Sew a patchwork bag

1. Use an 8cm x 15cm card template to trace and cut six peacock motifs, three from each colourway. Use an 8cm square template to cut another 44 pieces of fabric, with equal amounts from each design.

2. Arrange the cut outs into five panels; two sized at 10.2cm square for the front and back, and three sized at 5cm x 10cm for the gussets. Intermingle the peacock motifs throughout the panels and keep the designs the same way up. Sew the cut outs together with a 5mm seam allowance and press.

3. Choose a large panel for the front of the bag and stitch the gussets to either side and along the base. Add the second square panel to the other side of the base, taking care to invert the design so that when it is folded up to meet the sides of the bag, the motifs will be the same way up as those on the front.

4. You should end up with a ‘T’ shape. Press this to flatten all seams. Place the quilt backing fabric on a flat surface with the wadding on top. Lay the patchwork face up on the wadding and pin down through all three layers, distributing pins over the surface. Trim the wadding and backing to the same shape as the patchwork.

5. Machine stitch around the rectangular peacock patches. Add more quilting by stitching diagonally from corner to corner on each square block, avoiding the rectangles. Repeat in the opposite direction to create a cross in the centre of each square.

6. To stitch a denser quilting pattern, flip the layers over and draw lines centrally between all of the diagonals if desired. Remember to stop and start at the edges of each rectangle. Press the quilted panel then lay face up onto the coordinating