Strawberry Pillows, Day 5

On the top of my list of things that I don't like about sewing is hand sewing.  For one, it involves dealing with sharps, and, as you may know, I try to avoid interacting with pins and needles as much as possible.  For two, it doesn't move as fast as, say, a sewing machine.  Or a racing turtle.  Or an ambitious snail.  And for three, I always feel like I'm doing it wrong.

So instead of sewing up my strawberry, I worked on the strawberry top.  I cut the two template pieces out, and I was fine with the stem top, but I was confused by the stem bottom.  It said to "Cut 2 and tape together along dotted line."  Did they mean to cut 2 of the templates and then tape them together before cutting the shape from the fabric?  And if so, would I cut one or two pieces from the fabric?  Or, did they mean to use the template to cut two pieces of fabric and then tape the two pieces of fabric together (for some strange reason)?

Paper Pieced Union Jack Mug Rug, Day 4

Now that the five sections, A, B, C, D, and E, have been pieced and the edges trimmed, it's time to join them together to form one large piece.  

The pattern lists the sewing order as:

     A + B

     AB + C

     D + E

     ABC + DE

Don't worry - it's not a math nightmare!  This simply means that you first sew sections A and B together, then you sew the "A+B" piece to "C."  D and E get sewn together, and then you sew all the pieces together, "A+B+C" and "D+E", to make the one piece.  If you want it in mathematical format, (A+B+C)+(D+E) = Paper Pieced Union Flag.

Pretty Patches Placemats and Napkins, Day 9

This is the first Day 9 I've had since starting this 52-week endeavor.  It's kinda got me down, and I want to throw in the towel and start the next project, but I gotta press on.  I can't let these placemats get the best of me!

Chenille Hot Pad, Day 6

Wow, this week just flew by!  I've been working on the hot pads daily, but haven't been able to update the blog about it, so today's post will have several days' activities on it.

Simple Circles Table Runner, Day 6

I had some leftover batting from a few projects I had finished before.  Some of the batting was fusible and some of it was not, but it didn't really matter with this project because the batting would be next to the muslin, with the fabric pieces on top of the muslin, so I just used pieces of batting that would fit as many circles as possible.  I was able to fit all six of the smallest circles onto one of the larger pieces of fusible batting.

Lap Duvet, Day 4

I started working on the Lap Duvet on Saturday afternoon.  As I mentioned, I chose two fabrics from the Grow With Me collection.  In addition to reducing my stash, I am also trying to cut back on my spending, so even though the project called for throw-sized (60"x60") wool batting, I used some crib-sized (45"x60") "poly-down" batting that I already had.  I have a few larger-sized packages of batting, but I figured that the crib-sized batting would work perfectly, since the finished duvet would measure 58"x42".  More on this later...