Wednesday, May 10, 2017

The pocket challenge

     I was given a large amount of tote bags for my comfort quilts by a travel agent that were excessed. They are great for the quilts, but have no front pocket for the book and card I include. The bag is used to carry the quilt to treatments. I usually use a stray block for the pocket, but had none. I poked through the scraps people give me and found these pieced rectangle batik blocks. 
      I folded them in half, cut on the fold, and reassembled them in 4 patches placing the skinny long piece at the centers. I was able to get four of them. I cut some white for the back, and sewed all the pockets, turned them inside out, and pinned them on the bags. 
     I sew these on the potted motor Singer 15 as it is heavy duty and just powers through the straps on the bag. It is hard to maneuver the bag under the foot, so it is slow going. I did four bags so the next comfort quilt packages will be easier to finish. 
     I was pleased with myself to figure out these pockets quickly and attractively. Once in a while, inspiration strikes, otherwise it is all perspiration.
The rectangle scrap blocks from somebody's project
Cut in half rectangle blocks
4 patches 
Pockets with backing, the bag with logo to be covered
and pocket attached


Three bags done

The whole package, Maybe quilt, book, card, pocket quilt. It gets put in an XL Ziploc bag with handle.

4 comments:

Debbie said...

Now that is super creative! I love what you do. It is a "no waste" project to upcycle those tote bags and make them really useful :) Great job!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Super solution --

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

What size block do you need for the pockets? I can probably send you a few.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Nice work. I wish I had a comfort quilt ready here, since I just found out a friends father will be doing chemo soon. No time to make one, since I'll be leaving on a 2 week trip, next week.