The Perfect Pouch

One weekend just before Christmas, of course when I had a million other things to be doing, I wanted to try making a zippered pouch. I also have been wanting to see how quilt-as-you-go works so I combined the two ideas and made a gift for my mom. I mostly winged it, but before starting I read the tutorials found here, here, and here.

I started out with the front panel, improvising a log cabin block based on scraps I already had hanging around. In fact, this whole pouch, including the batting, is made with scraps I had except the pieces for the lining! 

The quilt-as-you-go method of making this block was really fun and gives such a nice texture. I topstitched the top, bottom, and side bands after adding them to make it look nice and tailored. The finished panel is nice and sturdy from all the quilting. I could imagine using my 'wave' stitch, or some of the more decorative stitches on my machine to add even more interest to the quilting on another pouch, but in the end the simple lines really look great here.

I also improvised the back panel using the same QAYG approach but only densely quilting in the colored bands. I alternated the striping as I added pieces to keep it interesting. I kept the top band of fabric the same as the front, and my zipper matches the blue in the Park Fountain print almost perfectly. Serendipitously of course. 

For the lining I used a print in my stash that I had gotten with Mom in mind. She loves her gardening! I also added a little patch pocket in on one side. No matter what she uses this for I think a pocket will be useful.

In the end, the finished product is big enough to hold an iPad and also iPhone in that handy little pocket, so it could be a neat carrying case for iThings. Alternatively if she has on-the-go craft projects (ahem) then it will be a useful project bag! The possibilities are endless. In fact, I used it to "wrap" her SF Giants World Series Champs shirt.

It took me about three hours from start to finish including debating fabrics and stopping every so often to photograph. :o) The QAYG definitely adds time (and thread!) to the process but is completely awesome and worth it.