Using those Scraps

I only started this patchwork lark last August, but I've been avidly saving my scraps.  I love the idea of making 'something for nothing', or getting as much value as I possibly can from my expensive fabrics.  A couple of friends have donated a few dressmaking scraps, and I have cut up, and used, old cotton garments, to make items, namely my Scrappy Trip Around the World (read about it here).

When I made my very first quilt Chambray Rose

 

I had a lot of fabric left over.  I've used some of  it to make the blocks for my Starry Sampler quilt

but I still had loads of scraps left, and so what to do with it?  I hate waste, so this must be used in some way.

Browsing around bogland I came across Mazed by Kristy Daum.  Eureka!

This quilt is made using a very simple 6" block.  The way it is placed in relation to the other blocks creates the pathways across the quilt.  I looked at my leftovers and realised that I had just enough to make this, using Kona Snow, which I already have, for the negative space. I've bought the pattern and cut most of it out.  I'm going to piece this as a Leaders/Enders project, something else I've been wanting to start.  It's amazing how much you can get pieced this way. Already I've sewn together over 100 pairs of squares whilst making a couple of  6" Farmer's Wife blocks.

So, I can really concentrate on my Farmer's Wife blocks with the added bonus that I'm making another quilt as well.

I now am left with a bag of really scappy bits.  Nothing is more than 2" wide, and some of it is really tiny, but I don't like to throw anything away.  It must be used!

Blogland to the rescue once again!  Amanda Jean over at crazy mom quilts is starting a personal challenge to make 101 scrap projects, and her first one is a dinky little needle case.  I actually need one of these to keep my quilting needles in, so out came the scraps and a couple of hours later I had made one, too.

This measures just 2 3/4" by 3 3/8" finished size.  I'd read about quilt-as-you-go where you sew strips directly onto batting and so gave it a try.  It was ideal for this.

The toggle is from my vast collection of old buttons and matches perfectly.

The lining isn't quilted, just held in place with the line of central stitching that holds the small piece of batting to take the needles.  I am so, so pleased with this little bit of scrap, and I've learnt a new technique that I'm sure I will use again.

What next?  Watch this space!

New Year's Goals Revisited.

Way back in January, half a year ago, I made some goals for this year.  I don't know why I make goals as I never stick to them, but it's interesting to see what I do fulfil and what gets left by the wayside.  So this is what I said on 1st January and what I've done towards them.

1.  Finish the Craftsy BOM quilt started in August (4 blocks to go, then sashing, backing, quilting and binding).  I've finished all of the blocks, using some different ones than those published as I didn't like some of them.  I want to machine quilt these using the as-you-go method so I can practice Free Motion quilting.  I'm a bit scared to make a start yet!

2.  Start "The Farmer's Wife Quilt" using "Marmalade".  Hurrah!  I've started this month. Read to the end of the post and you'll see what I've done so far.

3.  Join in Stitchery Dickory Dock's Sugar Block Club each month (using leftover fabric from my "Chambray Rose" quilt).   Some of these have been incorporated into my Starry Sampler Quilt which is now at the hand quilting stage.

4.  Make quilt for daughter using her old clothes (Cluck Cluck Sew's "Scattered" pattern). Finished and gifted, but I used Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trip Around the World.  

5.  Make a string quilt from old shirts using one of  Bonnie Hunter's patterns.  Not started but still in the pipeline. 

6.  Join in with the Blogger Girls BOM on Open Gate Blog (using available scraps).  Same answer as #3.

7.  Make a mini quilt each month from Kathleen Tracey's books (using available scraps).  I've made five mini quilts, not all from the books and one is a mug rug, but I'm counting that one in this group.

Actually, I've crossed more off the list than I first thought, and I've made other stuff as well, including a baby quilt, a couple of bags, a dress and some charity blocks.

This week I'm really pleased to have made a start on my Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks.  I bought the book for Christmas and had been stashing away fabric from the Marmalade collection by Bonnie and Camille.  I bought some yardage and added some plains but realised that it would cost an absolute fortune to carry on buying yardage to get the  variety of prints I wanted, so I bought a Layer Cake.  As these are only 6" blocks the layer cake should go quite a long way and give me the variety that I want.

I've read up a lot about the making of this quilt, and a lot of the pitfalls.  I want to rotary cut as much as possible, and to use different methods for making the individual units, so I've started by drafting out  the blocks from the book onto squared paper and using my own measurements rather than the templates on the CD.  I'm starting with the simplest blocks to see how it goes, and not necessarily in order.  So here's what I've made this week.

#2 - Autumn Tints

 

#4 - Basket weave

Only two, but it's a start.  I'm only aiming for the lap sized quilt and as I've only got hand quilting on the go at the moment I want to get a few more under my belt before I start on anything else.

Molly and I are enjoying the sunshine whilst it lasts, so plenty of time is being spent outdoors playing, and I'm getting some welcome 'quiet time' when she's worn out and takes a nap.  These little blocks are ideal to work on during those breaks.

March Round-up

March has been a busy old month for me.  Trying to keep warm, an outing to London, endless times waiting in with Dad for people to come and survey and give estimates for work to be carried out on his house, a few WI meetings, U3A, Walking group, Book club, Craft club, Darts practice to get ready for the new season, grandchildren needing cuddling, oh, and I managed a bit of sewing, too.

Here's the list for March.

1. Scrappy Trip Around the World - blocks sewn together, batted and backed, quilted and bound.  Waiting to be gifted to eldest daughter for her birthday at the end of this week.  Ta-Daah! post here.
2. Swoon 12" block drafted and completed. 
3. Starbright 12" block drafted and completed.  
4. Two drawstring bags from two Ikea tea-towels.  Blogged here.
5. Five Star mini quilt drafted and flimsy completed.  Now waiting to be hand-quilted.  Not blogged yet.
6. Quilted Tote bag made yesterday as an extra gift for eldest Daughter's birthday.  Not blogged yet.

I still haven't started my Farmer's Wife blocks, and I don't think they will get done in April either.  I want to do a bit of dressmaking to get ready for the summer.  A few dresses for my granddaughter, and a dress for me from a length of Liberty Tana Lawn that I've had in my stash for years, but  I've just found the perfect pattern for.  I need a couple more 12" blocks in the red,white and blue colourway and then I can complete the top of my Combined 2013 BOM quilt. (I must re-name that project as I've used blocks from all over the place, not just BOM's).

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet

Ta-Daah!!!! - "Happy Days"

My Scrappy Trip Around the World is no longer a Work-in-Progress. It is Finished.  Completed. Photographed.  Ready to be wrapped up and gifted.  Re-named.   And ahead of schedule.  My daughter's birthday isn't until the end of next week.

The story of this trip started way back in the eighties, I suppose.  Having two teenage daughters and a limited budget meant that I made most of their clothes.  They were quite happy to wear home-made as I was able to adapt patterns for latest styles and fashion trends, and they always had something that nobody else would be wearing.  I sourced fabric in the sales, especially at Laura Ashley as they always had really cheap offers, and their fabric was extra wide, too.  When my husband was posted overseas for short tours with the Army he would go to the local markets and send me back lengths of fabric, too.

Fast forward to last Christmas when I was in the attic putting away the decorations.  I stumbled across a bag full of my eldest daughter's old clothes.  She lived with me for a year recently when she was between house sales and stored  some stuff in my attic.  I thought she had taken everything with her to her new home, but this bag was still up there.  I had a nosey and saw that the clothes were all cotton, mostly the ones I had made for her, and way too small for her now, so I brought them downstairs and asked her if I could cut them up for patchwork.  After inspecting them and having a few reminiscences about wearing them at university she agreed.  I took my scissors to a pile of skirts, trousers, shirts, tops and shorts and cut them up into usable pieces.

I then used my rotary cutter and managed to get just enough usable strips of the right length to make a large size lap quilt.

The dark navy didn't come from an old garment but from an old sheet, but I thought I needed something in each block that would tie the whole lot together.  Looking at other quilts on the internet I found that I was drawn to the ones that showed the pattern a bit more distinctly so used the navy across the mid diagonal as a constant in each block to show the structure more.

I wanted it to be a surprise for my daughter's birthday, and it has been difficult keeping this away from her eyes.  She comes to me most days for her dinner after work, so I've had to be so careful about putting it away before she comes in, even to the extent of emptying my scrap and thread bins into bags and putting them in the dustbin so that she wouldn't recognise anything.  I've been putting other bits and pieces out by the sewing machine so that she didn't think I was slacking on the quilting front.

I bought some fabric in Ikea for backing.  It's called Julita, and was only £4.00 a metre.  The batting is 100% cotton.

I quilted it in diagonal wavy lines across every other block and bound it in the plain navy.

The finished size is 73" x 49".

I've given it a new name:  "Happy Days".  We used to love watching the programme on TV way back when the girls were younger, and I think the name goes with the thoughts of the fabrics used.

I hope my daughter likes it.

A Finish and a Thank You

I admit that this doesn't look any different to last week's post.  Last week I had finished making the squares, but this week I have finished sewing them together.  A subtle difference.  Yes, I now have a top, just waiting to be batted, backed, basted, quilted and bound.  So, here it is, a sewn together Scrappy Trip Around the World flimsy.

I must now quickly put it away before daughter comes in for her tea because she still doesn't know anything about it.  I'll lay something else over the sewing machine so she doesn't think I've been slacking.

Actually, I haven't done much sewing this week.  Dad is a lot better, thanks to the glorious sunshine we had earlier this week, and has been getting out and about again, so I've taken the opportunity to start a bit of Spring Cleaning.  Well, a bit more like Spring De-cluttering.  I want to move all my sewing stuff out of my dining room and create a sewing room upstairs in one of the bedrooms, but that means I need to get rid of a whole load of other stuff that is currently in the bedrooms.  I've already taken four sacks of stuff to the Charity shop and sorted some more for a Car Boot Sale or eBay.  I've bought a load of stackable storage boxes to house my knitting supplies and for fabric storage.  Hope to have it completed by Easter so I can host a Family Lunch in my dining room.  Wish me Luck!

And now for the Thank You.  A couple of weeks ago I entered a Valentine's Day blog giveaway over at This Year's Dozen for a lovely hand crafted necklace, and I won!

It arrived today, and it is just the sweetest little necklace ever and I can't wait to wear it.  It fits my neck perfectly.  This picture is from Donna's blog as it is so dark here at the moment that my photo didn't do it justice at all.  I will get my daughter to take a photo of me wearing it later if it brightens up.

 Thank you so much Donna.  You are a really talented lady.

February Round -Up

I can't believe it's the end of the month already.  It feels like only a few days ago I was writing up the January Round-Up, but no, here we are, about to enter March.

It's been a funny old month sewing wise.  I haven't had as much time to sew as I would have liked, due mainly to my aged father being unwell and having to take him to doctor and hospital appointments and generally keeping an eye on him.

Here's what I've done this month:

1. One mini quilt started and completed  (blogged here).
2. One 12" block to complete the blocks for my 2012 BOM quilt (blogged here).
3. Six 12"  blocks for my 2013 Combined BOM quilt (blogged througout the month)
4. Ten 12" blocks to complete the blocks for my Scrappy Trip Around the World.

So, that's one mini quilt and 17 quilt blocks for this month.  I had wanted to make a start on some Farmer's Wife blocks but never got round to it.  Hopefully this month I will.  Hmm, I think I said that last month!

Linking to:

Small Blog Meet at Lily's Quilts

Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts

Scrappy Trip nos 15 - 19

It hasn't stopped raining at all today, but I have been snug and warm indoors sewing all afternoon.  I've completed five more Scrappy Trip blocks.

Only another five more blocks to go, and then I can join them all together.  This evening I'm going to sit and watch some TV and do a bit of hand quilting on this month's mini quilt.

January Round-up

So ends the first complete month of my blog, and I thought I would take a look at what I've achieved this month.  When I think about what I have done it doesn't seem very much.  I have spent a lot of time looking after my aged dad who hasn't been too well this month.  Taking him to hospital and doctor's appointments have eaten into my time, as well as the extra shopping trips for him, and let's not forget shovelling snow, and just keeping him company.  He's 88 and is generally quite active, and likes to get out and about, but his jaunts have been curtailed this month and it makes him grumpy.  Still, he seems to be on the mend now so should be a bit happier.

Let's see what I've done then.

1. Doves in the Window mini quilt (blogged here)
2. Little Red Schoolhouses mini quilt (blogged here)
3. 7 blocks for the 2012 Crafsty BOM (blogged here and here and here)
4. 14 Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks (blogged, here, here, here and below)
5. 5 blocks for the combined 2013 BOMs (blogged here, here, here, here and below)

In the last couple of days I've made a couple of Scrappy Trips, bringing my total up to 14, so only another 10 to go.  Here's what they look like so far.

I saw this block on Dizzy Quilts blog.  It's designed by Bonnie and Camille for the FQS Mystery BOM. and is called Lime Sherbert.  I copied it onto squared paper and made it in my combined BOM colours.

Here are the 5 blocks I've made for this quilt so far.  I'm rather liking how they look.  So glad I added the red to the Chambray Rose fabrics.

So, two completed mini quilts and 26 blocks for three different quilts.  Not so bad after all.

I haven't started any of the blocks for the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt so I hope to make a start on them in February.

Linking up with Lily's Quilts.

4 + 4 = 8

I've made another four blocks for the Scrappy Trip Around the World.  I'm glad I went with the constant plain navy for the middle line as I think it adds some definition to the pattern.

Three more blocks done

I found some sewing time this afternoon and managed another 3 blocks for my Scrappy Trip Around the World, before I had to pack it away, completely, so that daughter wouldn't see it when she comes in for her dinner.  I've even emptied my snips bin into the dustbin outside so she won't see any scraps lying around, and  I've placed another project by the sewing machine so she doesn't suspect anything. I hope I can keep up this subterfuge until I've completed it.  Only another 20 blocks to go!

Here's blocks 1-4.

Scrappy Trip Around the World

When I went up into the loft just after Christmas to put the decorations away I stumbled across a bag stuffed full with old clothes that I had made for my daughter when she went to university twenty years ago.  They were all made of cotton as she has sensitive skin.  My heart skipped a beat.  I thought there must be yards and yards of good, usable stuff there.  I brought them down and washed them to freshen them up.  I even tried on a few items, dresses, skirts, shirts, trousers, tops.  Daughter came and saw them and fell in love with them all over again.  She tried on a few bits but decided that it wasn't quite the look she wanted these days. I told her I intended cutting them up for quilting.  She said I should keep them for Sophie, my 5 year old granddaughter, for when she is older, but I managed to persuade her otherwise.  She said I could make a quilt for her, so that is what I'm going to do.

I want it to be a surprise for her birthday in April, but the problem is she comes to me for her dinner after work most days so I'm going to have to be really good and clear everything away before she comes in.  Yesterday was a Snow Day so she stayed at her own house so I thought it would a good time to make a start.

I cut and ripped everything into usable pieces, pressed them and then cut them into the 16" x 2 1/2" strips that I need.  I worked out that to make a 24 square quilt I would need 144 strips,  24 navy strips and 12 strips from each of 10 other fabrics.  I had to supplement the aqua strips on the end with some other blue floral fabric as I couldn't cut enough from the aqua.   This should make a quilt about 72" x 48", and with a border added to that, will make a generous sized quilt for lounging on the sofa.

I finished cutting late last night, but I couldn't go to bed without seeing what one block would look like so made one quickly.

I'm going to use the dark navy as a constant in all of the blocks, through the middle like this one, to give the pattern a bit more of a structure.  Today I'm going to get all of the strips sewn together in their strip sets and have a big pressing session at the end.