zippers and ruffles

A while back, I took a class at my local quilt shop. We were learning strip piecing or string piecing for making quilt blocks, as well as a couple of "quilt as you go" methods. I had a blast doing the string piecing, and ended up with a couple of quilt blocks, but not a ton of desire to do a whole quilt like this just yet. I didn't have enough scraps. I'll get there, I'm sure.

I also decided it was time to figure out how to make a zippered pouch, and used one of the strip-pieced blocks to do so. I had just been reading gussy's blog (she's a fun read, and has cute stuff for sale!), and was inspired to add a ruffle to my pouch.

So here it is…stray strings and all. It's got all my makeup in it now. so handy.




I had a couple of squares that I rejected from my latest quilt because they were more brown than green, so I went ahead and made another pouch, trying another method of assembling the bag, this time with a lining. My first try had one side of the pouch with the lining fabric on the outside instead of the inside. Which I may have just left alone, except that I really like the outside fabric a lot, and don't really love the lining fabric as much.

I also messed up this zipper a bit. It's functional, but I will definitely do it better next time. Turns out my sewing machine didn't really like hitting that little metal jobbie at the end of the zipper. Must pay more attention next time!


and again, against my grain and totally following a trend, I added a ruffle (maybe more of a pleat?).

and I like it.