I Chopped Up My Quilt!

You’re probably thinking it was an accident. Nope. It was intentional. Let me explain.

I started the quilt in the picture just before our daughter graduated from high school. I was making her official graduation quilt (which I did finish on time), but as is often the case, I reasoned that if one quilt was good, two would be better. Famous last words. Still, it seemed so reasonable at the time. I had oodles of Jan Mullen’s fabric and I fell in love with her “Daisiez” pattern. I read all the words in her pattern and made my quilt look just like hers.

It was twin size, which was perfect. Plus, I thought it would be a great idea to applique her initials on the back so that when she made her bed and flipped the top of the quilt back to crawl in, she would see them. Just in case she didn’t notice, I made her initials really big.

I managed to complete about 75% of the quilting before she graduated, but I jinxed myself by sewing the binding along the outside edges that were finished. (You can see the orange and yellow striped fabric just hanging there where I had to stop.) Don’t ever do that. Bad karma.

Then I folded the quilt up to make room for something else at the sewing machine. That was the beginning of the end. The quilt orbited the sewing room in its airtight plastic bag, moving from one pile to the next but never landing under the presser foot. Every time I picked it up to move it I realized another milestone had passed: college graduation, a masters degree, another masters, marriage, and a baby. When I found the quilt again earlier this year I realized I had a single bed quilt with the wrong initials, that was nearly 20 years late for the event it was created for. I knew then that I was never going to finish quilting it.

The only way to make lemonade here was to chop up the quilt, reclaim the original blocks, and sew them back up into something else. That’s when I learned how to make zippered pouches!

I was able to find much of the original fabric to line the pouches and extend them where needed. The original blocks dictated the sizes and what they could be used for.
Mini – business cards, loyalty cards, chocolate
Small – throat lozenges, hand sanitizer, chocolate
Medium – cell phone, pills, toothbrush, chocolate
Large – sewing kit, small tablet, more chocolate

I’ve listed my pouches in my Etsy shop in case you might need a mini, small, medium or large gift for yourself or a friend. Each zipper pouch comes with a matching key fob wristlet and a stuffed pen. Click https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmiSimmsQuiltStudio?section_id=35772528

I also sell key fob wristlets and stuffed pens separately if you just need a small, very affordable handmade gift that you don’t have to make yourself. And, I do realize not everybody is in love with acid green, hot pink, yellow, and orange. I have lots of other colors too.

Click here: AmiSimmsQuiltStudio.Etsy.com or click each picture.

While you’re over on Etsy, take a look at The Old Bag Studio. That’s my friend, Janet. She’s an awesome sewer and she makes beautiful bags, purses, zipper pouches, and bow wristlets.

Both of our Etsy shops are running a 10% off sale until December 2, 2021. Enjoy!

Thanks!

Ami Simms