Totebag transformation

I am a confirmed tote-bag carrier.  Briefcases aren't configured for what I carry to work each day:  my planner (a combination of Day-Timer monthly dividers and Uncalendar weekly pages), my lunch, two cans of diet cola, and at least one book.  On the way home the lunch bag is empty but I often have three or four books.  When I go to ALA or other conferences I take a small purse and I tote a tote.   I return from said conferences with even more tote bags.  Over the years I've come to appreciate tote bag design.  The best ones have 4"-5" squared-off bottoms, are about 11" tall, and are made from heavy canvas or sturdy polyester.  The best ones also have corporate logos that are small enough to cover up.   That's because I like to transform them!
Here are the three stages of today's project, which will serve as my tote this summer.

I lined it, too--meaning that I pretty much made an entire tote bag with a heavy canvas base.

I like the color scheme of this tote but it is 14" high and only 2-1/2" at the base.  Those dimensions don't work -- but I figured that out after I had handsewn the Ohio star block to the pocket. 

This is the tote bag I used this past fall and winter. There is a similar batik maple leaf on the other side. (The diagonal placement just covers the publisher's logo on both side.)

This is the first tote I transformed (in 2008).  It's the one I usually take to ALA because it easily holds my computer. It has an exterior zippered pocket, and two net side pockets.  It looks blue in the photo, but it's actually purple. 

Pinwheel Nine Patch

Here is "Pinwheel Nine Patch."  It's 74 x 86. I didn't quite have it finished for Design Wall Monday ! 
I'm still making pinwheels as leaders-and-enders but the box of 3" squares doesn't seem much emptier.