Friday 24 June 2022

New Tote Bags made from Kantha Cloth

By the time you read this I'll be in Taupo at the Taupo Quiltmakers' "Quilting with the Stars" exhibition.  It's been a while since I've been to a quilt show, so I'm really looking forward to this one.  And I have the honour of being the guest exhibitor this time.  If you see me there please do say "hello".  


In the mean time, I've been busy making some new tote bags.  

I saw this amazing Kantha cloth designed by Valori Wells at Stitchbird Fabrics in Wellington.  It's not the type of thing you'd cut up into small pieces, so I kept it big and made two large tote bags out of 1 metre.  

I modified and merged two Tote Bag patterns to get the bags the sizes I wanted.  



The second bag isn't as wide, but it is slightly taller.

I originally wanted the stitching on the Kantha cloth to show on the inside too, but that meant I couldn't use Soft and Stable.  And I would have had to bind the seams to give the bag a tidy finish.  I didn't want to do that, so I found some blue fabric that complemented the exterior nicely. And my bags stand up by themselves because they've got Soft and Stable in them.  



Valori Well's Kantha cloth comes in two colour ways - the Indigo that I used, and also Pomegranate. I'm very tempted to go back for some Pomegranate.  



It looks so good.  I love this Kantha cloth and I love my new bags.  


Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week? Feel free to link up a recent blog post below:





You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

7 comments:

Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting said...

Those bags are going to be so much fun to use! And yes to Soft & Stable--it's a deal breaker in bag making!

Melva said...

Lovely bags! One can never have too many ;) Thanks for the chance to share with others via the linky op. Blessings!

Gretchen Weaver said...

I love your new bags too! Have a wonderful time at the quilt show!

Marie said...

That's a perfect use for that gorgeous fabric - the pomegranate would be lovely too. Have fun at the show!

FlourishingPalms said...

So I'm trying to figure out... is that Kantha cloth already stitched when you purchase it? Or did you stitch it yourself? Your bags are certainly pretty, and perfect with the stiffness of Soft and Stable, a product I like too. I've been following you on IG and see that you're having a good time (shopping much?!) at Taupo. Congratulations on being a featured exhibitor!

http://needlesandwords.blogspot.com/ said...

I immediately searched, found, and ordered the blue Kantha cloth!!! Your bags are just gorgeous.

Nancy said...

Blue fabric and white quilts are the first things I want to make in the new year.