Quilted Pillow Cover and Quilted Tote Bag

Before my trip, I got one quilt back from my long-arm quilter.  I have put the binding on it, but I have not taken a photo yet.  I also have made two donation quilts, since my return, but I need to take photos of those.  I made a cute throw pillow for my aunt, with an orphan block that she admired when she was here.

On July 16, my quilt group had a one-day quilting retreat near Kuna.  Each attendee brought a quart bag of scraps, which were placed in a pile and mixed up and handed back out.  We were each given a 15" square of interfacing.  We were to sew some of our scrap pieces on it to make a free form block.  Everyone did a nice job and they looked marvelous hanging up, side-by-side on the wall.  After lunch, we were given a pattern to make a tote bag using our block and more of our scraps and two yards of fabric that we could pick up from some laid out on a table there.  I did choose two fabrics that really went with my scrap combination.  I finished my tote bag today.  

My block is on the top row, second from the left.  I could not understand the instructions that they gave us, so I made my bag the same way I always do.  I wanted a bag big enough to hold a couple of quilts, for when I have some for show and tell, therefore, I made my bag bigger.

See inside?  My two donation quilts fit nicely in there, and there is room for more!   Love the pocket!  I made the button hole without a button holer on my machine.  I am so proud of me.

Then some guy came in my quilt room and tried to make off with my amazing new quilted bag, made purely from the scraps of others.

Orphan Block Challenge!

I told you about the Orphan Block Challenge, in my previous post.  Last Wednesday, we presented the finished projects at our quilt group.  I have to admit I was excited to see what someone had done with the cowboy boot block I had submitted.  It seemed like it would take forever until someone stood up with the project incorporating a cowboy boot block.  Then finally, Janell stood up and said she had been excited about the block she had gotten for the challenge.  She did not wait to work in it and got it done weeks ago.  Then she held up this fabulous tote-bag with my block on it!  She continued to explain that last fall she had won the 'challenge fabric' quilt block competition at the Customer Appreciation Fun Run, and that she had another of my blocks from that challenge!  She showed us the other side of the bag, and it had the cowboy boot block that I had submitted to Challenge Block Competition the previous year.  Wow! I got both my blocks back in the same fabulous project.  This is a quilted tote bag.

Thank you, Janell. I love, love, love this bag!

The fabric on the shaft of the boot, is  the
challenge fabric from the last challenge
fabric block competition.

I have always entered a block, or four, into the quilt show challenge block competition, but have never won.  I am definitely a winner this time!

This cowboy boot block pattern is in Fons and Porter August 2015 magazine.  I enlarged the pattern by 25%, so it could be used in a 12 1/2" block.