Shhh.. it's a SECRET!!

...I am taking part in Lia's Handmade Secret Tote Bag Swap.

My partner, who lives far far away, will be receiving this tote bag.  I cant tell you who she is and for those taking part, the guessing game continues.

My partner did not give a lot of specifics except that she liked modern, big, bold and bright colours.  We all had a chance to add a photo mosaics to the flickr group to show our preferences in bag types, colours and designs, so I tried really hard to make a bag that she would like.  

I was very lucky that my sponsor, Dot from Dot's Quilts, jumped to the opportunity when I mentioned this swap to her.  So she sent me a variation of these beautiful fabrics from Anna Maria Horner's LouLouThi collection.

The moment I saw it, I knew I had to try and incorporate all of them, without cutting it up too much and not slice away the beautiful flowers and prints.  

The body of the bag has batting between the layers, and the outside pockets are lined with a medium weight iron on interfacing for added stability. 

I've added a photo of myself with the bag over my shoulder, just to give you an idea of the size.  I added a single side strap instead of two.  The final dimensions of this bag is 14 inches wide, 16 inches high and 4 inches wide.  I really like the size of this bag, I am definitely going to make one for myself,... oh no wait, my partner already did :-)

If you'd like to see all the other completed bags, please visit the flickr group, or this link up from Lia's blog.  Thank you Julia aka Lia for hosting this swap, and Dot for the beautiful fabrics.

Happy sewing.