I made this tote bag for a customer. I like it but I wish I had made the sides and bottom bigger. It ended up 4" wide and I should have made it 6" or 8" wide. Oh well next time!

It is 15 1/2" x 16" x 4". The quilt block is a 12" quilt block using a 2 1/2" template to make HSTs my way. I call the Quilt Block - Rolling Stars.

Rhonda............it's Wonderful!! :thumbup: The color combination is really pretty & the pattern is a good one too!! :D Thank you for sharing your lovely art work with us!!
:D :D :D :D

That is very pretty...looks like it could hold alot already even as wide as it is now...nice job!

well it is going in the mail to the customer in the morning and then I am on to other stuff I need to get made for her.

thanks Ladies for your nice comments!

I really like that bag it is so cute.

Really cute bag and looks to be just the right size!

I too love the bag! It's very nice!

I like it!

I think it's the perfect size. If you had made it any wider, I think it would be too heavy from trying to fill all the space up, IMO!!

nice tote - love the colors and pattern.

I agree, I think the 4" is perfect.

I really like the quilt pattern and I am sure she will get lots of compliments on her new bag. Great job!

It seems like it would be just right for carrying a 12x12 scrapbooking project or maybe a laptop. I like it.

Great bag! She will get lots of use from it. Lovely colors too!

Very cute bag :D:D:D

Pretty block and it's big enough for books, magazines, folders or even a laptop. If the bag was wider it would probably be heavier and heavy bags aren't good for your back anyway. Great job!!

Nice bag, good job.

Thank you everyone. It is on it's way to her so I hope she likes it.

The bag is very pretty. Sometimes you don't want a great big bag. It'll be very attractive as an accessory. :)

Great job, she will love it.

This one turned out basically 16" square by 4" wide. So not real small. When I was doing one a few months ago my DD told me she likes them to be really wide so she can use them to buy groceries with. So I have kept that in mind. But the wider ones just don't look right to me for some reason. I was afraid to make this one too wide because I thought it would be harder to work with(probably not really!!LOL) and I didn't really know if it should be that wide or not. So I guessed at 4". Don't really remember how I did it last time I made them. The one Sara(DD)has and likes is really really wide! Makes the bag look like a suitcase. I made a suitcase one time!! A long time ago for my son in law. He was in school to be a chiropractor and he needed a cover for his folding table to take to Nepal when the school took the students over there to practice on the people there. The cover I made ended up being a suitcase. Don't know if I would want to make one again but it was interesting at the time!

Hi Rhonda :lol:
Love the bag

Like the pattern what is it called?Is that friendship star?
She will love it I am sure!!

Really nice block design!

What a nice job! You can always make another one for you! :)

Vert pretty

I don't know for sure. I call it Rolling Stars. Without the triangles on the corners it is a Friendship Star. I'm not sure what name it has when you add the HSTs on the corners.

Great bag Rhonda!!! I love the star pattern. Do you mind of I copy it sometime?

I'm sure it is a common quilt block so sure go ahead. I don't copyright my stuff anyway except for the Ebooks.

Did you put any pockets inside. I like it and will probably make one simular

Love blue!

Rhonda, that bag is terrific!

I didn't but I have in the past. You can put one on the back outside as well. You can do them simple with just matching fabric or contrasting or you can make another quilt block and make it into a pocket for the back. I have done that before too.
You can also put pockets into the sides inside or out. I love pockets but this one was an order. I have made diaper bags similar to this and used elastic in the pockets I put on the sides.

Rhonda I think it is great the way it is! The bigger the bag the more we stuff into it!!!! LOL

Thanks K! you're right I would have it stuffed to the gills!

The only thing I thought about it size wise was if someone were taking a full size quilt or the makings of a full size quilt would it be big enough? Probably not. But I don't know how this one will be used as I made it for a customer and she wasn't real specific.

Looks perfect to me, Rhonda. Jinnie

thanks everyone. As most of you know I am a miniaturist and doing something this large was not easy for me!! I got frustrated with it many times.

But I experimented with a quilting design on the back which was something new for me. Now maybe I will be braver to try something more free motion on my Doll Quilts! LOL

I find it hard to work on something this size under my needle. I am set up so my sewing machine is close up to the shelves behind my machine so I don't have a lot of moving room. For miniatures this is just fine but not for bigger projects. My ironing board is also small and in between my sewing machine(butted up against) and my tv so only about 12". Not easy to iron larger pieces on!!

So any time I work on a larger piece it becomes frustrating!! I so much prefer minis!! LOL

Using the bag for a large quilt is a great idea. Someone recently talked about making a matching pillowcase to use as "wrapping paper" when giving the quilt as a present. Making a large shopping bag to wrap the present quilt gives 2 distinct presents.

Really nice!

That is very nice. The size looks great and the colors.