Scraps, Glorious Scraps!

 I am not the only person in the house generating scraps!

My DD1's business, FabWraps, also generates scraps, which she wants to turn into a Project Linus quilt.

I've been helping her work with them this week.

 I wish that we hadn't left it most of a year until deciding to tackle them!

 I'm teaching Georgie to foundation piece with a short stitch over paper.

 When the square is covered....

 ....we flip it over and trim the edges to line up with the paper.

Then flip it right way up to admire it properly!

You will spot this one in the photo at the top of the post.

It's a relaxing way to sew blocks.  No templates or measuring required, just lining up a few bits of fabric.

Hope that we make good progress over half term!

Quilty Finish!

 I've been meaning to make a Carpenter's Wheel for years.

OK, so this is an easy version of it.  Perhaps it's a Carpenter's Star instead of a Carpenter's Wheel - I've never been good at knowing what pattern / block names are, I'm afraid.

Finally, scrap sorting / scrap busting in lockdown has prompted me to take it from the 'one day' list and move it to the 'do it now' list!

I extended the size of it with sashing and blocks of more charm squares (I have no more blue, green or neutral charm squares left).

It reached 66" x 44" which is a good size for me to quilt.

 Shame that I still managed a tuck or two in the back!  I clearly need more practice again!

Pieced backing.  I was delighted to find this peice of 'nummer' from Ikea, which only needed extending in one direction.

 I thought that I'd got enough grey left to bind the quilt, but I was wrong, so it has a brighter binding than I'd been intending, but all from stash, which is a good thing, and quite cheery.

 Alongside my quilty finish there were another couple of batches of these.

This batch made with cord elastic rather than flat elastic - all that I could get for the price I wanted to pay / in the time that I wanted to get it.

Happy sewing, everyone!

It's all about the....

 .....mini homes?!?  No, not really - although I'm on day 37/100 on the #100dayproject - and I'm very happy with how the neighbourhood is shaping up!  I'm still having fun using different techniques and colours to make these little jewels.  Some more complex than others!

But the rest of my sewing?  I've bowed to the invitable and made masks.

My version is a triple layer (quilting fabric outer, breathable  non woven polypropylene middle, and a soft cotton jersey by the skin.

There is a pipe cleaner sewn into a channel at the top so it can fit closely around the nose.

Different fabrics for different family members.

I 've tried to make it as easy as possible to put on and off.  It has a long length of elastic and a cord toggle to make wearing and adjusting them straighforward.

 They are made in two sizes - teens and adults.

I shall make them for my (extended) family, and then stop.  Already I've had to order more elastic and more cord toggles.  Thank goodness for all the people who are still working in the companies that provide these items!

Sending a Hug

 After a second elderly relative said how much they were missing hugs, we decided to take action.

Two metres of plain fabric, about 20" deep, a Sharpie pen colour chosen by each member of the family, and a dry bit of cardboard to keep the fabric clean and dry (more or less!).

Then each of us lay down with our arms stretched out and were traced around with our pen colour.

Sentiments and signatures added.

 A second, petterned, fabric sewn on, turned through, top stitched.

 And there you are, a hug in a stole (rather than a stolen hug).  Now they've been sent (and received!) the recipients can have hugs as tight as they like for as long as they like.

Of course I know that it isn't really the same.  But we've shown three people that we are thinking of them and raised a smile or two in the process.

My next project was to tackle my 'leaders and enders' nine patches.  Each one finishes at 3" square, so I tend to do something else to bring the size up a bit in order to make a bigger 'something' from them.

More on this next week, I hope!