This might be one of my favorites from my Driftless samples. I haven’t decided yet though. I think the simplicity of the Crescent Tote is always refreshing to my eye. Even though I love lots of details, I think the extra clean lines of the Crescent look great in so many different fabrics. Seeing so many beautiful versions of the Crescent definitely solidifies that for me!

When I’m pulling fabrics for samples, a two fabric project can sometimes be intimidating for me. Only two fabrics?! There are so many possibilities! So I usually flip through my stack and see what strikes my eye first. Auditioning fabric has to be one of my favorite parts of sewing. It can also be stressful, especially when you have to make quick decisions. Sometimes I’ll grab a sample that I’ve already made and drape the fabric around the sample. I’ll even use some pins and step back and squint to get a better idea how something will look if I don’t feel confident just looking at what I’ve selected. Very technical, I know.

This Crescent felt just right using the Downstream print from Driftless. I loved pairing it with the warm peachy Loon print for the lining. Someday I’d love to make a wall of Crescent Totes in all the different prints! Now that sounds like a fun project!

Lastly, I finally listed a few packs of zipper pulls in my shop. Right now I’m stocking this lovely natural color that I’ve been obsessed with lately, but hope to add in some others in the near future. Also, I’ve been meaning to ask, would anyone be interested if I were to add the cotton webbing by the yard to my shop? I have two colors that I use for other kits (natural and black). Let me know in the comments below. It would be great for the Crescent Tote and then also for a new pattern coming up next month!

Pattern: Crescent Tote
Fabric: Driftless: Loon and Water Lily
Zippers are in my shop (6″ is here, and 8″ is here)

I hope you’ve been enjoying seeing Driftless in action. If you’re new here or just catching up, Driftless is my newest collection with Robert Kaufman Fabrics that is overprinted on Essex, Essex Yarn Dyed, and Essex Yarn Dyed Homespun. I spent a large chunk of time sewing samples for this collection and it’s fun to be able to share these projects with you now that the fabric is in stores! Exciting!!

Of course I had to sew up as many bag samples as my little fingers would let me. The Redwood Tote was a fun one to sew up! I had so much fun making all my previous Redwood Totes that I knew it would be fun to see it come to life using Driftless. I love that this tote looks great in a single fabric exterior, like this one, but I love mixing up exterior fabrics looks amazing, too! So if you don’t typically have larger cuts of fabric, this is a fun project to incorporate a few of your faves!

This print I designed was a fun puzzle to try and figure out. I knew I wanted to illustrate the amazing clouds and their reflections on the river, more easily said than done. I spent quite a while working the repeat of this design trying to get things to look how I wanted and I’m happy the way it translated to fabric! I hope you like it!

I always about saving time and effort to get to a final project that I still love. So that’s why I love a leather handle, takes so much less time and effort. Plus I lined this bag with Big Sur Canvas in Unbleached which I’ve since been buying several yards at a time. I don’t have to interface the lining at all and that my friends makes me really happy. Of course when I have a exterior and lining fabric pair that I love, of course I do what’s necessary to make it work. But when I’m not too concerned with the lining, especially on a tote where it remains zipped up for the majority of its life, I’m good with Natural canvas!

I think if you’re newer to bag making, the less pieces you need to cut and fuse, the less frustrated you’ll get! It’s a great stepping stone to take the pressure off a bit and give yourself a break.

Anyway, seeing this tote again makes me long for warmer days and those big puffy clouds….

Pattern: Redwood Tote
Fabrics: Water & Sky print from Driftless, Big Sur Canvas in Unbleached, Gingham
Hardware here, leather handles here (15″ length), leather crossbody strap here.

The second quilt I made using Driftless was Crossroads, a pattern by my friend Emily Dennis of Quilty Love. When I was deciding what quilts I should make, I kept coming back to this one, I was curious how the collection would look in smaller pieces and I really love how it turned out. It was a fun change of pace to do a lot of the strip piecing and borders that make up this quilt. Seeing each block come together in the end was so rewarding!

I took my time and tried to plan out each block, doing what Emily recommends, by sorting out which fabrics were dark and light. I loved being able to add in the Interweave Chambray, for the accent, as I think it gives a really nice resting place for the eye and looks so good with Driftless, too. I think it worked out well! Plus I think this quilt is fun to look at close up, there’s always an interesting fabric combination to catch your eye!

I chose Kona Haze as my sashing and my backing is Cambridge Lawn in Nude (sorry I managed not to get a picture of the back!).

Of course I was under a deadline with the samples, so I was lucky enough to get this quilted quickly at my local quilt shop, Olive Juice Quilts. It was fun to try and figure out the quilting design in a rush. I always start thinking about the quilt design as I piece the blocks and rows together. This one didn’t really stand out to me, so I waited until I walked in to Olive Juice to decide. They have so many beautiful examples and we decided on this nested figure eight design. I think it works!

Pattern: Crossroads by Quilty Love
Fabrics: Driftess, Interweave Chambray, Kona Haze for the sashing, Kona Smoke for the binding and Cambridge Lawn in Nude for the backing.