Heritage and Arizona After Fabrics :: Portside Duffle

April Rhodes has done it again.  She has just dropped not one, but TWO new fabric collections with Art Gallery Fabrics.  Arizona After is a gorgeous extension of April’s inaugural Arizona line with some new prints and some recolored with soft dusty pink and blues along with some deep rust and mustard.  The color combos she puts together are always so striking.  Heritage fabrics consists of garment focused substrates…including the new RAYON.  With April’s clothing patterns, she has always been a designer who knows scale for the quilters and the garment sewist alike.  It’s the perfect collection for the me-made makers!

Beyond the fabrics, April’s inspiration for the collections is just so touching.  The way she talks about her family and memories of her father and grandmother is just pure love.  Truly awesome. I love how a lot of the designs were just a part of April’s everyday life and over time, have been permanently imprinted in her head.  To bring these images to life brings so much light to her eyes and it’s been amazing to witness it all. These fabrics are just gorgeous and I’m happy she’s shared them with all of us….because whoa, right?!?

When I was asked to make a bag for April’s Spring Quilt Market Booth, I (of course) agreed.  She has become a dear friend and I will always help her, as she has helped me in so many ways.  April asked me to make a larger duffle and suggested a quilt-as-you-go method for easy patchwork because with Market…comes some tight deadlines.  I got to immediate work, but quickly realized I had to Turn. It. Up.

All 14 quilt cottons in the Arizona After collection was used to make the Portside Duffle Bag by Grainline Studios.  It’s the perfect bag to showcase these fabrics with all that surface area.  I loved playing with all the color combos while mixing and even deconstructing, some of the prints.

Once I started to quilt with my walking-foot on the Soft and Stable, that texture just got me.  I knew I had to add more and more quilting…and change up the designs with each print. Then it dawned on me….ooooh, metallic thread would be A-mazing with this palette.  The gold really brings out the colors and I’m so happy with how it turned out. TIP: Cut a larger piece of soft and stable than the pattern requires. Quilt and then cut to size. Don’t forget to baste those edges!

Art Gallery’s textured denim in Canyon Sunset was the perfect complement to Arizona After and is a nice durable fabric for the bottom accent of the duffle bag.  On the inside, I used the Scattered Wood print and added an additional zip pocket…because we can always use some extra pockets.  I love the look of brass zippers and with the gold thread, this combo obviously had to happen.

For more texture and to turn this bag up another notch, I used hardware from ARmercantile combined with some leather from my sacred stash.  Guitar-inspired bag straps are popping up all-over the place and I just had to add that look to this duffle.  The added rivets bring out more of the brass and help round out the look.  Who says a quilted bag can’t be modern and on-trend?  I love being able to combine my love of quilting with my love of bag-making….and the gorgeous fabric definitely helps.  Thank you Arizona After for the inspo!

Make sure to check back on April’s blog and Instagram all throughout July for the up-to-date info on the Blog Tour.  Next up will be an Instagram loop on July 5th and I heard there maybe prizes involved 😉

Last, but not least, don’t forget to tag #heritagefabrics and #arizonaafterfabrics with all of your makes.  I can’t wait to see all of them!

Project Summary:

 

Fabric and pattern for the Arizona After + Heritage Blog Tour was provided.  There are affiliate links in the Project Summary.

 

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14 thoughts on “Heritage and Arizona After Fabrics :: Portside Duffle”

  1. Jennifer in KS says:

    You are spot on with your statement that quilted can equal contemporary and on-trend! Your bag is beautiful and sparking some lost sewing mojo I’ve been searching for lately. Thank you!!!

  2. Kathi Cappellini says:

    This bag is gorgeous. I have never seen such unique and different quilting on QAYG panels. Do you have any other posts where you give a few more tips on that? I have done several bags with just the straight line quilting. The gold thread adds so much. Thanks for sharing this.

    • Cristy says:

      Thank you! The prints in the Arizona After collection were truly my inspiration. I’ll definitely dive into my technique with a follow-up post….I can’t guarantee the timing though 😉

  4. janet945 says:

    I absolutely love your bag! Did you piece all the prints together and then quilt them or did you quilt them before assembling them? I’m wondering if quilting first would make for bulky seams.

    • Cristy says:

      I used the Quilt-as-you-go method onto the soft and stable, which made the piecing much quicker than it looks. Then I quilted all on top get that nice texture. There actually isn’t much bulk because I tied all my seams on the back before assembling the bag

      • janet945 says:

        Thank you Cristy! You’ve really inspired me. I’m going to start working on this right away. I’m not sure what you mean that you tied all your seams. Did you trim your seams?

        • Cristy says:

          I used different threads (cotton and metallic) and so I would leave long thread tails and be able to tie off the threads from behind the soft and stable. There was no need to bury threads since the bag’s lining covered it all up! Please email/tag me when you finish your bag!!!

          • janet945 says:

            Thanks. You’re so kind to answer my questions. I was just diving deeper into your blog to see if you might teach classes on the west coast as I’m in Northern California. Sadly for me, you’re on the other side of the country, but if I’m ever visiting my relatives in Chapel Hill or Wilmington, I’ll be looking at your schedule 🙂 I’ll be sure to send pics of my finished project!

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