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!

Journal

I have always been a secret stationery junkie.  

I discovered junk journals a couple of years ago and I have been experimenting with various formats and styles.  

Yesterday, I made this leather bound journal from a hardback book cover and my sons old sofa!  It is not finished yet and is something of an experiment, as I haven't decided if I want a hard or soft cover. It is stuffed full and functional though, with the various notebooks I use! 

A diary/ daily bullet journal/to do list; personal development notebook; study notebook (I am doing some free courses with the Open University);  general notes and to dos; quotes, passwords and reading list; daily diary, design notes. 

I function much better if I use paper to think and plan, rather than electronic media, the act of writing makes it stick in my memory better. 

I have used all sorts of scraps to assemble the junk journal inserts. It makes life more interesting and recycles old papers and envelopes #saveourplanet!  

Linus finish 2 this week

• Orphan blocks from trimmed crumb strips
• bargain backing with fun insects
• various odd strips for sashing and borders
• Green cotton free motion quitting on the front, shiny blue poly on the back
• pieced batting

Eclipse II

Another UFO done. This flimsy has been on the shelf for 10 years!!!

Applique detail:

• 10 year old flimsy from strings and crumbs
• pieced onto calico making it heavy (novice error) 
• 66 x 110"
• backing from economy buys in deep stash
• Mickey Mouse cotton duvet cover pre-made binding. 
• gifted pale orange and pale blue wavy line quilting on the front, dark cream polycore on the back. 
• appliqued motifs to cover split seams!
• heavily quilted to stabilise  the many seams as sits so heavy! 
• poly batting
• this will probably be a gift. 

***

I did a little more on the postage stamp quilt

 

 

Lots of reading this week. I finished the 1250 pages of 

I needed something lighter, so it was quilty chick-lit on my Kindle!

Now I am onto something more complex from a favourite author

Use it or bin it!

I had a sort out: dozens of batting trimmings and shirt pieces that weren't getting used had to go, but how can I part with it?!

The grandpup needs a blankie when he visits, so I pieced the batting into two cot sized sheets and appliqued the shirt parts onto them using a dense zig-zag. I have not used this function on my machine before so it gave me a chance to experiment with the density, neatness didn't matter too much for a dog bed! 

Back and front of both pieces:all the scraps, uglies and ends of poly thread used. 

 

 

 I will be sandwiching these two together and practicing McTavishing. Archie won't mind if it looks hideous and the quilting is dubious, he just loves his comfort.

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This week I quilted Eclipse #2, it has been pinned and waiting for a couple of weeks. It has been on the shelf for over 10 years waiting!!!

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Yesterday I finished the binding on this cot quilt that I did a month ago. You may think that the colours are a little dull for a baby quilt, but the blocks were orphans from Noah's mum and dads wedding quilt. Noah was I year old last week, so its a late birthday gift. 

• deep stash backing and borders 
• orphan blocks 
• quilted in the ditch in cream, then top stitched in variegated brown
• gifted grey polyester thread on the back
• border quilted randomly with circular eyelet function on my Bernina and stitched in the ditch

The double was hand quilted, I forgot to take a picture  of it finished before I gifted it! 

***

Today this cot quilt is done: I started using the bow ties I had sewn together incorrectly for this double flimsy, then added a few more........

• orphan blocks sewn together wrong!
• border fabrics bought recently for charity quilts
• deep stash backing
•  scrappy binding from backing trimmings 
• Quilted in orange cotton on the back, Gutermann variegated green on the front, in a false jigsaw pattern. 
• borders stitched in the ditch

This will need washing as I manged to bleed on the white border and Archie visited unexpectedly and put muddy paw prints on it whilst I was layering it!

I also did a few more strips for the postage stamp quilt.

Eclipse

• Eclipse is finished, 6' x 7'.
• crumb quilt that has been waiting for 5 years to be quilted!
• four different backings from the stash
• binding is a Micky Mouse cotton duvet cover 
• seven motifs hand appliqued, all from one fabric (useful!). Two of them were to cover poor seams, I had to add more to balance the design out. 
• wavy line quilted to stablise all those seams  with 0.33 miles of scrap threads in cotton and polyester. 
• batting is a 1/16" loft Hobbs polyester, bought in a sale

Hours of peaceful binding in the garden 

Linking for
 Move it Forward Monday
Oh Scrap!

Four finishes

• orphan blocks
• charity quilt
• border and backing from the stash
• binding from a roll I made up from 2 1/2" scraps some time ago
• quilted in my new quick favourite fake puzzle design
• white polycore on the back, Gutermann variegated green cotton on the front
• border top stitched with variegated red
• about 1m square

*** 

• orphan blocks
• charity quilt
• border and backing from the stash
• binding from a roll I made up from 2 1/2" scraps some time ago
• quilted in my new quick favourite fake puzzle design
• dark blue gifted poly thread on the back, Gutermann variegated green cotton on the front
• border top stitched in the ditch
• about 1m square

*** 

• orphan blocks
• charity quilt
• border and backing from the stash, white is recycled cotton sheeting
• binding from a not-so-neutral neutral, the border and backing are so busy this needed one colour.
• quilted in my new quick favourite fake puzzle design
• quilted with gifted mustard polyester on the back, Gutermann variegated green cotton on the front, a  YLI variegated green in the border
• about 1m square

***

• orphan blocks
• charity quilt
•  backing from the stash, white is recycled cotton sheeting, blue stripe is a cotton duvet cover
• binding from off-cuts
• quilted in my new quick favourite fake puzzle design
• quilted with gifted mustard polyester front and back: in the ditch in white on the border
• about 1m square

1/3

About 1/3 of the small flimsies for donation are quilted, eight.  I had a roundup and cut backing for the rest, they need to be gone!

Too many orphan blocks! 

Still to do: 

 Five larger ones here ready to go, for Linus.

And nine flimsiness here for Portage and Linus -there are another two 'moth in a window' flimsies to practice on in this pile. 

***

There are three small quilts in progress, quilting/binding stage. 

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One crumb quilt double to be layered, that needs to be done in the next couple of months. Lots of quilting needed to secure all thise seams. I will  be able to use up reels of gifted polyester thread on this. 

***

Two finishes, both about 1m square

• Broccoli backing  and green border from deep stash
• orphan blocks
• scrappy binding from backing off-cuts
• FMQ practice: variegated pastel orange and green on the front, cream polyester on the back (that was brave!)
• borders quilted in the ditch

*** 

• broken dishes blocks
• FMQ quilting in cream  polyester front and back
• scrappy binding from backing trimmings
• Border from backing trimmings

Roundup without curves

I have been working on hexies for the last month. Piccies later. 

 ***

I gave up on Perkiomen Daydreams as I wasn't happy with my accuracy on earlier blocks. I have pieced the finished  blocks into a cot sized flimsy, as cot sized people are no the quilt police! I will quilt this when I need a baby quilt in a hurry. 

 ***

I have started another postage stamp quilt, from the 1 1/2"  bin. I am not using this size, so I sewed some strip sets together and will sub-cut a few at a time- blocks of colour when I need a quick fix. Teenny bits help me with my accuracy. 

***

I have done a few of these flying geese strips, from 2" scraps in sets 1-8, again, to work on my accuracy. They will probably make a scrappy border for something. 

***

 

These two charity quilts are pinned and ready for quilting, all orphan blocks. I have several filmsies of the moth blocks in this size, I am practicing with the fancy stitches on my Bernina before I quilt the king size version! 

This one is part quilted. 

Much more to do to shape the moths.

 ***

A charity quilt finish today, about 1m square.

This one was frugal:

• Backing was a new gifted polycotton duvet cover
• Many shirts were harmed in the making of the blocks
• All the thread was gifted polyester from my dressmaker mum's stash
• The stripy border was a charity shop cotton duvet cover
• The white border is recycled cotton sheeting
• The scrappy binding is made from off-cuts from previous quilt backings 

=happy!

Cutting corners

Literally.

And thousands more to go!  

Triangles. I see them in my sleep. 

***

As an antidote, I have finished this ten stitch blanket from scraps.

 

It is a double, that will be a car/picnic blanket. 

It took 2 years on and off, 1/3 million stitches! 

***

The next on-off scrap blanket is this one....

It is really interesting to knit, no seams as it's knit as you go and grows quickly. 

***

The clipped triangles are still being made into broken dishes blocks for a friends housewarming quilt. I am making the more random sets into pinwheels for charity quilts

A couple of hundred to have the seams spun, then be pressed, about the same still to piece. 

***

I sewed the crumbs up that I had made from cutting mini broken dishes blocks, as they were all from 2" strips and easy to sort.

The crumb strips join the three sacks of  string and crumb strips waiting to be trimmed down for a crumb quilt and piano key borders!

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