I’m always tempted to utter those magic words when my Junior Billie Bag (#12) goes 3-D. With the side panels/bottom unit pinned to one of the front/back panels, it’s easier to envision what the finished bag is going to look like.

And what about those pockets?! I count 14 in the photo above. When the other front/back panel is added, the inside pockets will number 19. And then there are four outer pockets. All of the pockets are sized to hold my essential tools. Anything that won’t fit in the pockets will go in the middle of the bag.

(If you’re new to my blog, you may not know what a finished Junior Billie Bag looks like, inside and out. Click here to see photos of JBB #9, finished in May 2019.)

I still need to make the binding but right now I’m going to head up to my sewing room and spend the afternoon working on a project I set aside several weeks ago. Bye for now!

As promised, I’m popping back in to show you the pockets I’m making for Junior Billie Bag #12. Call me crazy but I make a new bag every time I teach a class. It really helps my students to see the individual components of this wonderful quilter’s tote before they take on the challenge of making their own.

Here are the exterior pockets attached to the quilted side panels:

Here’s  close-up of that wonderful text print with lyrics to “What a Wonderful World”:

Students are free to design their own pockets sized for the tools they favor but I like to provide a few options. Over the 13 years I’ve been making Junior Billie Bags I’ve experimented with pockets for the exteriors side panels but I keep coming back to this combination because it works so well for me.

To provide context, take a look at the same pocket design added to JBB #11 made last year, first under construction . . .

. . . and then in the finished product:

Now for a look at the interior pockets for #12’s side panels:

You can see that I’m using the text print on the outside and inside of this JBB.

The gold fabric with striations is directional; I deliberately had the striations go horizontal in one pocket and vertical in the other. I’m probably the only one that would notice that when peeking inside the bag. Just a little example of having fun while playing with pockets!

Here’s a sneak peek at the inside pockets for the front and back panels:

The gold floral at the top is the lining fabric; all the fabrics below it are pockets. I’m loving that vintage blue and white floral print (so old there is no information on the selvedge other than “Springs, Ind., Inc.”) next to the gold and white chevron print.

My class starts a week from today. I’ll be ready for it!

Officially finished and ready to load! Here ’tis, my eleventh Junior Billie Bag (JBB):

The block in the left photo above features an inset circle. Rather than make a different block for the other side (right photo), I used an uncut piece of the focus fabric because I wanted to showcase that gorgeous poppy border print. I really like how nicely the binding fabric — a metallic silver and black leaf print — sets off the grey, red, and black fabrics as well as the poppy print.

The bag is 14″ wide, 17″ tall, and 7″ deep. The depth of the bag is sufficient to hold a 6″ x 24″ acrylic ruler, which is only one of the terrific features of Billie’s design.

It’s always rather difficult to get good photos of the JBB with both sets of straps in plain sight. Here you see both sides flattened out, with the short and long handles in view:

Why two sets of handles? It’s so handy being able to choose when to carry the bag as a satchel using the short straps or when to carry it over your shoulder using the long straps.

It’s also difficult to get a good look at the pockets inside a Junior Billie Bag:

Here’s a photo of the interior (from a previous post) taken before the fourth side was added:

If you’re new to my blog, you may be wondering why on earth I’ve made so many Junior Billie Bags. The short answer is that I’ve been teaching this scaled down version of Billie Mahorney’s original design since 2015, and every time I teach the class, I make a bag because I’ve found that the best way for me to demonstrate construction techniques is to build a bag alongside my students.

Because of the pandemic, quilt classes came to a halt early in 2020. The last JBB I made was in 2019. When I started working on this one I realized how rusty I had gotten. As I tell my students, “This is a challenging bag to make but so worth the effort!”

You can see all of my Junior Billie Bags on the Gallery page of firstlightdesigns.com or by clicking here.

. . . when a Junior Billie Bag becomes three-dimensional:

It makes all the work that goes into a JBB totally worth it! You’re looking at the inside of my current Junior Billie Bag-in-progress. You can’t see them all but there are 14 pockets in the three sides in the photo above. The other front/back panel has four pockets, bringing the number of inside pockets to 18.

But wait — there’s more! The side panels on the outside of the bag also have pockets. There are three in the photo below . . .

. . . and one more in this next photo, bringing the total number of pockets to 22:

The size of each pocket was carefully measured and made to hold the tools I use most often when I go to take — or teach — a quilt class.

Here’s a look at the side panels/bottom unit on the outside . . .

. . . and on the inside:

I’m absolutely loving the bold poppy prints, all of which have touches of silver. I also used two other silver metallic fabrics in other parts of the bag. I’ve loved every single Junior Billie Bag I’ve made, all of which have been bright and colorful, but this one — #11 — is probably the most elegant.