Hand Piecing Bedside Table Project

I finally found a use for the edge strips of batting that I have been so reluctant to toss out. Another hand project! 

I piece wider strips of batting to use in Linus quilts. Ever frugal, I feel the batting is so expensive (I buy a bolt) that I'm reluctant to throw anything out.  These little gems are made from scrap users system  2 1/2" x 4 1/2" pieces, with (at the moment) an old polycotton sheet that was my mums, for backing: I'm going to vary the backing  as I use things up and throw in the odd surprise to add interest. Always scrappy! The blue stripe is an old shirt. I anticipate a lot of odd stuff will find its way into this quilt. 

I have decided that quilting isn't necessary as the batting is caught by the stitches as I sew the borders down around the edge. 

You can find the basic instructions for this  quilt as you go project at Stitch with Rachel on Youtube. I'm not using the template, eyeballing is working! 

There is a little stash on my table for bedtime bingewatching: I don't do sitting still at all. If I have to fidget, it may as well be productive. 

I'm using an EPP whip stitch to join the blocks with strong quilting thread in pale yellow, it blends with the cream backing and it was the best option in the stash.  The Aurifil thread I'm using for the piecing won't be strong enough.

I use silk pins with small heads to hold the sandwich as I stitch. Small quilting needes are better as the thread sometimes catches on the pin heads, but I don't want to drop teeny needles in the bed at night when the lighting is poor! 

I started joining the first two rows yesterday.  I couldn't face another tub of stuff accumilating, so this one is continuous assembly. 

It has been heavily overcast here, sorry about the dull photo quality! 

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Linky: Finished (or not) Friday

Rainbow Scrap challenge

Oh Scrap!

2024-the Year of the Finish #2

My phrase for last year was 'the Year of the Finish'

It went reasonably well, 27 craft projects completed. I only started one quilt (which meant so many added to the list! ). 

I am continuing the theme this year, focusing on getting quilt tops together, so at least I know where I'm at and I won't be overwhelmed by tubs of projects. 

Here are some I completed last year. 

This puzzle quilt was on my bed during the winter. I made it from leftovers from another one, pictured below. Using a neutral as an alternate block made assembly much easier. 

I finished this little table topper chess board from precut 2 1/2" squares. 

This was a housewarming gift for a friend. I love the pieced backing, lots of orphans and offcut backing strips. 

This 100" square quilt was my granddaughters first big girl quilt. Made from 2" strips. She insists there must be another like it somewhere in the world! We play I Spy with it. 

I made and yarn bombed lots of jellyfish, they are mindless TV projects. 

I love this decaying harbour, it has so much character. 

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I am still ironing strips and assembling crumb quilt squares, made form over 10 years of bits and pieces.  

I KEEP FINDING MORE!

All the orphans and scraps will make lovely crumb quilts, which I would love to use as backing. 

I am trimming to 10" squares. 

It's definitely something I should have been working on regularly, instead of stuffing the strips into tubs! 

This weeks audiobook is a free Librivox reading of Anna Karenina, on Youtube

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Project Linus

Another Linus finish. 

Not the best picture, the colours are brighter in real life! 

These orphan blocks have been languishing for over 10 years, they were a first try for background fabric. I felt the seagull fabric was too busy and too dark for a big quilt. 

I recently had a sort through and decided they had to be used or go, so now they will cheer up a poorly child, hopefully. 

I like the seagulls and their dinosaur relatives in juxtaposition. 

The border blues came from my scrap users system stash, the binding is scrappy. 

It was quilted with gifted polyester thread. 

Hexies

The Random Hexie has about 30 more to go and the top is done! 

I did a lot last week whilst watching the snooker. 

I haven't counted yet, but I recon there are about 4000 hexies. 

Finished pic soon! 

Busy year, but still sewing!

Thank goodness for sewing, its got me through a tough year! 

 I have logged my finishes on the 'finish' tab.

This is a little of what's been happening in the last couple of weeks: 

I have so much scrap yarn-this is my busy bag project, blanket squares for Project Linus

There are about 200 done, clipped into sets of 10, not enough to start making blankets yet as the colours are too varied. 

The next batch  of scraps  is ready for use. I have my mums yarn stash that was used for Linus blankets now, I have to use it somehow. It is impossible for me to sit and watch TV with nothing in my hands so it will be knitted up eventually. I even took my bag to an open air theatre event: there were some strange looks, mostly as I was watching the play, not my knitting!  I would have been too self conscious to knit in public a few years ago, now it has to be done. Idle hands and all that...…... 

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I made 64 railroad tracks blocks from my 2 1/2" strip stash. I had lots of muddy neutrals that were not moving from the stash, which I paired with darker shades. the blocks came out really well,, I will be keeping this one for me! 

There are lots of other blocks made with the leftover cuts from this project, more of that in the next post. 

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Leader~ender blocks are coming along, broken dishes made from the 2" string bin.

I cut  up a lot of fabric that would never go into a design of mine normally, use it or bin it! 

Also some four patches from 2" strings. I have enough of these for a queen sized quilt now.

I need to browse some designs that include random four patches for inspiration.

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This is the second sandwich I have quilted this week.  The pattern is Bonnies Garlic Knots, from 2" strips. I loved the pattern, but using the white sheeting for a background was too stark for my taste with the dark 'knots', so this is one for Project Linus, boy themed with rhinos. I find that many of the Linus quilts I make end up a bit girly, so I went with these little grey tough guys for a border. 

The binding wont be sewn down for a bit, I like to do that in batches in the cooler weather. 

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This little darling came into the family on Valentines Day

I am going to be looking after Ellen one or two days a week. 

She already has too may blankets! 

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Use it or bin it 2

 I have been knitting. This will be a long jacket, made in one piece: I have borrowed the construction method from gansey knitting. No pattern! I have put it away until it's colder as sitting with this on my lap is like a double knitted blanket! 

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 I have about 250 scrappy nine patches sewn up, I used half of them to make this 'I Spy' dancing nine patch, perfect border fabric bought at a bargain price! Yet to be quilted.....

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Leftover blocks from 'Sisters Square dance': a table runner, twelve table mats and an occasional table cover/mugrug.  Just four finished and bound so far. 

 The original: 

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Still chugging away at the random leader ender 1 1/2" finished triangles.

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Twelve Linus quilts and 10 blankets are ready to go. Mum knitted the blanket strips and  my daughter in law and I crocheted them up.

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 I sewed up hundreds more pairs of 3" finished triangles, ready for .....something! All that pressing, all those dog ears to clip! 

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Some more quilters tinsel made with stitch and flip clippings!

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Garlic Knots: I just could not like this pattern, I would have thought this regular chain piecing project would be fun.  Nope. Tried several variations: I may come back to it in brighter colours someday; meanwhile, the blocks will be put to use, two Linus flimsies. I like the stitch and flip corners for sure and I think I like it better set on point. The contrast between the dark knots and white background it too much.

An ugly, to be put down to experience!

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 Mum gave me her 201k, bought at a boot sale 20 years ago for £16, model from 1950s. 

Oiled, up and running: very clean inside, unmarked paintwork, outside needs some attention. 

The 2 x 3 1/2" brick bin wasn't getting touched, so I sewed them all together to see how she runs: VERY fast and very quiet! I have a Bonnie pattern in mind for these. 

 I also raided the 2" and 3 1/2" squares to make these blocks, very scrappy. Love how they turned out! 

 I had an incident with this little blighter, chasing it round for 5 minutes! 

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Then I tackled the crumb bin, making  strips for the next crumb quilt, mostly from mis-shaped triangles. Must get a bulb!

Then the strip bin: these will be cut down to 10" inches  after pressing. I made a serious mess! 

I also started on the 1" strip bin, use it or bin it! This is work in progress. 

This is the quilt I made with crumbs and strips last time: Eclipse 1. I gifted it as a surprise to a sick colleague and his wife a few weeks ago, with instructions to spread it in the garden and stay until he recovered!

Some serious mindless sewing done in the last two weeks to take my mind of real life for a bit, I am so grateful for this hobby! 

By the way, I have a rotten camera on my phone!

Postage Stamps

A while ago I decided that my original piecing for Perkiomen Daydreams was not good enough to continue with for a large quilt: I sewed up completed blocks into a cot size.

I may try one of these in a different colour set in the future.

So, I needed work on my piecing accuracy. It's not bad generally, but with 1" finished pieces the 1/16" and 1/23" errors quickly add up.  I had cut lots of 1 1/2" strips from all the ugly fabric I came across, but was not using it. I spent several hours running strip sets through the machine this week and have cut and stitched the strip sets in batches.

The pieced strips are 105" long.  I have played with the assembly, four, eight, six and random patches so it doesn't look too uniform. 

I am keeping back two of each symmetrical four patch I make for future projects, as I would never cut this much variety for one or two quilts.

I am working on 25 patches now to use up part Perkiomen rejects.  

All of the uglies have gone in here! 

Just about had enough of this fix now, it will go away for a bit as I have two large tops to quilt. My accuracy has definitely improved in the last week working on this. 

3,465 of  11,025 1" finished squares in the completed strips so far, with partials done as well. Almost 1/3 done!

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