Quilted Pedal Bag

I finally got around to making this quilted bag that I've been wanting to make forever. I think I've had the pattern for almost a year. The pattern is from Indygo Junction and you can order it online.  I love this bag! I made this one for a birthday gift but I'm looking forward to eventually making one for myself.

 The thing I love about this bag is that is uses up my fabric scraps. I have so many and I was really able to utilize almost all of them, not having to repeat the same fabric twice. I'll admit it was very tedious cutting out 32 pedals, then cutting out 32 petals of from the Heat N Bond paper, and then ironing them to the Heat N Bond without getting the sticky film on the iron.

My favorite part was quilting the bag, although that did not come easy either. I broke four needles in the process. I was even using my walking foot which helped some. But I think it's really neat to see it all come together and the quilting really makes the design stand out.

I also had a difficult time transferring the pattern to the fabric. I was using the light method.  To do this I placed the pattern under the fabric and then tapped both pieces to my window and traced it with water soluble pencil. The pattern came through the fabric well enough to trace it but the pencil didn't show up very well and it was hard to see what I had traced and what I hadn't. Next time I think I'll try transfer paper, and I've decided that I would only trace the petal design from the pattern because I ended up free-handing the rest anyway.

The bag is really meant to be quilted with a drop-feed machine, or a machine that allows you to do free-hand quilting. I do not have the luxury of owning one so I did the best with what I had. Nevertheless, I think it turned out pretty well.