Finished Moxie quilted zipper bag

Now that I’ve already introduced the Oomph quilted zipper bag to you, I can share this progress shot of my quirky quarter log cabin blocks from early 2000s waiting to become zipper bag panels. When I took the photo, I was still considering this way to pair them:

However, I soon discovered that I wanted one of my zipper bags appear sort of red and the other one more blueish, so these became the panels for the “blue” zipper bag:

One of my favourite phases in the zipper bag making process is when I've sewn the bag into shape and turned it right side out. I can never imagine the finished shape and size beforehand – my 3-dimensional thinking just isn’t that good. So this moment always feels like a reveal.

Then, I like to smooth out the bag lining, pushing its corners into the corners of the outer piece, and continue finger-pressing both pieces away from the zipper. I could use clips to hold the pieces in place, but I prefer pins. This time, I even took a photo of the zipper bag in process:

When finished, the Moxie / Ponteva quilted zipper bag looked like this:

There are a few vintage fabrics on both sides. On the side that you see in the previous photo, the darker blue logs in the log cabin block on the left are of the curtain fabric I bought for our first home where we lived in 1988-1994.

And the flowery fabric in the other block is from a piece I bought, meaning to sew myself a blouse, which I never did.

The other side of the Moxie zipper pouch looked like this:

Here, the block on the left has logs that I cut from remnants of a cotton summer dress that I sewed for my mother. If you read the story of the Oomph zipper bag, you may remember that it featured remnants from a dress that she sewed for me!

The brown logs on the right are of a bedsheet, if you can believe. I chose the colour, and I must have been a little out of my mind. Or it was the only colour available. I do not like that colour!

If you look closely, there is a cropped picture of a mouse character in the centre strip. This was fabric that I’d bought with an idea to sew a cute dress for our daughter. It took me too long to begin the project, and all of a sudden, it seems, she had become too old for such a dress.

The strategic measurements of the Moxie zipper bag are as follows:

• Width at the top: 27,5 cm (aroung 11")
• Height: 16,5 cm (6-1/2")
• Depth on the bottom: 7 cm (around 2-3/4")

Moxie is also one of my Open series of zipper bags. Here she poses with Oomph, whom I introduced to you yesterday:

Even though it took a LONG time to turn those blocks into something practical, I’m happy with my achievement. I have six fewer orphan blocks from the past! And I’m certain that these zipper bags will eventually find their new owners.