Making the Diva Bag

I'm on a roll with the sewing thing. I finished my daisy quilt...that sucker is huge...and am now working on completing the "diva bag". This pattern is something I have had for about 2 years, I bought it at the Quilt Expo in Houston. Very cool pattern for a roomy quilted bag with lots of pockets and just the right space for everything, it folds up into a backpack type thing or lays out like a sort of duffle, etc. I loved it. Had to have it. Spent the money and bought it NOT ON SALE. So far the only thing I've done with it is move it from one pattern box to the other. But, in anticipation of my upcoming trip to Scandinavia, I've pledged to complete and carry it along. Of course being who I am I was required to complete the Block of the Month Daisy quilt from 2007 first. I cut myself some slack on the stained glass quilt, as I want to work on that with my Ydaughter who is not currently in town, but will be soon we think, but can't really be sure cause she is a free spirit, no pinning her down, no siree, she'll know when she's coming when it happens thank you very much. Come January 2008, I had only completed 6 of the 12 blocks (of the month....you can fill in the idea for Block of the Month lovingly known as BOM here.) And of course, this quilt has not only 14" blocks, but then another set of fussy cut piecework surrounding each of them to make each block 24 inches, then a plain border and a daisy border that ended up making the whole thing a king size quilt (queen size bedspread). I'm not quite sure how to quilt it...need to find batting and backing that fits first, but my guilt only went as far as requiring I finish the top in order to move on to THE DIVA BAG. At long last. The first challenge was the fabric. I had some really spiffy gold on black butterfly fabric that I planned to use, but decided that the butterflies were too big, and would get hacked on the smaller sections. So then I looked at the koi on black (see I thought black would be good cause I'm not too tidy) but the same problem came up. Searched my stash, everything was either too big a pattern, too small a piece, or designated for some other project which is waiting in the never ending line. Eventually, I decided to use the Monet like floral fabric...very pretty, pastel not black, but no big things to get hacked. Of course, to get the yardage, I had to first deconstruct the tacky fabric skirt stuck on a t-shirt that I made for E-gkid (who quite rightly rejected the thought of actually wearing same). Then went to the store to try to score fabric for binding the daisy quilt. No luck there, but came up with some deep purple sparkly stuff for the lining. So far so good. One day down. Cutting all the assorted pieces of outside, lining and batting absorbed Day 2. Assembling the liner (including cell phone pocket, multi-sized inside pockets and the secret pocket, which is a very big deal...every bag should have a secret pocket) then ripping it apart and putting the pockets BACK on right side up was Day 3. I thank the friendship gods that a friend loaned me her (completed) bag so I could review a real world item when trying to figure this out. The instructions are very good, but I am a Piaget flunk-out. Then a day to fuse and quilt the main and end pieces, create the two outside pockets, and fabricate the zipper plackets. Of course this required re-learning how to free motion machine quilt, apply a zipper and activate a decorative stitch function on my beloved Janome. Hmmm, wait. The outside pocket (6X9) that was supposed to be for a water bottle has somehow turned into a short fat pocket that may or may not hold a water bottle (9X6). To recut/refuse/requilt/resew or not? We shall see. Nevertheless, Only 4 days down and I have completed step 8 of 22!! Yes, this is the hobby for me. Let's see: Pattern-$12, Accessory pack (pre-cut batting, velcro, etc.) $14, 3 yards of fabric $30 well really only $10 (cause I used the Monet stuff from another project). So far this bag has cost me $36 and 4 days, and has yielded a lining plus a bunch of pieces-in-waiting. I sure hope I like this thing when its done....Ah yes, an ancillary benefit: the dogs are all bent out of shape cause I'm sitting in the sewing room and not throwing the ball. A note about my sewing room. Very nice. I moved my bed, clothes, etc. out of my big bedroom (big room, high ceiling, one wall of sliding glass doors and an attached bathroom) into a little bedroom. This allowed me to have a palatial craft/sewing/reading/TV room which has lots of light and space and storage and lets me be near my dogs without them sitting, shedding, watering on my projects. However, they love to lay against the screen door (close enough that their hair sticks through the screen) while I work. This demonstrates their distress at being so very far from me...and on the far side of a dastardly barrier to boot. Now, if they were in the room, they would be no closer, but hey, its the principle for the thing, you know. Edward sits and sings his distress. Makes a nice counterpoint to the hum of my Janome. Back to the bag saga...2 weeks and 14 more steps to go...think I'll make it??