More repurposing, plus a small giveaway

 Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a really good week. For me, we are barreling towards the end of the semester, and it cannot come soon enough. I can't wait to delete Zoom. And now that I've said that, you know it's never going to happen, right?

These past couple of months when I was too stressed to stitch, I still spent some time in the sewing room, sorting and deciding what to do with projects that I had started and not finished. Some will get finished, but others have been repurposed. (Like this one HERE.) I've pulled out some English paper piecing projects that are not going to be finished and I'm repurposing them into other things. Here is one of them:

 

I've shown these big hexies before, but I've never really figured out what to do with them. Thanks to ideas from a couple of quilty friends, I've decided to make these into a runner for a narrow table. And I'm only stitching it once, because this is already layered and basted, with the hexies pinned in place. If I stitch right over them, I'll secure the hexies and quilt it all at the same time. Works for me! 

This works for me so well that I decided to do the same thing with the bouquets that I also made using English paper piecing:

 

These turned out just lovely by themselves, but they're not going to be a big quilt, so I decided to quit while I was ahead and applique them onto this vintagey-looking print. This will make a nice table topper or something, and heaven knows we have enough tables. I'm still pulling out the papers from the back of the bouquets and pinning them down. These are taking a *lot* of pins so that they don't slide around. I'm actually considering some spots of glue. We'll see how frustrated I get.

 

And then there are these lovelies, which I haven't decided how to use yet:

 

I'm sure these will get a similar treatment. Do you think I could just applique the whole thing down to a larger piece? Or would I have more success appliqueing just the edges? 

All of these projects, while lovely, have convinced me that English paper piecing is not for me. I enjoy making the individual hexies, but putting them all together feels like a chore. If you don't feel that way, have I got a deal for you! I've decided to give away the unopened EPP papers that I have, in various sizes:

 

All of these are really nice papers, but they aren't doing anyone any good sitting there in a project box with no project ever coming. If you are a person who does EPP and enjoys it and could make good use of these papers, leave a comment below and I will use the random number generator thingy on Monday morning (May 3, if you can believe it!) to choose someone at random to receive these packages. Then I will pack them up and send them to you absolutely free of charge. A win for me because I don't have to store them any more (or feel guilty about them), and a win for you because now you'll have a new project or two! Hurray! (This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Carol in Canada!)

So that's what's happening around here! I'm hoping to have another finish by the end of the week, but it just might be my class instead of a quilt, because I am so ready to be done, and the students are, too. Until then, enjoy this picture of another scraggly azalea that bloomed in the backyard. I guess the deer haven't been snacking on these!

 Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone!

And then the lights went out

 Hello everyone! Hey, are you all covered in snow? We are, and it's freaking me out just a little because it's been so long since we've seen it. The snow is also complicating some excitement I've had in the sewing room recently. I have flourescent lights in there-- or I had, at this point-- and I lost two out of three of them one day last week. They just stopped working, which was not welcome at all. We had planned to change out the lights in there to some LED lights anyway, so we called the electrician and he came out and started to switch out the lights. But, you know, "the wires are really old" and "these really aren't wired correctly." Long story short, still no light, and power in only part of the room. The wrong part, of course.

And then came snow. And some other people have electrical problems from the snow. I have hopes that my lights will be all fixed this week, but I really have no basis for that hope. More wishful thinking than anything.

Meanwhile, there are things I should be working on but am not, so here's a very short update. First, there is this little block:

After seeing so many really fun starts on the Stay at Home Round Robin, I decided to jump in and make a smallish donation quilt. I started with this block cut from a panel, which started out at 11 inches. Then I was supposed to add piano keys for the first round, but I was starting late, so why not just use a nice stripe instead?

It worked great, and I even mitered the corners so it looks extra special. This is now about 16-1/2 inches square. The next round is plus blocks, but of course the lights went out before that could happen. I've actually never made a plus block, so I want to have as much light as possible before I try. I see that the next one is up, too, and it's flying geese. Oooh, I actually have an idea for that! 

So that's going along okay, and I'm also working on  the Bokeh quilt along with Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl. Here is my fabric:

 

That's a surprise, isn't it? I almost never use solids. I have a project that I started a long time ago in solids and I'm not sure that I'm going to finish it. We'll see. For this, though, Bernie at Needle and Foot put together some kits for her shop, which included a print for the curved portions. This was a great idea, and I chose a print and some coordinating solids (with Bernie's help on the solids.) I think this is going to look spectacular. I did start cutting after I took this picture, so when there is power again I'll be ready to start on step one of the piecing. You can still join in if you'd like, too!

The only other thing I have right now is these hexies: 

 

In my ongoing repurposing spree, I've dug these out, cut them apart, and finally admitted that they are not going to become anything else. I have enough to make a narrow table runner, which is nice because I happen to have a narrow table just right for these. I'm going to stitch them to a piece of backing by machine and be done with it. Any suggestions for the backing color? I thought I might stitch them about 1/4 inch apart, so the backing will show.

Okay, that's what I have for now! Keep your fingers crossed that everyone who needs it gets their power back so that I can get some lights back. Otherwise I might have to haul the machine up here and settle in at the dining table. Unfortunately, the only person that would annoy is the hubs, and he can be very annoying in return. Or just in general, you know?

Everybody stay warm and dry! 

Sharing at Midweek Makers.

Scrappy snow day

Hi all!  Buried in snow yet?  Yep, we've got a bunch--about 10 inches-- so far.  Not sure when it will stop, but I have a bunch of things lined up to do, including making brownies.  Hey, I've got to keep my spirits up!

I just have one thing to show today for Scrappy Saturday:

These are about half of the blue hexies that I've basted from the many scraps that I've been cutting.  These are big, 2 inches on each side. And no, I did not cut hexagons!  I just had squares (and to be honest, I got a little lazy and some of these are just pieces of fabric in no shape at all) and folded them around the paper hexies.  Here's how they look on the back:

I'll trim the seam allowances as I stitch them together.  The seam allowances won't be perfect, but cutting hexie shapes takes way more time than trimming away the seam allowances.

So, I'm not really sure what to do with these.  Right now I think I might make a block of each color and then join them all together at the end.  I don't think I want another month-to month project, and I'm not sure that I want blocks of hexies.  Maybe I'll just mix them together and stitch them together randomly.  I can't decide.  Anyone have an opinion?

Okay, I just did the math and that's a lot of hexies.  Probably breaking it up into blocks is the best idea, because otherwise I'm likely to be left with 500 loose hexies and no quilt, and that would be very sad!

Hope everyone is warm and dry this weekend.  Stay in and sew!  The snow has a way of melting eventually if you just leave it alone. . .

Guess I'll stay in!

Sharing at soscrappy for RSC16 and Oh Scrap!

Tiny little finish

Hi everyone! How are you today?  We just got back from yet another trip, this time to a professional conference.  I don't know who decided that January was a good time for a get-together, but clearly they did not have enough work to do to get ready for a new semester. Or any consideration of the weather, because it can be a nightmare sometimes.

Today I have this little tiny finish to show off:

They're refrigerator magnets!  Aren't they cute?  I made these when we were in the car going to the conference. They're just little one-inch hexies sandwiched together with a magnet in the middle.  For some reason, when we moved all of the refrigerator magnets got lost.  Between you and me, I blame the hubster, but they weren't valuable or anything so we can forgive him.  Besides, these are way cuter.  But very hard to photograph!  I tried to get a picture on the refrigerator (where they live now) and this is the best I got:

Stupid shiny surfaces!

To give these a little body, I used up a scrap piece of Peltex interfacing that I found in one of my scrap bags.  No idea why I had it, since it's a very stiff interfacing that I think they usually use to make bags and such.  Anyway, I just traced the hexie shape onto the interfacing and cut them all out.

These could have been used as poker chips, they were so stiff.  Then I just wrapped some squares of fabric around the interfacing, basted the corners, pinned them together in pairs, and then whip stitched the edges together.

When I was on the last edge, I slipped in one of these little magnets, that I think I got for a dollar:

Stitch up that last edge and all of a sudden you have some very cute magnets for the fridge! Here's my advice, though--pay more than a dollar for your magnets!  When we got home and I went to put these on the refrigerator I discovered that the magnets weren't strong enough to hold them to the fridge through the stiff interfacing.  I had to open up the side and add bigger magnets.  Thankfully, they stick now.

That's my "big" finish for now.  Classes start on Thursday, so wish me luck with that! It's going to be a good semester, I just know it.  Hope you all have a good week too!

Sharing at Linky Tuesday,  Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Oh Scrap! and Finish it up Friday.
 

Hello again!

Hi folks!  I am insanely happy to see you all again! We have had a wild ride for the last couple of weeks, including a literal wild ride from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania that included a night in a hotel where they forgot to tell us (and a whole bunch of other folks, too) that they were shutting off the water at 5 am.  Just ponder all that that means for a while.  At least we weren't as bad off as the families with kids!

Here's the other part of the wild ride--we are STILL in a hotel and will likely be until Monday, which is the day classes start.  My first impression of PA has not been really welcoming, I'll tell you.  I've never been asked to prove I'm not a criminal so many times. And, yes, I know your horn works.

Anyway, in the middle of all this chaos I was missing my machine so much that I finally asked if it was okay for me to use the breakfast room at the hotel for a couple of hours.  No one cared, so I whipped up these:

These are friendship stars for the months-long swap I'm doing with friends.  These make me so happy! It felt so great to sit at the machine again. It's like I have my soul back or something.

In addition to these happy stars, I've been working on some hexies and some hand quilting.  I have no pictures, though, so I'll try to get some for next time. 


Just so we have some more pictures, here is a very good thing about Pennsylvania:

This campus has flowers everywhere.  I've been scouting out good quilt-picture-taking places, which is something I didn't have on my last campus.

And here's a gratuitous campus picture:

Very collegiate, no?  This is the view from my side of campus, and every time I see this I think "I'm Batman."  Clearly, I need to settle down and remind myself that I am a very serious scholar.

Anyway, I'm back, and it feels so good! I may have a little trouble posting on a regular schedule for a couple of weeks, because at some point we will move in to a rental, but at least I am working on something other than moving.

Oh, and here's another thing that happened while I was away--this post became the most popular one I've ever had, with more than 3,000 page views for that post alone!  Somebody want to clue me in to what happened there, or did Blogger have a glitch?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Everybody have a great sewing week.  I'm going to try to sneak in some more time in the breakfast room, and something really fun may come out of that. 

Linking to Let's Bee Social, and WIP Wednesday. and Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Put your feet up

Hello everyone! Today is a happy day--the last day of the fall semester! Okay, not officially, but it all gets a lot better from here. There is still grading to be done, but this one is just about in the archives. College kids should be arriving home any minute. Bet they'll need a nap!

With all the tumult this week, I only finished this little piece:

Cute, but remarkably hard to photograph!

This little seat is just an unfinished wood piece that I got from the big-box craft store, then painted white. The hexies are made from some scraps I had, then cut and hand-stitched together. I quilted the hexie piece to a muslin backing since that part wouldn't show.

I used almost the same upholstery technique I used on the little pressing station I made. I glued a small piece of 1/4 inch foam to the seat, then covered it with an extra piece of batting and stapled the batting to the bottom of the seat. Then I just tacked the quilted piece on, stretching as I went.

I am pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since there was very little time invested. This little footstool will live in our family room where there are a lot of yellow and blue quilts. It will fit right in.

Herbert seems to like it!

I also worked on the candy pieces row for the winter quilt. I decided to take Rachel's advice and use half-size spacers between the "candies." The math worked out okay; I just had to add one extra candy to make the row long enough.

It's about 4 inches by 58 inches, which makes it really hard to get a picture of the whole row. I promise that you'll be able to see it better once it is sewn to the rest of the quilt.

Everyone have a great weekend. There will be some Christmas shopping on my agenda, plus my local quilt shop is having its holiday open house. Sure to be festive all around!

Linking to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at crazy mom quilts. Stop by and get inspired!

Basting and prepping

(Today's post is a bit late because we're having "Internet connectivity issues." You'd think they would have figured most of this stuff out by now.)

Have you ever taken any hand sewing out with you and worked on it in public? This weekend we went to the ballpark and I took a hexie project with me to stitch on during the game. I really like baseball, but four hours sitting at the park? That's a LOT. I got pretty far along on this project:

I had the rosettes made and joined them up with the white hexies during the game.  As you can see, I worked on it in two pieces because the bigger one just got too big to handle in that tiny seat. People kept making comments (mostly nice comments), and the only real problem I had was that it got all wrinkly and a little dirty because I was crazy enough to take white to a baseball game. I should know better.

In case you ever want to take your sewing somewhere, here is the best tip I ever got: thread a bunch of needles on to a full bobbin, like this:

This way you don't have to try to see to thread a needle and can just pull off a length and the needle is already threaded. This and a pair of tiny scissors and you're all set! You can tape the thread end to the bobbin, but I just wound my thread back on and it stayed just fine. A zip lock bag is a good idea, though.

Today is basting and prepping day because later today and tomorrow I plan to quilt up all the little projects that I have laying around waiting to be quilted. This weekend I cleaned up in the sewing room (I even vacuumed!) and there were more than I thought, so it's time to get those finished up. I don't have a fancy quilting machine, but I do have this:

 

This was my mother-in-law's machine that I inherited when she passed away last year. She bought it new in 1968. We miss her terribly, but this machine is a fantastic gift that she left for me. This is the best machine I have ever sewn on. Really. It has a perfect stitch and is a joy to use. And 8 inches of throat space! This is a lot of space in comparison with my more modern machines. The only thing that I don't like about it is that it weighs about a thousand pounds. Okay, only 33 pounds. It's all cast iron and not really what I would call "portable." But the great sewing on it more than makes up for that one problem.

This is one of the quilts I'll be finishing up:

(Ironing board shadow in the corner!)

 It's about 45 inches square. To get it ready, I am basting it to the backing and batting. I only pin-baste when I have very small (less than 12 inches square) things to stitch, and I never use basting spray. I don't want glue in my quilt. The pins are. . .well, I just find them a mess to work with. They're hard for me to put in and harder to take out while sewing. I just don't like them, so I hand-baste using a big needle and hand-quilting thread to make big stitches, like this:

I think you can see those. It's a big running stitch made about every 5 or 6 inches across the quilt. The hand-quilting thread is easy to take out and you can sew right over it. Hand basting is easy, but it does take some time. I think it's completely worth it, though.

So, that's what I'm doing today. I have at least 7 projects to prep, so I better get started! Hope you're having fun, either in the sewing room or out in the sunshine!

Linking with Connie at Freemotion by the River and Judy at Patchwork Times again. Come on over and take a look!