Christmas in July Continued: Flurry Project Bag

At long last, I have found the gift bag pattern that I have been searching for! After making several Everything Bags, and one Snack bag, I found that the Project Bag size of Jeni’s Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern was the perfect size for my purposes: big enough for most presents, cute, quick and easy!  This bag was made from Flurry yardage left over from last year. I anticipate making many more of this size before Christmas rolls around. First step: stock up on Christmas yardage!

For those that are curious about the relative sizes of these bags, here is a picture of the three sizes I have made: Everything, Project and Snack.

Christmas in July Update: Everything Bags

Have you been wondering about my Christmas in July progress? Well, fear not, I have made some progress and I have even photographed it!

Jeni’s Lined Drawstring Bag has been popping up all over the blogosphere, but I was able to resist its charms until my mom wrapped my birthday present in an Artist Bag. I decided to try out the tutorial before buying the pattern, and started on an Everything Bag, using three fat quarters of Joy by Kate Spain. Before I even finished the first bag, I liked it so well that I bought the full pattern. 

This pattern is absolutely genius! With careful cutting, I was able to make two Everything Bags out of three fat quarters. They came together super quick and easy. I have less time to sew than I would like, but still managed to make four of these bags in less than a week. 

They are so much fun that I already have two more in progress, in different sizes. I love the bags I’ve already made, but they seem a little small for my purposes, so I’ll probably make more bags in the bigger sizes. I can’t wait ‘til Christmas when I can wrap presents in these fun bags!

Wordless WIP Wednesday: July 18, 2012

Christmas in July

Without a doubt, Christmas is my favorite holiday. Unfortunately, it is also a very busy time for me and I never seem to finish all the Christmasy projects that I plan. For the past two years, I have made fabric gift bags for our extended family, and the past two years, I have stayed up way too late on Christmas Eve finishing the last bags and wrapping the last gifts. Then, when the holiday season is over, I don’t feel like making the Christmas quilts that I bought fabric for because I burned out on sewing bags. Well, this year is going to be different! For the month of July, my main quilting focus will be on Christmas projects. That way, when Christmas rolls around this year, I can slow down and focus on what matters most.

Here are my goals for this month:

• Make a Christmas lap quilt out of Wintergraphix II by Jason Yenter for In the Beginning.

• Make a Christmas lap quilt out of Flurry by Kate Spain for Moda.

• Try at least one new bag pattern and make as many gift bags as possible from a fat quarter stack of Joy by Kate Spain for Moda.

 

• Make as many gift bags as possible from Christmas scraps and stash.

I’m also looking forward this month to following two Christmas in July events: the Christmas in July Block-A-Thon and the Christmas in July Blog Hop. That’s a whole lot of Christmas inspiration to motivate me this month!