Hexie Flower Tutorial and Summertime Pouches

Today I'm blending two of my latest fascinations:

hexagons and zippered pouches!

Pop over to visit

the Bear Creek Quilting Company blog,

where I've guest-blogged in detail

about these Red, White and Blue

summertime pouches.

While you're in the neighborhood,

shop around at Bear Creek Quilting Company...

you never know what goodies you'll find there.

Besides yardage and pre-cuts,

you can order Aurafil 50-wt. threads

in any color you want.

I used a few spools of Aurafil thread

when I made my summertime pouches,

and the stitch quality was just gorgeous.

The stitching is

just as pretty on the back as the front...
a true sign of a good quality thread,
along with the right tension on my sewing machine.

I used a Honeycomb pack of Midwinter Reds

by Minick and Simpson for Moda

for two of the summertime pouches.

{Midwinter Reds really work for midsummer stuff, too!}

Would you like to see a detail of 

how to make the hexie "flower"

on the flag pouch?

{Yes, I thought you would like that!}

Start with a hexagon of any size...

mine came from a Honeycomb pre-cut,

so they are 3" on each side.

{They measure 6" from point to point, according to the package.  That would be from one point to the one directly across from it.}

Begin by turning the hexagon over,

wrong side up,

and fold every other corner

to the center,

pressing with a hot iron as you go.

Here's the first corner folded...

and the second...

and the third.

{All three corners meet neatly in the center. It's okay to have a wee bit of overlap.}

Now you've got a triangle.

Take each of the three points,

and fold them to the center,

pressing them into place with that hot iron.

That's so easy, right?

Now tack those center points together
and use a little button to finish it off.

Starting with a hexie that measures 6",
the flower finishes at about 1 3/4" on each side.

I place my hexie on the front of my flag pouch.

I'm sure I'll use this accent for many more projects.

I hope you'll try making hexie flowers, too!

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Zippy Little Pouches for Across The Pond Sew Along

Thirty days hath September...

and half of them are past already!

Time to get busy on this month's theme for 

the Across The Pond Sew Along!

The Patchsmith's choice

for September was Key-Ring Pouches.

Amanda, The Patchsmith gave some suggestions

for making super-cute and functional

key-ring pouches using free tutorials from Erin

of Dog Under My Desk blog.

Little did Amanda know that I had already

made a few of these cute little

Earbud Pouches, using Erin's free pattern!

 I gave away two of them, without taking photos,

but here's the one I kept for myself.

It's very small, but I can actually even fit a jumpdrive

and an SD card in there, too.

It matches my Aviary 2 set of bags and pouches

that I made for myself last year.

The tote bag was made from my own PDF pattern

for the Anita Vacation Tote Bag.

I clipped my earbud pouch onto my tablet cover,

which was made using my own PDF pattern

for a Linen Pocket Ereader Cover.

{I used a coordinating print instead of linen this time, and I added a skinny strap.}

These earbud pouches are fun to make

and would be great gifts for teens, too!

I had a bit of free time today for sewing,

and in about an hour, I had already completed

my first Easy Zippy Pouch,

also from the Dog Under My Desk blog.

Amanda's version was tiny and sweet,

just large enough for some essentials like some

cash and a credit card.

Amanda's key-ring pouch...just adorable inside and out!

I decided to super-size my pouch...

so I can hold my cell phone, some money,

and maybe even a few more small items.

{My finished pouch measures 5" x 6 1/2".}

I chose two prints from Denyse Schmidt's fabric made for JoAnn.

The colors are really soft and pretty...gray and turquoise,

with just a touch of navy blue.

I don't usually quilt the fabrics for my bags and pouches,

but as the tutorial recommended,

I stitched some free-form zigzags...

and I am really pleased with the finished effect!

For such a simple tutorial,

the details make it look impressive!

A bright turquoise zipper really adds some zing.

I used a tiny lobster clasp instead of a plain D-ring,

and I can clip my keys on and off easily to this pouch.

It's so important to make little pouches pretty on the inside.

I really love the texture that the quilting adds!

{There's my little label, properly positioned.  Believe me when I say, that took a lot of thought!}

I'm going to make more of these cute little pouches

as soon as possible.

It will be fun to go through my zipper stash

and use some of the show-offs I've been saving!

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