Saturday, November 17, 2012

QAYG Lunch Box

This was a really fun, fairly quick, project that I made this week.  I already gave you a sneak peek the other day of the first 'quilt as you go' panel that I made for the lunch box, and now I can show you the finished item.


I mentioned the other day that I recently started a bit of a casual/on-call job in the office at my kids' school.  I won't have a ton of shifts, but when I go I will need to bring a lunch and the plastic shopping bag I used the other day was not good enough!  For this bag, I used a tutorial by Svetlana, which I would definitely recommend.  The finished size of my lunch box is approximately 8" high, 9.5" wide, and 3.5" deep.  Definitely big enough to hold enough food for a lunch, probably even including a few containers if necessary.


I used this fun gray/white dot for the lining of the bag and the flap, and I think the lining is just as fun as the exterior (which by the way, is just as scrappy and colourful as it looks  :)


Close-up of some of the fabrics used on the back (above) and front (below) of the lunch box.


......and the nicely finished bottom corners which Svetlana outlines very well in her tutorial, if you've never done this method before.  It allows the lunch box to stand on its own.


So, because I used a quilt as you go method to put together the parts of this bag, I did make some modifications to Svetlana's tutorial.  I did not use fusible fleece for the exterior panels.  Also, only because I couldn't find any medium-weight interfacing locally this week, I used two layers of a light-weight for the lining pieces.  Also you may have noticed that I shortened the carrying strap.  I wanted it to be more of a handle vs. a shoulder strap so I just about halved the length of the strap.  This was all going well until it came time to attach it to the bag, and the way Svetlana designed it, it did not work at all with a short strap!  So what I had to do was sew the bag together without the handle, then later unpick the stitches at each side, insert the strap, and enclose it with the top-stitching.  Phew!  It worked out after all.  :)

I go to work twice this week and will definitely enjoy using my new lunch box.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Plum and June
Fresh Poppy Design

40 comments:

Debbie said...

Very fun! Much better than my reused Starbucks bags! ;-)

felicity said...

A-DOR-able! I love it!

Anorina @SameliasMum said...

Love, love, love it! Such fun fabrics.

Maria said...

It's gorgeous. So bright and cheerful. I'm sure it will have many admirers.

Sarah said...

Looks great! I really enjoy your blog and the quilts you've made this year are very similar to my tastes. Are you on Vancouver Island? My cousins wife is from Nanoose Bay, and my parents travelled all around there in July, all the way from Australia. Small world!

Gemma@prettybobbins said...

What a great lunch bag! Love the colours.

Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts said...

Ooh scrappy perfection! I love that super dense quilting too, looks amazing!

Toni said...

What a fun lunch bag! That will really liven up the old PB&J! And congratulations on the new-ish job. Getting to work in your kids' school sounds fun!

Kristan said...

Wow, Heather! Great job!

Teje Karjalainen said...

Heather, this is the best lunch bag! Beautiful and practical! x Teje

Patti said...

Nicely done Heather! You'll be the envy of the "lunch room"!

Deborah said...

This goes on my list of favorite makes!! Love the stitching!

Katie B said...

This turned out so great! I think you should pack up your lunch in this even when you're not leaving the house. :)

Leanne said...

What a lovely lunch box! I am going to check out the tutorial, maybe I need one too.

mle said...

Ooo! that came out so nice!

Kelli said...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!! All of the other ladies will be so jealous! I make my daughter's lunch box every year and I see that next year, her's will HAVE to be QAYG.

Unknown said...

You made my/your scraps look so good! Love it!!

M-R Charbonneau said...

LOVE this bag, Heather! So fun and what a great use of scraps!

Kirsten said...

Fabulous bag - so bright and colourful!

Holly said...

Very cute! I'm sure it will put a smile on your face at lunchtime! That one scrap of Pearl Bracelet looks great against the matching wall colour!

Unknown said...

Love this - especially with the cool polka dot interior. You should put one of these in the store!

Jenelle said...

I like the dense quilting. I bet it gives it lots of structure too. Good luck with starting your new job. :)

Susan J Barker said...

Great little bag, I was thinking awhile back that I am needing a new one for myself! A good thing you found a way to do the short handles!

Kristin said...

Your lunch bag is super cool. Love the fabrics.

SIMPLESEW said...

hopping over from CC, lovely bag, great colors and Quilty..

Krista Stitched said...

very cool. you'll be one stylin' office aid!

LimeRiot said...

Holy smokes!! That is flippin' cute! I love the bright colors and random piecing.

Something as cute as this might actually get me motivated enough to bring lunch to work :).

Kerstin said...

I'm sure lunch tastes twice as good from a bag like this! Very nice!

Ariane said...

This is so cute!! What a great Lunch bag!! Love it!!

LC said...

Looks awesome! Wonderful work. I keep meaning to try QAYG. Yours turned out so well.

Erica said...

I just love the patchwork look and the stitching that runs through it is such a pretty detail!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Totally Adorable!! I love it! Thanks for sharing the tutorial too!

Kirsty said...

That is the cutest lunch bag I've seen!

Beth said...

That is so adorable - and practical too!

Lysa said...

What a cute little lunch bag, nicely done!

Nat at Made in Home said...

Amazing bag! Love the quilting!

amy dame said...

ohmygoodness, this is YUMMY! i love the scrappiness, and the heavy straightline quilting sets it off perfectly!

LuLu said...

Oh my goodness, that is amazing Heather! I love it :-)

Svetlana said...

Heather, I don't know how I possibly missed this post but this lunch box is so totally adorable!!!!! Love all your modifications, I think it looks wonderful with that shorter handle and the qayg scrappy is of course simply amazing!!!!

Sandra :) said...

Your bag is gorgeous! I saw it on Pinterest this morning and came by for a peek - I love the patchwork and the QAYG quilting - you did a really lovely job on this!