I love the diversity of batiks. Regardless of the manufacturer, the origin and the color they always look good together.
I buy a lot of batik fat quarter bundles for the wide variety of colors and prints, they give my quilts a scrappy look. I save all the scraps and get some more from my tidy quilting friend who saves the batik scraps for me. I blend the scraps into my quilts to enrich their color and texture and also use them for small quilting projects.
This time my small project turned into a bigger project, resulting in 10 market totes so far.
First I used up the squares, then the strips (leftover binding strips are great for bags) and finally the smaller pieces. The bags above on the right are the two last ones of this series and so far my favorites. I will definitely make at least one more with this pattern using my new favorite color combination, turquoise with chartreuse.
These bags are extremely photogenic too, the colors are bright and lively.
I used 8 orphan blocks for the largest tote - picture on the left below. They were leftovers from my Scrappy Squares quilt.
The blue tote on the right below was sewn together from strips, even the handle was pieced from several strips. The blue strips came from another quilt, the Moroccan Tiles.
I go for food shopping with my own handmade bags for years and I regularly get compliments. The colors just attract the eyes. You will definitely stand out with your stylish bags too and will be proudly declining the plastic and paper bags.
Since these bags are made withe same care as the quilts they can be washed in the washing machine on a gentle cycle. The handles are made with regular batting (double fold) and stitched down densely. The repeated cross stitch keeps the handles strongly attached, so the bags will hold up for a long time.
If you are ready to bust your scrap bag you can find the Market Tote pattern in my store.
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