Ooh, I Love this Aboriginal Bag! Better Make One More

I slept in this morning. I planned on getting up at 9 am. But I didn’t. I slept until almost 10:30. And it was glorious!

So our Sunday morning walk started a little late. We walked for over four miles as I talked to a friend on the phone. It was another gorgeous day! I had to stop half way through to strip off my coat and gloves. The sun was glorious. And when I got home I drank a beer on the back patio with the sun on my face.

And while I sat there I realized that it’s time to pick up my yogurt containers that Bender gets to lick out every morning.

That’s about three weeks worth of breakfasts!

Once I sucked the last golden deliciousness from the can, I did a little puttering, did some laundry, made some nectar for the hummingbirds and then I hit my sewing room to finish up the Aboriginal bag that I started on Friday night. And man… I LOVE THIS ONE!!!

Here’s the other side. I just love that bold red! It’s all so pretty with those left over strip sets.

And the obligatory tag photo… Holy cow! Those colors are so rich, so deep… just amazing!

And I love the dark lining on this one. It really works well with all the color on the front of the bag.

Here’s some detail…

As I started working on the lining this afternoon, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to use a pen to mark the line for placing the zipper placket. I thought I could use chalk, but figured it would all be a muddled mess by the time I got that the point where I needed it.

So I put a piece of painters tape on the fabric to mark where I needed the line…

And then I just stitched a line along the edge of that blue tape.

It worked really well and was very visible. And it was there when I needed it.

I will definitely remember that trick the next time I’m working with a really dark lining where a pen won’t work.

Here’s a picture I took as I was sewing the final line of top stitching around the top of the bag. I love this step, but man… it’s really a wrestling match to manipulate all that bulk around the machine!

When I finished this bag it was early enough that I wanted to try something that I’ve been thinking about.

Several months ago I made two batik bags from a wall hanging I made during the pandemic. I wasn’t terribly crazy about the wall hanging so decided to cut it into four pieces and make two bags out of it. It was a really good decision… I loved the bags much more than the wall hanging! Here’s one of the bags.

I just love those bold borders on two sides of the improv block. So I made one big block from my left over Aboriginal strip sets and then bordered it with some gorgeous Aboriginals. I wanted to use the same red that’s in the bag I finished tonight, but I didn’t have enough of it. But I like what I used instead.

I like it, but won’t really know how it works until it’s sewn into a bag. I’m thinking the two strips around the pieced block need more contrast.

I finished piecing both panels for this bag before I called it quits for the night. I’ll probably make some progress on this tomorrow.

I’ll probably try this same design with some of my KFC scraps next. Maybe some fun Brandon Mably black and white prints. Hmmm. Ideas.

One more week and we switch to Daylight Saving Time. That is my favorite time of the year! It was light until 6:00 tonight. Next Sunday, it will be light until 7 pm!!! I love it.