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Years ago I made my bridesmaids little zipper pouches. That was the first and last time I made anything with zippers. It took me signing up for the Open Wide Pouch Swap on instagram (#openwidepouchswap) to finally try it again. Before I put together the pouch for the swap (which I'll show you on Friday when I'm hosting TGIFF) I decided to put together a practice pouch. I used the leftover fabric from making my son his mushroom pants. In the end my practice pouch turned into two pouches, since I couldn't decide which interfacing to use. ;-)

I used the Open Wide Zippered Pouch Tutorial from Noodlehead. The tutorial is great. Easy to follow directions with lots of detail and great photos. And measurements for three sizes! The pattern recommends Pellon 101SF interfacing, but some discussion on IG included the suggestion to use fusible fleece (Pellon 987F), particularly by people who wanted their outer fabric to be quilted (which I planned to, but ended up not doing). So I made one of each and I'm happy with either option in this size, though if I wanted to quilt the outer panels, then the fleece option would be my pick. These first two are the small size and I kept them simple, just using a single fabric for the outer panels. I look forward to showing you my fancier, pieced, large pouch on Friday.

Please visit Friday to link up your latest finish when I host TGIFF.

This finish is one of my Q2 Finish Along goals. I'm linking up with the Q2 Finishes party.

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Two quarters in a row I've knocked 5 WIPs off my Finish Along Goal list. As much as I'm enjoying mini quilt swaps, it's impeding my ability to get more of my old WIPs done... so I'm really trying to resist joining any other swaps. That said, I have 4 open swaps at the moment. Between starting a few new quilt projects for myself and joining additional swaps my WIP list is growing. Oops. At the start of 2014 my list had 24 WIPs in it and my yearly goal is to cut that number in half. Looking below, I think I can realistically finish 8-10 of these done this quarter. (Are you laughing at me?) 5 of those are swaps, I have 3-4 baby/cuddle size projects well underway. The chef's hat and apron should only take a day. And I have two kids in school now. If only I had nothing to do but sew. ;-)

These past couple quarters I've tried to prioritize my goal list. I'd say this is roughly in priority order until number 12 or so.

  1. Rainbow Mini Swap (finished and shipped on 4/2, my first Q2 finish)
  2. The Purple Ninja Quilt (quilt top complete, need to piece backing and send out to long arm quilter)
  3. My safari animal baby quilt (quilt top complete)
  4. Open Wide Pouches -- pair of mushroom print bag (fabric cut out)
  5. Open Wide Pouch: small rainbow bag (fabric cut out and pieced)
  6. Open Wide Pouch Swap (due April 25, pouch sides pieced)
  7. Chef's Hat and Apron for my daughter (fabrics selected (by her))
  8. Assist my son to make his next quilt (designed and cut out)
  9. IG Pin Cusion Swap (due May 15, design planned)
  10. Alison Glass Mini Swap (due June 15, fabrics chosen, design in progress)
  11. Cotton & Steel Mini Swap (due June 19, fabrics chosen, design in progress)
  12. Ocean quilt for The Girl (top pieced, but needs applique done)
  13. Little Letters in Blues/Greens Quilt (all letters pieced)
  14. Little Letters in Brights Quilt (all letters pieced)
  15. Cotton & Steel (and low volume) Quilt (I have a plan... with these 5" squares)
  16. 2004 (ugh) Baseball Quilt (some blocks pieced)
  17. Batik SCVQA philanthropy quilt (sandwiched)
  18. Roman Stripez with butterfly backing (some blocks pieced)
  19. Roman Stripez with turtle backing (some blocks pieced)
  20. Memory House Vol. 1 Quilt (2 houses complete)
  21. Pirate Quilt (pre-cut fabric selected)
  22. Very Hungry Caterpillar twin sized quilt (fabric and pattern selected)
  23. Hawaiian lap quilt (fabric and pattern selected)
  24. Leah Day's Building Blocks Quilt Along (first 3 sets of blocks done)
  25. Winnie the Pooh Skirt/Shorts for The Girl (fabric selected)
  26. Envelope quilt (a couple blocks pieced)
  27. Monster Quilt (first applique block in progress)
  28. Christmas Mini Quilt (using 4 orphan blocks I somehow acquired)
  29. Swoon Quilt (first two blocks cut out)
  30. Patchwork City Metro Area Quilt (BOM: current status)

 

I'm linking up to the Q2 Finish Along Goal Party.

2015 FAL at On the Windy Side

Things I Make

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My latest Instagram mini quilt swap was Kate's Rainbow Mini Swap (#rainbowminiswap). Talk about a lovely bunch of rainbow wonderfulness! Nearly 600 people participated and it's been such a happy hashtag to follow. (If you aren't already following me on IG, find me at @sarahmgoer)

I was making for Mary, who likes modern brights, geometrics, and typography and dislikes pastel. I decided to use my quilt block (tutorial coming soon... just need to write it up and find a couple testers) that I designed for Antioxidant Delight to make her quilt, but with no borders, so I'd stick to the 24" x 24" maximum size restriction. I chose an assortment of rainbow colored blenders for this rendition and named it "Boxed In Rainbows". I struggled with wanting to do some epic free motion quilting, but in the end I took inspiration from my son's quilt and did edge to edge straight lines "wherever" until I felt done.

I bought the amazingly colorful background fabric from a vendor at the SCVQA quilt show. I'm trying to track down more of it, because I wish I'd bought the whole bolt!

I find it fun to put together some extras to go with my swap packages. Sticking with the rainbow theme, I included skittles, rainbow colored magnets, a little airplane and rainbow pin and a rainbow selection of note cards. I also included a spool of heavy weight aurifil thread, some wonder clips and a selection of tea, including my favorite, Wild Sweet Orange.

All wrapped up and ready to go:

Mary received her package this week. Now I'm waiting patiently for mine to arrive. ;-)

Linking up to Finish it Up Friday and Needle and Thread Thursday.

This finish is one of my Q2 Finish Along goals. I'm linking up with the Q2 Finishes party.