Charity sewing: perfect quilted tote

I added another project to the "finished" column last night -- another perfect quilted tote!

I used the wonderful pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, and though this is the second perfect quilted tote I've made, for some reason, I struggled a lot with this one (my fault, not the pattern's). It seemed like everything kept going wrong, and I was fixated on every little part since this tote is for an STLMQG charity project, not me, so I really wanted to make sure I got it right. In the end, I'm really happy with it (and also really happy to be finished).

The colors were based on the floral scrap that I used in the middle of each patchwork section (Tula Pink, perhaps?), so I gathered my pink, fuchsia, teal, and aqua scraps and got to work. I always enjoy the process of the quilt-as-you-go on the outside of this bag, and this was no exception.

I had originally planned to use a chevron pattern for the lining until it occurred to me how difficult it would be to line up all the seams, so I eventually settled on this Remix print, which worked out great. I used the chevron for the lining of the pockets, which I think was a fun touch. You can see the little STLMQG label I snuck into the bottom of the zipper pocket in the second pic.

The handles and outside solid are Essex Yarn-Dyed in Steel. I love how this bag (finally) came out, and I hope the recipient does, too!