Covert Robin: What I Sent

I had so much fun participating in the Covert Robin Swap hosted by Imagine Gnats! The Covert Robin is a mystery round-robin swap. The participants know who they’re sending to, of course, but it’s a secret who you’ll be receiving from! When you’re planning your gift, you have to be sneaky about searching for likes and dislikes of your recipient. (Can I admit that I felt a little stalker-ish when I was researching my partner? It was fun, though!)

My CR recipient was Shannon from I’m Working on a Project. My assignment arrived in my inbox while I was waiting for Allen’s track team to finish their early Wednesday morning run across the bridge, so my first look at Shannon’s blog was on my I-phone. The incredibly amazing dinosaur quilt that she finished last year is the header on her blog, and I was awestruck. Really.  And, I was only looking at the tiny pictures on my phone!  You have to go check out Seymour before you read any further!  I can sew pretty much any clothing, but art quilts leave me with my mouth hanging open. Scrolling through Shannon’s posts, I ran across something about using a soldering iron in the construction of a quilt, and I walked around the rest of the day mumbling, “I’m supposed to sew something for someone who uses a soldering iron when she sews?!”

I took a deep breath, though, and took a peek over at her Pinterest account where I found a few ideas. Shannon likes bright colors, and I found a few things that she’d pinned and said she liked the colors, specifically turquoise and lime green. I also found that she’d pinned a couple of little credit card/discount card pouches.  A little digging through my stash for scraps of some fun brightly-colored fabrics, and a trip to Joanns for some Kona cotton, and I was ready to get started!

I used my Sunny Days Beach Bag Tutorial to make the main gift – the tote bag that you see above. (Everyone can use an extra tote bag, right?) I just reduced the finished size to make it a roomy tote, rather than a carry-the-whole-house-plus-the-kitchen-sink bag. For the front of the criss-cross pocket, I pieced fabric scraps in strips to add some fun interest.
I added a couple of inside pockets, too, and loops on the inside seams for those little clippy things. They’re great for hooking your keys or anything with a handle that you don’t want to lose in the bottom of a big bag.

On the back, I adding in a strip of the fabric that I used for the handle to give it a little extra color.

I whipped up a quick key fob to match. (The tutorial for that is right here: Fun Fabric Fobs.)

Finally, I designed and sewed a little zippered card/coin pouch with wrap-around zipper, similar to those that Shannon had pinned on her Pinterest.

What do you think? I know that I could use something in my purse to hold all those membership cards that keep piling up! I like the way this turned out so much that I’m planning to share a tutorial for making them next week! Be sure to come back and check it out!

Lastly, I included some goodies, all wrapped up in a bow. (I figured that if she hated everything else, she could drown her disappointment in chocolate and lollipops. She didn’t hate it, though! Yay! She says she likes it all, and she’s already tucked her latest crochet project into the bag.)

Tomorrow, I’ll share the amazing gift that I received in the Covert Robin Swap. It just arrived on my front doorstep yesterday, so I still have to get some pictures, but I love it!