Totes for Many

Have you ever found a pattern that you love so much, you want to make it over & over again? For me, a pattern that falls into this category is the All The Things Tote. It’s designed by Kait at http://www.knotandthreaddesign.com. This pattern comes in three different sizes and all are more generously proportioned than you might imagine. As soon as I made one, all I could do was grab yardage and get to work on more!

Quilted Panels

Early 2023, I knew without hesitation that I’d be making a LOT of these totes. I could easily straight-line or decorative stitch some quilt sandwiches to then cut into pieces for the bags, but I wanted a little more flair. My intention was to make these for gifts and I thought it would be fun to experiment with different pantographs and fabric combinations. I also wanted to be as efficient with fabric and cost effective as possible when it came to professional longarm quilting. Thankfully, I have made a lot of quilts and have had excellent experiences with two quilters, each of whom helped me in this tote making effort.

The best part, I started early enough to not feel panic at the holidays while creating handmade gifts. Just for reference, I highly recommend the early start! So much more enjoyable.

I turned to Jennifer, www.knottedthread.com who has quilted so many of my projects over the past several years. Every single finish ships back to me in a timely manner and I never doubt it will be perfectly done. These bag panels were no different – so well done. Kait, at Knot and Thread, also quilted panels for me. Some were done with quilt batting, others with Soft and Stable Foam Stabilizer. I generally prefer cotton batting, but one bag in particular needed a little more structure, which was made possible with the soft and stable.

Juki, My Workhorse

I have two sewing machines and one, the Husqvarna Opal, is used entirely for piecing blocks and my Juki TL-2010Q is used for projects that require industrial strength and power to glide through thick layers. They are my studio babies and I can’t imagine sewing without either of them. They each perform so well for what I need and I’m thankful for the flexibility to move around a table to the machine which is best (for me) at different tasks.

The All the Things tote has a few areas/seams that are several layers thick. Think double sided fabric, stabilizer, binding, webbing straps…it’s a lot. My Juki earned its place in the “I can do this because of you” category this past year! While I didn’t attempt the thickest seams with my Husqvarna, I think a slow and steady pace might work with a variety of machines and heavy-duty needles.

The Process and the Finishes

With so much of this being “secret gift” sewing, I thought I would have taken more photos! As I started to write this post, I realized I didn’t have as many process photos as I usually take. It might also be that each bag was made from yardage panels and not pieced blocks. Some I finished with white webbing straps, others were webbing covered in coordinating fabric. The additional benefit is that each panel had a little bit of wiggle room and cut just right, I had some leftover yardage for zipper pouches. I mean, who doesn’t love a quilted zipper pouch?

The Totes

With this one, I reversed the direction of the end panels so that the interior would face out with a pocket of yellow flowers. I like it!

This directional beach chair fabric, was constructed just a bit differently so that all the chairs were accurately placed. It also makes me think about lazy summer days, toes in the sand, enjoying the surf with family & friends.

My youngest now has two totes, a large & a medium. The first is one of my favorites, complete with shark fabric, but do I have a photo? Not that I’ve found yet! I’ll have to do that. Any time I’m asked to make something by my kids, it’s a prompt, “of course”.

Then there are the maker friends, who share fabric (you know it’s you, Joanne!) or tell me about totes they’d like to have, but likely won’t make. I’m looking at YOU, Alicia. I’m fortunate to have a circle of creative people in my life and the sharing of ideas and handmade gifts is truly a joy. I think often times as makers, we don’t receive handmade gifts because others think we would do it ourselves. I can’t speak for everyone, but even though I sew, quilt, bake, make bread, I’m always excited when I handmade “thing” comes my way. It’s fun & I appreciate the time & effort someone invested into gifting me something from their own creativity and hands.

All The Things

Such a perfect name for a tote that can be designed in numerous fabric combinations, carrying widely different contents, stabilized with a favorite material, quilted with unlimited pantographs or straight lines, pieced block pockets…it is and can be All the Things.

With eleven already under my belt, it still doesn’t feel like I’ve made all the combinations in my mind, so there may be more in 2024!

Happy Sewing!

All photos and written content property of Two Terriers Studio & not to be copied or distributed without written consent of the owner. This is not a sponsored post (although I wish it were!). All comments and collaboration notes are my personal opinion & from my personal experiences.