Last Project

I finished a quickie project last night. I bought a clearance-priced gray and white striped shirt for my daughter. It was from the boys' section, but it was pretty gender-neutral, and I thought maybe I could applique something on it that she would like. When I got it home, though, I found it was way too big for my daughter and just barely right for my son. So I let him wear it for a few months until she could grow into it.

Unfortunately after my daughter saw it on my son, there was no convincing her that it was a girl shirt without some modification.

Easy peasy.

I didn't even sew it...it's just wool felt and Steam-A-Seam. I had intended to sew them on to provide some extra security, but I wasn't sure that a ball point needle would go through the felt. They seem pretty secure as-is.

This is my last project for spring break. It's been so nice to have a week off and get some sewing done too. On Tuesday I go back to work, and it'll be tough to go back!

Repurposed denim quilt

I really love the quilts that are made by the ladies in Gees Bend. They're so colorful and creative, and made without buying extensive lines of matching fabric.

I also read a book about the modern clothing industry, and it included a bit about what happens to donated clothing. Apparently only about 10% of what we donate is ever sold. Some of the remainder is recycled, and a lot of it ends up in landfills.

Given both of the above, I decided to try to make my own quilt out of repurposed fabric. I bought six pairs of jeans from a thrift store, added another pair that my husband wore out, and used a flannel sheet from the store for the back.

It's not my favorite quilt design-wise, but I love the concept. I also love the fact that I turned waste into something functional that my kids love. As usual, I showed it to them and there was a scramble to see who would curl up with it first. My son said it looks like something from his favorite computer game, Minecraft. I can kind of see that.

There's no quilting on it, so I suppose that makes it a blanket and not a quilt. I used my Singer 27 for most of it, but I also used my Free a bit. I love that machine.

My last couple of quilts have featured a lot of straight line quilting, so my Singer 115 has been pretty neglected (I use it exclusively for free motion quilting). I'm thinking my next projects will be a quilt for my cousin, and a small whole-cloth wall hanging featuring a ton of free motion quilting. I can't wait.