Scrappy bowl protector — large

For the largest bowl protector, I started with an improv log-cabin style tree I had left from a quilt-guild challenge.

For the back, I used some triangles left from some other project.

Any old piece of batting that is big enough will do for these things. Piece them together if necessary.

I cut the center so that it had 4 sides approximately opposite each other.

Made some protector-'arms' with a single layer of batting inside.

Sandwiched everything together for a turn-it-inside-out project. It was pretty bulky, so I used pins to keep the arms in place. I had to fold the arms out of the way so that they didn't get caught in some of the outside seams on the wrong side...

I'll spare you the torturous view of the turning-process :)

Good thing there was a fifth side to this protector, so that I could leave a space to turn the whole thing inside out.

Tada!

Looks good, and...

... it works too!

Scrappy bowl protector — small

I wanted to used up some scraps AND I needed something better than cardboard to put between a set of glass bowls I have, to prevent them from hitting against each other when I stack them or open/close the drawer they're in.

For the smallest one, I took unfinished christmas ornaments, found some batting leftovers in approximately the right size and sewed all around the edge, leaving a little opening for turning the whole thing inside out. trimmed the edges of the batting as needed.

Here you can see the layering: top and bottom facing each other, with the batting on the outside, so that it's all in the right place after turning. Oh, and I eventually did trim this batting down to the right size ;)

Tada... time for my favourite blind-stitch to close the opening.

And it fits.

That was easy! And looks much nicer than cardboard.

And last but not least: it used up some scraps/UFOs! Always a good thing, eh?

Tic Tac Toe

A couple of boys I know were visiting here recently. They spent some time playing TicTacToe on paper, and I remembered how tedious it is to always redraw the lines for the game. Then I saw a tutorial for take along games via Sew Mama Sew and thought: Great idea for a christmas gift!

I adapted the idea to my own liking, of course, since these boys are not into checkers (as far as I know).

 I started with 2 pieces of background fabric (about 8" square). Then machine-appliqued white stripes (about 7"x0.5") in the TicTacToe pattern onto one piece. Placed the 2 pieces face to face, sewed around them, turned them inside out and fortified the edge with a seam (about 1/8" from the edge). I "quilted" (there's no batting inside, but hey) around the white stripes (about 1/4" from the stripes) to keep the 2 layers of background fabric together.

The game pieces are simple flanelette circles, sewn together by machine (the edges are raw, but I zigzagged near the edge to minimize fraying). I used a thread spool to trace the circles.

Rather than making extra draw-string bags for the game pieces and the game-board, I decided to minimize parts (that could be lost) and made the gameboard itself into the game "box".

All the game pieces are stacked in the middle, then the board is folded up along the natural fold lines of the white stripes.

Out of a 2" strip, I made a tube with a loop at one end and attached this tube (ironed flat) with a button to the back of the game board. I matched the tube length to fit once around the folded up game board and voila, the whole game becomes a neat package that can be chucked into a backpack to go to the pool or for a car journey etc.

I've been told the gift was a hit on Christmas morning and the boys tried it out right away. That's the best kind of "thanks" once could wish for!

Similar to visiting friends and finding a gifted quilt being well-used, with some signs of wear and tear, right?

Diaper-friendly pants

I saw photos of some cute toddler pants on  Mairuru's blog and immediately thought that would be a cute gift for a friend of mine who had a baby girl this year. The bum on these pants is so big, that diapers should easily fit inside...

I didn't have a pattern, so simply eyeballed it and then fixed it where necessary (my original estimate may have fit a giraffe baby, the legs were much too narrow...).

I also used a draw string instead of an elastic so that the pants can grow with the baby.
 

I hope the pants fit, maybe I will have a photo of pants+baby to post!

Happy New Year!

Triple Constellation Part C

Well, the top is finished and the thread colours are chosen... as soon as I'm done with the current foot attachment on my machine, the free-motion foot will go on and I'll look for inspiration on how to quile this last part. Stay tuned!

Triple Constellation Part B - Lines

I love contrast in quilting, so to go with the all-over-the-place, different-size bubbles, I decided on a parallel grid pattern. I didn't want the pattern to be too ridgid, so left out every 3rd line, ending up with 2" - 1" - 2" - 1" etc. in between quilt lines. I simply used masking tape to mark the quilt lines and quilted along either side of the tape.

Using the tape was much easier than marking all the lines with a pen and then having to get rid of the markings later. The method uses up a lot of masking tape, but I simply reused small bits that I had left over from taping quilt backings to the floor for basting. After a while, these bits aren't strong enough anymore to hold the quilt backing to the floor (too much fuzz collects on them), but they're fine to string together for marking a quilt line...

Whenever possible, I simply lifted the needle and foot and moved across to the next seam without cutting the thread. This reduces the chance of thread-ends balling up or getting tangled when starting a new quilt line with loose thread ends.

View from the under side, all finished and squared up.

And the front...

Once all three parts are ready, I will decide on the binding colour... whether to match each quilt or use the same colour to link the 3 parts together...

Triple Constellation Part B - Bubbles

Next comes Part B. I decided to do bubbles in the circles this time. The plan is to use different quilting styles and combinations on each part of the wall-hanging.

The bubbles pattern is one of my favourite free-motion quilting patterns. Especially on a small section such as this, it's a lot of effect for relatively little work.

I want to bounce on these!

A little oopsie-daisy happened about 5 seconds into free-motion quilting. I missed a pin, it snuck up from behind the foot and caught me so unawares that I quilted right over it. Unfortunately in such a way (as you can see) that I couldn't simply fiddle the needle out. What a pain to have to cut the threat after 5 cm of quilting! But hey, I'm glad my needle didn't break when it hit the pin... 

Next up: the background quilting on Part B.