Pebble and Swirl Pouch

After much debate, I made a zipper pouch from my practice piece of quilted swirls.  I searched through a bunch of tutorial before making up my own pattern.

I didn't want to notch the bottom like my other pouch.  Cut away any of that quilting?  No!  I quilted this with a backing, so I wasn't interested in a lining, either.  So I added end pieces to give it a wide bottom and bound it all into place.  I'm pleased with the end result, but it wasn't easy.  I don't think I would do this again.

I followed this tutorial for attaching the zipper.  It leaves the zipper edge visible inside the pouch.  Not as pretty as having the ends hidden by a lining, but it doesn't stand out.  The rest of the seams are bound.  Attaching both sides of the zipper to a single piece of cloth was challenging.  The first side was no problem.  Attaching the second side required stitching from one edge, then stopping somewhere in the middle when all of my fabric bunched around the needle.  I stopped and repeated the process from the other end of the zipper.  Not a single pretty seam, but no one will notice.

That five yards of pebbly material I bought last spring worked great for the ends and binding.  The fabric is a close match to the quilting color and it picks up the strings of pebbles. I lined the end pieces with the same fabric as the backing (so the inside is all purple). 

I machine stitched the binding on.  I thought it would be easier and faster, but I caught a couple of tucks that needed to be ripped out and restitched.  In hindsight, hand stitching probably would have been faster.

The zipper is small - it needed a pull, and all I had was pink ribbon.  I'll look for a bit of gold or white when I get a chance.

It's cute.  I like it.  I have no idea what to do with it.  My fabric stash is under control, but my pile of completed projects is starting to grow wild!

Sharing with Freemotion by the River's Linky Tuesday.