Happy Monday! Today I want to share a tote bag that I made for my friend Amanda earlier this Summer.


This past Spring, I went through all my works in progress and found a small quilt top that I'd put together with offcuts from making this Large Keep Turning Quilt. I searched my archives and cannot find a single photo of said quilt top, but it was pretty simple. It was also pretty small.


I decided it would be best to chop it up and turn it into a bag! I had to add a little extra fabric to the bottom to be able to cut out the tote pieces. I used my Workshop Tote Pattern to make this tote, I just love the size. I was so happy to use up every last bit of these scraps. So satisfying!


For the lining I struggled a bit on what to use. I didn't have any large cuts of the quilt top fabrics, so I knew I'd have to use something else. Knowing I was making it for a friend who'd like it, I decided on some ice dyed fabric! I think it's a really fun surprise when you open up the bag. For the handles I ended up making some from a woven stripe instead of using webbing. Just felt a little more special!


Pick up a copy of the pattern here: The Workshop Tote Pattern

I also have a Sew Along for this pattern, which you can find here: The Workshop Tote Sew Along

Happy Sewing!

Vintage Sheet Drawstring Bags

Hello! I'm back to share a couple recent lined drawstring bags I have made from vintage sheet scraps. These were both made with my Lined Drawstring Bag Sewing Pattern.


For the first bag, I pieced together some scraps I've held onto for 10 years! These were once offcuts from making my Vintage Sheet Scrappy Trip Quilt. I have been thinking about making another one of these quilts. If I did make another I think I would make it a little less scrappy. We'll see!



I chopped up most of the pieced scrap panel into two exterior panels for a Project size drawstring bag! I love how many different fabrics ended up in this bag. It makes me want to go through my stash of small quilt tops and extra blocks and turn them into bags!


For the accent and lining I chose two multicolored floral sheets.


I thought the antique ruler twill tape was a nice finishing touch for this bag!



One bag size I never seem to make often enough to build up a good stash of is the Snack size bag. It's great for small gifts and it seems I tend to make them and give them all away! I was wrapping my Mom's birthday presents and needed this size, so I pulled together this bag. I have a lot of low volume sheet scraps organized from making my Soft and Subtle Candyweb Quilt, and that's what I used for this bag.


Went with purple for the accent on this one, because why not! And a colorful print for the lining.


Another fun twill for this bag, this time the yellow measuring tape twill.

That's the scoop on these two bags. Still not tired of working with sheets or of making these bags!

Pattern: Lined Drawstring Bag Sewing Pattern
Fabrics: Vintage Reclaimed Bedsheets
Notions: Cotton Twill Tape

Happy Sewing!

Falling in Love with English Paper Piecing (EPP)

Hello! Long time no see. It's been a very busy Spring/early Summer (mostly wrangling a toddler) and I have a lot to catch you all up on! I wanted to start with something I never expected to be working on so much, english paper piecing! I've dabbled in it many different times over the years, but it just never stuck. I have very little time to sit at the sewing machine right now, so having a hand project going has become essential.

I love having this space as a documentation of what I make, so I do intend to be back more regularly. Preschool is on the horizon, which means more time for my work and life outside of being a mom coming soon!


My journey to falling in love with hand sewing actually started because we needed to have some tree work done. We spent two days in our sunroom watching the tree work unfold and I found I really wanted something to work on. I usually grab knitting, but knitting in the warmer months just isn't appealing to me. I knew I had a bunch of random english paper piecing projects that I had started and abandoned over the years, so I dug through those and found a big stack of already basted hexagons. This project started in 2010, so it was long overdue to be finished!


I had enough hexagons to make 21 flowers, but decided about halfway through the project that I wanted to make 24 instead. I managed to find some of the original fabrics I used (whoa) plus supplemented with a few newer fabrics to come up with enough colors. These are 1" hexagons.


I stored everything for this project in a small zipper pouch, which worked okay! As I worked on other projects however, I realized I need something with a bit more room and organizing potential.


I am currently at the stage of this project where I'm putting the blocks together into a small quilt! I love how it's turning out, and I'm going with a very maximalist approach in terms of the colors and fabrics. I'll leave it here for now and share more once I've finished the quilt.


After I finished stitching that first set of hexagons, I found another small group that I had received in a swap with my friend Jess on Flickr, also from 2010! I was a few shy of being able to make four hexagons, so I basted a couple more and started stitching. These are 1" hexagons.


I am stitching these to a piece of ice-dyed fabric and making some drawstring bags. They're currently stitched down and waiting for me to choose lining and accent fabrics!


My current project is brand new! I'm not sure what I'm making, I'm just going to keep making hexie flowers until I get tired of making them. So far I've only cut from my scrap bins, which is fun. I'm using low-volume prints for the petals and gold/mustard yellow prints for the centers so they look like little white flowers. I love how they're turning out. For these ones I am glue basting. I am conflicted on whether I like glue or thread basting better, but it's hard to argue with the speed of glue basting so that is winning for now! These are 3/4" hexagons.


For this project I quickly outgrew the zipper pouch I was using and upgraded to this tackle box! It's a vintage caboodles/plano tackle box I thrifted a few years ago (or last year?). It's been working great! I can keep all the stitching and basting stuff all in one place and can easily move it around the house with me to stitch wherever I want. And it's so cute, which is a nice bonus.


I'm really enjoying this project and I am excited to see what all these flowers eventually become. I'm so glad I gave english paper piecing another chance. It's allowing me to sew when I otherwise wouldn't be able to sew much. It is giving me to the same meditative experience as knitting does, and I certainly need that!

I hope to be back soon with some other kind of update, maybe on the garden? See you later!

Finished: Waypoint Quilt

Hi there! It's been quiet in this space lately, but today I'm back to start sharing a backlog of finished quilts with you all! I think this is the first of 5? I was able to get a bunch photographed recently so I can finally share them!


Photo © 2015 Lauren Hunt for Lucky Spool Media.


We're starting with what I think is the last quilt top that I made in the process of writing my book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle. For each quilt pattern in the book I made either an alternate block or entire quilt top. This quilt is the alternate I made for the Waypoint Quilt. Above you can see the version that was photographed for the book!


This one was simply an alternative color way! To be honest, I don't remember what the jumping off point was for this color palette, it's been so long ago. I do remember I was excited to use that Momo scissor fabric that I had long stashed.



When I am trying to finish up old works in progress, I try to make the finishing steps as easy as possible for myself. This quilt top lingered for so long, I was not about to do anything fancy for the quilting. At this point my eye was on the prize! So I chose to do my signature wavy quilting. I did however use a fun thread color, a light aqua! This quilting style is relaxing for me to do and it's forgiving too. Win-win! You can find a tutorial for how I do it here: How to Quilt Wavy Lines with a Walking Foot


With the backing and binding, again simplicity was key. I chose one fabric to use as both the back and the binding. One of my prints from curiosities happened to perfectly match the front, yay!


This quilt ended up going home with my younger brother for his condo!


It's a bit hard for me to believe that my book came out OVER 10 years ago, wow. So much has changed in 10 years! I know I still have a few quilt blocks kicking around from the process, but I am glad to have finally finished up all the quilt tops!

Happy Quilting!