If you’ve been following me for a while you know I’m a little bit of a recycling nerd. This year I’ve been trying to shift my focus more toward creating less waste rather than managing what I do with my waste. I recently ordered some aluminum straws to combat this issue a bit, but I was a little annoyed that they came in a crappy polyester bag. Even more annoyed when the bag wouldn’t stay shut. Obviously this called for a crafty solution!
When Kathleen of Quilt Block Art contacted me about doing a collaboration I immediately knew this was the perfect project for her work. Kathleen does beautiful watercolor paintings that she then has printed on quilting cotton. She sent me a fat quarter that had all things Texas! I knew the purple watercolor flowers would be the perfect match for some vintage floral cotton I had in my stash.. and a project was born!
I decided to make two pouches. The first one is a small flap pouch that holds just my straws, as I’m more likely to be at a place that has metal utensils but only offers plastic straws. I’ll keep this pouch on me more often.
For the second pouch I decided to to a roll up style kit for all necessary cutlery. I used this tutorial from Helen’s Closet’s scrap busting series and adjusted the measurements to fit my kit. I even made myself a cute little matching napkin! (Possibly my favorite part!!)
I used the purple flower square from the quilt block as an appliqué on the outside of my roll pouch. The inside is made with leftover scrap canvas from a tablecloth project. Next time I would probably just use a lighter weight cotton for the inside as well. The canvas makes it nice and sturdy but almost too sturdy as the pouch is quite bulky when rolled up. But I plan on just keeping this one in my car, not carrying it around with me so it works fine for that.
I still have some other fun bits of this quilt block that I have yet to decide how to use. I think the bluebonnet square would be perfect as a shirt pocket! And the little horny toad is just adorable. Be sure to check out Kathleen’s website to see her other artwork and find out where her quilt blocks are available!
I’m so excited about my reusable utensil pouches! Have you made anything like these?
Happy Sewing!
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