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

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

Here’s theother 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 postsabout 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 totedesigned several years ago by Billie Mahorney, a popularlocal quilt teacher and designer. (I made one for myself a few months ago,which you can see here.)

Billienever wrote a pattern for her bag but taught classes for many years at the Pine Needle in Lake Oswegoand elsewhere in Oregon. She is nowretired 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, thequilter’s tote I’ve been working onthese last few weeks,is nowready 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 yourshoulder or in yourhand.

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 thetwo 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 thesethree-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 thepockets 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,myJunior Billie Bag is a slightly downsized version of the original bag designed at least a decade agoby Billie Mahorney, a popular quilt teacher in the Pacific Northwest, now retired.You can read more about Billie and my earlier progress on thebag 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 sixthday of the New Year.

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

It’s official: my Junior Billie Baghas reached the 3D stage.

If you’ve been following me at First Light Designs,you know I’m working on a Junior Billie Bag, thequintessential quilter’s tote designed by Billie Mahorney. A smaller scale version of Billie’s original bag, the Junior measures 14″ x 17″ x 7½” –the perfect size for toting a large(but manageable)amount of quilting supplies.

One of the panels(front or back? I haven’t decided yet) has beenattached to the side panels and bottom, and the binding has been sewn on. This is what the baglooks like from the outside . . .

. . . and this is what it looks like from the inside:

To paraphrase Jerry Lee Lewis, there’s a whole lot of pockets going on!

With thebinding applied along this panel, my Junior Billie Bagislooking more finished. Now you can easily see how the two sets of handles come into play (although you see only half of them here):

The longer straps go over the shoulder; the smaller straps make it easy to carry the bag like a satchel. The best of both worlds.

When you see this bag next, it will be completed! Before the first week of 2016is over, I expect to havemy first finish to report.

I’d say the New Yearis off to a very good start.