Oxbow Tote Finished

I'm focusing in on getting this Oxbow Tote finished today (Friday). Playing and re-playing the pattern assembly video.

The reinforced bottom was a little tricky, but the experienced bag makers at the Oxbow Work Day advised to cut the reinforcement to be the size of the interior rectangle so that it doesn't end up in the side seams. That worked out perfectly.

 Checking that I've gotten everything sewn down correctly. Birthing Time...

That took a bit of fiddling, but it worked out, phew!

After some top-stitching, it is All Done!

The top and the fancy zipper that I did not screw up!

The inside of the bag.

The bottom of the bag and a corner. Very boxy!

I'm so excited to use this.

It turned out even better than I'd pictured it and I'm very glad that I decided to join in and make one. I feel like I learned a whole lot.

Now I have Even More Appreciation for the bag makers and all of their technical expertise. 

And voila__another finish for the 🌀🌐BAMQ 2026 UFO Challenge🌀🌐! 

Hooray, the deadline worked on me again!

Oxbow Bottom to Top

 

Next up on the Oxbow tote, sewing on the bottom. I was glad I'd done the sew line marking back when I added the fusible stabilizer. I had to make sure there was enough space for this to go through on the back of the sewing machine as it isn't as flexible as a quilt.

Hey, it's looking good together. I may regret having the lighter rose pink owls on the bottom (as far as dirt goes). But the whole thing will be washable.

Both sides sewn to the bottom.

And then onto the zipper installation. I put my zipper foot on and took a deep breath, and watched the video several times. It's so much more helpful than the rather scant instructions and illustrations in the pattern. I really love the look of the lining fabric with the exterior fabrics. 

Next up, sewing on the other side of the bag's zipper and lining. So far so good, step by step. Trying to get this done before the next Sew Day to get a second finish checked off on my BAMQ UFO challenge list.

More Oxbow Progress

 

Made a little more progress on the Oxbow Tote. The zipper end got a little fabric tab sewn onto the end. The bottom of the bag got reinforced and cut down to size. The exterior pocket and its lining were sewn together at the top..

The interior pocket was sewn onto the lining. Some of the other people working on this bag pattern did interesting things with this pocket, like dividing it up, making it clear vinyl, putting a zipper along the whole top of the pocket, or inset into the center of it with a separate pocket. A whole lot of pocket possibilities.

Oxbow Working Group

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Several of the BAMQ members working on making our own versions of the Oxbow Tote, got together for a little mini sew day to work on our bags. It was so fun to see where everyone was in the process, some just beginning to cut it out, some doing the very last steps. It was also great to see the fabric and webbing choices, all so different. 

Working in a group setting is so helpful, especially if you're all working on the same project at different stages of completion (and bag-making mastery). It also can mean that if you forget something crucial, someone else will let you use some of the interfacing they actually remembered to bring along. Thanks, Sue! Reminder to self: Pay It Back!

I was really happy to get to work some more on mine and to advance several steps through the pattern thanks to the help of seeing the steps either done, or being done with my own eyes in person. Sometimes I think that's how I learn best, because video classes aren't always shot exactly well. Not commenting on the Noodlehead one that comes with the pattern which I still need to watch. Another note to self: watch the video!

Oxbow Tote Started

 

In big news, I have finally started out on my Oxbow Tote making journey. After buying the required amounts of SF101 Pellon fusible interfacing and By Annie Soft and Stable foam.

After all the cutting out, I began stitching the exterior panels to the Soft and Stable foam.

I think it's working out really well so far, I still really like the two canvas prints that I chose to use. I'm so happy to have finally started on this, and I'm grateful that friend Jaye was there to calm me down and help me figure things out when I was missing a part of my main body pattern piece.

A Visit to Sew Creative

 

On a trip last week with DH, we stayed in Ashland, Oregon and walked around the very cool downtown. We were desperate for a bathroom opportunity, and lo and behold, a quilt shop appeared. I knew they'd have one, I don't think I've ever been in a single quilt store without facilities. Sew Creative is a really nice shop, they had great selections for all types of fabrics and many clever fat quarter presentations. Like the plastic sushi container filled with FQ's above. DH saw these at the checkout and grabbed this one insisting that I needed to get it. Apparently the shop owner is big on recycling and takeout sushi, so she recycles these perfect containers to make appealing FQ combinations.

Some of the pieces were even rolled up just like sushi which was super cute!  They also had packs of FQs tucked into painted metal cages hanging all around the store. They turned out to be suet cages that are supposed to be squirrel proof. This was a very clever marketing idea to go with their new BOM quilt Sweet Tweets which involves appliquéd and embroidered wool birds.

It was very fun to unpack this tray of goodies. And there was no sushi fishy smell at all. I would imagine they get run through the dishwasher or something like that. I love when business find ways to reuse plastic containers in such a clever way.

And then there were the bag patterns! I saw a bag designer on offer that I'd never come across, Charlie's Aunt - Vintage Sewing Patterns. Not that I'm claiming to be an expert or anything, but I have recently been on an extensive quilt shop trip with friend Jaye who is a literal expert on all things bags. I couldn't resist and chose this one because they had one made up in a great combination of solid wool. I love the angles of the flaps, those intriguing layers, the size of the bag and the three buttons. And yes, I'll admit, the beautiful leather gloves and cool coat on the model. I really like the sun hat pattern that Charlie's Aunt sells on Etsy.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took inside the shop, obviously in the bathroom. But is this not the cutest re-use of wooden spool and a piece of a vintage advertising ruler?

Buying Spree the 2nd

Continuing on with yesterday's buying spree post. Over on the Oregon coast we first stayed in Newport, there only one quilt shop to visit, Quilter's Cove. I thought I'd found two different rainbow ombre digital prints, but instead they are both the same colors, ie the whole rainbow. I wish I'd unfolded them both in the store to check, but I still really like this fabric, and I have 2 yards instead of 1. I also picked up a new marking pencil, the Ultimate Marking Pencil, which looked interesting. I'll post about it when I try it out.

There were several more quilt shops that were on our list for the Oregon Coast, but they happened to be closed on the days that we were driving through. Next time we'll check the schedules I guess? 

Our last shop in Oregon turned out to be Kruusn Quilt Designs and Retreat Center in Coos Bay.  I found the other ombré metallic confetti colors I needed to do the V & A Ombré Triangles pattern in their Ombré Room. How fun to have a whole room full of ombré options. I was even happier that they were all on sale. And then there was this cool black and white celestial that turned out to be glow in the dark. One of the people working there showed us a fabric rope bowl she'd made with this fabric, sewn together with glow in the dark thread. It was super cool!

South of Eureka, California is the small town of Fortuna, we found Springville Quilt Barn. What a great selection of fabric, old and new Tula Pink, Tilda and Ruby Star Society. Fun fun fun. It was hard to pick. I settled on the two Ruby Star Society fabrics, the coppery goldfish on navy and the butterflies on bright yellow background. Then there was the Tilda, I found some Fat Quarters that I liked.

This particular selection of Tilda Chambray was irresistible. And I think it will go well with the Bloomsville group that I bought earlier this year. Now to find a pattern to use them all on.

And would you look at this wonderfulness?! Here's a solid that has the manufacturer and color name stitched right into the selvedge. Why is this the only one I've ever seen???

And finally we went to Stitch, in Ferndale, which was a really terrific store, I found all these goodies. Trying out a new thing, the Odif 505 Fabric Glue Stick, their basting spray works really well, so let's see if the stick version does. A Simply Moderne magazine that had some really interesting quilt ideas in it. A new-to-me Bloc-Loc, the Half-Rectangle ruler.A Hemingway Pouch pattern and a green zipper for one, I've seen these in person and they look great and useful. Some rainbow LOVE labels, sale pencil shaving orange fabric, a tiny black and white print, two calm celestial prints and a couple of fat quarters that I liked.

A Box of Roar!

I was so surprised to get my Pink Door Fabrics subscription box in the mail yesterday. It's got Tula Pink's latest line of fabric designs, Roar!, and all kinds of accompanying goodies. A Sew Sweetness pattern for the Allium bag, along with the hardware to make it. As well as a nicely sized zip-up bag to put it all in until I get it sewn. When I heard the fabric line was called Roar!, I didn't read the description, instead I guessed that it would be lions, etc., but nope--it's dinosaurs. A good surprise, as I like dinosaurs too.

There's so much fun extra stuff, that sticker is cracking me up, and I love the really pretty coordinating ribbons.

How fun is this hardware? Dinosaur pulls!

A lot of the prints together, such a variety of types of prints in various scales. It's going to be fun to come up with a good pattern to use them all.

A picture of just the main Dino prints, there's all of your favorites, T.Rex, Triceratops,Pterodactyl with lots of cool plants surrounding them.

Again, a very nice accompanying selection of solids.

Not going to lie, I'd wear a skirt made with this print. Or it would have made amazing curtain's for my kid's room back in the days when they were Dino crazy. I guess it'd be a pretty great pillowcase fabric as well. All sorts of uses for this one. There's another color way of the same print included that's pinks and oranges.

Miyako Bag

I bought this cool red leather handle from Miyako Design at Golden State Quilting last year and it's been hanging around. I'll admit that I was a little confused by the spare directions that it came with it. I happened to find this more expansive and better illustrated "sewing booklet" at Santa Cruz Vac n' Sew. Hooray for LQS's having interesting products!

Furoshiki handles with a French touch is how they're described. Furoshiki is the traditional Japanese art of folding fabric for gift wrap or transport of goods.

The handle I bought is the 31.5" one, it seems like it would be long enough to go over my shoulder.

I decided to try out a non-lined version first and chose this printed linen/cotton blend that was in my stash. It's Anna Graham for Robert Kaufman, Forage in the color Charcoal.  I folded over the raw edge twice and basted it down, I also folded in the sides and basted them down to make a square instead of a rectangle (instead of cutting it to size).  In theory this is meant to be a no-sew thing, just ironing over the double fold of the raw edge. This is a temporary/transitory sort of purse situation where I'll likely take it apart and use the piece of fabric for something else.

I really really like this fabric design and I think it looks great with the vivid red handle.

I also found the Miyako YouTube explanation which helped when I tied my first two knots.

The hardest part was figuring out how to put the fabric through the slots on the end of the leather strap.

Nope! The knots are going the wrong way. I watched the video one more time.

That's much better!

Using the new light-filtering curtain as a backdrop, here's a picture of the "finished" bag. It's not secure, so it won't work for carrying my wallet, etc. but it will be an easy bag to carry projects or larger things around.