My travel bag is a small (6x9 3/8 x 3 3/4) box that I got over a decade ago from a shop that is now closed. In fact, I loved this box so much that I have 2 -- one for my main tools and one for all of my appliqué specific tools. Not that some of my tools don't migrate, because let's face it they do (see blue handled Karen K Buckley scissors below as an example). I do take inventory every Sunday night as part of my weekly prep routine to refill and restock everything that might be low, or might be in the wrong place, and do my best to keep these updated correctly. But sometimes, they remigrate on Monday (just ask the scissors).
So, here you go, my travel bag (box) in all her glory. That's her on the top of my mat -- it's hard to see in this pic, but it is a dual sided box (both top and bottom open using a clip system). It's pictured here with my other most popular at home tools -- my trash bucket, two magnetic pin bowls (one for paperclips, one for pins), tape, Olfa precision tip scissors (which have now been discontinued), my purple Splash cutter, a pencil, and a pair of ancient Gingher scissors that I have had since grade school. These things fit easily into the top drawer of my kitchen island that serves as my cutting island. If I'm home, the travel box simply sits in the drawer, and I take it out and throw it into a basket or my travel crate if I'm going to teach or off to retreat.
Here's the top portion of the box. It is not very deep, and is divided, but this works great for corralling all of the little stuff that likes to go on adventures. This is also where 90% of the restocking occurs. It has new rotary blades, binder clips, a rubber thimble, a folding seam ripper, my sewline marking pen and multiple colored refills, a mechanical pencil, a sharpie marker, needles, and a magnetic needle minder, glue pen refills (pink newline in today's case), and my purple thing. That spool of thread is not usually there, as it is a 12wt, but I was doing some embroidery over the weekend and it didn't make it back to the regular storage location.
The other side is about 2 1/2" deep and holds most of the tools per say. It's a little hard to see everything that is in there, so see the next pic to see what all is in there.
5 pairs of scissors -- yes, 5. I find the correct scissors for the job to be important, and 4 of these 5 are different. The Karen Kay Buckley's (2 pairs, blue handles) have a serrated edge which makes them great for cutting out appliqué shapes. I use the yellow handled Omni's for precision cutting, the gold storks are use to snip at the machine, and the black and white ones are usually at the ironing board to snip units apart from one another. You will also see 3 types of glue, Roxanne's Glue Baste It, Elmer's Glue Stick and a Sewline Glue Pen. The Roxanne's I use for appliqué and for gluing down binding before I sew it, the Sewline I use for holding seam allowances or curves together before sewing, and the Elmer's is for starting paper piecing projects. Each has their place, and their function, so I carry all 3 all the time. I also have emergency thread -- a good neutral, not too light and not too dark. In this case it's Aurifil 50 wt in color 2900, sort of a green grey tan. It's the perfect midline neutral. Other than that it's admin tools -- sharpie's, mechanical pencils, screwdrivers, and a wooden appliqué turning tool, which I never use for appliqué (there is another one in the appliqué box), but instead mainly use as a wooden iron when needed. And a few name tags -- in the event I have something that isn't tagged, that ensures that I can put my name on a new tool or ruler super quick without any fuss (and that it will be legible 3 days from now). The plastic fold templates and Add-A-Quarter rulers don't fit in my green box, so I keep a set already packed in my travel crate, and another set that stays in the island all the time. That way I am never far away from them.
What do you have in your travel bag???
Next week, I'll show you what's in here.....my binding box.......
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