Welcome to 2022

Here we go. It's February and time to welcome you all to 2022. Groundhog saw his shadow yesterday and predicts more winter. That, to me, means more time to sew. Here are a few things that I made as 2021 was making its exit. 

I had a lot of Minions fabric left over from mask making, and always have denim, so I made a lap quilt using fleece for the backing. 

Simple strip pieced placemats for Christmas. A great way to use some of my new and vintage Christmsa fabrics. 

I used some Christmas fabrics to make appliques and applied them to new hand/kitchen towels with Wonder Under and then machine zig-zag stitching. I gave a few as gifts and have plenty of towels left to make more. 

Recently, I dipped into my Peter Max fabric collection and made a few tote bags. The pink is bright and colorful, but... 

...this is always my favorite of the Max fabrics. My swim bag is made of this same fabric and I've been using it for a decade or so now. 

I made a monthly theme calendar for sewing for this year. Trying something new! January was tote bags and for February, it's Halloween sewing. Helps me stay focused. I still throw in garments or whatever I feel like, but the goal is to get certain theme-centered items done for Etsy. 

So, here we go - 2022!

Sewing goodies other than masks again (thought not done with masks!)

I guess it's a good sign that mask sales are down! (Can't wait for the vaccine to be injected into my arm!). I did, however, donate 35 masks to a group of educators yesterday. I've been donating masks all along and this donation made me feel particularly proud. The teachers are still teaching in the classroom, even during the pandemic. We need to be safe and keep others safe. Are you sewing masks? 

Here's what I'm sewing these days:

My daughter has been asking for a stocking for her dog, who will be celebrating her first Christmas together this year. I drafted a pattern and made a prototype for her. It's a large bone shape on the back and 3/4 of a bone shape on the front. I have to revising to do to the pattern, but not bad for a first effort. I had all the fabrics on hand (the paw fabrics are from my mask making stash) and added the pre-quilted back and red/white stripe ribbon to add some Christmas flare. I like it and can't wait to try more.

I've been working on these particular placemats for a long, long time. I began making them some time ago and ran out of the corn fabric used for strips on the front. When I had some breathing room, I started searching for more of it. I finally found it at Colorado Creations Quilting. They were pretty marvelous to work with and are going to show these off in their newsletter. I sew 2" strips of denim end to end and wrap it into a roll, then it gets used in this kind of project. I love the way the denim colors flow together and add some contrast and upcycling at the same time. 

You can make strip quilted placemats with denim, corn fabric, or whatever you want using this tutorial I wrote way back when - PLACEMAT TUTORIAL

My newest thing is another baby quilt. I decided on a Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern because I wanted it to be hand sewn. I always have a hand sewing project going. It's not easy for me to watch TV without one! I found the rainbow color bandanna fabrics, had the center fabric, and the path that will be going around the flowers is a black bandanna fabric. I want the rainbow colors to stand out and I believe they will.

What are you sewing? I'll keep sewing masks until they're no longer needed. I've just about worn out my 8-1/2" ruler and rotary cutter, not to mention the cutting mat. I'll be glad to retire them all. Let's hope the vaccine does its thing. 

Merry Christmas to you all and as always, keep stitching!

Sewing along, summer 2019

A lot of what I sew, I sew for me. The rest of it, I sew for others, either to sell or give away. That's the way it's been so far this summer. I've been thinking of Halloween and winter holidays. I go through my stash and see what moves me. And I end up with things like this:

Baby balls hand sewn using pentagons, then filled with fluff and in the center is a noisemaker that jingles ever so slightly when it's moved. Machine washable and one of a kind. I'm not doing hand sewing right now due to recovering from a quickie hand surgery, but I'll be back at it soon.  I posted about making the balls earlier. There are also instructions here and there on the internet for sewing with pentagons.

Along with balls, I made a couple of bibs with upcycled denim and bandanna fabric. I've made these in the past, saw a picture of one, and decided to try a couple more.  I think they're too cute for words. These two are a bit small and the next ones will be a little bigger and have Velcro closure instead of tie.

Trick or Treat bags are a fun way to use Halloween fabric. I have a lot of ribbons, fabrics, and trims and put a few together. 

There are more, but you get the idea. The last one was made completely of ribbons. When I was very young and very broke, I bought assortments of ribbons and make things out of them. This bag is a throwback to an earlier time. Never say never!

And, of course, my go-to sewing - pot holders, this batch for Halloween and Hannukah. All are backed with what started as a 9-patch denim square cut to the circle shape and filled with InsulBright. The bias binding is all homemade. It's just easier and less expensive to make my own than to try and match store bought bias tape.

I've also been cutting denim squares of several sizes to use and to sell, made placemats, have done some repair work on my own and others' items needing mending, and started a Cathedral Window project made of bandannas and denim.

And sew, I sew.

How 'bout you?

Halloween is coming

Time to start sewing for the creeps and goblins. 

I decided to embellish some hand towels with brain fabric I keep around. I've made and posted about making tote bags and potholders in the past, but wanted to try something different. As I had recently decorated some hand towels and wash cloth for a redecorated bathroom, I went with that - hand towels (new towels, of course). It could double as a kitchen towel, but that's up to the user, right? 

I used a smaller brain pattern and did not quilt the folds this time. I machine appliquéd the brain and stitched on the accent piece. A friend commented on one of them, so she got one as a gift! I told her not to compliment my sewing unless she wanted one for herself. 

Also recently, I made another set of pumpkin placemats:

Then I cut up most of my Halloween fabric into 5" squares and sold them on eBay. I kept some of it for myself, of course, but it was time to let some of it go. I have yards and yards and yards and yards of it! You can't have enough fabric, right?

So, get your scissors out, go through your stash, and set your machine to whirring. Before you know it, it'll be Christmas and winter sewing time. 

Last Cathedral Window update and other sewing stuff

I shared with you how I've started my last Cathedral Window quilt. I have all the fabric and years to do the hand sewing. I thought I'd share a couple of updated photos.

Pretty traditional design. I'm sewing what I can when I can and am putting no pressure on myself to get it done quickly.

Denim tote bags have been on my mind lately too, and there are a few ready to sell. I'm using up some old Grandmother Flower Garden flowers I made some time ago and have been saving.

As a fun addition, I used recycled blue jean pockets inside each bag, attached to the lining.  

Another bag design included using a wedge ruler to play with design and shades of blue. This one is much more striking in person. Again, there is a cotton lining and a recycled blue jean pocket inside.  

And if I didn't have enough recycled blue jean fabric sewing projects, I made a set of placemats. Patchwork denim with Grandmothers Flower Garden patch on one side and strip quilting with a cotton that I also used for binding on the other side.

And then there's painting. Not sure where I got this idea, but I did and here it is. Acrylic paint on a wooden plaque.

Keep sewing and creating. Let me know if I can help you learn something along the way!

Last Cathedral Window Quilt on My Planet

I've made Cathedral Window quilts, both small and not so small, before. I wrote instructions on how to make them. (You can see some of my earlier Cathedral Window quilts and see instructions here.) If you happen to use my instructions, I make them this exact way. The one I'm making now is starting with a 9" square of a kind of dark blue ivy fabric:

The blue is darker than shown in the photo. I will be making 670ish of these to make a queen cover. I have 555 to go. There are always more! My husband honestly described this type of quilt as "the most labor intensive" of anything I've done. I'm not sure that's true, but I'll take it!

Now why do I say this is the last one? I will be hand sewing for about 3 years or so on this, I'm sure. I'm 62 now and my hands are not what they used to be, so it'll be slow going. I'm sure I'll make other patterns of patchwork and quilting (I have too much denim not to), but I'm fairly certain this is the last of this particular breed. And I'm okay with that!

My in-progress sewing includes:

• Jack-o-Lantern placemats. 
• Two tunic tops for me.
• A long skirt or two for the summer.
• And then some..... 

I'll update the quilt over the days/weeks/months as it progresses.

What are you sewing?