Patch Maggie

October rocked!

Apology: Last post I talked about asking the Happy Helper to help me get .... into the family room - but I didn't proof read my post very well. He helped me with the table tennis table - my sandwiching table - and I've now pinned the music quilt. It fits lengthwise but not across, but the clamps do a good job of keeping one half steady while I pin the other half. I love it for pinning quilts - as do my knees and back.

I use clamps to keep the quilt taut on the edge where it hangs over, and the usual masking tape to tape the quilt backing to the table around the other edges. After I pin half the quilt, I then pull it across, re-settle the second half, taping and clamping, and pin it. For the music quilt, I used a pattern learnt at a workshop with Sue Mathews back in 2003. There's a photo of the quilt I made in that workshop.

I finished making the crocheted rag rug. I didn't make a great job of it really, but it will do fine for the floors. Too many rows had been done when I realised that I was losing stitches at the ends of rows. I certainly don't know how to crochet properly! So I Googled how to solve that problem, and to fix the trapezoid effect, crocheted along the ends - as if it was meant to be like that! Very organic but it will do. And I now know what to do to make the next one a proper rectangle. The whole thing didn't take many nights in front of the TV to finish, so that's also a bonus. Now I'm sewing instead while watching the box.

Needing more basting pins a week or so ago, I dropped in to the big box sewing store (an hour from us) and bought 220 pins - 60 silver quilt basting safety pins and 60 smaller gold quilt basting safety pins. The gold pins are great but the silver pins are awful. They wouldn't slide through the fabric and batting like the gold pins did, and I ended up swiping them through my beeswax block before basting. That helped but it still wasn't great. So cross was I, that I wrote a review about the pins on the big box sewing store's website. Hopefully that will help others avoid these pins. I'm cross that I wasted $30 and my time buying these pins.

Here's the wool quilt basted with those pins.

This is a DREAMI quilt. (Drop Everything And Make It) I really shouldn't have started another quilt, but we're meeting up with a friend this coming weekend and I had in mind a quilt to make for him, out of the wool and tartan scraps I have on hand. Since we leave today and I only finished basting it last night, he won't get the gift this weekend. However, it is closer to finishing and I will hand it over next time I see him.

The blocks are about 9.5" square and the blocks are 5 x 6. The fabrics are from two lots of wool scraps. One lot I bought from the Albury woollen mill (now closed) back in 2000 or so, mainly lightweight wools in plain colours. The other lot of tartan scraps was from an Edinburgh woollen mill, bought in 2014. I've had this person and quilt in mind for years but just haven't got around to making it. It will be a heavy quilt so I didn't make it too big. The backing is a piece of cotton fabric just the right size, from my stash.

So I've basted three quilts in the last two weeks and will spend time in November quilting them. Hopefully that will mean three finishes for my November post.

October 2022 fabric tally

Finally I have an answer to the question "should I include the rag rug fabrics in my monthly tally?" I've decided yes, since I'm making something new from the fabric, even if it is recycled. My rules, remember?!!

Finishes in September are: recycled rag rug - 2 x fitted sheets 90 x 190cm = 2m (close enough);

Fabric used: - 2 m Fabric acquired: + 0 m
2022 fabric tally so far: + 29.75 m

Rock on October!

Mending! So many small mending jobs were done earlier this month. T-shirts, leggings, the Happy Helper's uniforms, underwear - all sorts of things needed repair jobs, big or small. My philosophy is to repair before throwing away, if at all possible. No photos of this sewing room work though. It isn't very interesting. I mended one pair of leggings and wore them once and they gave way somewhere else! I think they are now past wearing, sadly. I may have to buy some new leggings for next winter.

Then I got on to the real sewing! 😆 Half way through the month, and I feel as though I've had a good time in the sewing room, despite no actual finishes. I made a backing (about 96" square) for a large music themed quilt, which I hope to get pinned this coming weekend. As long as the Happy Helper can help me get into the family room, ready for use.

Finally finished piecing the wall hanging for Kaye. I've had to fudge lots of the seams in it, as it was such an organic build. Lesson learnt: do measure more and plan better. Just growing as you go along, is a bit too improv for me. However, I figure the fudged seams will quilt out. Any really dodgy bits I'll sew a button over them, or some pretty braid.

When I felt like doing some mindless sewing that wasn't mending, I did a couple more blocks for my scrappy trips quilt.

And I've been making scrap blocks as leader-enders while doing other sewing. These blocks are pieced from 1.5" x 2.5" rectangles, so they don't end up very large, just 6" finished. But they will make a good charity rainbow quilt when finished. I will probably put it together with sashing and borders so it could be a reasonable size. I sorted out the drawer of this size into colours; not sure how many blocks they will make. If the pieces are no good for this quilt, I will use them in a Chinese coin type quilt. Although a small container, there are a lot of pieces in it, so I reckon I will have enough blocks for a decent sized quilt. This will be a long term project, when I feel like doing it.

I spent some evening time in front of the TV with old sheets, stripping them and making balls of yarn. And I started on a new crocheted rag rug for the kitchen - a rectangular one this time. Don't look closely at my crocheting! It isn't my craft of choice. This piece is 94cm long and about 22cm wide so far. The light colour is actually a green. It looks blue on my laptop.

No fabric tally this post as it isn't yet the end of the month. This makes me think "should I include rag rugs in the fabric tally?" Something to ponder before I finish this rug. Probably shouldn't as I didn't actually buy them as fabric. However, I did buy them as sheets. Is it ethical to include them in the tally? Questions!

September's textiles

September was a write-off - for sewing - as I was overseas for three weeks. But it was still textile related - a textile tour of Morocco, with nine other like minded souls. I really enjoyed the trip and Morocco itself, however there wasn't enough textiles for a nineteen day trip - to my mind anyway. It was a cultural tour, with some textile bits included.

While in Morocco, I purchased a "little" bit of fabric - two large pieces of stripey fabric, not actually yardage but I will use it as such. I have a tunic top in mind for the blue fabric. It feels like it may be rayon. And a number of pieces of embroidered linen from a women's embroidery cooperative in Midelt. Their work was such high quality.

Also in Morocco, I purchased a hall runner rug, in the "map" design from the southern part of the country. The rug is 2.7m long. And I picked up a few other textile bits and pieces.

Blue rayon thread on the bamboo bobbins they use; two sizes of knotted thread buttons - one set of all blue, and a bag of multi-coloured ones; and a sample of sfifa braid.

In Fes, we watched Bouchera demonstrate how she plies the threads, makes the sfifa and finishes it by damping it and flattening the braid with a bone tool. The sfifa was knotted using her fingers, with the thread in a cat's cradle arrangement. I've done a quick search online but couldn't find any demonstrations of how it is done, but a cat's cradle is the best analogy for it. The sfifa braid is applied to women's kaftans and men's jellabas, usually around the neckline and down the front, with the knotted thread buttons there as well. Bouchera makes the braid to order, working with the tailor or seamstress making the garment it will decorate. Depending on the complexity of the braid, it can take Bouchera over an hour to make one metre of braid.

I did visit a couple of patchwork shops in Australia in the last month and purchased 5.5m of fabrics - most on special. None were for specific projects but filled a gap in my stash or just looked pretty.

The white looking one is a very useful tone on tone, great for backgrounds. The top two are fat quarters for kids' quilts. I only paid full price for the FQs, others on special.

September 2022 fabric tally

Purchased 5.5m of patchwork fabrics. I'm not counting the Moroccan fabrics in my tally! (MY rules.)

No finishes in September.

Fabric used: - 0 m Fabric acquired: + 5.5 m
2022 fabric tally so far: + 31.75 m

Not much done in August either!

August was another slow month for sewing. My right leg was the infected one, so I couldn't use the sewing machine for several weeks. And my brain was pretty tired earlier in the month, so I didn't want to do anything that might require thinking!

Here is Kaye's wallhanging as far as it got to, before I became sick in early July. Not even the top is complete, as I still have a couple of sections to sew together. I am still mulling over how to back it, with or without a binding, and the hand quilting will also take a while. Since I missed Kaye's birthday, I will now aim for this as a Christmas present! It is approx. 110cm x 58 cm.

I did finish Cheryl's second mallet cover - a quicker project now that I have the pattern worked out.

This photo shows the three mallet covers I made - the first one was a very scrappy prototype. The other two are fairly bland, being a black fabric, and are for two different sizes of croquet mallets. Cheryl seemed quite pleased with them.

Cheryl had also asked me to finish a blanket for her daughter. Before she passed away, Cheryl's mother had been sewing Girl Guide badges on a blanket for Cheryl's middle daughter. I was happy to finish sewing on the last of the badges, as Cheryl is not a sewist. There were about 40 badges to sew on, of various sizes and shapes. The blanket is a stretchy knit fabric and was a pain to sew on. None of the badges would line up neatly! But they are all on, and it is an honour to be asked to continue the work of Cheryl's mother.

Other sewing work done in August included much mending - trousers for the hubby, my backpack strap, worn patches on one of my favourite tops, and a couple of the tops that I will be wearing on my September holiday needed minor repairs as well.

Our much spoilt cat, Mish, now has a new place to sit and survey her world. Hubby made the stand from scraps in the garage and painted it white. I made a cushion filled with scrap bits of fabric, and a zippered cover for it. This sits on the top shelf of the stand. Mish seems to like it.

Since I will be away for three weeks in September, don't expect great things from me in the month! I have high hopes for October though. Mmmm, I think I said that about July - back before I got sick. I do have to get sewing though, as I need to get that 2022 fabric tally down quite a bit more. It would be nice if I could use up all the fabrics that I purchased this year.

August 2022 fabric tally

Finishes this month are: croquet mallet cover = 1/4m fabric; cat stand cushions = 1/2m fabric.

Fabric used: - 0.75 m Fabric acquired: + 0 m
2022 fabric tally so far: + 26.25 m

My time away in September is in a place with lots of lovely textiles. Will my purchases count towards my fabric tally in September? Time will tell. 😇

Achievements in July

Covid and then a bacterial infection in my leg slowed down my sewing in July, sadly. I had planned lots of sewing as my paid work had eased off a lot. Not to be however!

A friend asked me to make a cover for the head of her crochet mallet as the one she had wasn't to her taste. With much trial and error (do not attempt complex measurements when recovering from Covid), I finished two - my trial version and the final one. She would also like me to make a cover for her smaller mallet, used for gateball - a form of croquet. That is half done at present. I didn't want to make bias binding in her preferred dark colour until I had the cover right, which is why the trial version is quite bright and varied. The idea with the cover is that it wraps over the top of the mallet head, with a space for the handle. The Velcro will keep it firm. I sewed the round ends on with the seam on the outside and then covered that with bias binding. Hopefully Cheryl will like them.

My friend's birthday is in early August, and because I've been sick, her wall hanging is much neglected. I'm hopeful of finishing it to at least sandwiched stage by her birthday. Fingers crossed!

Bonnie Hunter's scrappy trip around the world pattern has intrigued me for some time, as it seems to be a great way of using up scraps. I've made nine blocks so far - laid out on the table - and hope to make another 15 to get a decent sized quilt. When I look in my 2 1/2"strip box, I am pretty sure I will have no trouble making those extra blocks. Some blocks I've made using individual 2 1/2" squares, other blocks made from 6 x 2 1/2" strips joined together in a tube. I'm still not sure which method I prefer.

I try to cut my scrap fabrics into useful sizes and keep on top of the cutting so that I'm not overwhelmed with scraps. Initially I included 1" squares in the scrap cutting but stopped that as they're too small. However, I had a bunch already cut so I'm using them as leader/enders for other sewing with a view to turning them into a small scrap quilt - just because I can. After spending all that time cutting the squares, I would feel terrible about chucking them in the fabric recycling.

Other useful sizes I cut are 2 1/2" strips, squares of varying sizes, 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles, and 10" squares too. I have lots of patterns for precuts so all these should be useful eventually.

July 2022 fabric tally

Finishes this month are: croquet mallets = 1/2m fabric.

Fabric used: - 0.5 m Fabric acquired: + 0 m

2022 fabric tally so far: + 27 m

Just June

A new baby quilt is quilted and bound, and on its way to the happy family via Australia Post (who had better deliver it!) Finished size is 32" x 48" (81cm x 122cm.) Made from leftovers from a previous I Spy quilt, in the woven pattern that I don't know the name of. The border fabric is pretty old, I think, from my stash. The backing fabric is a fairly new one and the batting was from my stash of smaller batting pieces so I'm not sure of the composition of it, although I think it is cotton/polyester mix. '

We had visitors this month and, since there isn't electric blankets on our guest room beds, I provided hot water bottles. So I had to make two covers for the bottles, of course. They didn't take long as I think I have the making of this pattern down pat now!

Here's photos of the badges I made for the "police"and "security"costumes at our local toy library. I used the toy library logo on the badges.

I've started sewing with a charity called Days For Girls - www.daysforgirls.org This group provides reuseable, appropriate products for women and girls in developing countries so they can manage their monthly periods and engage in education, employment and livelihood activities. In some countries, the local women make the products. In countries like Australia, there are many groups who make the kits up to send to women who need them, with appropriate education and support. These kits cost around $15 each to make and will last a women for about three years.

There is a local group of women who get together regularly, to sew up these kits according to precise guidelines. I am excited to be part of the group and to know that my sewing can help women in other countries in this way. Do have a look at the website and see what they do - I am impressed with their work.

June 2022 fabric tally

Finishes this month are: two hot water bottle covers and the baby quilt. I really need more time at the sewing machine!

Fabric used: - 2.0 m Fabric acquired: + 0 m

2022 fabric tally so far: + 27.5 m

Plan B is often better than Plan A - for May anyway

Plan Bs had to happen in May with lots of family happenings, so I haven't quilted the baby quilt yet. The theory is that it will happen this week, as I am supposed to be home - less paid work, no family issues, no housework being done (!) - so lots of sewing time! Let's hope that will happen. I did get a few other sewing tasks completed in May, though.

I've now cut all the fabrics needed for the flowers on the Quatro quilt. I had used up all the fabric that came with the kit, but it was easy to find similar enough fabrics in my stash to cut pieces for another 15 or so flowers. If I mix the new fabrics with the older ones in the flowers and scatter them around the quilt, nobody will be able to tell they're not part of the original. I am hopeful that there is enough fabric for the light grey and white stars but I haven't yet cut all the pieces I need for those. Solid fabrics like those are not hard to find though, so I'm not stressing about them. Shown are the piles of the three shapes needed for the flowers. So many of them! It will take a while to finish this quilt.

I made another couple of hot water bottle covers for my daughter's family, using up fabric and batting scraps. I'm so glad I can help them out in this way. The ten year old boy certainly seemed happy with the skull and crossbones fabric!

Our local toy library is up and running again - Yippee! and I'm on the committee for a while until they get established. (I was last on the committee and a member in the late 1990s!) With the stocktake earlier in the year, lots of the costumes needed minor repairs so I took some home and did those. All needed washing too. Two police shirts needed badges that didn't look too authentic but still seemed real. I designed and printed the badges on fabric and sewed them onto the shirts. Hopefully the kids will enjoy pretending to be police or security officers. (Forgot to take photos though, sorry!)

My son asked me to make a padded drawstring bag for his spiral didgeridoo. Searched for a design but ended up making my own pattern, based on several online. The bag is padded, with double batting but the drawstring part isn't, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to close very well. I used up some of my Aussie fabric and joined together quite a few small batting pieces to make enough for the double thickness in this bag. (I always get such a sense of accomplishment when I use up small pieces of fabric or batting. I'm trying very hard not to throw anything out.)

I hadn't seen this style of didgeridoo before- different, isn't it?

May fabric tally

Only finishes are two hot water bottles and the drawstring bag, so only 1.5m used last month.

Fabric used: - 1.5m Fabric acquired: + 0 m

2022 fabric tally so far: + 29.5 m