Gnome Pouch : Sweet Pouch Swap Round 2

I've been looking forward to sharing this one with you for a while! Finally it arrived for my partner Kristi in Washington earlier this week so I can reveal it here on the blog!

I decided to use the quilt-as-you go method and make two quilted panels, then sew them up into a zip pouch. I really like the random style of the patchwork and the ability to use lots of different fabrics. I tend to stick to a colour palette, and this one was no exception - I followed the colour scheme of the Heather Ross gnome fabric and went with pink and green. Pink was always going to be a big part of the pouch as it's Kristi's favourite colour.

Here is the other side - just a lone gnome on this panel. But he is not too lonely - he can watch TV with the elephants.

I've made a few quilt as you go projects now, and they are really fun, I love the technique because it's a great way to blend fun fussy cuts and use up a lot of small scraps. I've just recently done the Quilt As You Go Patchwork Bags* class on Craftsy and that really improved my skills and taught me a few tricks about fabric placement that I'd struggled with in previous projects.

Kristi wanted to try some sweets that weren't available to buy in the USA so these were my picks for her.

From what I know, Cadbury products are generally unavailable in the USA so I chose some of my favourites- Cherry Ripe, one of the new Marvellous Creations bars and lots of Caramello Koalas. I also included a couple of rolls of Fruit Tingles - I really loved those when I was a kid. I was always on the hunt for that elusive rainbow coloured fruit tingle!

I also included a couple of little gifts that weren't sweets - some fun things from the Japanese discount store Daiso.

Some pretty squares of Japanese paper which are lovely for origami or other papercraft projects and some cute little bento forks. Kristi has a four year old daughter as well, and I know my girls eat a lot more fruit and other good foods since I bought them a variety of bento forks and picks to use, so I included these for her.

Alyce and I have chatted about the Sweet Pouch Swap becoming a regular event - possibly quarterly - so if you are keen to participate, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter. I will be releasing the dates for the next Sweet Pouch Swap to my newsletter subscribers first.

Now I will go and stalk my letterbox as I wait for my sweet pouch to arrive!

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