The Upgrader Bag

The newest bag by ChrisW Designs is called The Upgrader and it comes in 2 sizes, small and large. I tested the large bag here. It is available as a pdf or video course. There is also a Supplement B Pocket Pattern available to purchase too that you can add to almost any bag or use it as a separate clutch. If you join Christine's newsletter or Facebook group, you can get 20% off this and any new releases. But hurry the discount ends at midnight Oct. 1, 2019 Australian Eastern Standard Time and you must either join the FB group or her newsletter to get the discount code, which is only good on her website and not elsewhere.
And be sure to visit Christine's blog here to see all the tester bags too.

There were several things that Christine needed to get fixed to make this bag work and she finally got that done. You see Christine went off to visit her newest grandson who was just born and left all us testers to our testing and of course it's Murphy's Law that things would go wrong and that's what happened. So she spent a long time when she got back redoing the pdf and video to get it right. That's what I love about Christine and her bag patterns is that she does get them right by the time she sells them. So now that I have the corrected pattern, I can make another one of these bags and have no worries at all that it will come out great.

But since this was the bag I tested, I will point out where there were things that she corrected later in the pattern.

Purse feet to help keep the bag clean.

Here is something that Christine corrected was making a tighter fitting lining. I showed her how my lining was too baggy and so when you pop over and see some of the tester bags, you will see how nice the lining looks now. Since I tend to be one of the first ones done, I do find a lot of the problems. I should try and be one of the last ones done, so others can find the mistakes first and I can make the corrected version, lol! It's still a useful and functional bag though. The pocket with the flap is the Pocket Supplement B.

I love the fabrics I chose for this bag. The wide blue strip across the front and back of the bag are pockets, which are great for your phone and keys.

This is the back and the pocket is behind the blue horizontal strip.

Here is a photo of the pocket.

Don't forget to sign up for ChrisW Design's newsletter or Facebook Group to get the discount code for 20% off this pdf or video course. Offer expires Oct. 1, 2019 at midnight Australian Eastern Standard Time. Scroll back to the top for the links.
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The Allure (reduced) in Gray & Black

Here is another Allure bag that I made at 85%. I went with gray and black for this one. The gray print is a home dec fabric and I just thought it was so pretty. As someone who normally loves bright colors, I really like this combination of gray & black.

The pdf is from ChrisW Designs and she has a video for making this bag as well. I have made so many of these now I am beginning to lose count. I have another 3 Allure Bags to show you another day that I have already made too. Trying to stock up for a couple of craft shows. I love this bag and love to try different fabric combinations. I even made one with a zippered closure instead of a flap to see how it would look. Will post about that one in a few days.

Zippered pocket inside.

Slip pocket inside with a pen pocket. 

Back of bag.

Cell phone (or keys) pocket on the top back of bag.

Purse feet to help keep her clean.

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Serendipity Hip Bag in Hot Air Balloon Print Fabric

The first weekend in October is the start of the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, (that runs for 9 days), so I love to make some purses and other bags with hot air balloon fabric. This is the Serendipity Hip (ChrisW Designs) with a straight top. It seems I sell the straight top versions better than the curved top Serendipity Hip, so that is why I make them like this. I love both looks.

The Serendipity Hip is a great little bag loaded with pockets galore and has a zipper closure to keep it all secure.

You can see the zippered pocket here, but right above this is a slip pocket with a phone pocket for easy access.

Side view shows depth of bag.

I only use these hot air balloon charms when I make a bag with hot air balloon fabric. 

The back of the bag.

This is looking down into the slip pocket with the phone pocket.

Inside the bag is another zippered pocket.

And some credit card and cash pocket too, so you don't even need a separate wallet!

I will be taking this bag to a craft show I am doing in October.
Update: This bag just sold.
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Happy Hobo Bag in Patriotic Fabric

I made this Happy Hobo bag from a tutorial from Sew Can She. If you know me, you know I make changes to bags I make and usually add or subtract things from bags to suit my style. I made changes to this bag too. First off I am not fond of pleats on bags, so instead of doing the pleats, I used the lining pattern to make the exterior as well as the lining to avoid the pleats. Plus Caroline not only pleated the front (and back too) but divided the front into 2 sections with a seam down the center. I didn't see the need to do that either. She did a lovely embroidery on her Happy Hobo, but I don't have an embroidery machine and didn't want to hand embroidery either. I just wanted to try making this bag in a fabric. As I was going  through some prints, I found this one and decided I would make this a patriotic bag. I didn't have enough left for the strap, so I sewed 2 fabrics together to create a long enough adjustable strap and I really love the look of the strap! I had to get creative with the inside pockets too, which I actually love the look of those pockets. Funny how when I have to make do with what I have how I can be creative and end up loving the results even more.

So here she is~

The bag closes with a zipper.

The sides have a pocket. A cell phone would fit in just fine. However, if you have large hands, it might be hard to reach down into the pocket, so something like a cell phone where you can grab it from higher would what you would want to place inside the pocket and nothing like your spare change, lol!

On the back of the bag I added a zippered pocket. I love zippered pockets outside or inside to keep some things secure.

I make my zipper pulls and yes I do make everything with love.

Inside the bag the lining I used was the Pledge of Allegiance print. I had enough for the lining but not the pockets or the gusset. I didn't even have large enough pieces to make the pockets out of the exterior fabric, so I pieced the pockets creatively and love how they came out. Hard to get a decent photo inside the bag.

This is the pocket on the other side. I always try and add a pen pocket if the bag is tall enough for one to fit.

SOLD!
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Zip N Go Laptop/Tablet Bag

This is the Zip N Go Laptop Bag by Moments Designs. It will fit a 13" laptop or tablet. There is a zippered pocket on the front, a slip pocket on the back and the inside lining is quilted to foam for extra cushioning. All the fabrics inside and out are interfaced and the exterior fabrics also have fusible fleece added, so there is cushioning both inside and outside of the bag to protect your device. The bag closes with a zipper to keep everything safely inside. You can add a carry handle or not.

I made this bag to hold my Amazon Fire Tablet. I used a fabric that I hand dyed years ago for the exterior. I accented the bag with a dark royal purple for the handles, gusset and the zippers too. Inside I used a lavender polka dot fabric and inside the front zippered pocket a light lavender since I ran out of the polka dot fabric.

The handles I made using fabric and sewing into a tube and then inserting webbing inside the handles. The pattern calls for using webbing for the handles themselves, but I wanted the use a pretty royal purple and so I used white webbing inside. I also added some rivets for a bit of bling.

I really love how this bag turned out and that I can keep my tablet and cord together now.

This is the back side with the slip pocket.

Inside the lining is quilted to foam for extra cushioning.

The zippered pocket on the front of the bag.

The front zippered pocket holds the charging cord, my earphones and a stylus pen too.

My tablet fits inside with room to spare.

My tablet has a purple protective cover with a handle and retractable feet for it to stand up. 

Now you can see why I wanted to have some purple on my Zip N Go Case so that it matches my tablet. 

If you want to buy this or any of Liz's pdf patterns, you can join her Facebook group and she has a pdf  listing of all of her pdf's listed with instructions of how to purchase them from her. Or if you aren't on FB, you can email me and I can email you the pdf listing of all her patterns (both free and for purchase) that has the price and a photo of each bag. She tells you how to order them from her on the pdf list.
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Quilter's Meet & Greet 2019

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Welcome to my blog on the Quilter's Meet & Greet Tour. The tour is hosted by Benita Skinner's Creative Space.

Some of you might follow me or have popped in for a visit from time-to-time, but I am sure there are a lot of you who have never heard of me before today (even though I have been blogging since early 2008). So let me introduce myself, I am Daryl (yes I am female) and I live in New Mexico and have been doing patchwork, applique and quilting since I was a teenager (in other words a very long time). About 9 years ago I got hooked on making bags (I test bag patterns for online designers too). I also like to knit and I do other sewing and crafts here and there as well.

What I have always loved about quilts (and bags too) is the colors and prints of the fabrics. I love color of all kinds, but my favorites are royal blue, royal purple and fuchsia. I love the rich colors of those colors, but I love all colors in quilts. My favorite type of fabric is batik because of the rich colors batik fabrics have. My favorite part of making a quilt or a bag is choosing the colors.

I do not have any kind of computer quilt program and when I make quilts of my own design, I tend to start with a basic idea I sketch on paper with a pencil, but once I start cutting and sewing I tend to create as I go. I always make some changes in quilts or bags if I do follow a pattern. A lot of times I might take elements from a lot of different places and use them in one quilt that I am making.

Here are a few of the quilts I have made and some of my favorite bags I made too. As you can see I love applique because I can get more creative with it.

I made this quilt as an Attic Windows Challenge at my quilt group. I wanted the owls to be looking in the window instead of looking out the window at a scene.

This was a pattern from Amy Bradley, but I reduced the size and added my own wording. Mostly batiks and I pieced the background out of my white and off white scraps.

This is called Prickly Pear, a pattern from Karen Stone. All done in batik fabrics.

Sunflowers in a Pitcher was made using batik and hand dyed fabric. I sewed a scrappy white border with a tiny orange square in the center of each scrappy border block.

I combined the owls from a table runner I made before this, with pumpkins, stars and a moon in the middle to create this round topper.

Here are some of my favorite bags that I have made:

Izzie Convertible Backpack from Around the Bobbin patterns.

The Allure Bag, pattern by ChrisW Designs that I made in a reduced size.

The Companion Carpet Bag (in blue batik) a pattern by Mrs. H.

This is the medium size Diamond Pouch, pattern by Moments Designs.

The Retreat Bag made in patchwork in size large, pattern by Emmaline Bags. One with the internal frame and one without the frame. I added straps and inside pockets.

Arabesque Bag made in patchwork. Pattern by Sew Sweetness.

I also have made some knits and sewn some bears.

I made Warren Bears in 2 sizes. I made these in velour fabric. This is a pattern from Shiny Happy World.

Socks I knit for hubby.

Chicken Pincushion with selvage pocket wings. Video tutorial by Gingercake.

Hand knit shawl using yarn that I dyed myself. Herald Shawl/ Scarf, pattern by Janino Kallio.

Now that you have met me and have seen the kind of work that I do, I hope you will drop by again for a visit.  Please be sure and stop by and meet and greet other bloggers. Be sure and leave a comment at each blog stop and you will be entered into a giveaway.

Thanks for dropping by and do come again.

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