Follow Your Heart - See what I did with my Tin Box Sampler

When the Tin Box Samplers started arriving in the shop, I knew I wanted to make one and when Follow Your Heart by Kathy Schmitz arrived, I knew this was the one. It is in "my" colors and I need a new bag for the Fall / Winter months in which to carry my purse, cell phone, a snack, papers, bills, hair thingies, kleenex - you get the idea. Could I turn a quilt block into a bag? Of course I could - just takes extra material, a sewing machine, scissors and imagination!!!

First, I poked around the shop stash to find some matching fabrics. Holly Taylor's Cardinal Season works wonderfully with this new collection and there were pieces perfect for the lining as well as the back of the bag. I also grabbed some D rings, batting scraps, and iron - on adhesives.

Time to make the Tin Box Sampler. I loved the directions - pull out these fabrics, cut like this, sew and ta-da!! A cute quilt block. Create some applique pieces, iron them on and wow - the block now has personality! And there's EXTRA charms to work with!

Here is a picture of the Tin Box Sampler block - it measures 13 1/4" square:

I created a second block on a tan background for the back of the bag. The borders of Follow Your Heart charm square pieces were added to make it bigger and more interesting. Here's a picture of that: Note I used the same applique pattern - it is really wonderful.

At this point, I used the balance of the spare charm squares to create sides and the bottom of the bag. Batting and lining were added and the bag quilted. I love quilting - it is so relaxing. I use invisible thread so there's no pressure to be exact. Here's what it looked like right before I sewed up the edges to create the actual bag:

Handles...Handles...What is on hand... I just finished braiding my daughters hair and thought, hey, I can braid a handle. And if it doesn't look good or gets stretchy after a while, I'll cut it off and try something else later!! Cool. Three fat quarters of coordinated fabric, 2" strips, a little sewing and they were done. Below are pictures of the finished bag. I didn't realize until it was sewn up that I had the back 1" taller than the front!! Measure and square up the front and back - who me??!! NOT!! So this is truly MY bag, in My colors with MY uneven sides. I love it! Try a Tin Box Sampler. Make it into a wall hanging or a full size quilt. Try a bag pattern and work the block into that. Just do it - it's fun and you'll have a blast.

Check out our Tin Box Samplers here.