It’s October already - where did September go?! - and that means it’s time for another Island Batik Ambassador project! This month, it was the What’s in Your Bag? challenge.

The challenge for all Island Batik Ambassadors for October was to create a project using a pattern from ByAnnie.com. I’m sure you’ve heard of this company that makes amazing bag patterns and has all the hardware and notions required for their patterns.

Thanks to ByAnnie.com for providing us with not only the pattern but everything required to make our chosen project.

For me, not a bag maker, this challenge was a big step out of my comfort zone but I decided to keep it simple (and attainable) and chose to make the Ditty Bags 2.0 in the medium size. I figured even a beginner bag maker like me could handle this project.

Thankfully, ByAnnie,com provides lots of helpful videos to make their patterns so I was able to follow along with their video instructions as I created the Ditty Bags 2.0. There are Add-On Videos for many of their patterns and I found the one for this pattern very helpful.

I was able to choose the fabrics I wanted to use for this project and I again stepped out of my comfort zone and chose fabrics in colours that I normally wouldn’t use. It’s always a good idea to shake things up once in awhile! 😉

I chose some of the fabrics from the Flora Nova fabric collection from Island Batik because I thought they would make a bright and cheery project. Thanks to Island Batik for providing me with these fabrics.

It didn’t take many tools to create this bag and I made sure to get everything ready before I started but…

One thing I didn’t do was follow instructions exactly as they were written in the pattern - a bit of a mistake on my part. I usually do follow the pattern instructions but I thought I could do a bit better when adding the zipper but I should’ve followed Annie’s instructions - and not my own! Using clips was definitely the way to go - not using double-sided tape as I tried to do. It was only a slight misstep that I was able to quickly remedy before moving onto the next part of the construction process.

I learned so many new-to-me bag making techniques when stitching up the Ditty Bags 2.0 project and I’m sure these will be helpful when (if) I tackle more complex patterns in the future. Even Salem was impressed by the end result (I think).

For more information on what I learned when creating my version of the medium size of the Ditty Bags 2.0 pattern and how I personalized this design, check out my video below.

Be sure to check out my Chatterbox Quilt’s Facebook page to see all the other wonderful quilts created by my fellow Island Batik Ambassadors during this month’s What’s in Your Bag? challenge.

Also, be sure to check out the other Island Batik Ambassadors’ blogs to see what else they’re creating. You can find them at:

Brenda Alburl ~ Songbird Designs

Renee Atkinson ~ Pink Tulip Quilting

Megan Best ~ BestQuilter

Pamela Boatright ~ PamelaQuilts

Susan Deshensky ~ Lady Blue Quilts Studio

Brittany Fisher ~ Bobbin with Brittany

Preeti Harris ~ Sew Preeti Quilts

Mania Hatziioannidi ~ Mania for quilts

Jane Hauprich ~ Stitch by Stitch Custom Quilting

Victoria Johnson ~ Forever Quilting for You

Connie Kauffman ~ Kauffman Designs