I’ve made three Junior Billie Bags this year. The first one was made as a class sample, which I kept. The second was made as a birthday gift. Number 3 was also made as a class sample. Since I don’t need another JBB, I decided to make one for a good friend. Regular readers have seen this bag while it was still in flat pieces. Now it’s three dimensional!

A Junior Billie Bag is challenging to make — but oh, so worth it. I call it the quintessential quilter’s tote. Measuring 14″ wide, 17″ high, and 7½” wide, it’s large enough to hold a lot of supplies but small enough to be carried easily, especially because of the two sets of handles. Pockets on the outside and inside can be customized to hold a quilter’s favorite set of sewing and quilting tools.

Here’s one side of #3, finished last week:

I like that block so much I used it on #1 and #2. On the other side of the bag I made what I call a kaleido-spinner block:

Here are a couple of side views, to show you the pockets on the outside:

And finally, a peek inside the bag, which is loaded with pockets:

My friend Miriam was as delighted to receive it as I was to give it to her. We work on quilt projects together at the Pine Needle, the local quilt shop where I teach. It’s the same quilt shop where Billie Mahorney, the designer of the bag, taught for almost 20 years before moving to Idaho in 2009. Billie taught her bag class many times during those years, and I am very honored that she has passed the torch on to me.

The next time I see Miriam, I expect she will be toting her brand new Junior Billie Bag, loaded with her favorite things.

The Junior Billie Bag I made for my friend Deborah is finished. Today’s late afternoon sun and shade seemed just right for a mini photo shoot on my back deck.

Here’s one side of the bag, with the longer of two sets of handles draped over a 24″ tall ruler, conveniently tucked into one of the side pockets:

Here’s the other side, showing the shorter set of handles:

Just look at all these pockets, waiting to be filled!

In case you didn’t notice, the side panels on the outside of the bag have pockets, too.

You can read earlier posts about the making of Deborah’s Junior Billie Bag here:

April 21: Pockets A-Plenty: Deborah’s Junior Billie Bag
March 28: In the Works: A New Junior Billie Bag

The Junior Billie Bag, measuring 14″ x 17″ x 7½”, is a downsized version of the quilter’s tote designed several years ago by Billie Mahorney, a popular local quilt teacher and designer. (I made one for myself a few months ago, which you can see here.)

Billie never wrote a pattern for her bag but taught classes for many years at the Pine Needle in Lake Oswego and elsewhere in Oregon. She is now retired from teaching and has passed the mantle on to me to teach her wonderful design.

Earlier this week I finished teaching the second of two classes on the Junior Billie Bag and will most likely be teaching more classes in the fall. Two of my students have already completed their bags, with three more close behind. When all 10 bags are finished, we’ll have a virtual Junior Billie Bag parade. You’re invited!

Linking up with Kelly of My Quilt Infatuation on NTT (Needle and Thread Thursday).

Yes, it’s done! My Junior Billie Bag, the quilter’s tote I’ve been working on these last few weeks, is now ready to travel. It’s full of my favorite quilter’s tools and supplies — and there’s room to spare.

Let me show you a few pictures, beginning with the front and back. Actually, the front and back are interchangeable; I think of them as the pink side and the orange side.

Let’s start with the orange side, with the long handles showing:

Here’s another look at the orange side, this time showing the shorter handles:

And now the pink side with long handles . . .

. . . and the short handles:

Having two sets of handles gives you choices in how to carry the bag — over your shoulder or in your hand.

Here’s a shot of one of the side panels, the one with a single pocket:

(That reflection you see is from a specialty ruler.)

Now have a look at the other side panel. Just for fun I added contrasting bands of color at the top and bottom of the two pockets on this side:

The small pocket was sized to hold my business cards on one side and a name badge on the other. That’s one of the great features of this bag: you can customize the pockets for whatever you want to put in them.

In these three-quarter angle shots, both sets of straps are tucked inside the bag:

Which side do you like better, the orange or the pink?

Except for the orange batik and navy Maywood Shadowplay fabric used on the front and back of my Junior Billie Bag, all of the fabrics are from the Paradise line designed by Alisse Courter for Camelot Cottons. Several more Paradise prints are inside the bag in multiple pockets. It’s hard to get a good shot of the pockets now that the bag is done; this photo shows the pockets before the bag was completely sewn together:

(I went wild for these fabrics and bought almost the entire line, so you will be seeing more of them in future projects.)

Measuring 14″ in width, 17″ in length, and 7½” in depth, my Junior Billie Bag is a slightly downsized version of the original bag designed at least a decade ago by Billie Mahorney, a popular quilt teacher in the Pacific Northwest, now retired. You can read more about Billie and my earlier progress on the bag in these previous posts:

Dec. 29, 2015:  Billie’s Blessing
Dec. 31, 2015:  Update: Junior Billie Bag
Jan. 4, 2016:  The Third Dimension

It feels good to report a finish on this, the sixth day of the New Year.

Linking up with Kelly of My Quilt Infatuation on the eve of NTT (Needle and Thread Thursday).