Rag Bag!!!

I LOVE PRESENTS!!!!!  Imagine my surprise when I got the mail a couple weeks ago and found a Priority Envelope.  I always use these envelopes for return swap cards – so it's not unusual for me to get one….as I brought this one in the house, I thought to myself…I don't remember having a swap coming???  But those of you that know me….are probably giggling right now because you know how good my memory is too!  I opened it up and HOLY COW!!!!  This is what I found!!!! HAPPY DANCE – HAPPY DANCE!!!  My friend and demo from up north (Nikki) made this and sent it to me – WOW!!!!  What a GREAT gift!  And it wasn't even my birthday…which is July 7th by the way – LOL!

Quilting with the Big Shot dies is all the rage right now….and here's a super simple project with a GREAT BIG WOW factor!  You can make them any size you want…from a small makeup case to a big beach bag!

She used the Square Scallop Die (shown below) to cut out the shapes.  You can cut 8 layers of material at once – I KNOW, RIGHT!!!!  She put some very thin batting in between each layer and sewed them with an "X" on each square.  Notice that the raw seams are actually on the outside of the bag….the whole "frayed" look is really popular right now.  Sew 9 panels together for the front and back and sew 9 panels together in a line to form the sides and bottom.  Don't forget to add the handles and closure before you sew the top seam.   Cut slits in all the seams so that when you throw it in the washer – they will fray with ease.

Don't you LOVE the matching card using the Petal Pizzaz stamp set???

And then there was BLING!!!!  Nikki knows that her "boss" as she refers to me….LOVES BLING!  So she made sure she gave this black and white beauty the BLING that I sooooooooooo love!

 Nikki – Sorry it took so long for me to post this present…I've been dragging it to all my classes and showing it off!  THANKS so much – you're amazing!

Thanks for stopping by….