Make a tote bag with orphan quilt blocks | Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re a quilter, you’re bound to have an assortment of orphan blocks tucked away. In my QUILTsocial post on April 16, 2018, I talked about orphan blocks and provided 8 reasons you should use leftover blocks to make placemats. This week on QUILTsocial, I’ll be making a tote bag using some orphan quilt blocks that I found recently while cleaning my sewing studio. Today I’ll use BOSAL Craft-Tex Plus Double-Sided Fusible Heavy Weight White Interfacing 50cm x 9.14m (20″ x 10yds) to give the sides of the bag extra definition and SULKY Cotton Petites 6 Spool Thread Set – Most Pop Blendables Assortment to do some decorative quilting on the orphan blocks.

Later on this week I’ll use other products such as Odif Odicoat Gel Coating – 250ml, Best Press Starch Alternative, UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips Small – 12 pcs., my Oliso M2Pro Mini Project Iron, and UNIQUE Webbing during various stages of the bag making and even some painter’s tape to keep my quilting lines nice and straight.

A package of webbing, two packs of threads, an iron, zipper and rotary cutter sit on top of a green cutting mat.

An assortment of useful crafting products

Select your blocks

The blocks I’m using for my project would be better described as “abandoned” instead of “orphaned”, since I used my die cutting machine to cut a whole bunch of drunkard’s path blocks, sewed a few together and then abandoned the entire project as I really didn’t like how they looked together.

Five brightly colored Drunkard’s Path blocks sit on a green cutting mat beside a pile of die-cut shapes.

Select the blocks that you will use. The blocks on the right were made from the drunkard’s path die-cut sections on the left of the picture.

Arrange the blocks

I have 11 blocks to choose from for my project, so I’ve decided to use four on each side of the bag and two to create the inside pockets. Each block measures 7½” square, so the finished size after sewing four together will be 14½” square – a perfect size for a medium-sized tote bag. If you’re using smaller blocks, you can utilize some of the settings I described in my QUILTsocial post, “5 simple settings for placemats made with orphan quilt blocks,” to create a square or rectangle large enough for each side of the bag. Just remember, the larger the square, the larger the finished bag will be. You could also get creative and combine different blocks to make each side of the bag – just ensure they are both the same size.

Four brightly coloured Drunkard’s Path blocks lay in a four-patch arrangement on top of a green cutting mat.

Lay the blocks in a pleasant arrangement.

Sew the blocks together.

Now I’ll sew the top two blocks together and the bottom two blocks together. I’ll use my OLISO PRO^TM TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron – Tula Pink^TM to press the seams in opposite directions.

The back of four quilt blocks is shown so that the seams are visible. The seams have been pressed in opposite directions.

Sew the blocks together and press the seams in opposite directions.

Sew these sets of blocks together to make one side of the bag. Repeat this process four more times to create the second side of the bag.

Two multicolored blocks made of Drunkard’s Patch blocks sit on top of a blue cutting mat. The small blocks have been sewn together to form a large circular shape in the center of each larger block.

The finished blocks for the sides of the bag.

Cut the interfacing

Since the large blocks that I made for each side of the tote bag measure 14½” square, I can use my OMNIGRID Ruler – 15″ x 15″ (38 x 38cm) and my OLFA RTY-2/GP5 – Printed Handle Rotary Cutter 45mm to cut two squares this same size from the BOSAL Craft-Tex Plus Double-Sided Fusible Heavy Weight White Interfacing 50cm x 9.14m (20″ x 10yds).

A hand is shown using a rotary cutter and a large square rotary cutting ruler to cut a square of white interfacing.

Cut two pieces of interfacing the same size as the sides of the tote bag.

Iron the interfacing to the fabric.

Now I’ll clip the blocks to the BOSAL Craft-Tex Plus Double-Sided Fusible Heavy Weight White Interfacing (50cm x 9.14m / 20″ x 10yds) using the UNIQUE QUILTING Clever Clips to keep everything lined up. Then I’ll use my OLISO PRO^TM TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron – Tula Pink^TM to fuse the blocks to the interfacing following the manufacturer’s directions.

A hand is shown folding back the fabric of the block to show the square of fusible interfacing underneath. A multicolored ironing board cover is in the background.

Layer the large blocks on top of the interfacing and then use an iron to fuse.

Quilt the blocks

Now I’ll use one of the spools from the SULKY Cotton Petites 6 Spool Thread Set – Most Pop Blendables Assortment to machine quilt straight lines across the quilt blocks. Here’s a little trick my friend Cherice shared with me – use painter’s tape to mark the lines you want to stitch. This type of tape is low tack, so it won’t leave any sticky residue and can be repositioned and reused repeatedly. It comes in different widths, too, so you can decide how far apart your line will be – the one I’m using is 1″ wide. I stitch along the edge.

A multicolored quilt block is being machine quilted with yellow thread. A yellow strip of painter’s tape has been stuck to the fabric to use as a guide.

Machine quilting using painter’s tape as a guide.

Here are the two quilted panels for the sides of the tote bag.

Two multicolored quilt blocks that have been machine quilted in straight lines using yellow thread sit on top of each other.

A close-up of the machine quilting on the two sides of the tote bag.

Now that the panels for the sides of the bag have been completed, the next step is to make the handles. I’ll use thin strips of BOSAL Craft-Tex Plus Double-Sided Fusible Heavy Weight White Interfacing (50cm x 9.14m, 20″ x 10yds) and will cover them in fabric to make strong, sturdy handles for my tote bag – see you tomorrow.

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

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