comma mini charm zip pouch

The Moda booth at Quiltcon was handing out free mini charm packs, comprised of 2.5" squares. I picked the Comma line by Zen Chic and immediately sewed it up into a simple patchwork panel when I got home. I pieced them using the fusible interfacing method, mostly because I planned to make a zip pouch from it and figured the stiffer it was, the better.

I added some batting and quilted it using a zig-zag stitch along all the seams, then decided it wasn't quite stiff enough for my liking and went back over it with a grid on the diagonal through the points. All this was done with my walking foot. I used some mechanical genius circuit boards (a Timeless Treasures print I got for 50% off at Fat Quarter Shop a while ago, gotta love a good deal!) for the backside and quilted it with wavy lines in orange thread. 

The lining fabric is a Tina Givens print called "on the fence" which I picked up a few months ago in a super sale at delta patchwork for something like 2 dollars a yard. Talk about cheap! The scale of the print turned out way larger than I was expecting, so I figured I'd use some of it up for this. 

I put little tabs on the ends of the zipper and kept the zipper+tabs length a good 1.25" shorter than the width of the outer panels so the tabs wouldn't get sewn into the seams. This way it's less bulk to sew through and the corners look neater, I think. I also kept the lining a good half inch shorter on the sides and bottom, making it a tad smaller so it would fit better inside the pouch. 

I'm very please with how it turned out, even though it took me a month and a half to finally install the zipper and finish the darn thing! It measures in at a generous 12x14 inches and will be perfect for carrying my rotating cutting mat, square rulers and other larger, flattish quilting tools when I'm traveling. And kudos to me for whipping up a post about it the same day I finished it!

There are still two hours left in this Friday, so I'm linking up with Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday :D

Oh and don't forget about the Give Me Liberty! sew-along Nicole and I are hosting! I plan to post about my progress on Monday and would love for you to come by then and share where you're at in the comments. Have a fantastic weekend!

pouch, pincushion and scrap swap - sent!

Hey there, look what I made! Kris of Duke Says Sew What and I decided to do a little pouch, pincushion and scrap swap and here's what I came up with.

For the pincushion I made another teeny tiny granny square, although this one is teenier still, those little squares measuring in at a half inch each and the overall cushion at 2.75 inches. Oh how I love tiny things! I've got one in the works for Nicole of Bold Goods (See? I haven't forgotten!) too, just as soon as I can stuff it and stitch it closed.

In my last post, I mentioned wanting to try raw-edge appliqué on my Hoop-la-la swap project. Having never done it before, I decided to Kris's pouch as a guinea pig, trying two different methods just to see what would happen.

I used geometric print quilting cottons and yellow duck cloth for both, but the one with the diagonal lines felt right to me at the time and was bigger, so I went forward with that one. Although I do plan on playing with the second version after I get my Hoop-la-la project done... which needs to happen tonight because the deadline for sendoff is tomorrow... eek!

I used cotton batting and washed and dried before construction so it would have that crinkled look. The dense, straight line quilting and frayed edges ended up creating a pretty nifty texture, I thought. You can't really get the full effect from these photos, which are a wee bit over-saturated. At any rate, I stuffed it with scraps from my bin, that black and white dot print in the first photo is what I used to line the thing, although I didn't seem to get any pictures of that before I mailed it off. Whoops!

Would it be fun if I started a Pouch, Pincushion and Scrap Swap group on Flickr? Would anyone be interested in joining in on such a thing? Maybe around ten-ish people, secret partners, rules and deadlines, etc. Small scale, nothing insanely complicated or time consuming. Could be fun I think. Let me know! EDIT: hitting the pause button on this until after the holidays, we all have way too much on our plates until then!

*I'm linking this post up with Amanda over at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday! I finished my Hoop-la-la project today but won't be able to blog about it (crazy busy weekend ahead!) so while I would have liked to link that, I'll link this instead!*

Sent from my iPhone