A new tote bag and a fabric basket

I am participating in Lia's Hnadmades Secret Tote Bag Swap- Round 3. The person I'm making the tote bag for wrote that she loves bright colours and text prints. She also likes the Noodlehead 241 Tote and since I have those fabrics in my stash and I also have the pattern, she shall get exactly what she asked for! The theme for this swap is geometrics so I decided to use simple squares and rectangles for the front panel. Here is the bag I made! It is the first time I've quilted  a tote and I'm quite pleased with the result! The side panels and strap are made from osnaburg.

This is not a large tote. It is more of a hobo style purse. I just love the style and think I might make myself a summer bag from the pattern.

Here you can see the lining in the bag. I put in a magnetic closure and a little pocket edged with some of the fabric I used on the outside.

I want to send my partner some goodies so I've got a FQ of text fabric, a pink Frixion pen and this hardcover needle book that I made for her. It was made from a free pattern at The Studiolo (the embroidered leaf is my own addition).  I used the scraps of osnaburg to make it and I lined it with text print.

In my travels I came across a really cute free pattern for a fabric basket on Pink Penguin. It sewed up in less than an hour. It measures about 6" in length, 4" tall and 3" wide. This is my test basket and there are a couple of minor corrections (the top stitching on the handles needs to be closer to the edges) but I'm pleased with it. I might just make one for my secret parnter too! You will find the free pattern here. These would make great little gift baskets for small things or maybe just a thread catcher. Start to finish it took less than an hour to make this little basket!

That's it for today. I've got a few chores but hope this afternoon I'll be able to find some time to finally do some quilting! Until I post again, happy sewing!
Karen H