Neck and Neck…

Hands-free pouches worn around my neck are a go-to item for me for quilt guild meetings and quilt shows. Depending on their size, they can hold just enough items- cell phone, credit card, car keys, pen, and more. And they’re the perfect spot to pin a name tag. So it seems that I have gathered quite a collection of these over the years. That doesn’t stop me from making more when I see designs I like! And I really liked this Treasure Bag by Barb Originals. A vendor at a quilt show displayed two versions- one made from a necktie, and the other from old quilt fragments. The kit came with the pattern, a tie, and some beaded trim. Once I put it together, I sifted through my bling bits and found this old brooch. It was the perfect complement to the colors in the necktie and the bead trim, so on it went. This pouch is small, as you can envision, no wider than the body of the tie. So it doesn’t hold as much as some pouches, but I just love the vintage look and know I’ll get plenty of use from it. And I have more ties in my crazy quilt supplies.



This roomy neck purse has double inside pockets and can hold a large cell phone, along with other items I might need. This one will be my name tag purse for a new guild I’ve recently joined- Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild. I added a few handmade fabric and paper beads, and will stitch my fabric name tag to the front. The directions for this one came in a kit from Quiltsmart which included three of the Quiltsmart interfacing pieces to iron onto fabric and then assemble to make the cell phone purse.



And finally there’s this cell phone purse. It, too, was made using the Quiltsmart interfacing. The interfacing is marked with clear fold, stitch and cut lines so it’s very simple to put together. This heavily beaded and embellished purse contains the remnants of an earlier purse I’d used, but its size made it unsuitable to hold the newer, larger phone. So I might call this project a hybrid- partly made by me, and partly an up-cycled purse. I’ve noticed quilters always carry “stuff”. It’s one reason we have an SUV because it’s always loaded down with quilts going here, fabric going there, donations from the prison crafting program where I volunteer, totes with items needed at quilt guild or quilt classes. I often refer to myself as a “schlepper-in-chief”. These small neck purses really come in handy so I don't need to also carry a large purse in addition to the "stuff"! I used this one recently when going through airport security to keep my id safe and at the ready.




Here are the covers for the two patterns I used in making the neck purses pictured here. I still have a piece of the interfacing so I can make one of these as a gift.