Cute Zombie Bag

I found this cute bag pattern on a website called, "The Happy Zombie". Not sure how I came across this. I just click on links from other sites I like and find cool stuff.

Anyway, this bag is made from three "fat quarters". I'm too lazy at the moment to research exactly what a "fat quarter" is. Suffice it to say that my local fabric store sells them and I think quilters by them. The size is about 18x22. I had bought a few to make something else and then when I found this pattern, I decided to make this instead. These three fabrics wouldn't have been my first choice and they don't go together as well as I would've liked. When I make another one, I'll choose my fabrics a lot more carefully.

This bag is fully lined and you have a choice of whether or not to make boxed corners. The pattern is easy to understand and follow and doesn't take too long to make. My only complaint is that the bag is quite a bit smaller than I thought it would be. That isn't the pattern's fault, it's mine, since I didn't read the final size before starting. I'm certain it would be easy enough to make this pattern larger. Then, of course, you would need more than a "fat quarter".

This would be a great bag for a child. It has one large pocket and two small side pockets. I'm going to use it for a pool bag on our trip to Key West, FL later this year. The side pockets are perfect for keys, sunglasses or suntan lotion and the large compartment in the center is good for a book or two. I'm sure I will be making another one.

The Unfinished Christmas.

This Christmas I had TONS of ideas for handmade gifts to make. I also had tons of projects started and materials bought to start projects. I made a list of unfinished projects. Scary. So, I decided it was time to finish up some of these ideas.

Some years I've made my own Christmas cards and I thought about doing it again, but with all the ideas for other projects in my head, I had made eight cards by Thanksgiving. My original idea was to handknit washcloths and send those out as Christmas cards. I think I made two. Hardly what I needed. I'll get back to the unfinished washcloth idea later.

So, I found this cute sailboat image on the "Life Is Good" website that they were posting as a coloring page and used it for our Christmas card. Bob and I sat on the floor in the living room one wintery Sunday afternoon with a fire in the fireplace, coloring all the cards while watching "The Walking Dead" marathon on AMC. Yeah, I know, hardly a Christmas-y show, but we had so much fun. Yay! Christmas cards DONE!

In addition to the Christmas washcloths, another project started more than a year was making "Morsbags". Morsbags is an English website. You make fabric bags and then give them out to people to use instead of plastic bags at the grocery store. They have a free pattern, not that you really need one. They also have labels you can buy or print to call attention to their site. Not a new concept, but I thought I would make them for the women in my family for last Christmas. I got fabric from a second hand store and some donated. Again, I got two done.

This brings us back to the Christmas washcloths. Three of the five are shown above. Since, I had finished the "Morsbags", I decided to finish the washcloths too and give those to the women in my family. These washcloth patterns are wonderful and really easy to knit. The designer is Kris Knits and I have seven of her washcloth pattern sets.

So, to make a long story short. This was the season to finish some unfinished Christmas projects. Now, I didn't finish them all and I did start some new ones, but I feel like I made progress and you can too.