Patchwork Books which mention bags (November Challenge)

"Crazy Quilting" by Barbara Randle uses crazy piecing to create a variety of bags, pillows etc. The crazy quilted pieces in the book use the crazy piecing technique in a modern way using vibrant fabrics. No hand embroidery is used, instead the embellishment is all done using the sewing machine. For people who have a variety of stitches on their machines and have never used them, these could the perfect projects to use them on. Other embellishments in the book are make using couched threads, bits of coloured wool etc.

"Patchwork with Pizzazz" by Lise Bergene is another great book. There's loads of projects in the book (60 in all) and there are instructions on how to make a wide variety of bags. The author is Norwegian and most of her projects show a Scandinavian influence.

Blogs with free bag patterns - more tips for the November Bag Challenge

The challenge for the November meeting is to "Make a Bag".
There are hundreds of web-sites which give free tutorials, instructions and ideas on making bags. I just had a quick check and noted down some web-addresses which could be of use.

http://creativelittledaisy.typepad.com/creative_little_daisy/2006/01/basic_purse_tut.html
Tutorial for a small bag.

http://www.supereggplant.com/archives/000216.html
pattern for a little bag

http://welshquilter.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
This blog gives a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a bucket bag tote.

http://www.kristinlaflamme.com/patterns.html
There are 3 free patterns here, two of which are for bags. One pattern is for a Sűbe Sac and the other for a square bag pattern.

http://artsycraftybabe.typepad.com/artsycrafty_babe/2007/05/the_purse_proje.html
This blog show how to make a small bag from a tea-towel!

http://mizutamago.typepad.com/weblog/2007/07/tote-pattern.html
This blog shows a pattern for a small tote bag with a cute gathered front.

http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2006/06/shoulder_bag_tu.html
Shoulder bag tutorial which can easily be customised to your own design.

October 12th Meeting

Breeda O'Sullivan from the Skerries Mills Quilting was the speaker on the night. She brought a large suitcase full of pieces to show. Most of their items were from their recent exhition "Quilting on the Rocks" which was shown at Skerries Mills in Co. Dublin. Their work was excellent and showed a high degree of skill.

The monthly challenge for October was to make something using the A4-sized fabric square of "Bohemian Rhapsody" that everyone was given. The fabric was something that a lot of people initially thought "uugh" as it was completely different than their usual fabric choices. As it turned out the fabric lent itself very well to an wide variety of patchwork layouts!

14 entries were received on the night which was a big increase on the usual amount of entries for the challenge. There was fantastic creativity present on the night, as everyone's pieces were totally different and unique.

Gwen Cottiss was the deserved winner on the night with her hexagon pieced basket of flowers.


Bridget came second with her curved stained-glass effect piece, which was very eye-catching and showed a great range of fabric combinations.

Paula Rafferty entered two pieces for the challenge. Paula liked the fabric some much , she had to go and buy more of it! She made a very detailed foundation pieced circular wall-hanging. Her 2nd piece was made using the klaidoscope method, and really showed the versatility of the fabric choice as it looked like a wide variety of fabrics had been used instead of just one!

Valerie Shortt made a very colourful quilt which used the challenge fabric as the centre of the some of the squares.