My Patchwork All Things Tote

Recently, I attending a quilting retreat with some friends and made a new bag! I thought I would share a little more about the bag and how it all came together ... especially since I didn't plan ahead to make it! 

I flew to this retreat and borrowed a machine from one of the other attendees. And since I was flying, I was pretty conservative with my packing for my projects! I precut two quilts and a table runner, which I took along. And I had some Mini Havenview flower blocks already cut out so I tossed those in my suitcase along with some letter fabric (more on that below) and a bag of low volume scraps ... "just in case" I finished my quilts early and had a little extra time. 

Well, I finished all my projects and had some time! And several of the girls had all made the All Things Tote by Knot & Thread and I loved their great size, so I bought the PDF and realized that my limited fabric stash I brought with me was going to make this difficult! I had happened to pick up some FQs from the local shop in town, so I basically challenged myself to make it happen with what I had. 

If you've been following my on Instagram for awhile, you can probably guess that I love to add patchwork to projects - especially bags. I figured out that the medium size of this tote was perfect for two of the Havenview blocks I had made to fit side-by-side. To get the length I needed on the panel, I did some math and added some 2.5" low volume squares to the top of the flowers and pieced a bottom between the flower panels. 

Of course, I didn't get a great picture of my panel before assembling the bag, but you can probably get the idea from the picture below. I didn't make any other adjustments to the pattern for the medium size. I pieced together a couple of low volume fat quarters for the lining and borrowed some Soft & Stable and 505 spray and got to quilting! 

I mostly did some outline quilting in the flowers and then a crosshatch in the background and low volume squares. The print I used for the bottom and end panels happened to have a grid in the design, so I used that as a guide to quilt some diamonds. 

You can see the quilting pretty well in this picture of both the diamonds and the crosshatching. This was also a great time to add some fun labels to the pocket when I attached the binding. :) 

For the second side pocket, I had a little fun with the Selvedge Magic Letters sample fabric I got from Moda. (Note: this fabric comes out in June 2025 - a link to it is at the end of this post. I have so many fun ideas for it that I can't wait to share with you all!)

I quilted this one in the same way as the other pocket. And I love that is personalizes my bag! 

I used some 1.5" Starry webbing for the handles (linked below). I had planned to maybe use a bolder black & white webbing, but I am glad I went with this one. It's fun, but doesn't distract from all the piecing! 

I really had a lot of fun with this bag and am really pleased with how it all came together, despite it being a bit of a challenge with the limited fabric and supplies I had taken to retreat! I also love that whenever I use it, I will be reminded of a fun few days with friends! 

Below, I have listed a few links to patterns and supplies (or similar supplies) that would be helpful if you want to make a patchwork All Things Tote, too. 

Patterns Used: 

• Flower block from Mini Havenview Drawstring Bag
• Link to All Things Tote Pattern @ Knot & Thread

Notions & Products to Make Your Own: 

• Sarah Hearts Labels
• Low Volume FQ Bundle Grab Bags
• RSS Low Volume Fat Sixteenth Bundle
• RSS Perfectly Plum FQ Bundle
• Selvedge Magic Fabric (available June 2025)
• Starry Webbing