Sew Powerful Purses #29-32 (2023)

Four more purses finished for Sew Powerful Purse Project. I made one using raw edge scraps and added yarn couching and embellishments and made the purse body from denim jeans. The rest were made using small panels for the flaps and adding fabric strips to bring them up to the correct size. 

Purse # 29 for 2023. Made with a panel.

On the front and back I used this fabric, but had to piece it, so I added some lace and running stitches and French knots to cover up he seam and add some bling too.

Added bling of hot fix crystals to the flap.

Purses #30-31 are fraternal twins, using the same panel, but different added fabric strips to the flap.

On one I sewed some buttons on like this, which was a fun change of pace. 

Had to bling these flaps up with crystals too, especially with those words! I wrote the wording out on the notecard that I included in each of these purses because the girls do not read cursive and some of these fonts might be hard to read even if they could read cursive. 

The back side of both the purses have an added back slip pocket.

I had fun creating this with raw edge scraps of batik fabrics. Some were very small scraps and now will I be able to throw even the tiniest scrap away? LOL!!! I quilted both vertically and horizontally very close together to hold it all together. I couched yarn too. I hand washed the flap before cutting it to shape to make sure it would hold up and it did beautifully! Then I added some buttons and decided after I took this photo to add a few crystals scattered here and there too.

The body was made from denim jeans. You can see the flat felled seam on the frotn pocket here.

I like to add a rivet to the side gusset to hold the strap in place and more bling. I do sew several times over the strap to hold it as well. That strap isn't going anyhwere!

Added slip pocket on the back. I sewed some batik fabric to the top of the pocket to make it tall enough.

Looking down into the front pocket.

Looking down into the lining, with a peekaboo of the front pocket.

It brings me such joy to create and donate these purses to the girls in Zambia.

The 2nd annual Sew-a-thon (and fundraiser) for Sew Powerful will start this September. I have lots of kits cut out, so I will be able to sew the days and month away. I hope to get more purses finished this year than I did last year, but will I? Last year I made 116 purses during the month of September, so I hope to beat that amount this year. Time will tell whether I can or not. Last year I spent a week testing 2 bag patterns for 2 designers, so this year I won't commit to any tests during September and that will help give me more time to sew for the Sew-a-thon.

Meanwhile, happy purse sewing.

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Rainbows & Unicorns Panel Quilt with Frame & Twist Border

I saw this panel a while back and bought it because I knew right away I wanted to make the Frame & Twist Border for this panel, from Twister Sisters. I used scraps I had for the Twister blocks, using the colors in this panel. I even used white scraps of fabric too. I backed it with a flannel material, which is soft, but even trying to free motion quilt this on my Supreme Slider, it was not wanting to freely move! So I think a walking foot and straight line quilting is the only way to quilt with a flannel for the backing from now on. But even with the struggle I had, I LOVE how this quilt turned out!!!

This measures 38.25" wide x 55.5" high.

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Chevron Knit Blanket (Donated)

I knit this Chevron blanket awhile ago. I wasn't sure about donating it to Project Linus because of the yarn over "holes" created when knitting this. There is info on PL's website stating there should be no holes, yet on the Facebook PL group those who knit or crochet always seem to have "holes" in their blankets, so I asked about it on the FB group and did not get any definitive answer. 

The reason for the no holes is a good one. For babies tiny toes and fingers can get caught and cut off circulation. I learned about this years ago from my friend who is a nurse. The other reason is medical equipment can get caught in the "holes". Some said holes less than 1/2" are fine. But certainly that is for an older child as babies can still get toes and fingers caught in the holes. For those of us donating blankets that are knit or crocheted, we have no idea what child (any age) may be hooked up to medical equipment. So I hope these kind of blankets are given to the children who won't have any issues with the holes. I know I will never again knit any more blankets with any holes to donate to PL, just to be certain. 

If they won't accept them, where do they go? I have heard they donate to other charity groups, but if I am making these for PL specifically, I want to know if they are not accepted and passed on to another group. Maybe I will donate directly to that other group or stop making blankets to donate to PL if they don't end up there?

So after months of working on this Chevron Knit Blanket and more months deciding what I should do with it, I finally just donated it. I measured it and wrote down the measurements at the time, but don't know where I put it. I think it was 43ish inches wide x 50ish inches long. Good size for an older child.

I took photos inside on the floor under where there are 2 skylights. Funny how the colors can look so different. The true color is the dark one with mostly blue and touches of purple in the yarn.

This close up to show the knitting washed out the colors for some reason.

I love how when starting to knit the Chevron stitches, the end naturally makes these scallops.

Washed out colors in this photo too. The true colors are like the darker photos.

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The Quick No Zip Cross Body Bag

Another great bag pattern from ChrisW Designs, called The Quick No Zip Cross Body Bag. And the pattern is ON SALE!!! Free video tutorial too!

This bag measures 5 1/2" wide x 9 1/2" H x 1 1/2" deep.

I made mine artsy using batik scraps, hand dyed fabric, quilting and yarn couching, plus some buttons and crystals for bling.

20% off NO CODE NEEDED for ONE week - Ends Midnight Thursday 29th June 2023 AUSTRALIAN Eastern Standard Time.

The bag includes a key pocket on the front of the bag under the flap.

You can see the size of the bag here one me. It's small, but has room for the essentials.

Close up of my artsy flap, quilted, buttons, couched yarn.

I used the batik quilted piece to create the inside card pocket, which will hold a few cards. It's hard to see in the photos, but the pocket has a nice shape curved higher on one side.

The instructions call for an adjustable strap, but I didn't have the small size slider, so I made a fixed strap instead, and lots of rivets.

The key pocket under the flap on the front.

Back of bag has Christine's signature phone pocket for quick and easy access. You can see the quilting I did on the hand dyed fabric here too.

Check out all these videos and the tester bags to get ideas of fabrics to use. They all made some great Quick No Zip Bags using a variety of materials too. Grab the pattern while it is on sale! It is quick to sew (as long as you don't make an artsy quilted one like I did, lol)!!!

The Video Trailer:

https://youtu.be/0Xa5gCGporg

The Video Tutorial:

https://youtu.be/uzaySYL6fME

The Tester Blog Post:

https://www.chriswdesigns.com/.../introducing-the-quick...

International Shop:

https://www.chriswdesigns.com/.../the-quick-no-zip...

Aussie Shop:

https://chriswdesigns.com.au/.../the-quick-no-zip.../

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Granny Squares Quilt

I made the Granny Squares Quilt blocks quite a while ago. I got them out and stitched them together into a top. It sat for months. I finally quilted it with a walking foot and diagonal lines. The quilt measures 47" x 59".

I know the surrounding white triangles (that form diamonds when the blocks are sewn...well in my case wonky diamonds, lol!!!) are not perfect. Sewing each block was easy enough, but then those white pieces, well I just had no idea how to make sure they stayed perfectly square, especially when sewing them later to the adjacent blocks. The overall look of this quilt turned out nice and I am pleased using up lots of colorful scraps, but Granny Squares are not a quilt I will make again, unless there is a better and simpler method for squaring them up perfectly?

I thought I would take to the gift shop to see if by chance it would sell at all. If not, I would donate it. Well I was pleasantly surprised that it sold! I didn't charge much for it and if someone liked colorful, then I thought it might sell. I hope the person who bought it loves it!

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Catnip Kitties Stuffed Cat Toys

I bought The Catnip Kitties pattern awhile ago on Makerist.com It is a Red Boot Quilt Company pattern. I finally made a couple of these kitties, but I did hand embroidery for the long part under the nose instead of the wider appliqué shown in the pattern. I also added an appliqué heart to the front of the cat. I used flannel fabrics to make the cats soft and cuddly.

These are in the local gift shop to see if they will sell. You never know what sells there, so if they don't sell they will be donated later. 

The back side has a tail that I made out of yarn that I twisted together.

This tail is made with eyelash yarn for a fuzzy look.

Here is the pair of Catnip Kitties.

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