It is to big!

I completed my handbag. I want to take it with me to the International Quilt Conference in Johannesburg. I am also taking my sewing machine and the Airline only allowed two pieces of hand luggage. This bag is just to big. If I put it in my suitcase it will just take up to much space.

Oh well it can hold about 3 quilts- so it is a nice bag to carry my Show and Tell quilts to meetings. I do not know what I was thinking- or perhaps I did not think? The pattern's name is The 6 Fat Quarter bag. It is a free pattern and available from Martingale. I use the two pieces of "Stupendous Stitching" to bring two of the fat quarters to the correct size.

I have added some charms on this piece.

I think I did not carry out the instructions for the handles correctly- but a big bag like this need wider handles. It is just not long enough- but I will remove the knot and just sew it together and decorate it with a button. The pattern can be found on Martingale's website- here.

Making Plans or not?

I am most productive if I plan my days. I have read on some blogs that goal setting and detailed planning contribute to stress. So in the beginning of the year I thought I will just "go with the flow" and do what my hand find to do.

This might work for some people but it definitely did not work for me. I need to know what I want to achieve and do some planning around it on a daily basis. I decided to make myself a back pack long ago- last year some time. I have sewn some lovely Jacobean embroidery designs to use as pockets on the back pack and that was as far as it went.

We have an International Quilting Conference at the end of July. This was a good motivation for me to have the bag ready to take with me when I attend this Quilting Event. I used an old back pack that I find ideally as a template/pattern to make mine. I added a lining with a inner zip pocket and added a third outside pocket. The Back pack turned out very well and I am super happy with it. I am also very glad that I have another project finished.

I also want to make a handbag using an interesting pattern that I got from Interweave.
I have changed some of the panels to include some panels with stitching on. This I have learned from taking a class with Carol Ann Waugh at Craftsy

I have made this wall hanging after taken her class and is constantly looking for ways to apply this in my other work.

This bag will be a good opportunity to apply this knowledge and personalize my bag. What I like about this is that I can play with my embroidery floss, trying out the stitches I learned from Sharon Boggon in her Take a Stitch Tuesday series. I also use the knowledge obtained from my class with Margaret le Roux (last year) to incorporate the beads and charms I have added to my collection.

I do like to work in my studio concentrating on my projects. My embroidery machine is operating under my supervision working on another new project, while I completed the back pack and then start with the panels for the handbag. This sometimes create a conflict when the embroidery project needs decision making and cause a brake in concentration on the bag project. Then I just switch the embroidery machine off so as not to loose the Zen quality of my time in my studio.

Do you plan your days- or just go with the flow? What works for you?