When I was envisioning the different Big Sur prints for my collection, I knew this Poolside Tote in Riverbend Big Sur would be such a great match!
Finding Riverbend Big Sur
I know the Big Sur collection for Riverbend is getting a little hard to find already. Not that many yards were printed, so if you check your local quilt shop and they don’t have any, you might want to do a little online research to see if you can find a shop that still has some (search “Anna Graham Riverbend Big Sur” or “Robert Kaufman Riverbend Big Sur” to start).
Making the Poolside
So anyway, this Poolside Tote was such a fun make. I love using canvas with the Poolside, but you can also use quilting cotton (and quilt it!). Here’s my own Poolside tote that I made using a quilting weight gingham fabric and quilted it before assembly. For some reason I blazed through this sample without reading my own instructions so I had some seam ripping to do, but in the end I love how it turned out!
I used Soft & Stable for the interfacing with this one. I’ve gotten so that it’s my favorite stabilizer for this pattern. Plus, I use the fusible woven on the lining pieces.
This is one of my favorite types of bags to use. I know a lot of folks love having something they can zip up, but I’m kind of the opposite! Don’t get me wrong, I loooove a good zip, but sometimes I like to just dump a bunch of things in the Poolside for an overnight trip and go. I guess it’s because we travel by car most of the time. I know that a zip top (like the Oxbow) is great for flying!
My Poolside Tote is the last project I have to share for my Riverbend (Essex & Big Sur) collections. I hope you find some inspiration in the projects I’ve shared. I love seeing what you make using my designs, it’s kind of bittersweet to wrap this up, but I do have some more yardage to play around with, so I think you’ll see a few more!
Project Details:
- Pattern: Poolside Tote (available in PDF and print)
- Fabrics:
- Riverbend Big Sur for the exterior
- Riverbend Essex for the lining
- Chambray for the accent fabric (handles and facing), it used to be called Interweave Chambray by Robert Kaufman fabrics, but I’m unable to find it now on their website – frustrating! I’m sure there are a lot of good chambray’s out there though!
- Zipper (10″) is available in my shop
- Leather Zipper pulls available in my shop, too!
