Bee Organized Cutting Mat & Ruler Carrier

So, I made a bag.  A very large bag!

I've had these Robyn Pandolph fabrics from the Hannah Bella line in my stash for almost 20 years.  I bought them when Miss Main Street was a child, intending to make a quilt for her bedroom, but before I got to it, her taste changed and she didn't want anything girly or floral.  I ended up making her a quilt with bright batiks instead.  So all this fabric has been patiently waiting for a project to come along.

I am going to a quilt retreat in November.  I will need to take a LOT of stuff with me (fortunately, I will be traveling by car).   A bag to safely hold my cutting mat and rulers seemed like a good idea, so I made one.  

I stumbled on this pattern by Lori Holt.  It is really quite simple to make, though it does require a lot of fabric - I think I used about seven yards in total, plus interfacing and batting.  

I made a few modifications to the pattern to work with my fabrics better.  I made the straps narrower to make use of the floral stripe and I sized my pockets to hold the rulers I use most.  The bag is similar to an artist's portfolio, with large pockets to hold an 18 by 24 cutting mat (or large design boards) and several smaller pockets to hold acrylic rulers of various sizes.

Interfacing helps the pockets hold their shape and I used fusible fleece to provide some padded protection.  The whole thing folds in the middle and snaps shut at the top, with handles to carry it.  

Above  is one side, packed with design boards and rulers...

...while the other side has the cutting mat and more rulers.   The pattern is pretty easy to follow, except that all the instructions refer to fabrics from the line Lori Holt used to make her version.  It helps to make a conversion chart for your own fabric choices and I simplified by using fewer fabrics to work with what I had on hand.  

I'll let you know how well it works "in the field" after the retreat.