And......we're back!

Hi everyone!  I bet you didn't think that the blog would be taking the summer off, did you?  Well, neither did I!  I was so busy this summer that I had very little free time, and what free time I did have was spent knitting and sewing.  I do hope you'll forgive me for that!

We just got back from the Houlton Quilt Show, and we had a great time!  We have lots of pictures, so we'll share them with you soon.  But I want to talk about something else that we are very excited about today!  Starting in January of 2011, Garden Gate Fabrics will be doing a bag of the month club.  We'll do a different bag each month, and you can purchase the kit complete with pattern, and we will also offer a class each month for whatever bag we make.  I have looked through a lot of patterns, and now we're going to let you choose what you would like to do each month.  What I'll be doing is posting a couple of choices for each month, starting now.  We'll leave the choices up for voting for two weeks, but I'll post a new month of choices each week so we will hopefully have chosen all 12 bags for 2011 before 2011 actually starts!  You can submit your vote by commenting on the blog post.  Also, if you are interested in doing a bag a month with us, but live far away, we will definitely ship a kit to you, so you can be a part of the fun too!  So, on to the fun part!

For January, I thought we could start with a simple pieced tote/handbag.  I'm going to show you three different patterns that I thought were cute, and you can choose your favorite or tell me if you don't like any of them. 

The first bag is called the Building Blocks Bag, from Indygo Junction:

  This pattern includes instructions for both bags, which are made using 6.5 inch squares.  I've been told this pattern is pretty simple as well, which is always a plus! :)

The second pattern is called Charming Totes 4 from Whistlepig Creek.  This pattern uses charm packs.

This pattern includes instructions for all three bags.  Additional yardage will likely be required for lining, handles, etc.  Using precuts is always fun, and makes things faster, as some of you know.

The third pattern is the 4th Quarter Bag from Silk Road Creations.

This pattern uses 4 fat quarters, and has 14 pockets.  Wowzah!  Talk about a place for everything, and everything in its place!

So all that I need you to do is comment on this post and say which bag you would prefer to sew in January, or if you would rather do something totally different.  If you aren't interested in doing a bag of the month on 2011, that's okay too!  Hopefully we can find something else to keep you busy.  So let me know what you think, and let me know if you have any suggestions for bags for 2011.  Thanks!

*IMPORTANT!* Voting for January's bag will end on Saturday, September 18 at noontime EST (just in case anyone is in a different time zone!).  Voting for February's bag will begin Saturday, September 11.  Happy sewing!