Raw edge appliqué circles on an easy to stitch modern zip pouch Slice and Stitch Challenge 2021

Did you know there’s only 71 days until Christmas?!

I know, I know, it kinda snuck up on me too!

This is why I’m so happy to be popping in with a super quick and easy project you can whip up in an afternoon!

This is one of those projects where you get to have some quilty fun and then gift it to share that joy with a loved one.

And the great thing is you probably already have all the materials kicking around your sewing room 😊

Let me walk you through how I pulled together this modern zip pouch featuring adorable circles and some fun quilting!

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission.

HOW THIS PROJECT CAME TO BE

One afternoon, back in the summer, I received an email from my friends at Aurifil asking me if I’d like to participate in their Slice & Stitch challenge with Olfa. Having participated the year before, I knew how fun and liberating these collaborations are. They always have me thinking outside the box and dreaming up nifty ways to use whatever materials I get to play with. Last year I made this adorable Sunshine on a Saturday Morning mini quilt, which I’m still in love with.

This year, I wanted to switch it up a little and create a project that you could easily make to celebrate your creativity and then pass on as a handmade Christmas gift.

That’s my plan with my own bag.

Even before I started making her, I knew who I would be gifting it to, which I obvi can’t share with you quiiiite yet 😉.

WHAT I WAS CHALLENGED TO WORK WITH

Part of the fun of taking on these challenges is that I never really know what I’m going to be working with. It’s akin to getting a party favour bag, which I still get giddy at the thought of some of the bags I received as a kid!

All I knew was that I was getting a series of Aurifil Thread in 50wt + an Olfa circle rotary cutter.

Beyond that, everything else was up in the air.

Once everything arrived in the studio, I set about pulling together some fabrics to coordinate with the threads featured in Karen Nyberg’s Earth Views Aurifil Thread collection.

Threads

The thread colours include a range of creamy tans through various shades of blue with a subtle green to round everything out. It’s a gorgeous series of colours which I was tempted to feature all of them – ha! Ultimately, I was particularly drawn to the blues.

Having just recently stitched up the Etched Diamond Lumbar Pillow, I already had these beautiful blue Art Gallery Fabric Pure Solids scraps sitting on my cutting table that I was tempted to dive in and play with again.

Circle Rotary Cutter

From there, I turned my attention to the Circle Rotary Cutter. What could I do with that?

I had a few ideas, but since the goal was to keep this project quick and easy, I decided raw edge appliqué circles would be fun to explore. Plus, it tied in with the earth views theme of Karen’s thread collection.

I’ve always loved the reference to planet earth as the pale blue dot ever since watching Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot and so I built that concept into the design of the quilted zip pouch.

HOW I GOT STARTED

Having never worked with the *Circle Rotary Cutter before I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I’m not sure about you, but I always seem to have a tough time cutting circles. They always seem to have a little ‘bump’ in what should be a nice smooth curve.

I was curious to see how helpful this little cutter would be.

As is true to my style, I just dove in and started experimenting!

What’s cool is that you can extend the center spoke to create circles that range in size from 1.5” to 8.75” wide.

After pressing my fabric scraps, I simply laid them out on my cutting mat and started cutting circles in various widths.

It was super easy and super fun!

What’s even more cool is that in addition to using it with cotton, you can use this cutter on wool, paper, leather, and even vinyl!

I stuck with quilting cotton, but I love that you have options.

Because my plan was to raw edge appliqué the circles to my pouch, I opted to add a layer of fusible interfacing to help keep fraying at bay.

The cutter had zero problems going through both layers.

It did take me a minute to get used to cutting using the ratchet handle, but after a few tries I got the hang of it 😉

PIECING THE ZIP POUCH PANELS

Once I had my circles cut out, I decided to piece the front and back zip pouch panels.

There was no plan here, I just used whatever fabric scraps were calling to me and landed here.

Raw Edge Appliqué Circles

I then ironed into place the blue dots to create this floating scene.

I love that it ends up being this nice contrast between a more structured pieced background with the organic curves sitting on top.

Ultimately, it reminds me of various sizes of our ‘pale blue dot’ floating in space.

In retrospect, it probably would have worked better with my theme if I’d gone with the navy as the background. Live and learn!

QUILTING

With the panels stitched, I then turned my attention to the quilting.

What I love about thread is that you can use it as a feature or use it as a way to compliment and highlight your design.

Since my focus was on the blue dots, I decided to match my thread to the background fabric: in this case, *light jade.

To up the quilty texture and highlight the movement I wanted to create with the quilting, I opted for double layers of batting. This not only gives the added dimension I was looking for but also results in the softest squishiest zip pouch ever!

I started by stitching down the blue circles by stitching close to the raw edge. This is meant to ‘age’ over time and adds even more texture and details as the fabrics will naturally fray a little with wear. For me, this was all part of the look I was going for: organic, unfussy, natural with a high textural feel.

Next, I added some organic curved lines around the circles. For me, this mimics jet streams.

For the back zip pouch panel, I went very linear with a crosshatch motif. To add even more texture and detail, I varied the size of the crosshatch in the turquoise fabric compared to the navy.

HOW TO MAKE IT YOUR OWN

This is a great project to practice working without a pattern.

Use the scraps you have to create a fun motif. This would be an ideal sewing project to feature an orphan quilt block that I’m sure you have kicking around your sewing room 😉

The size is really up to you. Mine ended up being about 12.5” long by about 7”. This wasn’t planned, it’s just how my piecing came together. I lucked out that one of my zippers was about the exact size of the pouch, so it seemed kismet!

Another great way to make this your own is to have fun exploring new quilting designs. For me that was adding in the ‘jet streams’, but you could also try free motion quilting or hand quilting.

This is what I love about these unplanned projects, they’re so fun to think outside the box and use up what you already have on hand, and step outside your comfort zone to try something new.

Add in playing with some new notions and it makes for a quilty party at home – ha!

MATERIALS FEATURED

Here’s a full list of the materials you’ll need to whip up your own quilty zip pouch featuring raw edge appliqué circles.

• *50wt Aurifil Thread in Light Jade
• *18mm Circle Rotary Cutter
• *Light blue fabric
• *Mid blue fabric
• *Turquoise fabric
• *Navy fabric
• *Fusible interfacing
• Batting
• *Hera marker
• *Ruler
• Zipper
• Zipper pull
• Iron
• Ironing board
• *Sewing machine
• Zipper foot
• Walking foot
• *Marking tool
• *Clips

I hope this demo of working with a circle cutter and then using raw edge appliqué for the circles has inspired you to think outside the quilty box!

What’s your go-to handmade sewing project to gift loved ones over the holidays? Share in the comments so we can all get some creative holiday gift ideas!!

Happy quilting!

xo,

Shannon

---

Never miss a post – sign up for the weekly newsletter.

This post uses affiliate links. For more info, visit the FAQ page.