First Finish of 2014

 I have a finished project for 2014! Whoo hoo! I made this bag for the laptop Paul gave me for Christmas. Now, truth be told, the laptop will probably only leave the house a couple times a year (if that) and will live on the kitchen counter while in the house, so the bag is maybe a little unnecessary, but at least it's pretty. Plus I've already used it once...though not to carry the laptop.

I almost made this bag without looking at a pattern or tutorial, pretty much going on memory after making the messenger bag for the boys, but I had to check the tutorial when I was ready to sew the outside and the lining together. I can never remember which goes inside which and I really didn't want to get it wrong and have to take that seam out and sew it again. This is the tutorial I used.

I couldn't get fusible fleece so I used regular batting, with one layer on the outside and one on the lining. It makes for a nice weight to the bag. I quilted the outside with a loopy stipple, which gives great texture to the fabric, but the stitches themselves don't show up well because I used black thread. I quilted the inside (which is red) with straight lines.

This fabulous folded hexagon flower was so much fun to make. I used this tutorial for that. It was really quick to fold and stitch and I love the little detail it adds to the finished bag. I stitched it to the bag using a ladder stitch, so the stitches are pretty much invisible.

Another first for 2014...

My first empty spool of the year. This used to hold red thread until I polished it off while making the bag.

Do you keep track of how many spools you use a year? I kept all my empty spools last year, after reading a post on Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures blog back in January 2013. Turns out I used 27 spools last year, which sounds pretty decent. Of course, quite a few of those were almost empty to begin with and I used them up to baste hexagons. So now the count for 2014 has begun. I wonder if I'll top 27 spools.

This bag is the first of my finishes for my FAL list this quarter...and the link-up for proposed finishes isn't even closed yet! I feel so productive.

I also got an email yesterday from Leanne at She Can Quilt telling me I won fabric for one of my finishes last quarter, so now I may have to hang out at the post office a little, waiting to get my hands on these mystery fabrics. I'll be sure to share a picture or two when they arrive.