Sharing Quilts Day #2

[Carol336]

Sending out a huge THANK YOU to everyone for all the wonderful compliments on my work.

On the agenda today is a bunch of my shoe b ags. As most of you know bag making is my passion. Big bags, little bags, bags for a specific purpose and bags that are just little catch alls. What most of you do not know is that dH and I love to dance. We belong to a dance club called The DC Handdance Club. Handdancing is very similar to the jitterbug and bop that we did as teenagers, with the exception being that it is now slowed down for old folks - LOL.

Many years ago, at the beginning of my bag making foray, I made a little zipper pouch much like a dopp kit for DH. He took one look at it and said - "If you could make this bigger, I could carry my dance shoes in it." Say no more.....off to the drawing board and the "Dance Shoe Bag" was born. If I've made one I've made several hundred of these bags. First I made them for all my girlfriends in the club. Then when people started seeing them I made them to sell to fellow club members and friends. I haven't made any for a while because quite frankly everyone I know has one - LOL.

Here are just a few of my shoe bags. The picture with the pouches shows the original small "dopp kit" (baseball fabric) that started the shoe bag craze.



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[Mimi_Howard]

So glad you shared the bags. This would be perfect for gift houseshoes for the grands at Christmas! In the meantime there are items in my sewing room that could use some pretty bags to live in! So many pretty ones you made, hard to choose a favorite!

[Star lover]

Absolutely remarkable! 👟 You’re brilliant and innovative 💃 Thank you for sharing ❣️❣️

[Momofmonsters5]

I love useful things. I love you took two hobbies/ passions and combined them. Those are fantastic!!

[Rob the HOAQ]

Just proof that while quilting is what draws us here, talent and creativity knows no bounds. Thanks for sharing!

Rob

[CarlieBlilie]

Very cool! I love how you incorporated "dance" into some of them, too.

[Jean Sewing Machine]

Woah! Hundreds of them! Wow! Is this a self drafted pattern? These are fabulous! What colorful beautiful bags you have made! Thanks for showing us your beautiful products! And happy dancing!

[Carol336]

Woah! Hundreds of them! Wow! Is this a self drafted pattern? These are fabulous! What colorful beautiful bags you have made! Thanks for showing us your beautiful products! And happy dancing!

Not really self drafted Jean. I can't remember what pattern I used for the small one, probably something from Crafty Gemini - I was really into her stuff early on. Anyway I just made a larger version of the small one and added the handle. As I recall the handle went through several revisions before we settled on the one you see here. And yes, believe it or not I know I've made at least 2 hundred.

[Bubby]

You are definitely a Bag Master. I remember when you were making these but I didn’t realize you have made so many! They’re beautiful and your fabrics are perfect. Thank you for sharing....🌸

[Carol336]

So glad you shared the bags. This would be perfect for gift houseshoes for the grands at Christmas! In the meantime there are items in my sewing room that could use some pretty bags to live in! So many pretty ones you made, hard to choose a favorite!

Thanks Mimi - I've given the grands all kinds of things in these bags....cosmetics and bath stuff for the girls, fishing gear and stuff for the boy. dolllar store trinkets at christmas. Also gave them to all the ladies in our family one year with scarves and gloves in them. No end to the goodies you can put in them.

[Rhonda K]

Carol,

What a fabulous idea! I love your creativity and the different options with fabrics. Thank you!

[MSN]

A gift that gets used is a gift that keeps on giving. I love how each bag has its own personality. Did you ever get tired of making these?

[Carol336]

A gift that gets used is a gift that keeps on giving. I love how each bag has its own personality. Did you ever get tired of making these?

Oh my goodness yes I certainly did get tired of making them. I probably won't have to make any for quite a while. Just before the pandemic hit I had made about 50 to sell at a dance event we were planning to attend and of course everything came to a screetching halt. We haven't been to a dance for the past year and it doesn't look like things will resume anytime soon.

[srgreene]

Those are fabulous bags. Bright and beautiful and useful. The trifecta of greatness.

[geegeequilts]

No quilt show but WOW on your shoe bags! So versatile & can be so individualized. Great work. Don't blame you for not making so many in the future. Gina