special delivery

my friends rachel and tom welcomed a bouncing baby girl to their twosome yesterday! little baby (not sure of the name) had her coming out party hot on the heels of a bbq/baby shower thrown in her honor on saturday. maybe it was the bite-sized brownies or the homemade slaw or all of the wonderful prezzies that got her excited to enter the world just a touch on the early side. whatever hastened her delivery, we are all happy that she's here! and this chickadee is pleased to have been able to drop off a package with the parents just before the stork dropped in and brought their bundle of joy.

here's what this chickadee delivered:

above is a front/back view of my first ever solo quilt project! the collaboration with my mom on the wise old owl quilt taught me quite a lot, but didn't quite prepare for the experience of going it alone...and making up my very own pattern...but the results are pretty in pink and purple. it is about 32" x 42" and super snuggly thanks to the flannel sashing and soft cotton fabric. those cute cotton prints are from the master mind of heather ross who creates all sorts of fantastic and fanciful designs for free spirit fabrics. here's a close-up of the front:

with leftover scraps and lotta jansdotter's simple sewing book, i set out to make a tote to transport the quilt in style. i've been wanting to try to make the all-day tote for quite some time and this seemed like a perfect occasion. not only was it the "wrapping" for the prezzie, it can hopefully provide plenty of pockets and places to stash everything for the baby. with a few modifications made to the original design, here's what happened:

to make it all match, fabric from the quilt project did double duty as it is used to accent and line the pockets on the outside of the tote. the inside is stitched from the soft flannel to cushion bottles and baby food jars. and a few more pockets were added to the interior to give plenty of organization options.

shown above is the inset zipper with matching fabric backing and the side slip pocket panel.

and just fyi, the modifications made to the original tote pattern are as follows:
* contrasting fabric added to accent and line the exterior pockets
* snaps added to exterior pockets
* two interior pockets made instead of the one called for in the pattern. these are pockets of this chickadee's design and include one inset zip and a set of slip pockets on the panel facing.

something to consider for next time:
*interfacing. the bag has no shape without content, even with the sturdy denim sides. so this would definitely be something to add for stability.
*more height. the finished dimensions come to about 10" x 14" x 6". it is a tad bit on the shallow side as far as height is concerned. maybe just a slight modification there to suit your taste.

overall the pattern was pretty simple and easy to follow. the design is definitely a great option for a diaper bag as it has a generous exterior side pocket for a bottle and plenty of room to stash all sorts of things. it was fun to make, try it!