Guess the Date of New Baby's Arrival/ Quilt as You go Bag

"Quilt as You Go" Tinker Tote

Three of my favourite things are my 3 grandbabies, quilting and my cats.

We are expecting a new grandbaby in late November, and this time we don't know ahead of time  the gender of this baby. (Yes, the not knowing is driving me crazy! )

I decided to have some fun with that and raise some funds for Alley Cats Rescue in Red Deer, AB at the same time, plus give myself the perfect excuse to quilt. :D

'Quilt as You Go' tote bag  side 2

I challenged my friends and acquaintances to guess the arrival date of New Baby and the closest guess to the correct date would win a handmade quilted bag.

We have 3 cats that are from Alley Cats Rescue in Red Deer, which comprises a dedicated group of selfless individuals, who rescue litters of wild kittens in and around the Red Deer/ Innisfail area. They find the cats and kittens temporary foster homes, get them spayed and neutered, and finally adopt them out with the help of the local Pet Smart.


I know Alley Cats Rescue is always looking for ways to help pay their vet bills, so I charged  $5 for each Baby Date guess to donate to this worthy cause.

I printed up a calendar of the month of November and early December to keep track of the guesses.   (You know babies; they will arrive whenever they darn well are ready whether you like it or not! :)

Both sides quilted 

After emailing my friends and posting it on my FB page, I started slowly receiving responses. I quickly got started on a new "quilt as you go" Tinker tote bag. I had bought an online tutorial through "Craftsy" in July and had made myself a Tinker tote bag at that time, (which I got many compliments on). Tara Rebman is the instructor and she does an exemplary job of showing and explaining the steps.

It is quilted as you go along, some with the walking foot done in straight lines and some is quilted towards the end with free motion.

I like the method of making the zipper pocket!

Zipper inner pocket

This time I made the bag a few inches narrower than the first one and I used thin stiff batting usually used for making place mats. I was pleased with how it was turning out, but had a bit of trouble with sewing on the binding around the curved edges of the bag once I sewed  the sides together since the bag is so stiff.

The lining pieces

I had to rip out a few sections of the seams and try again in a few spots. I got smarter with the side seams where I used dabs of "Speed Sew" glue under the binding to keep it in place before I sewed it on  along the seam (letting it dry well first).

The completed bag looks great, though, if I do say so myself!  I almost hate to give it away! :)