New bag from Melanie's scraps

Last year sweet Melanie made this great Hearts and Flowers bag for me. I use it when I go to class, because it is so big that I can put my cutting mat and ruler in it, and there is enough space for my project and fabrics and scissors and threads and pincushions and shoes and so on. It is a very nice, BIG bag.

If you have a big handbag, you know how easily small items can disappear in its depths. Well, this bag is almost so big that I have to dive in it to search for my thimble. Luckily, Melanie included some leftover fabrics in the birthday present, and later she mailed some more, like 1½" squares, and some of that dark green fabric. For a long time I had various plans, I wanted to make a fabric basket (but got one from Candace),

 and I wanted to make a zipper pouch, but Suzie makes them so much nicer

so I really had no idea what I should do. I kept taking my scissors and pincushions etc there in a plastic bag in the big bag, and felt ashamed (it is, you mustn't forget, a sewing/quilting class). Then I noticed I kept thinking it would be nice to have a matching little bag for the sewing notions. First I joined the 1½" squares to make a ninepatch. I added borders, but  it was still too small to become a bag. It was a nice pocket for a bag!

I took the biggest piece of fabric to make the bag, and added strips of the other blue floral prints to make it wider. I cut 2" squares to make the bag deeper. I added a dark green strip to make it even wider, and used dark green to make the handles too.

Then I used some recycled pillowcase for lining, and added a green top to make the lining less visible. I had some cute buttons to decorate the top at the point where the handles are.

Now I can pack my presser foot and screwdriver and threads and bobbins in Candace's fabric basket, and my cutter and small scissors and measuring tape in Suzie's pouch, and pack them and my big scissors and small fabrics and pincushion in the new bag, and put it in the big bag with the cutting mat, ruler, magazine and big fabrics, and with the shoes in a plastic bag. No more diving!

I didn't use more than half of the scraps Melanie sent, so there will be a matching something some day.

The Sedum on our steps has turned red this week. I will move the concrete box under the steps before there is snow.