8.5 Mile Hike and Another Bag Done

I was itching to get out and get some fresh air and movement today so I took the dogs out for an 8.5 mile walk on the Banks Vernonia trail. The weather was perfect and we loved every minute of it.

The trail is a rails to trails path, so most of it is paved and the dogs are on leash. But there is a side trail we take where I let them off leash and they LOVE it! And it’s a lot easier for me to walk when they’re running free.

The last time we were on this trail there were a lot of trees down on the trail from the ice storm we had in January. But today it was all cleaned up. It was a nice walk. But this sign freaked me out just a little.

We didn’t see any bears, but we did see some wildlife. This first guy was huge! He contracted when I took the photo. Before he shrunk he was about six inches long!

In case you don’t know, that’s a banana slug. They are pretty gross!

Then there was this guy. Funny, but salamanders freeze when you get close to them. I’m pretty sure he thought we couldn’t see him.

Here’s a little closer look.

I had an early dinner after our hike and then hit the sewing room and quilted the red and yellow Frankenbag panels I made last night. Then I took a quick break to run to Joann’s to pick up ten yards of fusible fleece that I bought online (It’s on sale right now if you need some!).

Once home I hit the sewing room and finished up this bag. I just love the black and white jumble with this… and that red Jupiter is pretty fantastic too!

Here’s the back of the bag.

So, how do I decide what is the front and what is the back? Whatever panel I like the best is the front. It really doesn’t matter except in pocket and tag placement. I like the pocket to be on the back side and the tag to be on the front.

Speaking of the pocket, here’s the double pocket in this bag.

And of course, this tag puts a nice little bow on the whole thing.

A lot of people ask me where I get these tags, so here’s a link to the Etsy site. They have a lot of tags to choose from and their service is really good.

I keep getting photos of Frankenbags from blog readers. Here’s the latest batch.

Here’s one sent in by Viveka Berg. I just love all those wonky log cabin blocks… and all that color is pretty wonderful! And I really like the checkerboard quilting.

Here’s two bags from Ann Green. She made one smaller and one larger. I love the way she incorporated those cat panels. I have some of the dog print by the same designer and had it out the other night and was thinking about hos to incorporate it into a Frankenbag. I also love her bright colors contrasted with the blacks.

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This last one is from Golda Zewi in Turku, Finland. I just love that big and bold modern block on the front of this bag. I think this is the first one I’ve seen that uses a modern block like that. The color blocking is really powerful too. And I love the crumb piecing on the back of the bag and that one orange piece just makes me so happy!

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Thanks again to everyone who has sent in photos of their Frankenbags. I’m having so much fun getting to see them!