I am in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) (a 7 year long Bible Study) and this year we are studying the life of Moses - I wanted to make a tote bag for the Bible and notebooks to take to my class each week and I found the Children of Israel block in a book I have - and I wanted to add an applique in the center of the block so I chose a single Rose of Sharon flower with 2 leaves as the center. In order to not make it too "Christmas-ie" I put yellow fabric (the leaf fabric) on the sides and the bottom of the tote which you really can't see in these pictures. It took me quite a few days to make it but here it is! :D

My DH says that it is my prettiest one yet (I've made 4 from this tote pattern, all but this one with 5" squares) and this is my first with making it a different size with a totally differnt pattern! He even said that he might want to help me construct the next one! :D

One more picture of the lining with pen and cell phone pockets!

AND, this was made from fabric in my scrap buckets and my yardage stash - so it was "free"!

I think my next tote will use the crumb block pattern I pulled off this site when the thread was bumped up! That would look pretty neat and think of all the great funky fabric I could use up from my stash/scraps!

WOW.. you did a GREAT JOB!.. I definately agree with your husband on this one!

Lovely job on that tote, neat idea to incorporate bible named blocks.

Very nice!! I don't think it looks too "Christmasie" at all.

That is beautiful, I really like that block and your craftsmanship is great :D

Thanks for your kind words! I love making these bags, and even though I have already made 4 of them, I have to look at the instructions over and over to make sure I'm not missing anything! :lol: :lol:

I LOVE that bag!! It's just perfect for your Bible. Congrats on a creative job!!

Very pretty and very nice job!

WOW!! Steph, that turned out beautifully!! Time to start selling them and make some money. :D

Ohhh it's absolutely beautiful!!! How perfect! I love the little pockets inside too, what a wonderful addition. It's sooo annoying when a cell phone falls to the bottom of a bag, now you'll never have to deal with that!!! Fantastic job all around!

Very nice - super idea! Where did you find the original pattern mama?

Great job! Really pretty!

Wow!!!!!!!! Great job.

WOW Steph that is a beautiful tote, but then again you always do beautiful work.

I love it..... Gotta agree with hubby.......... :D

Thanks Cissy! That is a GREAT compliment! that's what one of my gf tells me - Iam selfish with my time, though, and also am so nervous that someone wouldn't like them or something like that! Plus, they take so much time, I would have to charge about $50 per bag and that is so expensive.... :? But, maybe one of these days!

the center block is from Biblical Blocks - a book I bought years ago. The Rose of Sharon template is also in that book. The borders I just did willie-nillie in order to make the bag the right size!!

Here is the link to the book at Amazon, plus a few more with Biblical blocks/faith quilts...

http://www.amazon.com/Biblical-Block...1486544&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/More-Biblical-...ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Symbols-Faith-...ref=pd_sim_b_1
http://www.amazon.com/Quilted-Cross-...ref=pd_sim_b_6

Thanks Lisa!!!

Excellent job and even add a rose of sharon which was neat. Such biblical history behind this tote is rather neat.
Great job
Beth.

Thank you so much everyone - your compliments and enthusiasm make it easy to continue this hobby! It is SO MUCH fun to share my projects with you and to see your projects in return - thanks again for making this such a great place to be! :D :D :D

Steph-I love your tote. The colors are perfect and you made it so meaningful by the pattern that you used. Great job!!

I love this tote!!!! Great job!!!!

Thanks Marcia! I can't wait to explain the block to people who ask about it! I may make one for each year I am in BSF - and since this is my 3rd year, I might go back and make one for the Romans year and the Matthew year - lots of projects on my to do list!

thanks Melissa!!