ByAnnie Top Voted

WINNER: Edwina A.

ABOUT: Edwina sewed this Get Out of Town 2.0 duffle bag reusing old firefighter bunker gear.

THEIR STORY: “I’m a volunteer fire fighter — our department upgraded much of our bunker gear — rather then see this material go to waste I decided to take it apart and make a get out of town duffel bag. It turn out so well I’ve decided to try a larger duffel bag using old bunker gear."

WHAT WE LOVED: One of our ByAnnie team members saw Edwina's bag and said, "I'm a retired battalion chief of arson investigation and I really liked the bag and also that you are a volunteer fire fighter that's where I started." Many of our team members were amazed at how awesome the bag looked and loved the idea of reusing old materials.

WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

Storyteller Award

WINNER: Shirley M.

ABOUT: Shirley told us a beautiful story about her husband's growing interest in her sewing adventure in the midst of COVID and chaos. Even if you're not planning to travel soon, Shirley, there are plenty of fond memories in your Round Trip Duffle!

THEIR STORY: "I bought this pattern because I wanted to make something that reflected my love for quilting in something other than a quilt. I thought this bag would be perfect to make because I could use my quilting skills and make something other than a blanket that I would use. I thought it would be perfect to use on a weekend get away with my hubby. I started working on this bag before Covid but when Covid hit and we all went into lock down I set it aside because I knew it would be a while before we would be going anywhere. Like many of us I worked on making face masks.

Once the vaccination came out and things started to look like life was going to get back to normal, I thought I would start working on my bag again because I thought I would soon be able to use it. Our anniversary was coming up and I thought for sure we would be going somewhere.

Well, we all know things are not back to normal With all the folks suffering due to the hurricanes, the fires and the virus, my hubby and I just don’t feel it’s the right time to be taking a trip. My bag is done, I’m happy with how it turned out and it is ready to go when that time comes.

Tomorrow is our anniversary and I just finished the bag today. Although we are not going on a trip, making this bag allowed me to have a great time with my hubby I’ve never seen him take such an interest in any of my projects. He was so interested in how all “those flat pieces” were going to make a bag. He asked a ton of questions and kept checking on what I was doing. It was so much fun to have him show such an interest in my sewing. Although we are not doing on a trip for our anniversary, I feel I got a gift that was better than any trip. Just having my hubby hanging around with me and showing such a level of interest was wonderful. Thank you for that Annie!

The wine in the picture is my favorite. The monkey in the picture was made by grandmother. She was a seamstress and taught me to sew many, many years ago when I was a very little girl."

WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

WHERE IS THEIR SHOP: Online

WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM ONLINE:

Instagram: @stitchfabriccompany

Facebook: @stitchfabricco

Web: www.stitchfabriccompany.com

Honorable Mention

WINNER: Julie K.

ABOUT: Julie sewed a going-off-to-college Ultimate Travel Bag as a surprise for her daughter!

THEIR STORY: "This fall, my only daughter (who is also my youngest) ventured off to college. She and I are extremely close and to say this was a hard transition would be an understatement. Since I decided to be a work-at-home mom when she was 10 months old, she's been at my side. She's my sunshine.

Honorable Mention

WINNER: Petra R.

ABOUT: Petra told us about the bags she sewn and shared photos of the A Place for Everything she sewed to hold her English paper piecing.

THEIR STORY: "I needed a bag for my Epp supplies and a place for everything has so many pockets that I decided on it. My sewing buddy and I are always looking for by Annie patterns to sew together. We spend the day sewing and laughing together. So far we have sewn 2x APFE (A Place For Everything), a few Zip It Ups, Room With a View and our next project is the Pack It In. We use these bags for organizing our sewing rooms or for taking supplies to quilting classes."

WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

Honorable Mention

WINNER: Quiltermum

ABOUT: We know all too well about making mistakes while sewing, and Quiltermum shared her similar experience. We love that Quiltermum used her "mistake" pieces to sew something beautiful, a Clam Up bag!

THEIR STORY: “Switchback challenged me with the different zippers and the stand-out pocket on the front. I enjoyed making it.

The clam shell was made with the mistakes I made by TWICE cutting out the bag body using the first measurement as the width and the second measurement as length. Thankfully I had enough Soft and Stable and fabric to quilt more."

WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

Honorable Mention

WINNER: Sandy L.

ABOUT: Congratulations on the little one, Sandy and family! Sandy's granddaughter and partner not only received one beautifully handmade bag, but TWO! We are sure both bags will be put to good use.

THEIR STORY: "When I found out that my granddaughter and her partner were expecting I offered to make them an Ultimate Travel Bag for baby gear — she chose the material which we had to advance order when she was 17 weeks pregnant. Because of Covid the arrival of the fabric took 18 weeks and I was becoming frantic. At last it arrived and I made the travel bag the very next week. I was a little concerned it might be a bit big for everyday use and there was some material left over — so the next week I made the Every Day Every Way diaper bag with all versions of straps. The arrangement of fabrics is slightly different but still managed to have the floral on all the pockets.

I made the bottle and pacifier pouches using some cute sloth fat quarters I found at my LQS @ Thorpe & Co.

Again due to Covid and our present stay at home orders I haven’t been able to deliver these personally so decided to ship them. They arrived 2 days after their son was born —  and they love them both but will probably use the smaller bag more often at this stage"

WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

#SewPINK Top Vote

WINNER: Renee G.

THEIR STORY: “March 2021 my youngest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer — the 2nd time in 10 years. So in order to "be by her side" when she went in for chemo treatments, I purchased the flamingo earrings for her, another sister & myself. We live states away from each other so the day of the appointment we each took a selfie wearing the earrings & sent messages of support. August 18th was her last one.

I was in search for flamingo fabric so when I saw it in a box opening live with Cali Quilt Co, I had to have it. In celebration of completing her treatments, I made each of us the XL Clam Up bag. I like to think the support we gave her all those months helped in a small way. This Clam Up bag will sure put a smile on her (& ours) face(s) when we use them.

P.S. photo op was at a friend’s pool for the added flamingo!"

WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

#SewPINK

WINNER: Janet G.

THEIR STORY: "I was inspired by the beautiful pink fabric and wanted to make my mother a bag (Everyday Tote) to carry her library books. She goes every 2 weeks to the library and she is 80 years old! She was diagnosed with kidney cancer and underwent surgery to remove a tumor. The surgery was quite traumatic but she is doing well now, with only a large scar to remind her."

WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

#SewPINK

WINNER: Huong D.

THEIR STORY: "As I was heading over to Villa Rosa Designs in Grass Valley, I was on a mission. I needed to find fabrics to make a travel bag for my older sister. This is going to be my third travel bag, yet I was quite nervous. You see, this sister of mine has always been the one with good sense of style and fashion. She used to own a tailor shop, design formal clothing, and her sewing skill is unmatched with years of experience; and me, I had always been on the receiving end of her creations. Sadly, she is not doing much sewing anymore while battling terminal cancer.

On my recent visit, I brought my first home made bag with me, the Ultimate Travel Bag. To her surprise, I MADE THE BAG! To my surprise, she loved it and was impressed. "It looks very professional," were her words.

Thanks to the easy to follow pattern, the supplies and hardware that I got from ByAnnie. Anyway, I found the fabrics, a fun Venetian design with pink, purple and blue green, her favorite colors, and a Polka dot accent fabric. The bag was finished and sent. She loves it! And she vowed to continue to fight until she gets better so she can travel to CA to visit me and use the bag."

WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com

#SewPINK

WINNER: Victoria J.

ABOUT: Victoria expressed how cancer has affected her life and that of her family, as well as shared the Bosom Buddy she sewed.

THEIR STORY: "My mom died of breast cancer 2 months before my daughter was born when I was 24, her first grandbaby. Later that same year my grandmother passed of ovarian cancer and since then I have also lost my dad to colon cancer and my mother in law to stomach cancer. I wish I would have know about this pattern "Bosom Buddy" so I could have made it for them and their comfort. Sadly my daughter was born with CP and missed meeting the woman who wanted so badly to be a grandmother.