9
Nov

Cajun Sausage Pasta with Cream Sauce ~ Recipe

Pasta is the go-to meal in our house. It’s quick, easy and inexpensive. My husband and I love spicy food and have always had a fondness for cajun flavors. Cajun Sausage Pasta is a delicious, easy weeknight meal that will have your family begging for more.

Cajun Sausage Pasta 
SERVES 4
Ingredients:
1 pound dried linguine
1 large onion, diced
1 pound andouille sausage, sliced (I use the chicken kind from Trader Joe’s)
2 tablespoons butter
1.5 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon cajun seasoning
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like more spice)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (if you don’t have this, that’s ok)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Cook pasta according to package directions making sure to add salt to your pasta cooking water.
Preheat a large saute pan to medium-low heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil. Add onions and saute until translucent. Add more olive oil if the pan gets dry. Add in sliced sausage and saute for 3-5 minutes. I use the chicken andouille sausage from Trader Joe’s which is already cooked, it just needs to be heated through.
Add butter, heavy cream, cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper and thyme, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to onion and sausage mixture. Turn up the heat to medium high. You want the cream to thicken. Cook for 10 minutes or until the cream has reached a silky and medium consistency. You may need to adjust your heat. If the cream looks like it’s going to bubble over, just reduce it a little. Or vice-versa, if your cream is not bubbling, increase the heat.
Before you drain your pasta, scoop out 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid and add it to the cream sauce mixture. Drain pasta and add pasta to sauce mixture. Add in Parmesan cheese and toss to combine.

Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme. If you have leftover thyme, garnish the top of the dish with a sprig of thyme.
8
Nov

International Quilt Market Fall 2012

Oh quilt market, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…….

Ok, so a little bit cheesy, but seriously, ever since we (my mom and I) started attending International Quilt Market in Spring 2011, I just can’t miss it. I know I explain this every time I post about market, but just in case you are new here to the blog……International Quilt Market is a trade show and is not open to the general public. Most of the ordering that goes on at market is for wholesale purchasing. Every fall it takes place in Houston, TX and every spring it rotates around the country (this spring will be in Portland, OR). Quilt Market is where many of the designers and manufacturers introduce their new fabrics, notions, sewing tools, sewing and quilting machines and trims.

So you might be wondering, why does Lindsay (aka The Cottage Mama) go to Quilt Market? Well, we go for many different reasons. Originally, we started going to open up wholesale accounts to start purchasing fabric by the bolt as well as large quantities of buttons and trims. But market has become so much more than that to me at this point in my career.

I love meeting people in person. Meeting someone face to face always solidifies a relationship and it’s so nice to put a face with a name after you’ve been emailing back and forth. There were so many people that I needed to meet with and touch base with about all kinds of things business related as well as placing fabric, button and trim orders. But really, it’s the people that make market so much fun!

So enough chit-chat, how about some pictures? Yes, there are a lot…….I hope you enjoy them and find as much inspiration in these new fabric designs as I do!

Splendor 1920 ~ Bari J. for Art Gallery Fabrics. 
Oh. My. Goodness. Probably one of my favorite lines at market. Modern with a big vintage twist. 

Color Me Retro ~ Jeni Baker (from In Color Order) for Art Gallery Fabrics
She was just as cute as a button and was a great new addition to the Art Gallery Fabrics design team.

There were a few vintage trim and button booths that were actually selling things at market. I didn’t end up buying anything as it was a little pricey for me, but they were still fun to check out.

Melody Miller for Kokka

All of the japanese import fabrics are always SO adorable at the Seven Islands booth.

One of the most fun meetings we had was going out to dinner with Kelly Biscopink and Andrea Johnson, authors of the new ‘Modern Design for Classic Quilts: 12 Traditional Patterns Made New‘ (which I will be reviewing and giving away soon). I actually met Kelly when she was working at my publisher (she has since gone back into working in theater), but it was SO great to see her again in person and meet her co-author, Andie!

Kelly and Andie during their book signing for their new book.

Amy Butler’s booth was gorgeous, as usual, and she came out with a new line of woven trim. You all know how much I love trim, so I was completely in love!

Salt Water by Tula Pink

Here are a bunch of pieces that I sewed for the Birch Organic Fabrics booth. It was so much fun seeing them in person and on display. And what was even more fun was that my buddy, Shannon from Luvinthemommyhood sewed a bunch of pieces as well. Here is one of her amazingly adorable creations……..

Dress designed and sewn by Shannon from Luvinthemommyhood for Birch Organic Fabrics.
Tiffany and Shannon from Create Kids Couture
They are one of our new blog sponsors here and it was so great to get to meet them in person. Their patterns are absolutely adorable. This was their first time exhibiting at market and they did an amazing job on their booth.

The Moda Fabrics booth never disappoints. Their booth display was gorgeous. A big theme this market seemed to be playing color off of white and so they had paint sticks that had been dipped in all different colors of paint for a rainbow effect. It was beautiful.

Above are a few of the adorable displays at the Riley Blake Designs booth. I had dinner with their crew and designers again this market and they are always such a joy to be around.

David Butler (Amy Butler’s hubby) always has the coolest booth. It’s so manly and different from everything else you see at market. His fabric brand, Parson Gray, is such a breathe of fresh air!

Last, but not least, mom and I had to make a stop over at one of my distributors booth to see if they had my patterns out. Yep, they sure did!
Whew! That was a lot of pictures. I hope you got a little sense of the market experience. This was probably 1/20th of what was on the floor of market. There are tons of traditional quilting fabrics, quilt patterns, long arm machines, batting companies, tons of different thread manufacturers and so much more. But these are the types of booths that I am drawn to, so I thought you would enjoy seeing some of these pictures.
If you are a small, handmade business, I encourage you to consider whether or not you are at a place where it might be time to start ordering your fabric and supplies wholesale. If so, International Quilt Market is a great event to check out to meet the right people and get you moving in the right direction. You do not need to have your accounts already set up in order to attend. Please let me know if you have any questions and I’m always happy to help!
5
Nov

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser ~ Tutorial

I have a thing for mason jars. Big, small, new, old……..but the ones that really grab my heart are the blue jars. I have quite the collection these days. Some of them I got from my Grandma Peggy and some of them I have picked up here and there from garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores. The blue glass is just so pretty and soothing……I absolutely love them!

I have been wanting to turn several of the old blue jars into soap dispensers for about the last two years. I’ve seen some mason jar soap dispensers for sale and always thought they would go so perfectly with our cottage-style home. A couple months ago I finally mentioned my interest in this project to my husband thinking I could have him help me by drilling the hole in the top of the lids. But sometimes, I just get so impatient that I decided to take things into my own hands. A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do, you know?

So, with that being said, there is probably a more correct way to do this project if you really know how to use a drill and a metal drill bit, but if you would prefer to just use basic tools, this tutorial is for you! Plus it will only take you 10 – 20 minutes.

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser
by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama
 
Supplies:
1 blue mason jar and metal lid
1 soap dispenser top
Phillips head screw driver
Needle nose pliers
Safety glasses (optional)
Scissors
Sharpie or other marker
Instructions:

Mark a hole with a sharpie in the center of the metal lid where you would like to put your soap dispenser.

The inside of the old metal lids have a ceramic lining inside. You need to remove this in order to make the hole for the soap dispenser. To remove the ceramic insert, just pound on it really hard with your screwdriver until it cracks. Once it cracks, the pieces come out really easily.

During this step I would recommend wearing safety glasses because the little ceramic pieces can fly up in the air and get into your eyes. But again, that is totally optional. Rinse out the inside of the lid once you have removed the ceramic pieces.

Now this next step is a little wild. You are going to take your screw driver and pound down on the little black mark that you made in the first step. I pounded about 4-6 times and then pushed down with all my might. You could also be a little less crazy and just take a hammer and hammer down on top of the screw driver to drive it through the center of the lid.

In the picture above, you can see how nicely the screwdriver will go through the top of the lid.

As you can see, the hole that was made from the screwdriver is not big enough to accomodate my soap dispenser, so I needed to make it larger. This soap dispenser top was from another store-bought hand soap bottle that we already had in the house. You could buy a fancier one or buy a plastic one at your local craft store.

If you are using a top from a bottle you already have, just make sure to pump out the soap and wash it out really well with warm water.

To make the hole in the metal lid larger, take your pliers and peel back the metal. This step is surprisingly easy. Just pull back the metal and check and see if your soap dispenser will fit. You want the fit to be very tight so that the top does not move around, so make sure you don’t pull back too much metal before testing the fit.

This step could also be done with a drill and a metal drill bit, but again, you want the fit to be very tight so make sure you don’t use a bit that is larger than the soap dispenser.

Fit your soap dispenser into the metal lid. Again, I can’t say it enough, but you really want to have to work the soap dispenser into the lid so it’s really tight. Since we pounded so much on the lid, you may just need to pop the top of the lid back out a little bit.

Now you need to cut the plastic tube from the soap dispenser to fit your jar. Use the scissors and cut it to size. It should be close to the bottom of the jar, but not touching.
Fill the jar with your favorite hand soap, put the lid on top and enjoy!
These mason jar soap dispensers would make lovely gifts for the holidays or as a housewarming gift. I made these two in about 20 minutes, so it is a very quick and easy project. Plus it’s kind of fun to get out the tools!
Mason Jar Soap Dispenser from The Cottage Mama
Cottage Mama’s Note: You could probably do this project with a regular store-bought mason jar, but you would need to make sure you attached the center lid insert to the outer ring really well. Also, I’m not sure how easy that metal is to poke through with your screw driver (the old metal was pretty easy), but if that’s what you have, then give it a try!
4
Nov

Winners ~ Holly Designs and Riley Blake Designs

The winners of the Holly Designs Gift Certficate and the Riley Blake Designs Fat Quarter Bundle are the following lucky ladies………

Holly Designs:

Riley Blake Designs:

Congratulations to you both! If you could please email me at thecottagemama[at]gmail[dot]com with your contact information, we will work to get you your prizes as soon as possible. Thank you so much to everyone who entered!

2
Nov

Chicken, Avocado and Grape Salad ~ Recipe

 

The other day I had some avocados that I needed to use up and I decided to make myself something yummy for lunch. This is a quick and easy recipe, but is so tasty you could certainly use it for entertaining or for a wedding or baby shower.

 

Chicken, Avocado & Grape Salad

by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama
SERVES 2-3
Ingredients:
1 large, ripe avocado
1 large bone-in chicken breast, cooked or roasted
1/2 cup grapes, quartered
1/2 fresh lemon
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
French or Italian crusty bread
Directions:
Remove avocado from skin and remove pit. Dice or cube avocado into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Shred chicken from chicken breast. You can roast one in the oven seasoned with salt and pepper or you can shred part of a store-bought roasted chicken.
Combine the avocado, chicken and grapes in a mixing bowl. Fold to combine. You do not want to break up the avocado too much as you still want it to be in chunks, so be careful not to smash it. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon on top of the chicken, avocado and grape mixture. Season with more salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Fold again to combine.
To serve, spoon salad mixture on top of a toasted piece of sliced Italian bread or half of a french baguette. To finish, drizzle with olive oil and another squeeze of lemon. You could also serve this on top of a bed of leafy greens with a simple vinaigrette.

ENJOY!

Chicken, Avocado and Grape Salad Recipe. This simple recipe is SO healthy and delicious!! From The Cottage Mama.

1
Nov

Fall and Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween! Well, a day after the fact, but I hope you all had a great one. It has been a whirlwind of a couple days returning on Tuesday from International Quilt Market in Houston, TX and then all of the Halloween festivities we had yesterday. Luckily my flight was only delayed an hour and a half due to high winds in Chicago from the big storm back east. I would have been beyond sad if I missed my babies all dressed up on Halloween.

The Quilt Market Recap post will be coming soon, but I thought I would share some pictures of my little cuties. Boy did I miss these kiddos when I was away for five days. I had a great time spending some one-on-one time with my mom, but it always feels good to be home.

I decided I could not miss this opportunity to dress Mr. Caspian Finn up as Charlie Brown this year. I love that bald head of his. Even though he is 14 months now, it still makes him look like such a little baby.

I thought I could get away with buying a store-bought yellow t-shirt and adding a zig-zag, but I could not find one in his size anywhere. There were lots of yellow shirts, but they all had prints and writing on them. I ended up finding one in the big boys section, so I just re-constructed the shirt and cut it down to size. The zig-zag is made from felt which was nice because there was no need to finish the edges.

This little guy is always on the move and climbing on everything! I’m starting to see a real difference between my boy and the two girls. He is going to keep me very busy.

Next up is our very own ‘Dora the Explorer’. Matilda had her mind set on this costume for about six months. Last year she knew exactly what she wanted to be (a Ballerina Princess), so I should have guessed that this year would be no different.  I made her some orange fleece capris and we layered tons of things under her pink t-shirt. It was in the 30’s on Halloween…..brrrrrrrr. She also wore tights under the capris.

I had every good intention of making Matilda’s Dora backpack, but that did not happen. Every fabric I showed Matilda, she said was wrong (and you all know I have a lot of fabric) and she was telling me all sorts of things the backpack must have on it. I was running out of time before I left for quilt market, so when I found the one in the picture online for $11.00, I thought we would just go with that and make my life a little easier. Plus, that way I knew it would be just right.

This little lady had a ball trick-or-treating. Last year, when she was two, she got the concept, but this year she is three and she loved every minute of it!

And finally, we have Miss Savannah, our black cat. Again, this was another costume that she had settled on months ago. She loves to be something scary for Halloween with a little bit of a twist……you might remember her ‘Princess Witch‘ costume from last year.  I had a lot of fun making this scary cat a little more on the girly side. It’s hard to tell from all the pictures, but she had a black petti-skirt and I made a sash out of a sequined black fabric. The sash went around the waist and tied in a bow in the back right above the cat tail that I added to the skirt.

I made a collar from the same sequined black fabric (that I found at a thrift store for 50 cents) by making a gathered ruffle and binding it with black bias tape. The hooded sweatshirt has a ruffle that runs up both sides and around the hood. I knew it would be chilly on Halloween so I always try to think ahead to how we can layer underneath so we don’t end up covering the kids costumes with big coats.

She wore a black knit hat and a headband with sparkly black cat ears finished with a satin bow on top.

Another event that has become an annual tradition is something out this way called the ‘Autumn Drive’. It takes place mid-October and is out in the country about 40 minutes from our house. Local farms open their doors and there are fall activities, crafts, food, pottery and lots and lots of pumpkins. This year my husband wanted to buy the largest pumpkin around and I think he might have succeeded………..

Matilda wearing the coat I made from felted wool (post found HERE).

Fall is definitely my favorite time here in the midwest! We have had so much fun and we still have another month to go. I have two large butternut squashes that are just begging to be roasted and turned into soup…….I think that sounds like a good project for today since it’s another chilly autumn day.
24
Oct

Holly Designs Giveaway

Today I’m excited to introduce you to Holly Designs on Etsy where they create custom handmade applique shirts, clothing and gifts for your little ones.

Holly offered to send me a custom shirt for one of the kids. I decided to have her do a shirt for Matilda. I kind of feel like Matilda doesn’t always get the special new things because if I have to choose, I usually will get something for Savannah in hopes that Matilda can wear it a few years later. But this time, it was all about Matilda.

At Holly Designs, you choose the shirt color, the fabric for the applique, the font style and whatever else you might like to customize. So this is what Matilda and I decided on. She likes that the fabric is kind of rainbow-ish and pink goes with lots of her clothing.

I was really impressed by the quality of the applique and it has hand-embroidered stitching around all of the letters which was such a nice handmade touch.

Holly also included this matching pinwheel clip that is just perfect in Miss Matilda’s ponytail that she is always sporting on top of her head.

Anyway, I think you are really going to like these shirts. Here are a few other favorites from Holly Designs:

So what do you think? Would you like one of these custom applique pieces for a special little one in your life. Well, Holly Designs is giving away a $25.00 gift certificate towards anything in their shop.

Here’s how to enter…..leave a separate comment for each entry. You can do one or both of the following:

1. Visit Holly Designs and come back and leave a comment telling us what item is your favorite in their shop. Click HERE.

2. Become a fan of Holly Designs on Facebook. Click HERE.

Giveaway will be open until October 26, 2012 at Midnight (CST).
23
Oct

Easy Eye Glass {or Rotary Cutter} Case Tutorial

Today we have a special guest, my mom (aka Grandma Jane) with another one of her quick and easy quilting tutorials. Take it away Mom……..

I would really encourage any new quilter to find some sort of quilting group to join. It is a great way to learn from and be inspired by more experienced quilters, share quilting projects, get advice and support, and most of all, to make new friends who are as crazy as you are about quilting! There are a lot of online quilting resources out there (after all, you are reading this blog) but a group that you can physically be part of is a gift if you can find one. Most areas have quilting guilds that you can join, quilt shops may have classes and open sew times, or just gather a few of your friends together to sew up a storm.

Early morning Camp Allen and a porch just made for quiet reflection….

I returned recently from a weekend quilting retreat with a group of wonderful women! Our weekend retreat at Camp Allen north of Houston was filled with lots of sewing, sharing good food, plenty of laughter, personal reflection, prayer and fellowship. There were twenty women of all ages ranging from a 16-year old granddaughter of one of the members to a great-grandmother with 25 grandchildren and everything in between. I can’t tell you all the “details” of our weekend because what happens at Camp Allen….stays at Camp Allen… but I will say just say lots of new quilting tattoos went home. Shhhh….

I started quilting about two years ago when I was invited by my friend, Diane, to join the church quilt ministry group. The group meets several times a week with evening and daytime meetings to accommodate schedules for everyone with the focus on ministry projects for the church. These women make quilts for each baby dedicated at church, prayer blankets for hospitalized church members and recently sent 58 (yes, I said 58!) jelly roll strip quilts to missionaries in Guatemala. Margaret and Barbara, the leaders of the group, are an inspiration in many ways. Not only do they have awesome quilting skills but they are women of incredible strength and faith.

The service project that everyone worked on during our weekend, in addition to their own sewing, was a cute little glass case. The goal is to make 90 of these cases to be included in goodie bags for the breast cancer survivors being honored at a gala in March at a local hospital. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month so how fitting to be working on this project at our retreat. This is a really easy project that would be a great gift idea/stocking stuffer for Christmas, too. If you don’t need it for glasses—it makes a perfect holder for a rotary cutter for your favorite quilter!

This project is inspired by the Quilts and More Magazine project in the Summer 2012 issue.
Easy Eye Glass {or Rotary Cutter} Case Tutorial
by Grandma Jane for The Cottage Mama

SUPPLIES:
(1) 9 inch square of batting
(1) 7 ½ inch square of outer fabric
(1) 7 ½ inch square of lining fabric—flannel works well
(1) 1 ¾ x 9 inch strip for strap

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Center outer fabric on batting and quilt as desired. I used a cross-hatch design that I marked with a fabric pen prior to sewing. Trim batting even with fabric.

2. Fold strap piece in half lengthwise and press. Unfold and fold in long edges to meet in the middle. Refold in half along pressed edge and edge-stitch.

3. Fold stitched strap in half cross wise. Pin to top edge of outer fabric ½ inch from left edge. Baste. If your fabric is directional—make sure to have it going the direction you want at this point.

4. Place lining fabric on top—right sides together and stitch ¼ inch seam across top, catching in strap.

5. Press open with seam allowance towards lining and edge stitch lining.

6. Fold edges together lengthwise and stitch a ¼ seam around outer edge, leaving short-end of lining open. Clip corners.

7. Turn case right side out. Turn in short edges of lining ¼ inch and press. Hand stitch or machine sew short end of lining. 8. Insert lining into case and press again! Easy!!!

Thanks so much for joining us today, Mom! It always so fun to have you here.  I definitely think these will be on my easy gift giving project list for this year!
18
Oct

Recipe: Uncle Bill’s Red and Green Chile Pork Tamales

My mom is in Taos, New Mexico having a sisters weekend with her three sisters and it made me remember that I never shared my Uncle Bill’s Tamale recipe with you all. We served these tamales at Caspian’s Baptism celebration and they were so good.

I absolutely adore New Mexico. If you’ve never been there, you should definitely put in on your ‘must visit’ list. I don’t even really know how to describe it, but I always feel like I’m a new world when we visit. My grandparents owned an art gallery in Taos for many years and my Grandma Marge was an amazing artist. We are lucky enough to have a few of her paintings in our own house now. I guess I would say that Taos and Santa Fe have a very artsy feeling and the beauty that surrounds these cities is incredibly inspirational which is probably why they are filled with so many talented artists.

Not only is New Mexico beautiful, but the food is out of this world! I grew up with a southwestern influence in our cooking since my grandparents lived in this region. Green chiles are definitely a staple in our house and when my mom posted a picture of the food she was eating yesterday after she arrived, I was definitely green with envy (yes, pun intended).

If you’ve never tried tamales, you should give this recipe a try. This is not a quick dish. Making these tamales is more about the process and the love that goes into cooking. There are many parts to this recipe, but it’s worth it, trust me. Consider having a tamale making party and enjoy the company of your friends as you make these hand-crafted Red and Green Chile Pork Tamales

Uncle Bill’s Homemade Red and Green Chile Pork Tamales
MAKES 48 TAMALES

PORK:
3 lbs pork loin
1 onion chopped
5 cloves garlic
6-8 juniper seeds (optional)
1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
Oil Sear meat in oil.

Cover with 8 cups water, onion and spices and simmer 2.5 hours or crock pot for 8-10 hours. Cool and shred. Reserve stock.

RED SAUCE:
1.5 cup stock
8 oz tomato sauce
2 TBL canned chipotle in adobo
½ tsp oregano and cumin
½ tsp garlic salt
1 diced oinion
1 tsp sugar
 1 T oil.

Saute onions, sprinkle in spices. Add sauce and stock and simmer 20-30 minutes. Add half of shredded pork. You can refrigerate overnight until assembling the next day.

GREEN SAUCE:
1 diced onion
1 can green enchilada sauce
1 –7 oz can chopped green chiles
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp garlic salt

Sauté onion in oil. Add spices. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Add half of shredded pork. You can refrigerate overnight until assembling the next day.

MASA:
5 cups masa
 5 cups stock or chicken stock
1 cup olive oil
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
Corn husks

Mix salt and baking powder with masa. Add the stock and mix roughly with electric mixer. Gradually pour in olive oil and mix with mixer at least 5 mins.

ASSEMBLY:
To assemble, soak cornhusks to rehydrate them. Place husks in a baking dish or bowl and pour hot water on top. Soak until husks are pliable (up to 30 minutes). Remove husks from water and pat dry.

Spread a little Masa (approximately 2 tablespoons) into a long rectangle-like shape on the cornhusk with a little amount of filling (approximately 1 tablespoon) on top of the Masa dough. Fold up one short end and roll tamales the long way. The top will still be open which is fine because they will be placed tightly in the pot for boiling. If you would prefer to close them, you can either twist it tightly or tie it with a strip of soaked cornhusk or cooking twine. Do not overfill the tamales or your filling will come out of the tamale. A little bit goes along way.

Steam upright approximately 1.5 to 2 hours until masa separates cleanly from the husk. Check water from time to time and replenish as necessary. You do not want your pan to run dry.   Makes approximately 48 tamales.

SERVE:
To eat the tamales, remove from the corn husks and enjoy! Consider serving with sour cream, salsa or guacamole.

A big thank you to my Uncle Bill Jackson for sharing his delicious recipe!
15
Oct

Fat Quarter Tote Bag Tutorial

This is an easy afternoon project called the ‘Fat Quarter Tote Bag’.  I fell in love with the fabric line, ‘Seaside‘, by Riley Blake Designs the first time I saw it at quilt market back almost 9 months ago in Houston, TX.  The colors, the prints, the nautical feel……awwww, swoon.  I knew I had to use this line the minute it came out!

The Fat Quarter Tote is a fully lined medium-sized tote bag made from six fat quarters (with a little bit of interfacing).  Once you know how this sweet little bag goes together, you will be able to whip up several of them in no time.  Let’s get started…….

Fat Quarter Tote Tutorial
by Lindsay Wilkes from The Cottage Mama 
Materials:
2 Fat Quarters – Exterior Fabric
2 Fat Quarters – Lining Fabric
1 Fat Quarter – Top Band Fabric
1 Fat Quarter – Straps and Fabric Yo-Yo
1 Fat Quarter – Fusible Interfacing
1 button (optional)
Cutting Instructions:
Cut 2 on Fold: 15.5″ x 9″ – Exterior Fabric
Cut 2 on Fold: 15.5″ x 9″ – Lining Fabric
Cut 2 on Fold: 9″ x 6.5″ – Top Band Fabric
Cut 4 on Fold: 2.5″ x 10″ – Strap Fabric
Cut 4: 2.5″ x 20″ – Interfacing
Instructions:
1/2″ SEAM ALLOWANCE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
Cut all pieces according to cutting instructions above.

Apply fusible interfacing to the back side of all four strap pieces according to package instructions.  I know interfacing can be a little confusing, but the interfacing used in the project is nothing fancy.  It is fusible on one side (not both) and will add a little strength to the straps.  If you prefer to add a little more body to the tote bag, you could apply interfacing to the back sides of all the pieces.

Place two of the strap pieces with their right sides together and sew down both long sides.

Turn the strap right side out and press.

Topstitch down each long side of the strap in coordinating thread.  Do the same thing with the other two strap pieces.
For the main body of the bag, cut 1.5″ squares out of two of the corners of the main bag pieces (pictured above).  Do this on all four pieces (exterior and lining)  If you would like a shorter bag but with more width then go ahead and cut a 2″ – 2.5″ square out of each side.  Place the exterior bag pieces with their right sides together and sew down both long sides and the bottom (in between the two squares) leaving the top open and the squares open.  Do the same thing with the lining fabric.

Press all seams open for the lining and the exterior main bag pieces.

Pinch the bottom squares of the bag and line up the two straight edges of the squares.  Pin in place and stitch across the straight side.  Do this for all four corners (two exterior and two lining).

Cut off some of the extra seam allowance to remove bulk and make sure the corners turn out nicely.  Turn the exterior fabric right side out, but leave the interior fabric wrong side out.

Place the top band fabric pieces with the right sides together and sew down both short sides.  Fold the top band in half (long-ways) and press.

Measure in 4.5″ from each side of the bag for strap placement.

Pin the straps in place and baste stitch them to the bag.

In the next series of steps we will be layering several pieces together.  Slide the top band piece over the top of the exterior of the bag, lining up the raw edges.
We left the lining part of the bag with the wrong side out. Slide the lining piece over the exterior, band and straps. You are making a sandwich with the two different bag pieces, the straps and the top band.

Sew around the top, leaving a 3″- 4″ opening for turning right side out.

Turn the bag right side out by pulling the exterior fabric of the bag through the opening.

Topstitch around the top of the bag. Make sure to iron under the opening we used for turning earlier so that your topstitching will catch and close the opening during this step.

Pin the straps in place and sew them to the top band of the fabric.  Do this by sewing a square around each one with an ‘X’ in the middle.
Hand sew an embellishment at the top of the bag.  I made a fabric yo-yo with a button in the center.  There are many tutorials online for fabric yo-yo’s, so I’ll skip that here.  But you can use any trims or embellishments you would like to make your bag special.
And that’s it……you’re finished!
Here is what the bottom of the tote will look like.  Like I said above, if you would prefer a wider base, just cut the squares out of the main bag pieces larger.
This is what the inside of your tote will look like once you are finished.  Fully lined with no exposed edges….nice and pretty!
If you have your own sewing labels, then add one to the back of the tote.
Fat Quarter Tote Tutorial - The Cottage Mama

Happy Sewing!