Patchwork Drawstring Pouch

I finally had a few hours to sew, and I have been wanting to use some mini charm packs I ordered from Fat Quarter Shop a while ago.

I only had time to make one bag, and I decided to use the Moda Lilac Ridge mini charm pack I bought.  I love lilacs, and when my lilac bushes bloom in the spring I could just stay outside all day and breathe in their glorious scent.  When I was a little girl, there was a small town nearby that celebrated spring with a Lilac Festival.  There would be a parade, and some fun stuff like games for the kids and bake sales.  When we walked down the street, I think everyone had at least one lilac bush in their yard.  It was like heaven walking down that street and smelling those beautiful lilacs!  I will never forget that!

I love how this bag turned out!  I used all but 2 of the mini charms.  Here it is:

Isn't it pretty?  Do you see the lilacs in the top row?  It just makes me happy looking at it!

I used the tutorial from A Quilting Life for her Patchwork Gift Bag.  You can find the tutorial HERE.  It is very easy to follow, and only took me a couple of hours.  I didn't quilt mine, because I have quilted bags like this in the past and it makes the bag too stiff for my liking.  I like a softer bag.  For the cord casings, I stitched together 4 mini charms and cut the row to size.  I made mine patchwork on both sides.  

The only problem I had was at first, I used ribbon for the drawstrings.  It looked like this:

I loved the bag, but the ribbon was bugging me.  It just didn't seem right.  I looked and looked through my stash, and finally found a light beige material to use for the drawstrings.  I cut out the pieces, and was just finishing stitching the last one when my husband walked in with some gold drawstring cord he had just found in his closet.  He didn't know what it was from, and asked me if I could use it.  Perfect!  I cut it, and threaded it through the casings, and voila!  It was just what I had in mind!

This one is for my sister!  She will love the lilac connection to when we were little!

You should make one, or a dozen, of these!  I am going to use this tutorial over and over again!  I hope you like it as much as I do!