Merry Christmas!........

Merry Christmas!  I know.....this Santa is pretty strange. 

Now I can show what I have been sewing for Christmas.  This stack of pillowcases went to the east coast.

This stack of pillowcases will go to the party today.  I let everyone choose the one they want instead of deciding for them.

The top two in the stack above are shown here with the PJ bottoms I made for my 3 year old great grandson.  Altogether I used 19 yards of flannel.  My granddaughter used 4 yards of flannel on her sewing day with me last week.  That still leaves enough flannel to make at least a dozen quilts and many more pillowcases.  However I'm glad to have reduced the stash by 23 yards.

Gifts......

I planned to make this pillowcase last week but somehow never found time to do it.  I gave my oldest great-grandson (2 1/2) a travel pillow for Christmas with a pillowcase to match the PJ pants I sent.  He is now into Dr. Seuss so I made him a new pillowcase.

I also had a yard of laminated fabric with lots of the characters on it.  I made him a little tote bag out of it.  He is going to miss being an only child when his new brother comes home.

Happy Thanksgiving!!..............

Yesterday I worked on my church sewing circle project.  More children have moved into the mission apartments so I had to make 6 more stockings.  I chose three girls for my project.  They are 8, 10 and 10 years old.  One of the things I decided to make for them was flannel pillowcases.  I made just the standard style of pillowcase this time.

We had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner while my granddaughter's family was here from out of state in October so today we are just going to have pizza.  Less fuss and clean up.

Things I love...........

12 pairs plus 2 singles, flannel pillowcases done and pressed, ready to gift.

My collection of Christmas postcards in the mail from Vicki Welsh, 3 from previous years and the Zentangle with crystals this year. 

A Christmas gift from a friend who knew I would love these Charley Harper drinking glasses.

Red thread...........

I cut seven more pairs of pillowcases yesterday.  I only sewed the ones that needed red thread.  The fabric on the left is from 1994 and I have always loved it.  It was time to use it.

My tutorial for this style of pillowcase is here.  Since a sliver needs to be trimmed from the fold edge and no more than 1/2" from the selvage edge, I had to press out the fold line on all of the fabrics.  Then I lined up the selvedges perfectly and repressed in a fold line before taking the 2 yard pieces to the cutting table.

Four pairs..........

I didn't start working on the pillowcases until late afternoon so I didn't finish as many as planned.  I decided to make pairs of pillowcases since the grandchildren are adults now and have large beds and probably at least 2 pillows.  I finished these 8 and one extra from the remainder of the blue zebra flannel.  I used my tutorial here for the kind of pillowcase where the pillow is tucked into an inside panel and can't fall out of the case.  Since I was making 2 from the same fabric I cut most of these as one long piece folded at the places where there would have been a seam.  I have a pile of flannels chosen for the rest of the pillowcases I need to make.

Keeping busy

I finished the dozen Christmas pillowcases for our church project, made with donated fabric.  They still need pressing and then I can deliver them.

I worked on the ditch quilting on this piece.  I finished all of the blue and purple areas and started the green.  This is a small piece, almost too small for a baby quilt, or at least an odd shape for one.

The gold mound spirea bushes are starting to change color.  Their blooms are dried and delicate.

 

I'm undergoing 2 tests this evening.  I have been healthy all my life and have never had to have these tests before.  I know others have undergone them multiple times.  It's always a little scary the first time.

Busy work......

I'm not ready to talk about my eye problem yet so I'll be showing the busy work I am doing to keep my mind off of it 24 hours a day.  Before I left and after I came home from my first medical appointment I cut 12 Christmas pillowcase kits for my church sewing circle.  I missed our meeting today so I might sew these at home before the next meeting.

My best friend from 5th grade through high school asked if I would make a couple doll quilts in the style of her childhood doll quilt.  I took a photo of it the last time we got together and she provided the fabrics.  They will both get borders and then be sewn right sides together with the back and batting and turned.  I have enough squares cut to make a third one with a mix of the 2 sets of fabrics.

A mostly leisurely day.......

The last time I taught an 'I Spy' quilt class was about 10 years ago and I made kits of 6.5" squares and kits of 3.5" squares to sell.  In the basement I found 2 medium size bins that had most of the fabric scraps in them along with some of the squares that were left over.  It was fun to see all of the prints again and sort the fabrics into piles of small scraps and large scraps. Then I went to my yardage to pull a few more prints which I cut last night.  I hope to meet with my friend soon and see which ones she will want.

I wanted something to do while I watched the 10 o'clock news last night so I pulled out the box of fabrics from church sewing circle.  One of the other ladies washed and pressed all of the donated fabric and I just needed to cut pillowcase kits from it for next Monday.  There is a little more to cut after I re-press a few of the fabrics.

 

Travel size pillows....

This was my trial pillowcase to fit the little travel pillows which are half the size of a regular pillow.  It really need to be about 1" longer.  My church's sewing circle is making these for a local Head Start program for migrant workers' children. 

I went through my fabrics looking for ones that will appeal to small children and used 12.5 yards out of my stash.  There are 18 kits piled here.  I added 2 after I took the photo.  The contrasting cuff fabrics are folded inside each one.  I made sure that every pillowcase is different.  There are 8 striped ones on the bottom from the same fabric but there are 8 different cuff fabrics.  This way they will be able to identify their own.  We will complete them this afternoon for distribution this week.



A few more gifts......

I gave flannel pillowcases to all of the family 2 years ago.  I figure they might be showing some wear by now and maybe they would like a  new one.  There is a duplicate of the light blue and of the green check that I haven't pressed yet.  There are 2 more to be sewn and then I'll have more than enough.  I used my tutorial that you can find here.  I am trying to use up that flannel that doesn't seem to have a group it fits into.

Catching up........

Several weeks ago I started these 19 pillowcases for our church project (domestic abuse center gifts) but I still had the labels to sew in and the last seam to sew on all of them.  I finally finished them yesterday.  Most of the fabric was donated by 3 of my friends (thanks!).  I added the solid color poly/cotton fabric from my 1980s collection.  I have a couple other projects I need to work on and get it all delivered next Sunday.

I have a hard time making snowball blocks accurate but these 3 quilts in Kaffe books keep calling my name.

On this one the corners are many different colors of his shot cottons.  This quilt is using mostly his early prints from over 10 years ago.  I just happen to have most of them but I rarely make a quilt just like his.

On this one all of the corners are the same fabric.  I like the floral fabrics in the blocks but don't care for the prints used in the center panel and its borders.  I'm not sure if I would add that in there anyway but it intrigues me enough that I'll probably look through my fabrics and see what I would like in the center, just in case.........

Last warm day...

We have had some beautiful weather for a few days and it is ending now with a cold front.  We had a couple little showers and then a lot of rain last night.  This is my viburnum bush which is just outside my kitchen window.  Two branches of leaves have turned color and the rest are still green.

I helped a friend baste a quilt on my empty tables in the basement yesterday morning and then worked on some pillowcases for my church project.  The rest of the day I just petted fabric and dreamed of new quilts.  Today I will sew the 16 patch blocks into strips to add to the checkerboard quilt.

A social day with a little playtime......

A niece that I haven't seen for 14 years was visiting our little town yesterday.  We had lunch and visiting time at my sister-in-law's house.  Then my niece came by my house and I had her choose 2 quilts to take home.  It was wonderful seeing her again. 

Last night while watching Castle I chose the 16 pairs of fabric for the 16 patch blocks that will go on each end of this quilt.

Then I cut out 11 pillowcases since I will miss the next 2 sessions of my church sewing circle.  I will go ahead and sew these and cut some more to deliver on Sunday.  A friend donated the Kaffe print for our project and I paired it with some poly/cotton fabrics from the 1980s.  I also cut some more blue jean squares with my Studio die cutter.  I realized I need 4 denim/corduroy/homespun plaid quilts and I had only cut for 3.

More prep work.......

Today is sewing circle at church and we hope to finish up the final pillowcases for the 100 we are donating the domestic abuse shelter.  Most of this last 15 are made from donated fabric and I chose contrasting trim or cuffs from my stash.  I donated over 40 yards when we started on them too.  I do the cutting at my house where I have the large cutting mats because it is hard to cut large yardage at the church.  I also baste the trim strip to the cuff on all of them before I take them.  I really wanted to play with my batiks yesterday, but after spending 5 hours on this project, I was done for the day. 

Volunteer work, charity work, whatever you call it.........

I'm really not sure what to call this service, making things with the church sewing circle.  We donate the finished layettes to a nearby hospital.  I make the little quilts at home and deliver them on sewing day.

I still have to use my serger to finish the edges on the 2 pictured above.  This next one is laid out in rows and ready to sew.

The other current project is the pillowcases for the domestic abuse shelter.  I have 3 pictured but did another one afterwards so there are 4 partially sewn to take on Monday.
I guess the official title would be service projects rather than charity.

I got the first strata sewn for the green Trip Around the World.  I will need 3 stratas sewn before next Saturday to demo with.  One will be totally sewn and cut, and 2 sewn but not made into a tube yet.  I will show pressing on one and how to line up the last seam so there isn't a twist with the third one.

The weathermen are talking about the next big storm.  They can't decide if it will hit us or just clip us.  The talk is that if it hits us it will be a big one.  I guess we'll have to wait to see.

Pillowcase day

Yesterday was sewing circle at church so I spent the morning washing, pressing, and cutting fabric for our pillowcase project.

Here are 14 finished pillowcases.  We have another 10 at different stages of construction.  We will meet again in 2 weeks to finish them and a few more for our donation to a domestic abuse shelter.

Here are 9 of the little log cabin blocks.  They are 6.5" blocks.

Here are the other 8 blocks.  They are 7" square.  I have a couple more that would be best cut at 7.5" so that the outside strips would be at least 1/4" wide.  I think I will put these away until I have some more scraps of the right size to work with.

Here is the group of too small to sew scraps.  How can I throw away these little jewels?  I bagged them and put them in the container with the rest of the scraps.  I just know there will be a use for them some day.

Flannel pillowcase tutorial

I called these pillowcases European style the other day, but I don't know if that is the proper term. I had never seen them until I was gifted a pair from Liberty of London so I figured it might be the style from across the pond rather than American.

I made mine with 3 separate pieces but you could make them with one big long piece if it is going to be all the same fabric. I was working with pieces 2 yards and smaller so I just took measurements from the Liberty cases (which were made from 2 different fabrics) and added 1/2" each way for the shrinkage of the flannel.
It takes about 40" for one pillowcase, or if you want to make 2, it takes 2 yards. When cutting for one you have a left over piece that you can use on a second pillowcase.  With the fabric folded as it is when you buy it, I cut 1 piece 29.5" long and 1 piece 10" long. Then I turned the pieces and cut a tiny sliver off the fold edge and 1/4" off the selvage edge. This gives me 2 pcs. 29.5" long. Also you will have one piece of 10" left over.

Step 1 - Hem one short side of a 29.5" piece with a 1.25" hem
Step 2 - Hem the 10" piece on one long edge with a narrow hem
Step 3 - Layer the 2 - 29.5" pieces with the unhemmed one on the bottom, matching all raw edges on 3 sides.


Step 4 - Place the 10" piece on top of the end with the 1.25" hem matching raw edges on 3 sides. Pin as much as you want. Step 5 - Sew all around with a serger or with straight stitch and then come back and zig zag the raw edges.

This is what a serged stitch looks like.

Step 6 - Turn the 10" piece right side out. this is that the finished end looks like.

Step 7 - Turn the whole pillowcase right side out. this is what the finished back view looks like.

When your pillow is inserted and the end of the pillow tucked under the 10" piece, you have a case that is just the size of the pillow without any open extra flaps like a regular pillowcase.

You can see here what happens with a one way print (or directional of any kind) so if this bothers you, make sure you choose an allover print.