The Wine Tote

Hi! Happy Holidays! I know it's strange time to decide to start posting but I think I can see the light (or a train is coming, as one of my clients recently told me. Too funny!) Anyways, I did this wine tote class a few weeks ago and I made another one as a gift recently. Here's a picture of the original sample.

It wasn't a bad sample, but I bought this black and red fabric that I thought would look really good stippled. I couldn't convince any of my students to stipple so I thought I would try on this gift. I didn't have anymore of the insul-brite batting that the pattern calls for and I am not sure that you could stipple on it anyway. So I put regular fleece batting inside. Here is a picture of new one.

It is much stiffer than the original and I like the way it stands. The original is more like a bag. The pattern for this tote is available as a freebie from Bernina Sewing Republic.

I don't know how many of you are "seasoned quilters" but stippling is hard! In the sense that it's hard to not be so tense. I found, when I did this project, that I was a little less tense when I followed the beat of the sewing machine. My stitches were even a little more even. Overall it's an art that needs lots of practice. If you have any advice, add a post. I'm curious to see what other people do.

Have a great day!