A small patchwork gift

Thank you for the quilt love. And thank you for cheering me on along the way! I felt so relieved to finally finish and then show and tell that I temporarily forgot my manners. I appreciate all your thoughtful comments throughout this whole process. There is no doubt that you all helped me stay focused and get those quilts done. Gracias!

I made this little patchwork number for a gift last week. It's modeled after the one that Amy made me a few years ago. I know that the original pattern is from a Japanese craft book, but I'm not sure which one. (If someone knows, please tell me so I can share). We use ours to corral all the plastic bags that come home despite our efforts to use reusable bags as much as we can.  I have it hanging in the kitchen and I love its bright and cheerful charm so I thought I would make one for my sister-in-law.

It's made entirely from scraps. Yes, scraps again! I find it so satisfying to dig through the buckets and find bits and pieces that go together and then use them up. The front is quilted (I used batting scraps, too!), but the sides and back are not.  They are Kona snow, as is the lining, with a layer of batting sewn in between the layers. There is a aqua grosgrain ribbon to hang it from (yes, scrap!) and a little hole in the bottom so you can use it like a dispenser.  I had so much fun sewing this up. It came together so smoothly and relatively quickly and I love how the white is offset by a punch of color. I also included a few other Erin-made things in the box. More on those later.  Right now, I'm headed back to plug away on the Liberty quilt. 19 squares left to go!