Sew Powerful Purses #472-485 for 2026

Happy October 1st! The Sew-a-thon has ended and Sew Powerful not only made their goal, but they surpassed it!!! Yay!!! Thank you to all who supported me in this effort to raise money to help the girls in Zambia so they can stay in school. Sew Powerful's goal was to raise $250,000 and they raised $267,920, which means even more girls can stay in school, yippee!!!!!!! I too surpassed my fundraising goal as well as my purse making goal for September too! I raised $1,685 ($1,000 goal) and guess how many purses I completed in September??? My goal was to make 180 purses, but I kept sewing and I ended up making 252 purses in one month!!! That gives me a grand total of purses made so far this year of 541 purses and there are still 3 months left of this year. Well I can tell you I need a break from sewing them this month as I was worn out sewing them for a whole month!😂I even ran out of notecards to include in the last several I finished, so will be working on notecards this month.

On last Monday I sent in 2 large boxes full of purses. One box had 142 purses inside and the other had 143 purses inside, for 285 total purses. I probably won't send in any more purses this year as I don't think I could finish enough by the end of the year. 

Here are just a few of the last purses made during the Sew-a-thon from September. I have more to share in the next few days.

This is the other Intermediate purse with the other flap (Option B). I thought I had shared this one already. I shared the other Intermediate flap in my last post so you can see the differences in the flaps.

2 pineapple quilt block flaps.

These 2 were quilt blocks I made from a Jacquelynne Steves BOM from years ago. The blocks were too large for the flaps, so I cut them to fit the flap size, hence the other fabrics surrounding the appliqué had already been sewn on.

Patchwork squares on the diagonal.

I made this pieced reacup and saucer block years ago. I added a doiley.

Appliqué flower on the left purse is a textured vinyl, the appliqué on the right is from a tie dye tee shirt.

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Sew Powerful Purses #462-471 for 2026

10 more purses ready to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

This is the Intermediate purse with one style of the intermediate flap (Option A) that has a pocket on the flap (there are 2 different style flaps for the intermediate purse, each with a pocket on it). I made each flap to try it at least once. I always make the intermediate purse body with the gusset as I prefer it to boxed corners that the beginner body has. After making both intermediate flaps, I can say I much prefer to create my own flap with the beginner flap. The flaps are interchangeable, so I will stick with the beginner one so I can do my own thing and have more space to do it. At least I have tried all the purse patterns now so I know.

I created a gingham flap by sewing squares.

I wanted to use up some doileys I had, so I added one under a teacup and saucer. The teapot is from a BOM by Jacquelynne Steves from several years ago.

Painted and stencil backgroun and another Bountiful Basket quilt block from 3P Designs.

Painted stenciled background and a hexagon flower over a scrappy background.

Last few days left for the Sew-a-thon to donate in my honor to help the girls, although donations are accepted year round. I have been honored by several of you and I thank you all very much! Your kind words about the purses that I make, for what I lovingly call my granddaughters, are much appreciated!!! 

Please donate in my honor for the Sew-a-thon. Click here and then choose the amount to donate. $10 fills one purse to keep one girl in school. Thank you so much for your support!🤗

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Sew Powerful Purses #450-461 for 2026

12 more purses finished! Yay! I nearly have two large boxes of purses about ready to send to Sew Powerful this week. Just want to squeeze a few more purses into one of the boxes.

Lots of scrappiness.

Bountiful Baskets quilt blocks designed by 3P Designs made nice purse flaps.

Scrappy with machine decorative stitches and this Bountiful Basket is the Yucca flower, which is New Mexico's state flower. 

Pineapple block on left.

Scrappy flaps made from semi-pieced units.

Last few days left for the Sew-a-thon to donate in my honor to help the girls, although donations are accepted year round. I have been honored by several of you and I thank you all very much! Your kind words about the purses that I make, for what I lovingly call my granddaughters, are much appreciated!!! 

Please donate in my honor for the Sew-a-thon. Click here and then choose the amount to donate. $10 fills one purse to keep one girl in school. Thank you so much for your support!🤗

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Sew Powerful Purses # 440-449 for 2026

There are only a few more days left of the annual Sew Powerful September Fundraiser & Sew-a-thon. Please could you donate something, anything at all so that Sew Powerful reaches their goal to serve 25,000 girls in order that they can stay in school and get an education? The QR code and the link is at the end of this post. Pretty, pretty please, with a cherry on top?🍨If everyone donates something they just might make their goal. Thank you so much! You don't have to live in the USA to donate in case that is stopping you. Thanks to all who have made a donation already!

While I have acheived both my fundraising goal and my purses sewn goal, I am still sewing as many purses as I can through September 30th (before midnight Pacific Time) and accepting as many more donations that come my way too.

Here are 10 more purses that I finished. I love the painted stenciled background with added appliqué flowers or a butterfly on top. More scrappy pieced purses an another Sue Spargo appliqué bird. Sue is one of the Sew-a-thon sponsors this year, so someone could win a prize from her. 

I had a lot of white canvas material that I knew would be great material to use the the purses, but white is not only a bit stark, but can get dirty, so I painted the background of the flaps using some stencils and then added appliqué on top for a WOW factor. These and the others below were fun to create.

A Sue Spargo deigned bird and a scrappy flap with flower appliqué.

More painted stenciled backgrounds with appliqué on top.

Patchwork scrappy pieced flaps.

More quilt blocks, one with added decorative machine stitches.

Please donate in my honor for the Sew-a-thon. Click here and then choose the amount to donate. $10 fills one purse to keep one girl in school. Thank you so much for your support!🤗

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Sew Powerful Purses #430-439 for 2026

This is the last week of the annual Sew Powerful September Fundraiser & Sew-a-thon. Please could you donate something, anything at all so that Sew Powerful reaches their goal to serve 25,000 girls in order that they can stay in school and get an education? The QR code and the link is at the end of this post. Pretty, pretty please, with a cherry on top?🍨If everyone donates something they just might make their goal. Thank you so much! You don't have to live in the USA to donate in case that is stopping you. Thanks to all who have made a donation already!

Ten more purses ready to donate to Sew Powerful. I am working to continue making more purses past my goal of 180 purses during this last week of the Sew-a-thon.

More Seminole patchwork flaps and even more down below too.

Lots of scraps!

The center of the flower is a fabric that had a lot of drape to it and a bit see-through too. Fusing fusible web on the back stabilized it and I could cut out a circle with my die cut machine. I have couple of yards or more of that fabric, so will be using it for more appliqué in the future! It also has gold metallic on the fabric. Girls love bling (me too!).

Please donate in my honor for the Sew-a-thon. Click here and then choose the amount to donate. $10 fills one purse to keep one girl in school. Thank you so much for your support!🤗

Use this QR code to donate to the Fundraiser during the month of September or the link above. Thanks so much! 🤗

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Sew Powerful Purses #420-429 for 2026

10 more purses finished to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project. This is the last week of the annual September Fundraiser too. Please could you donate something, anything at all so that Sew Powerful reaches their goal to serve 25,000 girls in order that they can stay in school and get an education? The QR code and the link is at the end of this post. Pretty, pretty please, with a cherry and whip cream on top? If everyone donates something they just might make their goal. Thank you so much! You don't have to live in the USA to donate in case that is stopping you.

I made many purses using pink scraps and some added decorative machine stitches.

Appliqué teacup flap too.

Please donate in my honor for the Sew-a-thon. Click here and then choose the amount to donate. $10 fills one purse to keep one girl in school. Thank you so much for your support!🤗

Use this QR code to donate to the Fundraiser during the month of September or the link above. Thanks so much! 🤗

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