Happy Birthday to Lee Anna and Linda!

I have two dear friends with May birthdays that take place in the same week! I've known my friend Linda since we were in first grade! Although she is not a quilter, she enjoys crafts. I've written about Linda extensively before, here and here and probably a lot of other places in my blog that I can't remember.

I met my friend Lee Anna who blogs at Not Afraid of Color when we both attended the Houston Quilt Festival in 2014. We had met through blogging and had been email friends for a while and we were excited to finally meet in person.

Yes, it was love at first sight!

Kindred spirits!

We recognized a kindred spirit in each other and we have a lot in common: awesome husbands, adorable dogs, and a fetish for anything shiny. We both love collecting fabric and occasionally using it to make a quilt. Lee Anna is a super-amazing art quilter. I am in awe of her talent. If you're not familiar with her, go check out her blog!

So, two years ago, when we met in Houston, I bought a fat quarter of poodle fabric for her in the vendor mall. But I didn't give it to her because I decided I would make her something with it instead. Fortunately, she didn't know about this, because two years is a LONG time to wait for your birthday gift.

Poodle-icious zipper bags

Complete with poodle-icious zipper pulls.

And when I finally decided what to make for Lee Anna with this super-special, adorable poodle fabric, of course a fat quarter wasn't big enough. But I enjoy a challenge, so despite the fact that the fabric was out of print, I tracked down the fabric designer, emailed her, and bought whatever she had left from her own private collection!

The bags are in the mail right now and hopefully Lee Anna will get her package before she reads this blog! For more information on this pattern and other versions, just click the links. I also did a tutorial, so far the only one I've ever written, on adding zipper tabs, which I forgot to put in Lee Anna's set. Must remember to read my own blog for tips before starting a project!

And of course, there are bags for Linda too.

Step right up! More red and black zipper bags!

Linda's bags feature little dancing people and music notes. Linda met her husband Dave swing dancing (Linda also has an awesome husband and an adorable dog) and Linda has performed for years with a barbershop chorus. It's just coincidence that the two sets of bags coordinate so nicely. Linda's bags also match a Chubby Charmer tote that I made her a couple of years ago.

Thanks for visiting!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy