A good day of sewing

 I have had a couple of days sewing and I am very happy with my progress.

Using up some scraps and tidying up some baskets. 

This is where I am so far. 

I still have to sew the corner triangles. 

I have decided that this is big enough. I will do a scrappy binding. Very happy with this design.

Not sure where it will go but if I wanted to make another one in a colour way or larger it is doable..

It measures 56” * 72”

Now to choose a backing. I might copy the block and make it larger with a border top and bottom. Use up more scrap fabric…..

Why didn’t I think of this earlier

 Just a silly little thing came to my mind recently. I needed a new oven mitt and was going to make one. I was visiting my brother and the local shop had some on sale so I bought them.

I got home and ready to through them in the cupboard like I have done all my time living away from my mums. Stuffed in the cupboard with all the others.

What was I thinking. I had an idea to put some hooks on the inside of the cupboard door. Hang them up and they are always there when needed.

Such a simple fix that should have happened many years ago.

How I made my scrap block

 I’ve had some interest of how to make these blocks. So here goes…

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This is what is needed to make one 8.5" block

9 * 2.5" squares

1 * 3.5" square to be black

1 each black and white 1.5" * 6.5" strip

1 each black and white 1.5" * 8.5" strip

(Or you can cut longer strips, sew together then crosscut to size)

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Sew strips together and cut to 6.5” & 8.5” long…

Placement of pieces. Now let’s sew them together.

Sew the strips to 2 sides

Stitch diagonally. If you do another row of stitching 1/2” away towards the corner you will get a bonus block.

Iron over to check if you have covered the corner

All you need to work out what size quilt you want. Divisible by 8"

Ie: 48" * 64"
Is 6 * 8 = 48 blocks

Or 64" * 72"
Is 8 * 9 = 72 blocks

Cut away the bonus triangle and this is what you can do.

Making a crochet dolls bed and bag

 A friend had made all these teddies but the group she made them for ended up not wanting them. She asked if I had any suggestions. Well, years ago when my daughter was small I made these for all her friends when she was going to their birthday party. We couldn’t afford much so made a lot of gifts. The girls ended up hiding their treasures in them and really loved them. It was a good way to use up odd balls of yarn.

First up you need a large margarine container and cover the outside with plain paper.

Then crochet a basket for the outer and the lining. I used dc stitches and just continued until big enough. They are not exactly the same. Near enough is good enough for me.

Place one inside and outside of the container.

Crochet around the top edges to join them together

Make some sort of loopy stitch as a base row for a Lacey pattern.

Start the Lacey pattern. Anyone you like doing. It is meant to be loose and gathered

Then I made 2 twisted cords for the ties/handles

I also crocheted a mattress, pillow and blanket

Look how cute this is. Teddy is all tucked in to bed.

Fold up the frill and pull the ties. It is now a handbag to hide your treasures.

This took just over 100g of 8 ply acrylic yarn. Just use some scraps.

So now I am collecting margarine containers for her.

My weekend with friends and scraps

 I had a great and busy time over the weekend.

I saw a fun scrappy quilt on line and decided to have a go. A couple of friends came over to sew along too.

Sewing up our scraps into 9 patches, then making fancy blocks.

Doing the extra stitching row on the stitching and flip corners makes a bonus 2.5” square. Trimming them and making another pattern was exciting. I will end up with 48 or 56 squares depending how big I make my quilt.

Then we moved on to make a plastic front pouch.

I taught them how to make these using your own measurements depending on the fabric you have. It is done in a way that there are no exposed seams. Here are the 3 of them completed. Everyone was happy.

I made mine with a scrap of orange so I could link up with RSC .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2025/06/scraphappy-saturday-orange.html

Working with purple scraps for a mystery

 Our quilt group held a mystery quilt weekend. There was a lot of prep. I decided to use up some scraps. PURPLE.

I bought a new die with 1” intervals. Blue Wren Cutting Dies

It came with lots of cutting mats to use. You decide what size strips you want. 

Place the mats over the fabric on that line and your fabric will only cut where the mat is. It can be a bit tricky but I did manage it.

Putting my scraps through the cutter.

Lay the strips the other direction and cross cut to size.

Cut 503 rectangles to be cut. I’m so glad this worked well as that is a lot of cutting. This was so much quicker than using the rotary.

Chain piecing works good for a simple step and so many.

Need a new bobbin.

Strip pieces have been sewn together in Light, Medium and Dark order. We need to have 168 of these made before the weekend. As I wasn’t staying all weekend and only dropping in to find out the clues I could take my time doing mine. 

Now to trim and cut in half diagonally. 

Ready for the next step.

Pair opposite blocks together and sewing them.

All paired and sewn together. There are one or two blocks with the fabrics duplicated but I can cope with that.

Ironed and trimming happening

All blocks have been trimmed for the second time. 168 of them

Sewing all my blocks together. It took a few weeks to get to this stage. So much trimming didn’t do my wrist and arm good.

I have sewn all my blocks together. I should have used one constant fabric to show the design better. I am happy with the scrappy look. Now I have to decide if I want to add a border to make it larger or leave it as is. It measures 48” * 57”

This is how the pattern was supposed to show.

I have also cleaned my sewing room because I have 2 friends coming for 2 days of sewing. Plenty of room now. There is nothing under or around the table. I’m ready to work on another scrap quilt.

Machine maintenance time

Well, it doesn't seem that long ago I cleaned my machine but a picture tells a thousand stories.  

I opened the bobbin area to a mess

WOW, making my own felt

Sideways photo

That's quite a bit

That looks a lot better

And I thought that I haven't sewn much at all.

Now time for a new needle and off we go again.

My Brothers golf Placemat

 I used up all the scraps from the golf quilt and wanted a placemat for my brother. He liked the kawandi style one I was making when he last visited. 

This was made in May so doesn't qualify for my challenge this month.

I had enough fabric.

I draw the lines on with chalk. This way my stitching go straight. I also use 2 thimbles. The palm one helps push the needle through and the finger thimble also pushes as well as grabs the needle when it is tough to work through the fabric.

I'm getting close to finishing. Will I have enough thread?

I had enough thread. The Kawandi stitching is complete.

It was put on the table straight away and used that night.