ByAnnie.com sponsored a Bag Challenge at Road to California 2018.Participants submitted their finished bags to compete for cash and prizes which were awarded during the show.
The judges were delighted at the 31 entries and had a difficult time choosing the top five prize winners. Here are the winners along with the judge’s comments: 
Karen’s original design received $400 from sponsor Road to California. Karen has used her bag for numerous family reunions. The bag carries plates, wineglasses, wine bottle, silverware. napkins, placemats, potholders, serving spoon, & napkins. A unique feature is that she used elastic ponytail holders for the expandable side closures and the bow is a separate pattern that consists of bias strips sewn and turned over yarn.
Comments from judges: The silverware set on the front button is awesome! This bag is incredible! Bias strips OVER YARN are perfectly done. Amazing. Never would I have guessed this was not commercial cord. Well done!
Mirla used a Cecile Franconie pattern to showcase her large collection of African fabrics. This jewelry bag has pockets for make-up as well as jewelry.
Comments from judges: Love the Bohemian feel of this bag, with its intricate and unusual construction. Love the bells, charms and special gold stitching. Great use of different fabrics, and nice, consistent mix of textures.
Amy was looking for a way to use up her stash when she created this bag. It was inspired by a 1950’s style vacation souvenir tablecloth and two leftover garment sewing fabrics, red wool and blue/white striped cotton. Recycling these materials helps Amy remember memories of past trips.
Comments from judges: Very interesting! Love the wool (stunning) and rivets. Good fussy cutting. Very well made! Love the special pocket inside.
Kathy loves to wear backpacks when exploring and traveling. She has an RV and travels throughout the US in it. Backpacks free up her hands and can carry a lot of things. The train case bottom separates items for easy location. It also has a convertible strap that can be changed from backpack straps to a cross body or over the shoulder style bag.
Comments from judges: Beautifully made and perfectly done. Great job with all the zippers. Love the cork-bottom and fabric combinations. The cording in seam is beautifully done!
Rebecca gives lectures on her quilts to local quilt guilds as well as teaches Orange Peel machine applique. She needed something to hold the money she gets for selling her patterns as well as her iPad when she is doing her presentations and came up with this idea to showcase her skills with this purse.
Comments from judges: The Trapunto flowers are gorgeous! 5 stars on the cotton, lining and quilting. Love the Orange Peel design. Good contrast. Beautiful!
Road and ByAnnie.com will be sponsoring another bag challenge soon. Start thinking about your designs and styles and stay tuned for details. 
]]>
Posts Tagged ‘Bag Challenge’
Trending: Award Winning Bags
Friday, April 13th, 20182018 Bag Challenge: How Do You Use Your DIY Bags?
Friday, June 16th, 2017Making bags is a very popular sewing trend. How do you use the bags, totes, purses, and caddies you’ve made?
One great way to use your DIY bags is on a Road to California 2018 bus trip. Organized and led by The Traveling Quilters, Road is once again offering two unique, all-day bus trips to add to your Road to California experience. Bringing along your specially designed DIY bag is the perfect way to hold souvenirs, personal items and of course, fabric, picked up along the way on one of these excursions.
The Traveling Quilters’ experienced guides, Pam Overton and Lynn Crawford, have been in business for 27 years and have conducted over 200 quilt related tours. Experienced quilters since the 1980’s, Pam and Lynn have been familiar with Road to California every year since it started. Pam and Lynn handpick the locations they visit which include historical sites, delicious restaurants, and of course, quilt related shopping.
The bus trip on Wednesday, January 17th will include a stop at the headquarters of Robert Kaufman Fabrics where travelers will have the opportunity to hear firsthand about how Kaufman’s beautiful fabrics are conceived and manufactured. Robert Kaufman Fabrics offers an extensive supply of cotton prints, novelty fabrics, yarn-dyes and solids, covering a full assortment of woven fabric offerings such as poplin, twill, denim, corduroy, linen, canvas, crepe, voile, lawn, satin, georgette, flannel, organza, chenille, stretch woven’s, plaids, stripes, etc. Lunch will be on your own at the world-famous Original Farmer’s Market followed by stops at the Quilt Loft quilt store and at historic Graber Olive House, both located in Upland.
Then on Monday, January 22nd, the bus tour will be headed south of the Ontario Convention Center to Orange County and Hoffman California Fabrics. Guests will learn about the latest designing and distribution of Hoffman’s famous batiks and other lines of fabric as well as get a complete tour of their facility. This opportunity is especially significant as Hoffman does not allow individuals to come on their own to their site.
Following the Hoffman tour, the bus will continue on to the Mission San Juan Capistrano for a tour and lunch in town. Before heading back to the Convention Center, the bus will make one more stop at Quilter’s Cocoon in Riverside.
Registration for the bus tours begins with the regular Road 2018 class registration in early July.
Whether you’ve used your old DIY bags, totes, purses, and caddies you’ve made on tours, around town, or on a trip, we really hope your planning on making a new bag to enter in our 2018 Road to California Bag Challenge sponsored by Road to California and ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable®.
“On The Road Again” is intended to enlarge the circle of Road’s traditional quilt competition, offering a total of $1,200 in cash and merchandise prizes to the top winners. For complete rules and instructions, please visit our website.]]>
Announcing The 2018 Road to California Bag Challenge
Friday, March 31st, 2017ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable® have teamed up to offer a bag challenge intended to enlarge the circle of Road’s traditional quilt competition.
The theme for the bag challenge is “On The Road.”
Best of Show: $400 Cash Price from Road to California
Best Interpretation of the Theme: $200 Gift Certificate from ByAnnie.com
Best Use of Materials: $200 Fabric Prize from Windham Fabrics
Best Use of Embellishments: $200 Gift Certificate from Superior Threads
Best Use of Specialty Technique: $200 Gift Certificate from StudioKat Designs
What qualifies as a bag for this challenge? A container made of flexible material, which can be carried and includes both an opening and a method of securing the contents. The bag may be any size or style, uniquely designed or made from a pattern, and can include any material, embellishments, hardware, or stabilizers.
The challenge will open June 15, 2017. That is when the official rules, regulations, and conditions along with the entry form will be available online at Road to California and ByAnnie.com’s websites. While there is no limit to the number of entries a person may submit, there is a fee per entry: $10 for an online entry and $15 if the entry is mailed in. All entry packets must be received by October 1, 2017. Winning entries and additional entries selected for display will be notified by December 1, 2017.
During the call for entries period, a Blog Hop featuring industry leaders in bag design and construction will be published, sharing information and inspiration for this challenge. Artists include Annie Unrein of By Annie.com, Sara Lawson of SewSweetness, Kathy Southern of StudioKat Designs, Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life, Janelle McKay of Emmaline Bags, and Edith Minne of Renaissance Ribbons. There will be a chance to win some fun bag-making supplies at each blog stop, so be sure to look for the links to these articles on Road to California’s Facebook Page every other week through September.
We are looking forward to seeing all the enthusiasm and creativity for the 2018 Bag Challenge. Good luck to all the participants!!!]]>
Rebooting Your Creativity
Friday, August 14th, 2015It’s back to school time all over the country. Evidence of this is all the school supplies showing up aisle after aisle in retail stores. You don’t have to have someone in your household going back to school to utilize these great supplies – especially when it comes to your quilting creativity.
Our friend, Jacquie Gering, recently pointed out in an article for the Modern Quilt Guild’s August newsletter, that school supplies can be a great source of creativity.
Says Jacquie, “There’s something special about newly sharpened pencils, virgin crayons, and crisp empty notebooks. Back to school is a time for fresh possibilities and new experiences…As a creative person, I get stuck staring at a blank design wall wondering if I’ll ever come up with a new idea. I feel stale. That’s where the newly sharpened pencil and crisp empty notebook comes in… They seem to inspire a new attitude for a new year, and remind me to open my mind to the ideas I know are stuck inside.”
Sometimes, all it takes to reboot your creativity is to participate in a specific project. Unlocking creative ideas can come from planning and making a quilt to be submitted to Road to California 2016’s Quilters Showcase, or following through on a quilt challenge like the Road 2016 Bag Challenge or Tiny Quilt Challenge.
The Modern Quilt Guild is looking for creative ideas for their 2016 Quilt of the Month series.
Twelve new quilts, that are original ideas that have never been published before, will be chosen to be shared with MQG members. Submitted designs should have a challenging creative element (like a color study, new technique, or unique structure or piecing — they want their members to learn new things and challenge their skills). Most importantly, they want to see the vision behind the design. A visual guide to the quilt submission — a sketch (using your fresh back-to-school notebook and pencil) or a computer-generated design – however way best shows the quilt as close to the final product as possible. Designers retain all rights to their quilt patterns, and the MQG will compensate winners for the right to first publish the pattern in their MQG newsletter and on their website. For additional information and submission rules, you can go to the MQG website.
A new school year or committing to a specific quilting project are great ways to reboot the creativity within you.
How do you reboot your creativity?
]]>
Road 2016 Bag Challenge
Tuesday, August 11th, 2015 Have you caught the latest handbag trend? Here’s a way to join in — and possibly earn a great prize!!
Road to California, ByAnnie.com and ByAnnie’s Soft and Stable, have partnered to sponsor the Road to California Bag Challenge. Cash prizes and merchandise totaling $1,000 will be awarded for purses or bags made from Road’s 20th Anniversary Commemorative Fabric, designed by Alexander Henry Fabrics.
Bags or purses can be any size or style, uniquely designed or made from a pattern and can include other fabric, embellishments, hardware, or stabilizers. Entries will be juried and the winners, along with a few additional selected entries, will be displayed at Road to California’s 2016 show.
What are the prizes being offered for the Road to California Bag Challenge?
Best of Show: $400 Cash Prize from Road to California.
1st Runnerup – $300 gift certificate from ByAnnie.com
2nd Runnerup – $200 gift certificate from ByAnnie.com
3rd Runnerup – $100 gift certificate from ByAnnie.com
The deadline for the contest entry is October 1, 2015. Rules and the official entry can be found on the Road to California and ByAnnie.com websites.
You can order the exclusive Road to California 20th Anniversary commemorative fabric online at Road’s store. The fabric is a limited printing and will not be reprinted, so be sure to order early. 
Looking for ideas to design your bag? ByAnnie.com featured some great bag designers on their blog who shared their expertise and inspiration. Check out these fabulous designers including Annie from ByAnnie.com, Kat from StudioKat Designs, Trisha from Trisha Jane, Sam from Hunter’s Designs, Marcea from Abbey Lane Quilts, Ginnie from Wonder Woman Quilts, Nancy from Pink Sand Beach Designs, and our very own Carolyn Reese.
Good luck. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
]]>
