I’m so delighted to be a part of Zakka Along 2 celebrating Ayumi‘s book, Patchwork Please!

Lindsey and Deb have organized the sew-along so well and of course, Ayumi’s book is just fun, adorable, inspirational and everything you would expect from her.

The Vintage Pencil Case is one of my favorite projects in the book. I started planning my project by grabbing natural linen and a stack of Ayumi-like Japanese prints for the pencils. Then I changed my mind and decided to mix it up a little and use a gorgeous stack of Robert Kaufman Kona pink solids and follow the ombre trend. I chose 5 colors in various shades of pink and ordered them from light to dark. I used Aurifil floss for the hand-stitching on the Essex Yarn Dyed black linen.

Initially I thought I would arrange the pencils from light to dark but preferred dark to light so I just switched the direction of the panel. I went with a dark pink zipper from Zipit to coordinate with that top pencil. I love the lining fabric, Alphabet Song Color 100 from First of Infinity by Kumiko Fujita from Sew Me A Song. I thought it worked well with the whole pencils, alphabet, back to school feel.

This was such a fun project to make. I hope you enjoy putting your own spin on it as well.

If you make a Vintage Pencil Case this week, make sure you link up on Deb’s blog, A Quilter’s Table.

Sponsors for this week are:

Prizes include 1 yd of Pellon 987F Fusible Fleece (US only)

and a Japanese Fabric Bundle from Sew Me A Song.

I have some giveaways to offer here as well! If you leave a comment below telling me what you like best about the month of September, you will be entered to win:
-Batting and a charm pack of samples from Pellon
-5 pack of thread from Aurifil
-A fabric bundle from Form and Fabric

I will draw winners’ names one week from today.