Quilted lunch bag

First April Stashbust - Quilted lunch bag

Lunch bag with the sides folded in

I have been thinking of making a new bag to take my lunch to work in for some time, but it suddenly became an urgent priority when someone else brought in a bag the same as my current one - the chances of grabbing the wrong one are just too high!

The bag with the sides folded out

My priorities for this bag were to have something that was a bit bigger, but with mostly more vertical space (so it doesn't clog the cupboard at work) and to be flexible, so if it not full it can be squished to take up less space.   I also wanted to have pockets for things like my knives and cutting board, so that everything does not get jumbled up together.

Pockets for all my odds and ends - there is also a pocket on the other side for my cutting board. 

This bag fits all those things, although it is probably a little bigger than it needs to be.   The coffee cup also tends to fall out of the elastic loop unless the bag is hanging, as the sides slump down a bit.   Otherwise, I am quite pleased with the result, particularly the pattern matching and the neat seams.    It should also work quite well as a general tote bag.