Joan and her little ideas....

Here I was all excited about finishing the Purple Miranda II and finally getting it ready to be delivered to sister Cindy. So I posted about it here - and again on Facebook.

Cindy loved the pictures - and was eager to receive it - but glad to hear it was done.

And then Joan pipes up somewhere along the line... "Did you ask for accessories made from the remnants? I suspect you can get a Maggie and a Wonder Wallet for sure! :-)"

Oh the pressure! I had plenty of the dark purple left -especially since I forgot (oops) to make the sleeve for the Bag-E-Bottom. I had been wanting to try a large Miranda with the elastic/button closure, and I was able to piece together an outer cover for the Wonder Wallet (and put on an outside pocket).

And then tonight I got to making key fobs. It started with one out of webbing (sorry - no photo of that one - it was already stashed for delivery tomorrow) and then turned to any scraps I could lay my hands on and fold into 1 1/4" x about 10"-12" strips. Of course I had enough purple left for one of those - so there ya' go.

There was no way I could have finished them up in time to be delivered WITH the bag - but this way I ended up making even more - and if I mail them out this week, these just may beat the bag there.

And YES - the top turtle key fob is MINE!!!!!

Love my Maggies

In the midst of everything else I have been working on - I have managed to put together more than a few more Maggie bags - and I have a few more planned as last minute little gifties (The Munchkin's teachers will all be getting them).

These go together so fast - and are pretty flexible to play with.

On the two long ones - I wanted "Maggies" that would work as pencil cases for my nephews. So I pulled out a new unsharpened pencil to use as a guide, and cut them that long, plus a little for the seam. The one underneath is made from the leg of a pair of old jeans, and the railroad one is from yardage I had. Both have the same striped lining.

The plastic clip I had has a very wide base to it - so I stitched two pieces of grosgrain ribbon together to make a wide piece, and used that. Not perfect - but it did the trick.

The butterfly one is from a leftover layer cake square of Moda Wonderland - and has a coordinating fabric inside. One of the tiny green ones was gifted with the larger one as a set.

Maggie Bags are Here!!!

Joan Hawley of Lazy Girl Designs has done it again - come up with a cute, quick, simple and FUN pattern - for something so versatile and useful! The Maggie Bag! I just got my copy of the pattern and in no time flat was able to whip together a few of these cuties!

These are not quite done yet - I need to add some embellishments to the flaps, but I thought I would show what I have done so far.

I first tried one by the pattern - the turtle one - with no loop. It has an orange lining, and fusible velcro to hold it closed. It was fun but I could see that working with a directional fabric might be challenging, as I tried to keep my turtles from standing on their heads.

The pink floral one is some scrap fabric I had - and I used a Handy Tab and swivel clasp to make it hangable. I want to shorten the Handy Tab up a bit though because the swivel clasp is heavy and makes the bag top heavy.

On the tan and black one, I cut out the template from flannel, then layered strips of scraps on top - stitching and flipping - until I covered the entire piece. I trimmed it, layered it with the lining and had a fun little pouch. The strips don't line up on the center seam, but I think it works for what I wanted.

And on the scissor one - I cut the whole thing longer - going as far across the 10" layer cake piece as I could. It was about 1" longer overall, and about 1/4" narrower at the bottom due to the taper. I used the ribbon that comes with the Moda layer cakes to make the hanging loop. (PS - I tried my glasses in the scissor/longer one - and they do fit. They are a bit too long for the normal length. I also tried bandaids in the little 0ne -thinking of a mini first aid kit - but the brand I had was a bit long for that, too.... so many ideas!)

I did not get a picture of the little one - I think the Munchkin ran off with it - but it is cute and perfect for business cards and other little treasures. I am thinking of using it as gift packaging for some jewelery I hope to make for the holidays.

Very addicting - be warned!