Since my last blog post my Janome broke AGAIN! It's in the shop, but I can pick it up next week. Without my M7 no FMQ is happening right now. I could quilt on my Bernina with no problems, but I'm using the Bernina for making Christmas gifts and I don't want to keep switching projects on it. I'm waiting on a few items to finish up some Christmas gifts and those items have been delayed. I could be discouraged, but I'm not.
That's the bad news, what's the good news? I've finished all but two of the grandkids gifts for Christmas. Aside from a few stocking stuffers, I am done Christmas shopping, and I've even got it all wrapped! I do have some gifts to make for adults, and although none of those are finished, I am making progress on those.
Several of my adult kids are getting gift cards for Christmas. Two of my kids moved to new houses this year, and every time you buy a house, there's always some things you want to change. I figured gift cards to home improvement stores was the way to go for them. Another one of my kids is also getting a gift card. I don't mind giving gift cards, and often, I think gift cards or cash is the way to go. The thing is, I agree with all the gift card haters that it's impersonal. That's why I always try to give a small gift with a gift card, even their favorite candy bar can be a personal option. Since I'm trying to make a lot of the gifts both this year and next year, I'm trying to make some small gifts to go with the gift cards.
I don't know about you, but I love watching YouTube videos about quick gifts to sew. There are SO many ideas out there, to help you come up with quick-to-make gifts! A lot of those gifts are smaller, so also require less fabric, and are easier to mail. A lot of wins in there! I also know that where a YouTuber may be using yardage for a project, that doesn't mean a quilter can't used pieced fabric instead. That right there is why I've been having such a fun time this week, when I could have been discouraged.
I'm really bad about not counting units when I cut out a quilt. I'm rarely cutting it close on fabric, so I don't have to worry about running out of fabric, and I always find ways to use up the extras. Since my FMQ and working on grandkids gifts are on pause, I've been taking the time to look around and find leftovers from some quilts that have been hanging around. Can I work these leftovers into gifts for the adults I need something personal for? Why, yes I can!
I don't want to show too much of the Christmas projects before Christmas, but I can show you one thing I made from leftovers. I grabbed the leftovers from one quilt, and I started laying out the extra units into a table runner, then I realized, I had enough units left to make a baby quilt. I will need at least one baby quilt next year, and depending on gender, this could be used for that, but I was really happy with how the quilt top came out.
I know that's a pretty wide border, I wanted to get the quilt to 48" square. Once I quilt it with something fun, it will look just fine. The yellow and gold four patches as well as the sunflower fabric, was leftover from a larger quilt. I did have to cut some cream on cream fabric from yardage, and it doesn't match the cream on cream on the four patches. That's one of the reasons I love using tone on tone fabrics, you can usually get away with substitutions without it being obvious. The border fabric is leftover wideback from backing a quilt in my last basting spree, so it was scraps too. Was this the rest of the leftovers? Not quite, I had enough left to make one Christmas gift, with only a couple four patches left. The sunflower fabric is completely gone!
Another thing I'm sewing up in bulk right now is bonus HST's. I'm a big fan of double sewing when making sew and flip corners, and using all of those bonus HST's in other projects. I had a ridiculous number of bonus HST's around. Yes, they were all neatly stored in containers, and not strewn about everywhere, but how much better would it be if they were sewn into gifts instead of stored in containers??? I use HST's a LOT! I have lots of blocks I like to make with them. I've made sampler quilts with bonus HST's and each block is different I've made one block quilts with blocks set side to side but secondary patterns appear. I've made matching blocks with sashing, I've made pieced borders from bonus HST's, anything you can do with an HST, you can make with a bonus HST, it will just come out smaller than the original. It's all GOOD!
I get in moods to make specific blocks, and right now I'm making lots of nine patches out of bonus HST's. I tend to use bonus HST's in 16 patches, because there are more options for block designs with a 16 patch, but right now I'm into nine patches. Most of the bonus HST's I'm sewing up finish at 1.25", but I'm also sewing up some that finish at 2". The 2" HST's will likely result in a quilt, but the small ones are perfect for smaller gifts. I'm going to keep sewing up these nine patches, then when I'm out of bonus HST's in the colorways I'm trying to bust, I'll figure out which project they'll be used for. I've got enough of some of these I can make a couple projects from them, even if they are tiny.
Yesterday, I went to a quilt show with my sister, and neither of us bought a thing! I had a list of things I was looking for, and they didn't have any of the patterns I wanted or the thread I was looking for. I didn't let myself do more than glance at the fabric, I have enough fabric, and I don't need anything for a current project. I did try out the Little Rebel machine from Grace. If my Janome keeps acting up, that's the machine that perks my interest most. I'd rather just stick with what I've got, I do like my M7, but having it break twice in six months was discouraging. Of course, it sewed for four years with nary a hiccup so I guess it was due.
When we went out to lunch after the show, I told her that I feel like I've been on a sewing vacation this week. I've been sewing a lot, but without my FMQ the first hour of the day, and then having to wait on supplies for the remaining grandkid gifts, I was really just playing in my sewing room. Sure, I got two quilt tops finished this week, and they are hanging in the quilt closet (sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the other one) , and technically I was still working on Christmas gifts, but I was playing with leftover units, and that really gives me the creative fix I've been needing.
More good news! The sewing machine shop just called, my M7 is done early, and I can pick it up today! They didn't change me any labor since it was just in the shop, and the part it needed was only $32! I can handle that!
