Quilt-as-u-go Stargazer tote

by Linda Theil

Since the "summer tote" I made using the June Tailor Quilt As You Go preprinted batting turned out to be one of my favorite totes; I thought it would be fun to make a quilt-as-you-go tote with pockets on the outside. I love the CAPSULES "Stargazer" fabric line from Art Gallery Fabrics Studio, and had in my stash a fat-quarter bundle along with a yard each of two of my favorite prints from that collection. For the quilt backing/tote lining, I used a multicolored print from Contempo's "Daily Zen" line from Benartex.

The June Tailor preprinted batting for various totes, placemats, bibs, and mug rugs is available at fabric stores and online. Several videos of the quilt-as-you-go technique are available on YouTube, and more tips and techniques are available in the weblog post for my original tote at "Summer tote using preprinted batting" . I learned how to make the quilt-as-you-go pocket from a YouTube tutorial for "June Taylor Shopper Totes" posted by Shabby Fabrics.

This quilt-as-u-go technique uses a preprinted batting showing the placement and order in which each patchwork piece is added. Since my batting wasn't printed, I drew my quilt-as-u-go plan on a 20x34-inch piece of batting, using a ruler and soft-lead pencil. My favorite pencil for this job is a Mitsubishi 4B. Here is the drawing I made showing the placement of the patchwork pieces and the order in which they are sewn. Each blue square on the paper represents one inch:

To make this design for a pocketed tote, you will need the following materials:

quilt backing/tote lining 34x22 inches
batting 32x20 inches
patchwork -- six pieces 2.5x32, five pieces 2.5x8.5
pockets -- two each: 11.25x8.5-inches for pocket back, 17x8.5-inches folded to 8.5 inches square, and 8.5-inch square interfacing inside folded square for pocket front
straps -- two each: 2.5x33-inches fabric, 1.5x29-inches batting, 2.0x33-inches contrast fabric, 1x29-inch webbing

Draw your layout on your batting. Spray glue batting to wrong side of quilt backing/tote lining.

Stitch around outside of tote pattern; this will give you a cutting line to trim around when quilting is done.

Assemble pocket

Each piece of fabric is added individually except for the pocket assembly, which is added all in one piece. To assemble the pocket, fold the 17x8.5-inch piece in half and put a the 8.5-inch square of iron-on interfacing between the two layers of fabric and iron in place. Repeat for both pocket pieces.

Then put the 8.5-inch square pocket tops on the right side of the 11.25x8.5-inch pocket back, with sides and bottom raw edges even. The pocket-top fold will be about three inches from the top of the pocket back. Pin to secure, or baste layers together.

Assemble straps

Center batting on wrong side of fabric, fold raw edges toward middle of batting and iron in place. Fold up one-half-inch at each end and press.
Center webbing on wrong side of contrast fabric, fold raw edges toward middle of webbing and iron in place. Fold up one-half-inch at each end and press.
Center contrast strip with webbing, right side up, over fabric strip with batting to cover raw edges of fabric strip, and stitch in place along both edges of the contrast strip with webbing. (Strap below shown before stitching.)
Set aside to attach later.

Quilt-as-u-go

Lay fabric piece #1 right-side-up in position designated for piece #1 on batting. Lay piece #2 right-side-down on top of piece #1 along edge adjacent to position of piece #2. Stitch down using one-quarter-inch seam allowance. (Piece #1 is shown slightly larger than is correct in photos below.)

Flip piece #2 over area designated for piece #2 and finger press seam.

Place piece #3 right-side down along the other raw edge of piece #1 and stitch. Flip #3 to right side and finger press seam.

Place #4 right-side-down along raw edge of #2 and stitch.

Flip #4 to right side and finger press seam.

Place #5 right-side-down along raw edge of #3 and stitch.

Flip #5 to right side and finger press seam.

Place raw edges of pocket assembly #6 right-side-down down aligned with raw edge of #4. Stitch and flip entire assembly right-side-up and finger press seam.