Zippered Pouch..so easy, great gift idea!

Good Saturday morning!

I am so very excited about this project!  I watched the Missouri Star Tutorial on YouTube "The Zippered Pouch: An Easy Quilting Project Tutorial" and though I've made zippered pouches and clutch purses before, this is by far the best tutorial and method I've ever seen or done!  So I am just going to take you through a mostly picture tutorial of my own project, but refer you to the Missouri Star video tutorial for a more in-depth lesson.

Once you learn this method for sewing zippers in bags the possibilities are endless!

 

For a pouch 7"x 7 1/2" I began with the lining fabric & cut a 17 x 8 1/2" rectangle. I then cut a piece of fusible fleece to match and fused them by ironing them according to the fleece directions...the bumpy side of the fleece to the WRONG side of the fabric.  For the front of the pouch I cut once piece of fabric 17 x 6 1/2' and another strip for contrast at the top of the pouch 17 x 2 1/2" and sewed them, Right Sides Together right onto the fleece.

After topstitching next to that seam on the Right side, I cut the piece in half which will become the front and back. Make sure both pieces are EXACTLY the same size!

Now we'll prepare the zipper. Choose one that's nylon and is longer than the width of the pouch. Mine was 9".  You'll cut off the end of the zipper and prepare tabs to cover both ends of the zipper by cutting a strip 5" long by 1 1/2" wide. It should match the top fabric of your bag.  Fold in half, then fold both long ends in toward center, then fold in half & press.

 

Stitch with zipper ends inside the fold - be sure to catch both sides. Cut off excess.  Now sew zipper, RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER against top of pouch front. Be SURE to leave 1/2" from both ends - the zipper will be centered against the top with 1/2" left on each end. See photo. Sew about 1/4" from upper edge.  Open and top stitch next to zipper on Right Side.

Now you will sew the other side of the zipper to the RIGHT SIDE of the other piece's TOP edge of the pouch.

Almost done!

Now...VERY IMPORTANT! LEAVE ZIPPER OPEN!!!!  Sew front to back - be sure to line them up and make sure to match up the bottom & sides.  Sew together sides & bottom.  (I squared up the bottom of the pouch...I will show that technique on a future tutorial, but in the meantime you can find some on YouTube, most likely.  Pull through the open zipper, and.....

Voila!

Quote of the day:  "Sewing is not just a craft...it's therapy!" Amen!

The Disappearing 4-Patch Block!

Hello!  Are you ready for some sewing fun? Here we go....!

Here's what we'll be making...  Isn't that just plain fun??  I used Lily & Loom fabrics - the Daisy Collection - from Craftsy.  Loving the bold colors and thinking it will go for either baby boy or girl.  I haven't added borders yet, but will show the finished quilt after I do that.

I used the charm pack size - 5" squares and made 4-patch units using 2 white squares and 2 of each print.  I found out the hard way that it's much better to use squares that when sewn together are divisible by 3 because you'll be cutting the 4-Patch into Thirds.  The 5" squares sewn together came out to 9 1/2" blocks which was not exactly the most fun I've ever had as I tried to cut them evenly into thirds... Here's a sample block:

So...

I tried 4 3/4" squares when I made this blue sample block and it comes out to 9" which of course easily divides into 3's! Yay!  Much, much easier!

                                                     

And this final picture shows how you can rearrange the pieces to make the design I used on the baby quilt above.
I hope you'll try this and have fun being creative as you experiment!



Here's your inspirational quote of the day:

"Beautiful things come together...one stitch at a time."  ;)
                                                   

Disappearing 9-Patch block!

Good evening!  Hope your day has been marvelous!  The weather here in the Midwest has been absolutely beautiful and we are thankful and blessed.

I want to show you a new block I recently learned and it's so much fun!  It's called the Disappearing 9-Patch block because you sew together a traditional 9 patch block and then cut it up and create different blocks from it!

This is the finished product - I made mine a table runner.

 I wanted mine to have a striking pattern so I used 2 bold colors plus white.








First of all, in case you've never made one - a traditional 9-patch block is simply 9 squares cut the same size and sewn together in rows of three.  See below:

And after that you cut them apart right down the middle both vertically and horizontally.  It's important to measure carefully and also to sew all seams 1/4" wide.













Then you just play around with arranging them different ways like I did below.  Lots of options!  And it's fun with more variety in the fabrics, too.  Like using busy, busy prints with solids, etc.  The possibilities are endless!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and will share with me your successes, too!
Next quilt tutorial will be on the Disappearing 4-Patch!  Makes a really cute baby quilt!

Quote of the day: "Whoever said 'Less is more' never had a dessert - and she certainly never bought fabric!!

And also this famous one: "When life gives you scraps - make a quilt!"

All for now...rest well tonight so you can quilt all day tomorrow! 

:)

mary lou