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Friday, January 8, 2016

I Call Them Treasure Keepers


 I'm calling them Treasure Keepers.  It all started when hubby bought a wooden box at an auction a few years ago.  Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the box. Hubby sold the box to a box collector.  Hubby likes buying and selling interesting things.  Anyway, the box was about 32"long, 12"wide and about 15" tall. It was made of wood at least an inch thick and had heavy hinges, handle and lock.  It had a lining on all sides, including the top and bottom.  The lining had a batting of horse hair and on the outside of the old painted box was U.S. Plates.  Whatever this box was used for it was heavily protected from damage.
What was inside the box is where my story begins.   When hubby opened the box there were at least a hundred cloth bags.  The bags were all different sizes and made from a soft cotton twill type fabric with a fleece lining.


 Being a lover of cloth, I latched on to the bags. I threw them in the washer and dryer and then stacked them in a shopping bag to wait until I figured what to do with my interesting find.
Last year, I had my first glimmer of an idea.  Make them into a gift bags.  I had two small gifts to give for Christmas and I found two small bags perfect for gift giving.


I simply used a vintage 9-patch block. I had attached it with raw edge applique and some top stitching. Attached a piece of twine and placed the Christmas treasure inside.


It was cute, but a little flat.  Then the idea grew.  Treat the bag as a whole cloth and applique a quilt top to it.  Add color and more depth.  That is where I'm going now.

I just finished this little Treasure Keeper as a birthday gift.  The little bag measures 5 1/4" wide x 6 1/2" long.  Perfect for a small gift.
***The top part of the bag is in a shadow.  To begin my process I cut the seams on the bag and trim to a uniform size.  Then I add my embellishments and quilting.  For this bag I fussy cut fabric and fused them to the bag.  Then added hand stitching, yarns, buttons and ribbon. Finally stitch it back together.   This one is the natural color, but I have tea and coffee dyed a few to get a darker version.
I'm linking this post to  Off The Wall, you may want to check out some of the other great ideas.  Happy Quilting! 

3 comments:

  1. These are wonderful! She unique and I hope the recipients appreciate the work involved. Some do and some don't. One can usually tell of a person is "treasure bag worthy" lol!

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  2. Absolutely love to see a good re-purpose project...these bags are great, they themselves have been transformed into wonderful gifts

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  3. Love the idea of making a special bag for a "little" gift. These are inspirational!

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