Isolation Charity Sewing - Part 2

Covid Isolation charity sewing didn't end with the baby quilts I told you about last time.   I made pillowcases, too, and I shopped my stash for them!

Rocket City Modern Quilt Guild donates homemade pillowcases to children in foster care through North Alabama Foster Closet.  I brought home some precut kits from our Charity Committee Chairperson and put these pillowcases together.  It was fun to do some routine sewing without using a lot of mental energy.  And by that you know I mean there was no dreaded math involved.  

I pulled these fabrics from my stash so I could make a few more.  I had bought them specifically for pillowcases on our last vacation.  At Hubby's insistence (I know.  I got a good one!) we always stop at local quilt shops when we travel.  I don't really want to add to my stash, but I want to support Local Quilt Shops, so I buy fabrics for pillowcases.  By choosing three coordinating fabrics and buying 1 1/8 yards of each I have exactly what I need for three.  

Another thing I like to do is get geometric, contemporary, or floral prints.  Not all the children in foster care are toddlers, after all. Those pre-teens and teens need some love, too.

 

I also used up some stash on a few charity quilt flimsies.  One was just a fun pattern I bought online.  "Color Pop" from Annie's Craft Store was the perfect design for all those brights I've been saving for .... well, for I don't know what!

This one was a sew-along with some online quilty friends.  

Hmmm, I guess I don't just buy plenty of brights; it looks like another favorite of mine is bright-on-black prints!

A simple "Turning Twenty" top .....

..... and a "Disappearing Nine-Patch" finish up the charity projects.

I did a little gift quilting in the way of aprons.  Corgis for my DIL (yes, we have a corgi grand-puppy!) .....

..... and a Christmas apron for my sweet friend, Denise.

This "Four Corners Apron" pattern from Vanilla House Designs goes together quickly and makes a nice gift.  Maybe I need to make one for myself!

Isolation Charity Sewing - Part 1

During the Covid isolation I didn't just sit around doing nothing.  Well, actually I did for the first six or seven months.  Once I came out of my funk I did get into my sewing room.  I managed to make several charity quilts for Project Linus to be donated through my guild, the Rocket City Modern Quilt Guild.

First up are two super simple quilts I made from my stack of 5" brights.  I have so many children's prints, novelty prints, and brights that every once in a while I cut up a bunch of them into 5" and 2.5" squares.  It really comes in handy having a ready supply when I need to whip up something in a hurry.  

I inserted a small yellow border to give it a little interest and used yellow for the binding to end up with two really cute toddler quilts.  

I did a few virtual sew-alongs with some online friends during isolation, and this was one of our projects.  It's a simple "Economy Block" (or as someone who didn't know that once called it "a-square-in-a-square-in-a-square block").  

Look at some of these cute fabrics!

Next up is another virtual sew-along using the "Beads" pattern by Donna Jordan.  I wanted to use some of my Asian fabrics on this one.  (Gotta bust that stash whenever I can!)  

This basic block set on point results in a really nice pattern.

Leftovers made the backing special, too.  

 

The last charity quilt I made during isolation was this "Easy Does It" pattern by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio.  I used even more stash on this one.  I bet you're not surprised!

I had fun seeing how many scraps I could use in the backing.  I do love a challenge!  I started out with this .....

.....and ended up with this.

So that's it for the quilts.  I did a few more charity projects but I'll save those for next time.  See?  I told you I'd be back!

Linking up with Tish's Adventures in Wonderland and So Scrappy

Getting Back on Track

When I left you almost 2 years ago (can you believe it?) I never dreamed the Covid crisis would keep me away this long.  I certainly didn't think being in isolation would keep me out of my sewing room for over six months.  It should have been the opposite, right?  I should have been sewing up a storm (as my mother used to say).  Alas, motivation is an interesting thing.  Its appearance has been pretty random around here.  

Right before I took my blogging break I had been doing "A Little Housekeeping" in my sewing room.  I recovered my ironing board and design wall and sorted through and organized all my scraps.

The next part of my housekeeping was just the simple basics.  First, cleaning and oiling my machine, and wow, did it ever need it! 

Next, cleaning up threads.  I have a great thread catcher right at my elbow .....

..... but it seems that when you throw threads at it instead of putting them into it, they end up on the floor instead. Huh.  Imagine!

Do you know what happens if the floor is covered in threads and you don't sweep often enough?  The wheels on your chair stop rolling because they're bound up in thread and snippets of fabric!

I'm not even going to tell you how hard it was to clean up that mess.  Let's just say it involved scissors, tweezers, and a lot of time.         

It wreaks havoc with your socks, too!

Once my sewing room was cleaned and organized I felt more like sewing.  Next time I'll show you everything I accomplished afterwards.

Oh!  One more thing!  When you clean your sewing room I would advise you to sort through your trashcan before emptying it.  You never know what might have ended up in there after it fell off the cutting table.  Yikes!

Now that I'm back (AND motivated) I'll see you soon.  I promise!

A Little Housekeeping - Part 3

A freshly covered ironing board, a newly covered design wall, and now it's time to sort and organize scraps!  My scraps have been stored willy-nilly for a very long time.  Well, forever, actually.    

Some in stacking drawers .....

..... some in plastic bins .....

..... more in plastic shoeboxes .....

..... and even more in plastic, bulk sized Biscotti containers.  (I know!)

When I pulled all this together into one place I wondered if I really knew what I might be getting into.  What I was getting into was a tangled mess!

I pulled out all the reds and began pressing .....

















..... stacking .....




















..... and cutting into useable sized pieces.  

Piles of odds and ends .....


























..... soon became strips .....


























..... and more strips .....

..... and a lot of squares to make much better use of those storage drawers and bins!  Well, at least they look better.

Small, neatly cut and pressed pieces went into ziploc bags to either use or share.  (Ummmm, want some?)




















The local thrift store soon became the happy recipient of storage containers for some other quilty scrapaholic!

I'm seeing progress, aren't you?  What do they say about how you can eat an elephant?  Oh, yeah - One bite at a time.  lol

Hmmmm, what to bite off next?

A Little Housekeeping - Part 2

If the condition of my ironing board was awful my design wall was almost as bad.  Ever since Hubby helped me make my design wall, about fifteen years ago, I've kept it covered in flannel, and it's always worked great.  Then, for some strange reason I no longer recall, I decided (when I moved into my new sewing room) the flannel needed to be covered with batting.  Who knows? 

That turned out to be not such a great idea.  Blocks refused to stick to it for very long, but stray threads seemed to love staying put and were almost impossible to remove - even with a lint roller!  And it got so saggy that I eventually got frustrated with it and finally decided to tear off all that uncooperative batting.  

Happy surprise!  The flannel underneath was still in good shape! 

I forgot to take "in the process" pics, but this is what it looks like "after".  Quilt blocks even stick to it.  What a concept, right?    
  

That turned out to be a big improvement and well worth the housekeeping efforts.  Next up - scraps! 

A Little Housekeeping - Part 1

I think my winter funk is almost over.  The sun is coming out once in a while, and the days have been a little warmer. I've been sitting in front of my Happy Light every morning for a little boost, so there is hope!

I've managed to get a little housekeeping done in my sewing room, and was it ever needed!  

My ironing board had certainly seen better days.  (That's putting it mildly!)

















Well, to be honest, it wasn't actually ripped, but it didn't take much effort to do that.  And it made for a better photo op, so there's that.  I took the "well worn" muslin off down to the heat resistant layer.....  

.....and pulled out my bolt of muslin.























Once the new muslin was stretched around the board I got to work with my handy dandy staple gun and tacked it down.







Ahhhhh!  Much better, right?  Kind of makes me want to sew.  Or should I keep it clean?  Nope!






















I'm very happy with my fresh ironing board.  Hmmm, what to do next?