A Quilted Purse

I have been wanting to make this purse since I saw the one Vicki made and the one Jasmine made.  I have never made a bag before or done a zipper.  Let me just say this was a huge challenge for me!  I know why I am a "quilter" and not a "sewer" - I like to sew in straight lines.  But this is a totally doable bag, especially if you can hand sew (which I can not).

I used fabric scraps from this quilt mainly because blue is my favorite color and the squares were in my scrap bin.  I didn't want to go too wild with my color choices.  The tutorial was a little hard at times to understand, but I think that was because I have no experience making things like this. It took me over 5 hours to put this bag together.

I wanted longer straps, so I measured my current purse.  My straps are cut at 34" which I think is still too short.  I should have added at least 10 more inches.  I quilted the side panels with vertical lines and the main panel with a terry twist in each square.

I didn't read the directions correctly so the lining got quilted with the outside, but you can't see it so no big deal.  I didn't add any pockets as this was challenging enough already!

The zipper turned out great after some seam ripping. Not because I didn't use a zipper foot, but because I had the top panel on backwards!  What is a zipper foot and why would I want to use it?  I completely machine sewed the binding on.  Yes, both sides!  I told you I can't hand sew.  No, the stitching line isn't straight, but you don't notice it unless you're looking for it.  (You can look for it in the picture below!)

I love my bag and I'm glad I made myself make it.  It's good to be stretched sometimes.  I can see I need to learn a few things about sewing.  Maybe someday I'll find someone who knows that wants to learn how to quilt and we can teach each other!  Until then I will stick to quilting.