Friday, March 15, 2013

Four little dumplings

Dumpling pouch
My four little dumplings

Their bottoms

I was looking at Svetlana's blog the other day and she had used scraps to make a zip pouch. Great am with it so far. But the pattern is different to the normal ones, a lovely rounded top and they open completely. So I decided to give it a bash.

On Saturday my very lovely MIL is having her birthday and we needed a container to put her present in- I keow that this would just be the ticket. I used the scraps from the quilt my MIL made last year.

But of course, as I read people saying "just whipped this up", I think why do one when you can do more. Also I wanted to do a tester before I did the main ones.

The other stitchery waiting to be made into a purse is for my lovely friend Marie. Marie and her husband were there for me over three years when I worked on the isolated Milford Track. When ever I got out (once every 6 weeks) I could just turn up on their doorstep and they would give me a bed and fantastic company. They were amazing. But I am feeling bad as this was meant to be her birthday present last October. So it had to be good!!

So here we are - not one, or two but four little dumplings. No I did NOT "just whip them up". Together they took about 2.5 hours over two nights. But if I had not patched and quilted them then they would have been fast.

Svetlana refered me to the pattern - I followed this as a basic rule of thumb. I did not baste, I did not do the outer and lining seperately (I am always a bit of a slap dash kinda person), but I did use her pattern and her tips on getting things right were just spot on. So go have a look at her blog and pattern here.

The quilt for charity
My other tip - if using older style recycled zips as I have - watch sewing across them. They are metal and break needles!!! (three to be precise).

I also started work on another quilt for the orphanage that I support. These blocks were found at the local Op Shop for $5 - but in all my stash I cannot find material that looks OK with this to continue on. Will have to keep my eye open.

Linking up to these places and especially Amanda Jean's Finish it up Friday
April Finishes

22 comments:

  1. Love it! they are awesome! and the charity quilt too! I MUST start going to opshops for fabric!

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    1. Hi Leonie. i dont normally have that much success with material at op shops. I know that Debs at Works in Progress does. But these six blocks were a score. They wanted more $ for them but when they heard I was doing it for charity they knocked the price right down.

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  2. Newest follower here! I found you through the blog hop. You have a super cute blog, I can't wait to read more. You can find me at meandmr.com

    -Melanie @meandmr.com

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    1. Hi Melanie, Thanks for following. Thanks also for your web address I love being able to reciprocate.

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  3. Replies
    1. Wow I love the name of your blog - Ms Frizzle - my boys said "wow she must be amazing"!!!!

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  4. Thanks Amy. You have a great blog at Sews N Bows

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  5. I love these, especially the quilting in them...I think it adds a special touch :)
    And that quilt I'm sure will be cherished....maybe a darker purple like the bottom left corner block would be a good fabric to finish it off?

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  6. Darling! We love little pouches.

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  7. I love the bright colours, and what a great way to use up fabric scraps! I am always looking for small pouches for different things, but not many are this cute!

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  8. Wonderful work! And, so nice to see another quilter in blogland :)

    Thanks for sharing this project with the rest of the world!
    Smiles,
    Suz in NW Illinois

    My Linked Project This Week

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  9. Just saw these on Sew Much Ado.. They are really great. Looks like amazing workmanship.

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  10. These are so cute! What a fab way to use scraps!

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  11. These are so fun! I love the size and the embroidery too. I will have to try these out! Thanks so much for sharing. Super cute.

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  12. I featured this post on Google+ and pinterest! You are so clever!

    Thanks for linking up to Say G'Day Saturday! Hope you can join in again this weekend.

    Best wishes,
    Natasha in Oz

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  13. Love the pouches. They are so cute!
    Shannon @ Sewing Barefoot

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  14. Such cute little dumping pouches! I love the bit of embroidery on Marie's! Nicely done and thank you for linking up!

    xo -E

    P.S. $5 for that Drunkard's path? Nice fine! Have you tried yellow or green? One of those might accent it.

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  15. Great find on the blocks!
    I love the dumpling bags, too. I just don't know what to put in them, LOL!
    And you are right on recycled zippers. They can go though your sewing budget and make you wonder if recycling is worth it!

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  16. How cute are these! Love them!

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  17. I learnt so much about you in this post, hadn't heard of the Milford Track before - took and look and it's incredible, you're so lucky to live in NZ. Also loving the quilt you put together for the Kenyan orphanage, my daughter Flicky too works with a school in Kenya and is visiting for the first time this summer :)

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  18. Your dumpling pouches are gorgeous, Karen. I love the shape and the way you've co-ordinated the scraps of fabric. Featured today...

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Thanks so much for stopping by. I love that you took time out to comment on my blog.

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