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| My grandma Audrey at age 18. |
The nice folks at Fort Worth Fabric Studio recently sent me a 2.5” stacker of “Toy Chest” by Penny Rose Fabrics. When I opened this precious little bundle and laid out all of the squares, I was quite honestly filled with a sappy longing for childhood. In particular, I thought a lot about my Grandma Audrey. She was kind of a character. She had a quick smile, liked to tell stories, was a great cook and loved to sew and crochet. She made several receiving blankets for her great grandchildren who were born in the 1990s. But the flannel prints she chose always had a vintage 1940s look. I know she would have loved this fabric.
Exposed Lace Zipper Pouch
The Fort Worth Fabric Studio blog has a great tutorial for an “Exposed Lace Zipper Pouch” that I had been longing to try, and this fabric seemed like the perfect choice for that project. Lindsey’s instructions are easy to follow and I finished this project in an evening. I chose to make a patchwork version that is roughly the same size as the one in the tutorial. I also used Pellon 987f fusible fleece before machine quilting to give my pouch a little stability and weight.
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| This pouch would be perfect for tucking away little books or toys. |
I had so much fun arranging these darling pieces. The exposed lace zipper is about the cutest thing I’ve seen as far as zippers go! Please visit Fort Worth Fabric Studio by clicking their banner ad in my left side bar. You can check out the “Toy Chest” fabric they have in stock, as well as these unique zippers and other fun products they carry.
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| Playing with print arrangement. |
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| Straight line quilting seemed to be the perfect finish for this piece of patchwork |
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| Look at that sweet little boy, watching a lamb cloud in the sky. |
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| And I had to show the back too . . . of course! |
There really is something about this “Toy Chest” fabric that touched my heart. I’m going to let it sit with me a bit, and then decide on a larger scale project using this fabric. In the meantime, I enjoyed thinking about my Grandma Audrey and remembering how neatly she could French braid my hair, how she baked fabulous Scandinavian treats at Christmas time, how she loved to play cards and laugh, and how her sewing basket was never far from her chair.
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| Audrey having fun with friends. |