.: feel good Friday - the grandmother of all totes! :.

In a couple of weeks I'm very fortunate + very happy to be going to one of Camille Roskelley's trunk shows AND a Red Letter Day class - so very excited!  The odds are very high - when you gather a gaggle of fabric-and-quilt-lovin' ladies in one room with someone as awesome as Camille - that there will be many, many, many gorgeous hand-made creations featuring Camille's beautiful fabrics - I really can't wait to see everyone's bags, zip-pouches and whatever else they have made!  

So.  I thought "I'll make a tote bag to take along.  I'll use a couple of our panels, some gorgeous Bonnie+Camille fabrics, and some other favourite fabrics.  Yes.  That's a plan".  I also had sleepovers vaguely at the back of my mind - the overnight bag is never big enough to hold the pillow and sleeping bag too - so the two panels I chose also serve as messages to our girls for when they are away from home - Be Kind Be Smart Be Brave and Love You Like Crazy.  

I was happily pulling fabrics and sewing away, and the tote-panels were getting bigger and bigger, when I got an email yesterday about the class, saying we need to get our machines tagged and tested!  After a mini panic, I picked up the pace so I could finish the tote and put my machine in for a service tomorrow. 

For these pics, I've filled the tote with a pillow, sleeping-bag, little quilt and our girls' much-loved Winnies.  It's quite hysterically-huge, it's like the grandmother of all tote bags.  

I shared a couple of pics here of the front and back panels - before I added the Parson Gray 'Rain' to the bottom - so you can see all the gorgeous fabrics a little better there. 

For the lining, I used a cute animal print, a gorgeous Lisa Congdon flags print, and the Bonnie+Camille Bliss spots in pale aqua/white.  And I made a pocket! - from some Miss Kate candy squares, trimmed with some Happy Go Lucky, and then sewed one of our fab new labels on the front. 

Here's the inside:

 And the inside of the pocket:

And now here is the grandmother-tote flattened out on the table.  Can I just say too - the handles - they're my favourite-ever Bonnie+Camille design - the red/cream flowers on aqua blue from Bliss.  I'm still hoarding a couple of yards of it ... though I'm planning on using some in the Red Letter Day quilt. 

I'm so very happy it's finished and ready for action.  I'm going to fill it with all my fabrics and goodies for Camille's class, and then start waiting impatiently for my machine to come home again next week - tagged, tested and ready for Red Letter Day. 

{the Winnies say bye}

Here's to a happy Friday and great weekend everyone.  xoxo cat