Kids Quilted Birthday Bag

Last year I made a Vera Bradley-esque purse for my 11 year old sister. I used a combination of Amy Butler fabrics, featuring this one from the Daisy Chain collection.

She liked it and used it most of last year...but this year she replaced it with an actual Vera Bradley bag. (this one)

Ah well. You can't convince everyone that homemade and cheaper are better...especially when all their friends say otherwise. (I should steal the bag back though!) And seriously, when did kids start carrying expensive bags? I don't remember that from when I was kid. Though I do remember white Keds and umbros being cool...(not together of course...that would be LAME)
Anyway, Laurel got an invite to a party, and I asked her what she wanted to give the little girl. She said she wanted to give her a purse with her name on it, and that her favorite color is pink. So, there we go. I haven't been fabric shopping since...um...hmm...it might be last November. Is that possible? I've been using fabric I had, and scraps for everything else. (wow...is it really possible I haven't bought fabric in a year?) Well, it's time. I have so little left, even of the tiny scraps. (So I really had to work at getting enough pink together to make this bag.)
This one took me a while, I'd guess 2 hours all in all. I pieced together the cotton and canvas for the body of the purse (12" x 14"). Then did the straps (2.5" x 23"). After I made the body of the bag, I put a leftover scrap of fleece on the back and quilted it down, tracing the patchwork. Then I sewed up the sides of the purse, put the lining in, sewed on the straps and bound the top like a quilt. I didn't realize till I was done, but I had missed some of the binding on the inside. Too late to undo it all (can you imagine?)...so I got creative. I decided to do some creative stitching, which in the end I think gave the bag an even more unique appearance. (Plus made the top incredibly durable)

So here is a perfect kid-sized tote, personalized and ready for the library...store...whatever. It's a little pink for my taste, but I hope Emily likes it. (I did manage to get a little green into the name...see the "y", it's the absolute last scrap of the Amy Butler fabric left over from my sister's purse)