Patchwork Pouch Completed

In a flurry of productivity, I followed the tutorial on Pink Penguin and completed this lovely patchwork pouch. As you can see, my very first of these pouches includes the hedgehog fabric that I loved so much.

It was hard to put together a collection of the right colours to go with the hedgehog fabric, but I really liked this mix of peach, yellow, pale blue, cream, and seafoam green tones. They just seemed to work together.
Inside of the pouch, there is a foilage green patterned fabric on one side and a yellow butterfly fabric on the other side. The pockets are orange. Yes! There are pockets inside of the pouch for cards and chapstick! How functional is that?
There is also a green patterned handle on the side so that this can be held like a wristlet. An additional little loop is great for adding things like charms.

This pouch took a long time to make- much longer than I expected. I wanted to get all the squares even, and it was my first time making something quilted. I managed to make most of the squares line up perfectly and the back and front align neatly too.

It wasn't possible to use the Pink Penguin tutorial alone so I had to refer back and forth with the other zipper pouch tutorial that I have listed under "When You're Bored". Did you know that I had useful links listed on the side column? You might find those handy one day.

Adding a layer of batting to the pouch makes it sooooooo much more sturdy and awesome than the other pouches that I have made in the past. It isn't too puffy either because ironing the pouch afterwards seemed to flatten out the batting. It liked that. This pouch is also larger in size somehow. It's 7 x 5.5 inches.

My friend saw the pouch and she really liked it, but she thinks that I should make it PUFFIER because quilted things in her mind should have puffy little square pillows all over it. I think such a puffy pouch would be rather cumbersome to keep in the purse though. Perhaps I will make her a "special edition" with puffy little pillows all over it.

I'm still a little bug-eyed that I managed to sew this pouch. It sure turned out better than I expected. I hope the rest of my experiments turn out this well.

Have a great week!

Things That Inspire Me This Week

I feel like my brain is overloaded with information this week, but I feel good about this because some of the information is infinitely pleasing. Have a look at what has been inspiring me this week!
I'm still eyeing the fabulous patchwork projects by Pink Penguin, and she made this super adorable pincushion. It sold instantaneously in her shop and, if you can believe it, her shop is completely empty right now. I'm so envious of her ability to sell products, but even more envious of the person that snatched up this pincushion. As soon as I get a hold of some cherry fabric and awesome Heather Ross gnome fabric, I'm making a pincushion JUST LIKE THIS!!! Actually, I say that about everything she makes, lol.

I have a fabric scrap pack arriving soon, so you can bet that I'll be scouring it for any sign of bits and pieces that I'll be able to make into a log cabin patchwork pincushion. I spent a good amount of time last night watching YouTube tutorials on how to create log cabin patchwork. I love the look of the log cabin patchwork design.

I also came across the amazing work of Laurrain Yuyama of Patchwork Pottery. She's an amazing artist. She made that quilted pillow out of a drawing that her little daughter's best friend made. I think that is so sweet and thoughtful. This pillow was then given to the little girl for Christmas. If I ever had a little child and they drew a picture that I loved, I would hope that I could immortalize their artwork into something breath-taking like this too.

So, devoid of the time to make such lovely things myself, I did what little I could... I made piles of coloured paper butterflies. Fluttering en masse all over my desk, they bring a little light into my life.

I also stopped by the local thrift shop and filled my eyes with all the different kinds of new and vintage fabrics. It's a very different thing to look at a shop and to only view each item of clothing as a potential fabric source. Suddenly, the most hideous dress becomes a treasure trove of the most ideal fabric. I carried one little children's shirt around the shop with me for a period of time before I finally set it back down. It had the most perfect floral print on it, "but if I just have a little patience," I told myself, the real fabric stash will be arriving shortly. I can hardly wait!!!