Funny thing happened when I tried to turn the wool applique blocks into a wall hanging – I could not do it! As I was auditioning fabrics for sashing, I wasn’t happy with any of the combinations…
The quilt fairy then whispered three words: Make A Tote! And so it is that I made a wool tote. It stands on its own (I did not put anything inside it for the pictures), it is lightweight, hand finished. I added I couple of ‘bees’ (buttons – seen on top right of the applique block), used DMC floss to hand quilt it, and fashioned the lining from a brown, floral fabric. The tote measures 17″ high by 14″ wide. Good size for books, for carrying crafts, or to go shopping.
The gray background has browns and rust undertones, thus the beige and brown wool choice. The sides and bottom of the tote showcase the same wool as the duck’s wing – brown herringbone.
I outlined the duck motif on the back side of the tote so it would not be plain beige wool (picture at right). My boys loved it! When I mentioned I was thinking of putting it on my Etsy shop, they said “Noooooo”! I am likely to turn the other three blocks into totes, also.
Now that this project is done I will finish a small wall hanging I worked on a couple of days ago. Small projects make a good transition between bigger ones…
Here is another picture of the tote:
I am glad to report that, before I tackled the tote this morning, I worked out for 30 minutes, enough to break a sweat. If I can keep this up every day I will be happier…
How about you? What have you been up to?
How wide is your cute tote?