Little Women quilt

If you've seen very many of my quilts, you'll know I definitely don't stick to a single fabric line when selecting fabric. It's not my style. I like quilts to be unique, to be me. Sometimes, it doesn't work out. This time, I think it did.

Last fall, I went to Garden of Quilts at Thanksgiving Point with a friend. It was great, I had a great day. There was a small vendor area, and a local shop had a booth. They had a sample quilt with a kit for sale and even though it's not my usual style, and I really don't tend to go for kits, I just couldn't help myself! It was an economy block quilt with Little Women fabric by Jill Howarth. 

I very quickly determined it make it larger and drove to the local shop, about 25 minutes from my house. I was delayed about a week because I got really sick, and by the time I got there, they didn't have much fabric from the collection left. I intended to purchase a bit more of the focal prints to help make it larger. I ended up ordering some from Hawthorne Supply Co, one my go-to online shops. And of course pulled a bunch of fabric from my stash. 

When it came time to cut, I decided to make the economy blocks a bit bigger than the kit pattern, and I used a tutorial by Diary of a Quilter for the math.

I think I didn't get the layout perfect, I have clumps of darker ones, and sometimes the blocks aren't spaced as evenly as I'd like. Overall, though, I'm pleased with it. I backed it with coral minky and I think it will become a fast favorite of my girls. I ended up with another wavy binding, even though I was careful and I'm beginning to think that maybe it happens mostly with minky backed quilts...if that's the case, I'll just have to suffer through wavy bindings because I love minky just too much. Consequently, I have four little girls myself and relate to the Little Women story, so this quilt feels special. 

Fabric Friday Week 31: July 21

I had hoped to get some fabric friday posts scheduled before our trip, but that did not happen. I was just too busy getting ready, and even things I had hoped to get done around my house didn't happen. It's okay. We got the important things taken care of, we had a great trip, and we made it home safe and sound. I try to be safe since this is a public blog, even though I don't think anyone is actually following along, and didn't post details about our trip before because that's just not safe. It's not good for strangers to know when your house will be empty or when and where you'll be...so, I was vague, and I did schedule posts of projects I finished up for while we were gone so it would look like we were still around, maybe...not that anyone really pays attention here, but still.

So, we took our four girls on an adventure in France and London! We de-jetlagged in Paris for a few days before picking up a rental car in Rouen and driving to central Brittany where we did a week long moving on bike tour. It was hard and beautiful and lovely and I feel so accomplished. Hopefully the girls do too. After, we had a rental house in Brittany for a week, and then also briefly in Normandy before ending in London so we could see Wicked and Back to the Future (highly recommend!) and then arrived home again on Sunday. It was long, and I'm glad to be home, but there were some really great moments too.

So, a new bundle! I chose to start with a fabric I bought at Liberty in London from their sample sale. So, no selvage. It feels more like quilting cotton than their silky cotton lawn, which is just fine for my purposes, and after I asked for half a meter I instantly regretted it, but also reasoned that it really is plenty for me. It's the light blue with trees. I added in some other colors and I think it's a pretty decent combo. I also paired a similarly colored print from From-Frou in Paris, the one with lemons. It was fun to pick up some new prints in Europe and they feel extra special, especially the Frou-Frou ones because I can't buy them here. Odds are, I could probably find the Liberty prints, but the Frou-Frou are harder. 

Scrappy Sampler

I have returned from our long trip across the pond and am still sorting out jet lag, bah. I hate jet lag. This time has been especially rough, for some reason. Not sure why. We had a fantastic time, I got to do just a bit of sewy tourism when I stopped at Frou-frou in Paris and Liberty in London (and took in lots of inspiration in tile floors and colors, etc...) and I picked up a couple of UK sewing mags in the airport before our departure flight. Maybe I'll share more of that later, for now, I have a quilt I finished up a few days after we got home. 

I had picked up two quilts from my quilter a few days before we left, but didn't have time to bind them before our trip. I did have time to pick out binding fabrics, and I thought I needed to buy matching thread for one, but I ended up using some from my thread box luckily. 

The first one I finished is one I've blogged about before, here and here. I started making these sampler blocks way back in 2016, many of them from the Sampler Shuffle that was coordinated by Pat Sloan. I supplemented with some blocks from a Summer Sampler and some other traditional blocks, and then I had plans to try my hand at free motion quilting it on my domestic. I sashed it with a magenta from my stash that wasn't quite the best match but I didn't care because I knew it was a first go at FMQ and didn't expect much. I got the backing ready, and then it just sat. And sat. And sat. For years! I didn't really want to quilt it myself, and so I never made time for it. 

A few months ago, I was clearing out a drawer and found it and decided it was time to make a decision. Finish it or get rid of it. I opted to finish it, but it was really small because I was going to quilt it and wanted to start with a doable project. I'd say, crib size. I don't do crib size. So, I took it apart and then made another few blocks and made a bunch of hourglass blocks to set them with. That made it lap size, and I took it to my quilter, and here we are. The end! 

Haha okay, not really. What else about this quilt...well, I made it from scraps, in a narrow color scheme. I think most turned out pretty decent, some I really love. I'm happy to have this UFO done. I didn't realize it was as old as it is until I went looking for when I started it and realized it was 7 years old. I think I've been in a clean out mode, lately, I'm not sure why. But it's been really gratifying to use up fabrics I don't want anymore for scrappy backings, and to finish off spools of thread from my thread box, Which I did for the binding. And the backing on this quilt, consequently. I just didn't think of it initially because I did the backing months ago when I took it to my quilter. 

Scrap Pouf

I saw the free pattern on Closet Core for a scrap pouf and immediately wanted to make one. I've become somewhat self-conscious about my fabric waste over the past few years, and I've tried a few different things to mitigate all the waste. At first, I looked into recycling the scraps. I already try to be very judicious and save in my scrap bin anything usable, but that can get out of hand, and there's always something that gets cut off. Eventually, I learned that a local food pantry that takes donations also advertised that they could reuse or recycle textiles, so a few times, I dropped a bag of unusable scraps off, and included worn out kid socks and undies and things. But it was hard to verify that they actually recycled, and I felt a bit bad about that, saddling them with my trash. A friend told me about H&M's textile recycling program, but at the time its as paused for covid...and then I found this free pattern for the pouf and thought it would be a fun way to use up some scraps and upcycle unusable scraps. 

It came together pretty quickly, and the only changes I made were to fuse interfacing to the pieced center instead of interfacing individual pieces, and to make the side taller. I didn't think a short ottoman was what I wanted. I think interfacing pieces might have been smarter, but I don't think it turned out poorly. And, when I made it, I was at a sewing night with friends and had my serger out but not my domestic, so I only serged the seams. This turned out to be a bigger error, and I had to repair it. Which is why you're getting a blog post, honestly, since I actually made it a while ago. I reinforced the seam that burst, and did so with a shortened straight stitch and an additional pass with the serger, and then I also reinforced the top seam as well. 

While I was at it, I decided to try to restuff it. I've had problems with it not holding its shape and I worried this was because I used lighter weight material, although I think it wasn't forbidden in the pattern. I had already sewn up a sack for scraps using an old piece I no longer wanted, and I put that inside so that if I ever needed to wash it, or change out the scraps, they would be contained. But, there were also a whole slew of worn out kid socks I had just stuffed in there. I opted to remove the socks and old clothes and will take those to H&M to recycle next time I'm in the area, I'm still using that service for worn out clothes. I reserve the pouf space for fabric scraps. I'm saving up for my next pouf (and hopefully I'll have more luck on my second go!) but I also added a bunch today to fill it in. 

So, to help with the shape, I stuffed more scraps in, and tried to shake them down into the pouf. Then I pulled the excess fabric of the sack up as much as possible and instead of just knotting the end like I had, I took a long selvage and tied it around the base as tight as I could.

 SO, I hope that without much space to move in the sack, it will help the scraps keep their shape a bit better. So far, it looks promising. Fingers crossed! A word to the wise: a scrap stuffed pouf is HEAVY. Mine is all the heavier because it's taller, of course, but even still. Packed full of scraps, it's heavy. Just in case that wasn't obvious. :)

A New Two Zip Hipster

I wasn't planning on making any bags anytime soon. Bags aren't always my favorite thing to sew; any bag worth it's salt (well, most of them, anyway...) has a zipper and other hardware. I have a lot of zippers and hardware in my stash because I'm picky about them and buy extras whenever I need to buy some to maximize shipping and to make sure I can sew when I want without waiting for hardware. Plus, I tend to make the same patterns, or similar enough patterns, that I know what sizes of hardware I need. I buy my hardware on Etsy from Bag Maker Supply, who has a great selection, great quality, and good pricing. They have really professional looking stuff that makes bags shine. Anyway, the point is, sewing zippers and hardware aren't my favorite part. And, some parts of bags get awfully thick with layers of fabric and interfacing (also not my favorite...).

So, I wasn't planning on making any bags anytime soon. But, I switched out one day to my two zip hipster which I don't use very often because the linen I used is starting to wear on the top (grr...) and I remembered how much I love that size and style. And, then I saw an instagram post (can't remember who, sorry...) and they used a pair of worn out jeans to make a bag. But the real kicker was a few days later when my husband needed to discard a pair of dockers he'd worn holes in. We were rounding up bags of worn clothes to recycle at H&M, and I pulled them out, remembering the IG post. 

I still didn't have any intention of making a bag anytime soon, but then I found myself between projects. I'd finished my trip sewing, and I was waiting for an order of fabric before I washed a bunch for a quilt project. But I didn't want to just...not sew. So I decided a new two zip hipster from old, worn out dockers was just the ticket.

This is the leftover fabric after I harvested all the usable fabric...plus the zip and the buttons which I'll save for other potential projects.

And it was. I opted to use some of a hoarded Alison Glass panel for the front focal print, and then I used Alison Glass fabric I had for the interior as well. I had a hard time deciding on a lining fabric because I sort of wanted to use the pink floral that I used for the interior pocket for the whole interior, but I have already used it as a lining in a bag. The turquoise works great, too, and I really love how it turned out. I think the yellow zips are great, and I think overall, the bag turned out better than I expected. I'm really excited to start using it, and I hope it will be more durable than my beautiful linen one that I'm trying to not overuse. 

The two zip hipster pattern is by Dog Under My Desk and I absolutely love her patterns. They're more like tutorials with all the photos and detailed instructions, they're well-tested, functional, and she takes care to minimize bulk. I highly recommend her patterns. The only change I made was to NOT add as much interfacing. I did not interface the twill fabric, since it's pretty thick as it is (at least where it's not worn thin from years of wear...). I think that's it. I did use the sew in interfacing, because even though it's thick fabric, it's surprisingly flexible. Or whatever the right word is. I wanted just a bit more structure. I'm pleased with the end result, so I think I made the right call. I was really worried about the strap being too thick if I interfaced it, and I think it's just right. 

Travel Pouches

I always think I can just whip up a pouch and it will be totally fine. And when I'm not careful, I'm inevitably disappointed. They are simple, but they do require a bit of care and finesse. Case in point, one of my twins wanted to make something for my sister, just randomly. I figured I'd made enough pouches to help her through it without re-reading instructions, and we just went for it, using the zipper length as a guide for how big to cut the fabric. 

I neglected to topstitch the fabric next to the zipper, though, so it tends to get stuck...

See, just a bit of care. 

The other day, I had an idea for a travel solution. I want to take a some loose silverware on our trip. We'll be doing some picnicking, I'm sure, since it'll be easier with kids, but also we'll be buying plenty of pastries and I'd love to enable sharing by taking a butter knife. I looked at travel sets, but the knives look pathetic, and I realized that they're just smaller utensils in a zippered pouch, often made of silicone or similar. I realized I could easily make a pouch, and I have some oilcloth, and then use some old silverware.

I couldn't find my old silverware, but I was able to buy some really inexpensive silverware from Wal-Mart. We're talking 3 knives for $1.25. Cheap.

But I was nervous about making the pouches because I needed them short and long. And I didn't have a pattern for it specifically...and oilcloth is trickier than quilting cotton...

I measured the knife, and then used Sotak's Essential Pouch for loose directions. I didn't make a contrasting bottom panel, and just went for it. 

The first one turned out okay, but not great. I used a metal zipper, which I think look so great generally, but it was obviously an exact length and I think would have been better 1/2" longer. The second one I used a regular wide purse zipper, and I also made the boxed corners just a tad smaller. I think it turned out better. And now we have two, one for gluten free silverware, and one for non-GF silverware. Obviously, utensils can be washed, but they'll go in the pouch unwashed after use, which would contaminate the pouch. So, two.

I also tried to make a small coin purse. I found a great yoga style security waistband that you wear under your clothing, and I thought it would be more secure to keep credit cards in a pouch that would be less likely to fall out. It's pretty secure, but I haven't used it yet, and I can just see a slim credit card getting pulled out by mistake and misplaced, which is the exact opposite point of the waistband. So I used a tutorial from Sotak Handmade for a small coin purse. I found some coordinating scraps and it went together really quickly.

The only hiccup was the very end when I turned it out and needed to sew the opening closed. She had you baste the inside panel all the way around and then add the exterior panel and leave an opening for turning. I didn't see any point in basting, so I just went for it, but that meant both the interior and exterior had holes  that needed to be closed. But what really didn't make sense to me in reflecting is that she had the hole to turn on the exterior. I think it would make more sense to have it on the interior. If I make another one, I'd try that.

It's also a tad small for a credit card...but it's nice that it's so small, I guess? I am undecided on whether I'll take it or not. Or make a slightly larger one. *shrug* I am very worried about pickpockets this trip; Europe is reportedly more crowded than ever before, and I'll have four children I'll be trying to keep track of and manage. I'll be pretty distracted, which makes for a prime pickpocket target. So I want to protect myself as much as I can. We'll see! 

Scrap Quilts: Irish Chain Edition

I have far too many scraps. And I'm not very good at using them, not really. My problem is that I save pieces that are far smaller than I should because I *might* use them. I do, on occasion, use excessively small pieces, but not super often. Another problem I have is hoarding those scraps. If I have a large-ish scrap and I need a smaller piece, I'm loathe to cut it down if I cut off a large but not large enough piece, because then that piece I'm cutting off is wasted.

Yes, I have a problem. 

So, as you can imagine, I have a lot of scraps. I wanted to do a scrap quilt just as a quilt instead of my usual leaders and enders project this year (I have a great one going right now that I think will turn out so good!), and I saw a simple Irish Chain quilt in a monochrome color way with low volume scraps on Instagram somewhere. They're not groundbreaking, of course, so it could have been anywhere, but I think it might have been on A Crafty Fox, she has a lot like that. And I think Diary of a Quilter has a tutorial...

Anyway, I decided to wing it, because I know how to sew nine patches. And  I did it in aqua. I opted to sew with what I had, so some got sewn as strips and then subcut, and others got sewn together as individual squares. 

Against my better judgement, I decided to alternate the nine patches with single squares of fabric. I should have sewn nine patches together with just low volumes for the alternate squares, but in my head I thought that might get too busy. However, I think the way I did it is too plain. It did make it quick, though! 

I don't love this top. (It is fully sewn together, now, I just didn't get a pic of it while it was daylight before I folded it up and delivered it to the quilter...so you'll have to wait until it comes back!) AND, somehow I still manage to get blocks mixed up as I sew rows together. I ended up with a couple of background squares way too close together even though I did lay it out before I started...weird. I mean, weird that I clearly haven't figured out my method for getting rows to my sewing machine in order, even though I totally think I have, and I've been sewing quilts for a lot of years by now. Oh well, that's what seam rippers are for, eh?

I exclusively used scraps for this top, and I decided to use a piece of Anna Maria Horner fabric that I was given for the backing. It's a turquoise and it doesn't really match my aqua tones super well, though there are some that are a fair enough match, and it has yellow and red and pink and citrine flowers in sort of stripes. I didn't think about lining up the stripes before cutting and luckily I was able to flip one piece around and have it work out well enough...sigh. But, the backing was FREE, and I'm all about that for a scrappy project, lol