Open wide zipper pouch extraordinaire

Sometimes I have an idea for a gift and I just have to make it. My dear colleague and friend Ceylan has left our office to pursue her dreams in Istanbul. I knew I wanted to make her something handmade and it was suppose to be something useful, too.

I decided to make Ceylan an open wide zipper pouch in extra big so she can use it as toiletry bag. And since Ceylan loves nail polish, I downsized the free pattern of the nail polish quilt block by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet and made three of them in different shade of pink.

The bag was suppose to be very chic and classy so I went with Robert Kaufmann Essex Yarn Dyed Metallic in beige and that worked so well.

The other side of the bag has her name in the same shades of pink. The letters are hand drawn first and then transferred into fabric. I quilted in simple diagonal straight lines with this beautiful pink of 50wt Aurifil thread. The bag has a great texture!

 The zipper is pink as well and it's such a great contrast to the beige linen fabric.

 The lining fabric is a pink oil cloth so it suits the bag's use and it can be easily cleaned.

This pouch is seriously my masterpiece in form of a bag. I'm not a big fan of zippers but I do like the open wide zipper pouch by Noodlehead and these bags make great gifts. The size is customised though and it's about 15" (38cm) long and 7"(18cm) high.

In total it took me about 10 hours to make the bag and it was done in two days, all after work until the middle of the night.

But it was so worth it! Ceylan absolutely loves it and she said she always thinks of me when she sees the bag, so what is better than that?

Broken X

I am a month late with the February challenge of the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. But I can blame QuiltCon for that, and that is not a bad thing.

The February Challenge by Emily Herrick was the X- Block. I immediately had a design in my head that I would just not finish all the blocks but have them halved, quartered and three-quartered. Very quickly I had a name as well: Broken X.

I chose Robert Kaufmann Essex Linen and a very bright turquoise solid from Michael Miller Cotton Couture. The colours are just so vibrant and the fabric feels so good, too!

The individual blocks are 4" square (unfinished) and Broken X is 24 x 24" big, or rather small I should say. It's wall hanging in my new sewing corner now and I love how the grey quilt and the grey painted wall harmonise!

I actually combined the February and March Challenge in one quilt. The March challenge was all about quilting with your walking foot by Jacquie Gering.

I opted for an X in the centre of the quilt and then echoed the lines in. The challenge actually was to mimic shashiko stitches but I had difficulties enough with these straight lines.
The pressure foot pressure on my machine cannot be adjusted and that causes me trouble since quite some time. First I thought the puckering and fabric shifting issues I'm having was me and due to improper preparation but believe me it's my machine. Very unfortunate that is, actually.

Anyhow, the quilting did turn out ok, but puckering appeared and the fabric shifted slighly. It could have been a lot better. (Obviously I only took photos of the good looking parts of the quilt... you can see it slightly at the X in the photo below)
I don't think I can do this design with a bigger quilt.

The quilting stitches are 1/2 inch apart and I used beautiful Aurifil wt40 thread in colour #5005. The thread really stands out on the Essex linen and matches the turquoise solid perfectly.

I really enjoyed the challenges and will attempt shahsiko quilting another time.
Can someone just please tell me I NEED that Juki?

Linking this to Finish Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
Modern Patch Monday

Lovely Hexie Pillow

Today I want to share my first ever Hexagon project: a pillow!

The hexies are made using the English Paper Piecing method (EPP). My hexie paper templates were a supplement with one issue of Love Patchwork & Quilting Magazine which I have subscribed. 

The hexies have a side length of 1.5'', the pillow is 23 x 23'' / 65 x 65cm big. I used my scraps in every colour you can think of. The backing fabric is Robert Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed linen in black, which I love! It has so much depth and a great texture. I quilted it in Aurifil 40wt #2600 Dove, which blended in nicely with all colours and the linen alike.

I have sewed the hexies on top of my backing fabric following this tutorial from Nicole of Modern Handcraft.

I am the proud owner of two old cinema chairs. Ruby red velvety fabric, seat numbers 7 and 8, 8 being an end seat with an arm rest in stripy fabric. LOVE them! Great back drop for this lovely pillow.

The pillow was a gift for a close friend of my husband and me, we are especially thankful for all her hard work. Our hexagons change all the time, hence all the different colours.