Flex Frame Tulip Pouch

Last year I gave myself a little gift. A Japanese book called "Pattern Lessons of Patchwork". The book is full of different hand sewn quilting blocks with all the instructions in Japanese, but with very detailed step-by-step photos. The book really is amazing and inspiring.

This pretty pink tulip was the first and the only block so far that I managed to sew. I made it really small for someone special with an idea of turning it into a post-it note cover or a pouch. The pouch idea won.

The tulip is totally sewn by hand, but the rest of the pouch I finished on a machine. Sewing a block by hand was a new and interesting experience that I am not yet sure about because even though I found it quite therapeutic, at the same time it was quite fiddly. Next block I would love to sew on my machine and then I will decide which way I prefer.

Flex frame pouches are very easy to sew and there are so many shapes you can give them - square corners, roundish corners, boxed bottoms or, like in this case, the corners are cut off at 45 degrees to match the panels of the patchwork.

For the label I used a piece of printed ribbon stitched on top of the pink cotton. I added running stitches in white and instead of hiding the ends, I tied them in a bow.

All that is now left to do is to pack it nicely, tie it with a ribbon and take it to my friend. I hope she likes it. Wishing you all a lovely day! Larisa xox