Sew Powerful Purses #541-555 for 2026

I finished 15 purses to donate to Sew Powerful Purse Project that I already had cut out and ready to sew. I just had to cut out some of the lining fabrics to finish these. 14 of these are One Block Wonder quilt blocks that I made into flaps. It's so fun to see how these turn out. All from the same fabric, but look at how different each one looks.

Somehow I cut the front pocket and back (see below) a bit too narrow. So I had to add another fabric to bring it up to size, since I had no more of this fabric. I had to cut a wider piece too, since I had rounded the lower corners and needed to piece the added strip on a straight piece. So I added rickrack to cover the seam of each and give it a bit of bling at the same time.

On this flap I stenciled the background and then I fussy cut the hot air balloon and appliqué.

Linking to:

• Quiltery
• Patchwork & Quilts
  
• Songbird Designs
  
• My Quilt Infatuation

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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 #75-76 for 2026

Several years ago I bought a pretty print of fabric thinking it would make a great One Block Wonder Quilt. I cut it all up and sewed the blocks and then made the quilt top, but it was rather too small for anything other than a wall quilt and I really didn't want or need a wall quilt. I should have purchased more yardage, but I didn't know how much to buy and how large the quilt would be. Adding a border to make it larger, I would need make a border or borders that would be as large as the quilt itself and that would be no good. So it went into the UFO box to marinate until I decided what to do. After organizing recently, I came across it and decided I would take apart all the blocks I had and make purse flaps for the Sew Powerful Purses that I make to donate. I would find pleasing fabrics for the purse bodies to go with the flaps I made and eventually turn them into completed purses as I found the right fabrics for the rest of the purses. I got these 2 purses completed and they turned out really nice and much better than a quilt, as you can really see the one block on each purse. I set the blocks on point and added a few small scraps to make it larger enough for the flaps. I love how colorful and interesting these flaps look.

One Block Wonder quilt blocks end up looking all different after sewing them into a block. You stack and cut 6 layers of fabric into equilateral triangles. Each stack has six fabrics all the same cut for each block, but each fabric stack is different from all the other cut stacks. So when they are sewn into hexagons, they form a kaleidoscope looking quilt block, all cut from a different section of the fabric print.

These are the first 2 finished purses I made. I have over a dozen more flaps, so I will get to cutting fabric for the purse bodies and sewing them eventually into finished purses too.

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