Pretty Pink Pouch

It has been a crazy week...and I am happy to say my three new designs (for release at the TNNA Needlework Market in February) are finally in printing production....I do have photos and details to share with you in the coming week or two, so I hope you will look forward to those posts. Believe it or not, I am currently working on a couple new Halloween designs - one is a class piece for the New England Stitcher's Retreat in October...and one is for a Just Cross Stitch special publication - yep, I am designing and stitching Halloween in January.

This afternoon, I did take time out to do a wee bit of sewing - you know me, if I don't turn on my sewing machine at least a couple times a week, I go through withdrawal - I get the shakes and start to sweat...so today it was time to take a break. I really wanted to work on something with a Valentine feel to it...and I was dying to try a couple new dies for my AccuQuilt Studio fabric cutter (Flowers #3 Mini , and Heart #8 Small). I decided to pull out my wool scraps and just make things up as I went along. I started with a pretty pink wool base approximately 8" x 12"...and this pretty pink pouch was created (finished zipped-up size 7.5" W x 6" H). While you could easily attach the heart and flowers by hand, I chose to use my machine (after-all, I have been hand stitching continuously for weeks). I did add the button and the little white daisy (a tiny flower I cut from some trim) by hand. I thought about adding some rick rack trim, but then had the idea to cut the two raw edges that surround the zipper with a scalloped blade in my rotary cutter and use a contrasting zipper - which I thought turned out splendidly! I also added a little wool zipper pull using the same color red as the heart appliqué. It was a fun afternoon project and brightened my spirits...and it also sparked some creativity for a near future project that will use more wool and cotton quilting fabric.