Bits and Pieces

I’m a bit behind in posting… I made Teena a ‘name’ pincushion at the same time I made mine, but it took a few days to get to her. I started with the paw prints fabric and built the colors from there, using a design from Leila Gardunia’s ‘Year of Scrappy Triangles’. So many fun FPP patterns - definitely going to make more. 

Decided to fight the winter doldrums with some ‘mermaid tail’ hair. Don’t love it as much as last year’s violet locks, but it’s definitely fun and cheerful. 

I bought a Fitbit to monitor the usual stuff - steps, bp, O2 - but the thing that has me fascinated is the sleep monitor. I don’t sleep well, haven’t for years. I’m slow to fall asleep, wake up often and get my best rest between 9 and 11 AM. But with the Fitbit I’ve stopped worrying about whether I’m asleep or not (everybody does that, right??) and I’m actually getting more shut-eye. So weird, but I’ll take it!

Rachel decided to do the 100 Days Project with me. Hooray! It’ll be a lot more fun with an art buddy. Hopefully she’ll send pics I can share along the way. According to The Google, since we started on February 22, 100 days will take us to June 2.

 One day done!

Matt and Mary are in their last week before leaving for S. Carolina. 

A few of the indoor plants they are taking to SC. They both have very green thumbs

The movers come on Thursday and if all goes well, M & M will head out with the dogs and reptiles Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. 

 Left over outdoor plants after they filled up our front yard.

Donovan figured out how long he would be in the car if he rode with them and voted to stay with me and Pop. Smart boy. 

 Part of their ‘inheritance’ - passing along furniture and glassware I inherited from my mom.

We’ll fly out with him the second week of March, giving Mom and Dad time to get things unloaded and unpacked. Looking forward to seeing their new place.

Wayback Weaving

One of the buried treasures I found in the last round of move-my-stuff was this small-loom weaving I did in a workshop at French General in… 2014. (Here)

The original intent was to make a pincushion - it only lacked having the tails woven in - so I ironed interfacing over the side tails to hold them in place, 

glued a small piece of Soft and Stable to the backing to (hopefully) keep pins from sticking me through, sewed it up and trimmed off the yarn tails - no weaving-in required!

Turning it right-side out was tough. It’s so small - only 2x4” - and the fabric so thick, I couldn’t do it by hand. Hemostat to the rescue! It was still a chore but it worked. 

Stuffed it with walnut shells, glued and hand-stitched the last side closed and voilá! Another tiny pincushion for my collection.

It’s lumpy and bumpy and not very tidy - it was definitely prettier as a flat weaving - but I like it and it’s useful. Bonus - it brings back some truly great memories. 

Cushions and Critters

I planned to make myself a ‘name’ pincushion… eventually, 

but I found this flower fabric while digging thru the scrap baskets and….

couldn’t resist. 

The FPP pattern is “Rectangular Economy Block” by Thimbles and Needles in the 3x6” size. 

Definitely going to make another, smaller, one soon. So easy and fun. Gotta use up those pounds of walnut shells!

Leo and Jaclyn now have chickens 

and rabbits. The bunny on the right reminded me of butterscotch, so that’s what they named her. 😍

Donovan found a friend while on a home-school field trip. 

They found a cave, crab, octopus and more in the tidal pools. 

So cool, even if he had to leave his new buddy behind. 

Petite Pretty Pincushions

I took the selvedges I mentioned in the last post and made… 

See the fussy cut fish on the top ‘thread’??

pincushions! 

Teeny tiny little 3” thread spool pin holders.

Back of “Debbie” - love Laurel Burch!

The pattern is “Quilty Friends Quilt Label Block” by Happy Sew Lucky

which I reduced by 50% (because I’m crazy…)

“Debbie” is made from sales samples ⬆️ ⬇️ somebody gave me… 10? more? years ago.

Both the top and bottom pieces are lined with Pellon SF101 light interfacing for more structure. (Also hoping it keeps the pins from sticking out the underside. Ouch!)

I redid the top of “Reyna” three times - could not get the thread lines to look straight - before throwing in the towel, ripping out the center section and remaking the rest. Annoying but worth it.

They’re stuffed with crushed walnut shells and the smallest bag I could find without paying the ‘craft tax’ was 4 pounds. Anybody want a pincushion or six?? (Craft tax - prices per ounce are significantly higher because it’s smaller amounts for crafters. 😡)

Once stuffed, I glued the last section of seam shut (note for next time: genius idea!) and ladder-stitched it together. Would I make these again? Heck yes - but maybe just a bit bigger. 

More notes for next time: add borders so the spool design is more prominent; leave off the zig-zag bit under the name tag-don’t need it; use 60 weight thread and a size 70 machine needle. 

Placemats

Decided to try my hand at quilted placemats, based on this photo…

Pulled a bunch of orange fabric (and added more half way through)

to make the FPP flying geese, 

then based the size/dimensions of the mats off that. 

They look nothing like the inspiration but I’m pleased with them.

This one’s my fav

I also found some half-finished/leftover bits from past projects and they’re becoming placemats too.

Going to see how many I can make in the next couple of days, then spray baste and start quilting them on Sunday. All will go to the quilting guild for donation to Meals on Wheels and other groups.

Also, Tangled 1 and 2 are enjoying their visit to the quilting spa. Hope to have them back late next week. 

Small Hemingways

Jac and Leo both requested a small Hemingway pouch (and by ‘requested’ I mean they were arguing over which of them got to keep the one I made for myself … 😜)

Leo’s pouch

so I gave Jac the one I’d already made ⬇️ (she’s very excited about the narwhal on the back)

Jac’s new pouch fits her phone with room for other treasures 

and made another for Leo,

Leo’s lining fabric

letting her pick the fabric and the zipper pull color. 

I think that’s the end of my Hemingway adventure, for a while at least. I sure do like that pattern.

L to R: mine, Cyrus’ and Rachel’s.

Three iPad holders, two small pouches and one tiny bag, made from a cutoff scrap, that I’m keeping for myself. 

Still have a couple more cutoffs but I’m going to store them away for now. Maybe they’ll come back out for gifts around Christmas? Something to think about….

Hemingway the Third

This may be the last one for awhile

since I need to do stuff to get ready for our trip*. 

But I’ve definitely got the bag bug and have my eye on a few different projects… for when we get back, of course...

This one’s for Rachel who sent me this 

when I asked what colors she liked. So pretty.

Using my pink iPad for size testing

It’s different from the brights and jewel tones I gravitate towards, 

so I’m always nervous I’ll get it wrong and she (or whoever) won’t like it. But then I’d get to make another one - which I enjoy - so it’s all good. 😜

I played around with making a little bag from the sliced off piece from my iPad bag…

Left: small size bag from the pattern. Right: 4x7” bag from a leftover scrap.

smaller is definitely harder. I gave up on enclosing the raw edges - too much fabric in too small a space! 

I think it looks fine and I’ll definitely find a use for it, but questioning if I want to make more. I really hate to see those pretty little quilted pieces go to waste though….

* Hubby started packing 2? 3? days ago - we leave on July 19 - and I’ll probably do the laundry and start packing a bit in July 17. Very different philosophies - and stress tolerances. 😂