I’m excited to be in this byAnnie Blog Hop!!! Annie Unrein and her amazing team has provided me with a pattern and all the necessary hardware I need to make my bag.

First, I needed to select fabrics from Island Batik‘s Celtic Fields collection, along with a pattern:

The pictures below show Celtic Fields with Doughnut (the neutral) and Celtic Mini Knot Red-B (from the Celtic Fields collection).

Here is a picture of everything that was supplied for the Take a Stand bag. Fabric is from Island Batik and ALL of the other products are from byAnnie‘s!

byAnnie bags have excellent instructions! So although I’m not a great bag maker, I already know that I can make any bag and it will look fantastic! However, there are a few things that I KNOW I need to do to have success. Besides knowing that I need to take my time and follow the instructions, I need to:

• First: to copy the labels to ensure that I cut the proper sizes and use the proper pieces in the proper order. (1^st picture) and to make it much, much easier when making the project!
• Second: to read through the pattern (YES!! I do!) and since I’m making 2 sizes of “Take a Stand,” I highlighted the small one with yellow and underlined the large one with teal. (2^nd picture)

The first thing I needed to do was quilt the main pieces … I did watch a Youtube video by Randi (of Randi’s Roost and a fellow Island Batik ambassador) with ideas for quilting. Randi used straight lines, and I used masking tape to give me a rough guide, but I used curvy lines and made ‘curvy’ diamonds.

For the quilting and the top stitching I used Aurifil Thread #3817 called Variegated Marrakesh and for the majority of the seams that would not show, I used Aurifil Thread #5012 (Dark Green).

Once all the pieces were cut and labelled, I put them on the design wall. Since I was going to do both sizes a step at a time, I just doubled them up (left picture). Then I went to work, preparing all of the components (right picture). I used a Microtex needle from Schmetz Needles.

Aurifil Thread #2220 (light salmon) was used on the fold over elastic on the mesh pockets. Then, I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the process.

The byAnnie videos are invaluable when constructing the bags! As a bonus, Randi (who was mentioned above) had 2 videos on the final construction of the bags! Visit her YouTube channel for extra videos.

The neighbour’s dog, Lexi, approves of the bags!

And here’s some pictures of the inside:

Are you Intimidated?

Are you intimidated with byAnnie bags? There’s a few things you can do to help you in your journey. First go to the byAnnie site, find the free patterns, watch the videos and make them. Another option is to join the byAnnie Facebook group (HERE). There’s lots of hints and tips. Randi does a group on Facebook where she walks you through the steps slowly. So you have lots of time to make each step and ask questions as you go along. Her future plans are to do Get Out of Town 2.1 (January) and Travel Essentials 2.0 (April). Sign up for her notifications HERE.

Thank You!

Disclosure: The fabrics, batting, thread and needles were generously supplied by the following companies: Thank you, Island Batik,  Aurifil Thread,  Schmetz Needles and byAnnie

Where can I find Celtic Fields?

Here’s a list of a few of the stores, plus you can ask your Local Quilt Store:

• Creekside Quilts – OR
• Bird in Hand – PA
• Laurals Fabrics and More – MN
• Sew Ewe Quilt Shop – WY

Blog Hopping Island Batik Ambassadors

Week 1:

November 1:

• Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts
• Gail Sheppard ~ Quilting Gail

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November 2:

• Lana Russel ~ Lana Quilts
• Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

November 3:

(Island Batik posts: Blog Hop Week 1 Round Up + giveaway)

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Week 2:

November 6:

• Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs
• Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

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November 7:

• Sandra Starley ~ Textile Time Travels
• Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You

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November 8:

• Maryellen McAuliffe ~ Mary Mack Made Mine
• Emily Leachman ~ The Darling Dogwood
• Leah Malasky ~ Quilted Delights

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November 9:

• Sarah Pitcher ~ Pitcher’s Boutique
• Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

November 10:

(Island Batik posts: Blog Hop Week 2 Round Up + giveaway)

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Week 3:

November 13:

• Elita Sharpe ~ Busy Needle
• Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

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November 14:

• Reed Johnson ~ Blue Bear Quilts
• Jennifer Thomas ~ Curlicue Creations

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November 15: White and Blooms

• Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs
• Claudia Porter ~ Create with Claudia

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November 16: Vintage Charm

• Suzy Webster ~ Websterquilt
• Randi Jones ~ Randi’s Roost
• Denise Looney ~ Quiltery – For The Love Of Geese

November 17: 

(Island Batik posts: Blog Hop Week 3 Round Up + giveaway)

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Week 4:

November 20:

• Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting
• Anorina Morris ~ sameliasmum.com
• Lisa Pickering ~ Lisa’s Quilting Passion

November 21:

(Island Batik: End of Blog Hop + Final Round Up)

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One who sleeps under a quilt is covered by LOVE!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail