First Aid Zip Pouch tutorial

The idea for this pouch came about as my daughter has just bought herself her first car and she wanted to have a basic first aid kit to keep in the glovebox. 

After seeing similar "Plus" blocks around recently, I thought that incorporating one into a block for a zipper pouch would be perfect for her.

Requirements:

Scraps of red for the Red Cross, and low volume/text fabrics for the background
Backing fabric - 7.5 x 7.5"
Lining fabric - (2)  7.5 x 7.5"
Batting piece - 8 x 8"
7" zip
Basic sewing supplies: Rotary cutter, quilting ruler, pins, thread.
Optional: light/medium-weight fusible interfacing 
(Note: I used a canvas fabric for the backing so didn't interface it but if using a quilting weight cotton, you may choose to use a fusible interfacing for the backing piece)

1. Cut the red scraps into (5) 2 x 2" squares, then cut the background fabrics into the following sizes: 
     (2) 2" sq
     (4) 2 x 3.5" strips
     (2) 2 x 7.5" strips

2. Lay all of the pieces out as below:

4. Pin and stitch the pieces together using a 1/4" seam.

5. Press the seams open, then sew the rows together as below.

6. Press the block again, lay it on a piece of batting and quilt as desired. - I just did some horizontal straight lines across the pouch about 1/2 inch apart . After quilting, trim the block back to 7.5 x 7.5".

7.Gather your quilted block, backing and lining pieces along with the zip. 

8. Lay the pieces down in the following order: quilted block right side up - zip (with zipper pull to the right) right side down  - then one peice of lining right side down.  

9. Pin across the top and stitch the layers together using a zipper foot. You may need to pull the zipper open about halfway, then lift the presser foot and finish stitching the seam if the zipper pull gets in the way.

10. Flip the lining back around the zip so that the fabrics are wrong sides together and press. For the other side of the zip, layer the pieces in the following order:  backing piece right side up - zipper (now with zipper pull to the left) right side down - second lining piece right side down. Pin and stitch along the seam again.

11. Flip the lining over again so both sides have the fabrics wrong sides together and press. Pin and top stitch along the zipper.

12.  At this point open the zipper at least halfway then flip the fabrics again so that the front/back are right sides together, and the 2 lining pieces are also right sides together. Pin the front/back and two lining pieces together, leaving a 3" gap for turning in the lining (inbetween the 2 green pins on my photo), and stitch around the outside of the rectangle.

13. Using your quilting ruler, mark a 1.5" square on the corner the lining and front/back pieces.

14. Then cut a 1.5" square out  rectangle.

15. Repeat this for each of the 4 corners.

16. Pinch the corners together, matching the side and bottom seams and being careful to nest the seams. Pin and sew about 1/4 inch from the open edge. Repeat this for the remaining 3 corners of the pouch.

 17. Now pull the pouch right side out through the opening you left in the lining. Press well and stitch the gap in the lining closed either by machine or hand.   

8. Finally, push the lining back inside the pouch and you are done!

 19. You should now have a nice flat bottom on your pouch so it can be stood up - you can also fit a little more into it this way.

20. I also made a slightly larger pouch to keep in our family car finishing at about 10" wide using 2.5" squares for  the red cross, with background fabrics in the following measurements:

     (2) 2.5 x 2.5"

     (4) 2.5 x 4.5"

     (2) 2.5 x 10.5" 

The backing and lining pieces for this larger pouch were cut to 10.5 x 10.5" square and I used a 10" zip.

Disclaimer: I realize there are a lot of plus blocks out there, if you happen to have seen this exact one before, please know that I did my best to create my own variation of this star and did not intentionally copy anyone.  Thanks!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial,

Kirsten.

Vintage palette

This weeks theme for palettes over at Porch Swing Quilts is vintage. I really love the palette from the pretty collection of Pyrex dishes on Jennies blog.

This is a lovely old black 1928 Model A Ford Tourer that we hired for our daughters formal last year - such a classic car which certainly sounded a lot more modern with its V8 engine!

And a vintagey style patchwork Scrappy trip-along quilt made from over 180 different Denyse Schmidt fabrics - I love the softer colours in this palette. 
The next theme is "France".....linking up with Jennie at Porch Swing Quilts.
Kirsten.

A Jungle Avenue Sew Together Bag

A few weeks ago, Clair (clairsdestash on IG) posted some photos of the gorgeous Art Gallery "Jungle Avenue" fabrics which she also has available from an online store.

I was really keen to try out the very popular Sew Together bag pattern by Sew Demented and thought these fabrics would be perfect for this project. Clair very kindly cut the amounts of fabric I needed and sent them to me that week - it is nice to find local sellers as sometimes it takes weeks for packages to arrive from overseas.

I bought some zips to match the colourful fabrics and cut out the panels to make the bag. I wanted to use my favourite print from the collection (Elephant Skyline) as the outside of the STB. All of the other prints were used for the inside of the STB and the pocket linings, with the B&W "Dotted Boulevard" print for the binding.

This was such a fun project to do and I absolutely love how it has turned out - I had been a bit worried about the zipper installation but it was really quite straightforward.

I did have a bit of trouble with the binding which I ended up deciding to handstitch down as it looked much neater that way. 

If you are going to make one of these Sew Together Bags (and you should because they are fabulous!) then I would recommend checking out the Quilt Barn sew along which has plenty of great pictures and tips for each stage. There is also a flickr group here.

 Linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

Kirsten.

Disney Palette

This week is Disney week over at Porch Swing Quilts and although my children are all teenagers now, we all still love Disney movies. I must confess that although I haven't yet seen Frozen which is one of the latest Disney releases, I am quite familiar with the songs as the boys sing them whilst in the shower:) 

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love elephants and I have been collecting them for over 30 years so Dumbo is my choice for the palette this week. My other favourites would be Bambi and The Lion King - I named our cat Simba and I am looking forward to seeing the live production of The Lion King in Brisbane later this year.

And I found a little pouch I made from some very sweet Pinocchio fabric which was a gift for a friend. Linking up with Jennie over at Porch Swing Quilts.
Kirsten.

Favourite photo palette

This week, the pallette at Porch swing quilts is a little different. As we have now made our way through a rainbow of colour, Jennie suggested to use a favourite photo to make a palette from.

Firstly, a pretty floral photo as it is the first day of spring here in Australia today - this is a Double Delight rose from our garden and it has a beautiful scent too.

And as today is also my twin boys 16th birthday, this photo from our daughters formal last year came to mind. Linking up with Jennie over at Porch Swing Quilts. Next up is a Disney pic...
Kirsten.