps, sew through all layers of fabric. WARNING!!! Be careful of any pockets you have near the strap placement. I wasn't paying attention and sewed right through my pocket.

    I had to pull out the bottom of this and restitch it while holding the pocket out of the way. I didn't do it again, believe me!
    I stitched all around the existing edge stitch and then across the top. You could then stitch a big X across the center of your rectangle, but I chose to stitch down an inch and stitch across, stitch down an inch and stitch across.

     You're done! My original plan was for this to be the outside, but I figured out that it is reversible. I 'm going to make a smaller bag to actually be a project bag for taking on travel. This one will be for transportation of quilts, larger projects, etc.