My Day on From The Heart Blog Hop

Today is my day to share on the From the Heart Blog Hop which is hosted by Carol from Just Let Me Quilt. I was really excited when I saw the invitation to participate in this Hop as this is the time of year when I am making gifts and looking for new ideas.

I started off with the plan to make a quilt for our Assistant Greenskeeper. He was just diagnosed with MS and the same day he and his wife found out they were going to have a baby. They had been trying for almost 10 years so it was a wonderful surprise. I searched through my minimal supply of flannel and came up with some cute ones for a boy baby quilt. It took me a day to make since I wanted to alternate 4 patches with squares and setting that block in a consistent border. I had enough of the green flannel for my backing, some pieces for the front and a self binding on the quilt.

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Another of the ideas I had was to make pin cushions for the quilters in my group at our local Guild. Every fall and winter I end up with a dedicated group that meet once or twice a month to learn, share ideas and socialize while creating some fun projects. Each year there are always one or two beginners so it is fun to share the addiction with them.

With the arrival of a Pandemic we had to close our Guild, but once Dr. Bonny, our Provincial Health Officer gave us the go ahead to meet within health and safety guidelines, we are meeting in groups of 6 to spend the day sewing and visiting.

Every year I make something for my group. This year there are only 10 of them so I decided the pincushions I had decided on should be a bit “more”.

I started by sewing leftover 2 1/2” strips that I had cut with my Accuquilt cutter on to a backing fabric, using the stitch and flip method. These fabrics are bits of Carolyn Glass, Kaffe Fassett, etc. anything bright and cheerful! 😊

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I squared off the end of my panel of strips and cut a piece 9” x 18”. This was turned right side together and the end was sewn with a 1/4” seam. I pressed the seams open for this project. Then I cut a lining piece of fabric 9” x 18” and did the same, fold right sides together and sew with a 1/4” seam.

Once I had both pieces sewn I folded them so the seam was centred in the back of the 2 pieces. I flattened the bottom and measured 1” from the corner to create my boxed corners and cut the triangles off with seams pressed open.

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After turning the outside right side out, I slipped the lining in with wrong sides together matching the back seam and side creases.

Once the liner is nested in nicely I folded over the top for 1” leaving the lining to create a decorative strip. I made a loop by folding a 1 1/2” x 3 1/2” strip and folding the ends in to the centre and top stitching the seam. I laid this loop with the stitched edges folded together on the end just under the folded edge so the ends of the loops would be stitched in the next step. I sewed the edge of the lining flat leaving a 1” opening at the back seam.

Have you guessed what I’m making? 😉

Then I fed a piece of the plastic strapping that you get on shipping boxes through the casing leaving approx 1” overlap on the strapping.

I took the leftover piece from the strips I had cut from my panel and folded it in half, right sides together, ending up with a nice little 4 1/2” x 5 1/2” pouch. I sewed a piece of shelf liner to one side of the pouch.

I then made a broadcloth pouch 3 1/3” x 4 1/2”.

I made 2 strips 2 1/2” x 4 1/4” by using 2 1/2” squares which were trimmed from my panel of strips when I squared the ends. These were folded ends in to the middle and top stitched to make straps.

I sewed the straps to the back of my large pouch so the ends sit 1/4” below the strapping and with the long ends of the strips approx 2 1/2” apart centred over the back seam. Then I sewed the straps to the shelf paper backed pouch orienting the pouch so it will sit flat on the table with the larger pouch hanging below.

My little broadcloth pouch was filled with masonry sand and stitched closed. I tucked the sand filled pouch into the pouch with the rubber shelf liner on the back and then filled the pouch with batting scraps. I sewed the pouch closed.

My final bit of finishing meant I needed to drop the end of my machine to be able to fit the large pouch over my free arm. I attached a piece of selvedge strip over the seam of the folded over strip covering the seam of the casing and being careful to not catch the plastic webbing.

Here is my scrap catcher/pin cushion. The first is finished and everything is prepped, ready to make 9 more for my wonderful group of quilters for a Christmas gift to commemorate this year of insanity. Every year I appreciate this group for challenging me to keep learning, to share my knowledge and this year I especially value the support and friendship they have gifted me and each other with. This support, both on line and in person helped us all cope with the stresses of the year.

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I really like using the sand filled pouch in the bottom of my pin cushion. The sand adds weight to keep my pin cushion from moving and the added bonus; the sand helps to keep the points of my pins nice and sharp. 😉

My other From the Heart project is to make gifts for our local Foodbank. Every year they have hosted a Christmas Dinner Party. All of the gifts that are made by local craft persons in our valley are in a back room. The kids attending the dinner go in the back room where volunteers help them pick out gifts and wrap them so the kids have Christmas presents to give to their parents. With Covid the Christmas dinner is being cooked and delivered in takeout containers. They are still collecting gifts to include in the hampers.

Many of my friends have been knitting and crocheting hats, mitts, gloves, scarfs and dishcloths. I decided to sew a few things;

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To date I have a dozen mug rugs and 6 scrappy, snappy bags finished. I’m really enjoying using up some more of my scraps and am looking forward to seeing what other inspiration I can glean from this Hop. Any more suggestions for little gift ideas are welcome.

My mug rugs are made without a pattern. I just wing it depending on the size of my fabric pieces and what works together.

My snappy bags are made using a QAYG method of layering lining fabric, batting scraps and then just adding scraps or orphan blocks as I find them. For some bags I had a squirrel attack me when I saw a pretty bag on Quilting Gail’s Blog but instead of using charm squares, I used leftover 2 1/2” squares to get the perfect bag shape! Once I do any quilting that is needed to give the bag some stability, I fold the good sides together and box my corners. Then I add a casing to the top and put my measuring tape pieces in the casing with the curved sides facing even with the right side so they will snap open. I sew the casing closed even with the side seams. I do French seams on my side seams to stop the bag from splitting or fraying inside the bag and turn the bag right side out.

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Here is the list of other bloggers who will be sharing their ideas of sweet gifts with all of us. I’d encourage you to comment on their posts and show them some love.

October 27

MooseStashQuilting

Just Because Quilts

Day Brook Designs

Karen’s Korner

Kathy’s Kwilts and More

Karrin’s Crazy World

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Sew Many Yarns

Songbird Designs

Samelia’s Mum

Sending a big Thank you to Carol at Just Let Me Quilt and to the amazing designers/bloggers who are taking part in this Hop. I’m having so much fun seeing what everyone is doing.

Thank you for sharing your time with me today! I love reading and responding to your comments and would be happy to have you follow my blog. To do so, just pop over to my home page and sign up. I will have a draw for followers of my blog who leave me a comment for a bundle of some of my favourite fabrics. To enter, please answer the question “ What is your favourite little gift to make for family or friends?” Please make sure I have a way to contact you. Draw will be made by a random number generator on October 30, 220. Good luck and thanks in advance for reading my blog. 😄 Carol

Linking with Home Sewn By Us TGIFF