I love this bag. LOVE IT. And i use it everyday as my work bag, so it gets TONS of use.

I’m a bit behind in documenting my crafty – this bag has been finished since September! Yikes. Well, here we go!

Amy Butler’s Weekender Bag has been on my sewing list for a few years now. I had bought the pattern ages ago, but couldn’t muster up the courage/desire/willpower to actually make it.  It wasn’t until my friend Heather mentioned a sewalong of sorts at a Denver Metro Modern Quilt Guild sew in. We needed moral support.

I loved the look of this bag, made by Jennie at Porch Swing Quilts. I used 2 charm packs of Kate Spain’s Good Fortune for the patchwork panels, a Cotton + Steel basic for the handles and piping and a solid turquoise for the zipper panel. Modifications I made to the pattern was to lengthen the handles by about 5″ and I added an interior zip pocket on one side.

I worked on it pretty steadily over a few weeks, finishing up the day before I hopped on a plane back East. Work in Baltimore, then hanging out with friends in DC for the weekend. And the bag came with! It’s large enough for my work laptop and a whole bunch of other stuff. I used it as my carry-on AND my be-bop around the National Mall bag.

OH, and here’s a story. I was in the National Galleries, looking at a Van Gogh, when a woman came up to me and asked if I had made my bag. She said it looked great, and that she was only asking because she has the same fabric back at home!