Sew Powerful Purses #529-540 for 2026

Last 12 purses that I made from the September Sew-a-thon.

The flower on this flap was made by a friend who passed away over 12 years ago. This was a fabric postcard she made. I sewed it to the flap and added the orange trim to make it pop on the painted background that I stenciled. My friend, Gloria, would have loved the idea of sewing these purses for the girls in Zambia as she was a teacher for the deaf and loved being an educator. So Gloria, this is our collaboration together as I know you would have made purses for these girls too.

These 2 flaps were made from One Block Wonder quilt blocks. I have a whole bag full of flaps I made from the same fabric. Each one looks different and they are so fun to make! This was a great fabric to use, but I only had one yard, so it wouldn't make a large enough quilt, so I decided to use them for purse flaps instead. If I find another good fabric to use for this technique, I will make more like this as they will all look different.

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Sew Powerful Purses #519-528 for 2026

10 more purses made during the Sew-a-thon in September.

Seminole flap with decorative machine stitching and a scrappy pieced flap.

This is the back of the purse from above on the right. I added stars to cover up the pocket I had removed.

I also added stars on the front pocket to cover up the jean pocket I removed.

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Sew Powerful Purses #486-518 for 2026

33 purses! Lots of variety here. Several with coffee theme fabric & scrappy pieced flaps. Donating to Sew Powerful Purse Project.

Painted and stenciled background with an appliqué flower.

Scrappy pieced flaps.

Seminole pieced flap with added decorative machine stitches.

Coffee theme fabric and scraps here and lots farther down below too.

Log cabin blocks pieced together and below too.

These are the backs of the 2 purses below. Upcycled denim jeans, one with a pocket.

Star flap with star fabric and upcycled denim jean bodies.

The front pockets from the purses above.

Machine decorative stitches with yarn couching on the left flap and teacup appliqué on the right flap.

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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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