I didn't get hardly anything done this week, so my WiP list is just as long, if not longer, than it was last week.
Man, I love it when that happens!
Here's what I did finish, though:
Did I tell you much about it last week? I'm part of the {Faith} Circle of the do.Good Stitches bee, and we decided to have a little pouch swap to get to know each other better. Well, I was given Alecia's name, which was great because her style and mine are really similar! She likes yellow and gray and aqua together (easy!), she loves linen as a neutral (had some!), and wanted a zipper.
Hold the phone. Me and zippers? Well, we've tried to have a good relationship, but last time we broke up, harsh words were spoken, and I vowed to never bring one into my home again. :o) I'm only half kidding...there were definitely harsh words spoken.
You can see that I did some improv piecing of the yellow and gray. Well, not really improv because I alternated the colors, but definitely wonky. Then I filled in with the gray linen, measured out my lining fabric and stitched the pieces to the zipper.
And quickly realized that this gigantic bag (measuring 10 x 12"!) wasn't going to hold up very well by itself, and needed some kind of interfacing. So I did what everyone would do, and got on Facebook and asked for help! :)
I used fusible web to attach some batting between the layers, and then hand-stitched the yellow above and below the pieced area. Then I went back to the sewing machine to sew it all up.
And quickly realized that I had screwed up, yet again. When you make a pouch the right way, you can sew it so the seam of the lining is sewn inside. I, however, was not going to be able to do that because of the hand quilting and the outer piece being fused to the inner piece. Shoot!
I blame the zipper.
Back to Facebook, and someone suggested turning it inside out and binding the lining! Brilliant! Facebook and quilting go hand in hand. :)
And, after much coaxing, pleading, and harsh words, I finished it, and was able to turn it right-side out, and zip it! Yay!!
My next unexpected hurdle was the zipper pull. I found a little ring that says "believe" that I wanted to put on there, but didn't like my fastening options. So I got some split rings (like mini key rings) and attempted to attach the zipper to the pull.
More harsh words were spoken in my head.(children were present) Again with the zipper. It's all the zipper's fault!! MAN those little rings are a bear to attach! Heck, I think it would have been easier to attach a real bear to the zipper than that little pull! But, I gotter done, as they say, and I really do love the pull.
I put a few treats inside, and the little pouch hitched a ride on the Pony Express and found its way to its new mama. Alecia says she loves it, and I really do hope the bag brings her hope and encouragement and a smile every now and then. :)
SO...that leaves us with what I did NOT finish this week!
Still working on everything else...Healing quilt block, Gavin's blocks, Bee Happy blocks, do.Good Stitches blocks, Mod Mosaic blocks. SO many blocks!
Tomorrow. Tomorrow I must sew. I hope you get to sew some, too!
(I'm linking up with Lee of Freshly Pieced for her regular WiP Wednesday blog party)
After all that, I'm glad you're happy with the finished piece. Honestly, it jumped right out at me on Lee's blog, love the yellow handstitching.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful pouch! But I believe when you kicked zippers out of your life the last time, they gave over to my place to tease me. And now I made a dress with a really long one in it. It worked well, but the dress is too tight. Is that karma or what?
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute pouch and love the little believe zipper pull. Sorry to hear it was such a bear to attach!
ReplyDeleteGood grief, after that no wonder you didn't do anything else! It looks fab though :o)
ReplyDeleteCute! I love the yellow hand stitching. :) I make boxy pouches sometimes and I use a bit of bias tape on the raw edges on the inside since there isn't a way (that I know) to make it without them. Binding is another great idea!
ReplyDeleteLove the look of your pouch. Your hand stitching adds a nice touch!
ReplyDeleteLove the cute bag! If you and your zippers ever make up, you can definitely send me a bag! :) I still haven't even got to first with zips...
ReplyDeleteFor all the struggles, that turned out to be one really nice zippered pouch!
ReplyDeleteYou are right-o....I do love it! Thanks for all of your hard work on this pouch! The headaches it caused were worth it in the end!
ReplyDeleteVery cute! Well worth the work.
ReplyDelete