Mat and Ruler Bag

So I had a great retreat.  We missed the people who couldn't come for a variety of reasons, but we still managed to chat and sew the time away.  My Old Maid's Puzzle quilt is backed, layered and basted (many hands make basting a dream - as does a large stainless steel kitchen bench), and I finally made myself a mat and ruler bag.

I've wanted one for ages and I even had fabrics I wanted to use (MoMo by Moda, a pack of four half-metres  I bought once with no idea what I would do with them).  But I couldn't find a pattern I liked. I searched for tutorials or free patterns on the net, nope.  I searched for commercial patterns, nope.  So I just jolly well designed one myself! 

 And I love it!  If I made it again, I might round the top corners, but apart from that, it's pretty perfect for me. And it's done, which is half the beauty.  It's main body is quilted, it opens out flat, has carry handles, ties to hold it shut and pockets inside for my big mat and all my rulers, plus room for a notebook and a few other things.

This is inside it with all the rulers and mats slid away out of sight.  And then below I've slid everything out a little so you can see where they all hid.  I backed the pockets with pink flannelette and lightly 'quilted' them so they didn't sag too much.

And here's an action shot taken by my four year old!  I wanted to show how I fluked scientifically measured the handles big enough to sling over my shoulder, but - get this, I also managed to make them short enough that it doesn't drag on the ground if I carry it in my hand!  (Didn't get the shot of that one - the dogs kept walking in front of the camera).

So I'm very pleased with my little invention.  My mats and rulers are also extremely pleased that they finally have a home.  I'll be posting more shots of the retreat over on the Keriquilt blog soon- keep an eye out.

And I'm whispering this because I still don't believe it and don't want to jinx it - the building has started again after the builder and the husband had a pow wow over the weekend.  Progress shots when I've convinced myself it's really happening!