Thursday, January 31, 2013

Have Tote, Will Travel!

We are in the midst of a remodel of our sunroom, which has made it out of commission for the next week.  As my HandiQuilter Sweet Sixteen lives out there (she is temporarily in the spare bedroom to avert any tragedies) I have not been able to quilt, so have been working on some small projects.
The first project I tackled was a ruler tote! Earlier this month, The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims had a link to an Olfa site that had the directions for a ruler tote.  We all know how important it is to have your favorite ruler when you are at class or retreat.  And carrying them can be clumsy at best!  I had the quilted material left over from another project, as well as the striped binding.  I did need to purchase the belting!
I used fabrics from my stash to make the pockets.  This tote is large enough that you can place an 18 x 24" cutting board in the middle also.  I will probably be putting my super large square up ruler there!
From there I proceeded to make an Iron Caddy!  We all know the angst of having to carry a hot iron home after class or retreat!  I got my pattern, which included the heat resistant ironing board fabric, at The Back Door on a recent road trip to Indianapolis.  I saw the pattern and the fabric in the latest Nancy's Notions catalog.
Yes, I am that nerd that does crossword puzzles in ink!  I found the fabric at Quilts Plus, also during the Indianapolis road trip.  The orange I had in my stash!  (yes, I do bleed orange and blue...go Illini!)
 
The tote opens flat so you can use it as an ironing surface also!  There are two layers of Insul-Brite to protect your table, but the pattern recommends to not use it on your fine dining room table!  Each tote only took a couple hours to make, and will make traveling to retreats and classes so much easier!
 
 

2 comments:

  1. Love your ruler tote. I carry my rulers to class and am always afraid I'll break one. This is great. I have the same pattern for the iron tote (got it at Nancy's, too!), but I haven't made it yet. I love the crossword fabric. I do mine in ink, too! ;-) Making good use of your time!

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  2. New reader. Found you by Clicking "next blog" on Blogger. What a treat! I need to make one of those iron totes. and your ruler tote is adorable! I added you to my bloglovin' feed. Looking forward to more posts! (I promise, I'm not a spammer!)

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