Testing . . . 1, 2, 3 . . . Testing

Last year during the For the Love of Solids Swap, Michelle of City House Studio made the most darling book bag for her partner. So when she asked for volunteers to pattern test the book bag for her a few weeks ago, I was more than willing.

The "Read" Book Bag calls for a little paper-piecing, but mostly basic sewing. For the 'books', I chose some favorite fabrics, along with a few that signified special meaning for my family - a 'sewing' book (scissors), a foreign language book, and a 'cookbook'. The background was done in KONA Ash, and the 'bookshelf' fabric is Quilter's Linen in Stone.

Paper piecing was just required for the "read" letters - 4 small blocks, so it went pretty quick, and was fun to do scrappy. I used many of the fabrics I'd used on the book side, plus added what I needed of other coordinating fabrics so no two were repeated.

Since my books and letters weren't as bold as they could have been, I decided to go a little brighter for the lining and inner pocket.

The book bag was really an enjoyable project, and I'm glad I was able to help Michelle out by testing her pattern and giving some feedback.

What a fun and useful little project! Thanks Michelle!