"Dream about summer" pouch

In the first days of autumn, I can not stop thinking about the summer. The last days of summer are always the most appreciated - it is like water running through my fingers ... and my sad attempt to hold them longer is predestinated - last days of summer are counted with precision.

There is a story behind every little brown flower stalk - it is a life story - from the gentle birth of the small, well protected flower buds, through the journey of the fragrant, uniquely beautiful blossoms to the saddest picture of slowly turning brown flowers, preparing for their last sleep, in which all the summer memories will form their farewell dreams. There is such a pride in that and so much gracefulness. 

The heartbreaking part for me at this time of season is how awfully quiet the days change into. The air resonates less and less with birds' songs. The vigorous diving of the energetic gold finch is gone. The charming love songs of the cardinals are a jewel, kept only in a memory box till next spring. The space is filled with angry wind whistle. Colourful leaves cut through the air, trying to find the shortest way to the ground - completely exhausted by feeding the tree with light through the whole summer - it is their time to rest. 

It is still the last days of summer! The grass blades are fresh (in a way), the leaves in colour are fewer, there are still robins here and there. I managed to find the last stalks of lavender in my backyard - young and innocent, very late blooming ...

For keeping a fresh purple memory of this summer, I jumped into the challenge to make one of Yoko Saito's little pouches. I have admired her work for years. Finally, I dared to try a pattern of hers. 

Surely, my fabric is far from the one she quilts with, but I am in a summer mood and the vivid colours of Thyme with Friends, by Maywood Studio just expresses it all. 

I changed few miner things here and there, hand quilted it following the print pattern of the fabric, made a zipper completely hidden, but kept her style, totally mesmerized by the simplicity of the  product appearance, knowing how difficult some details were to be achieved. 

I decided to embroider the zipper tab on the top with a little lavender head. The pouch is fully lined with solid purple cotton. 

The side of the pouch is machine quilted. I decided to hand quilt the bottom, since the texture of the hand quilting pleases me much more. 

The stories of the flowers...

I couldn't resist the temptation to accent some of the lavender flowers. There are few stitches in the embroidery that describe certain flowers the best. French knot is perfect for lavender. I used DMC embroidery floss in two strings to make a gentle french nots at few places, so some of the flowers attract more attention. 

The beehive and the basket are hand quilted along the lines. I gave texture to some other details with few stitches.

It was absolutely exciting to sew this little jewel! It tells a story.