Crumb Patch-working and Others

After a few years of sewing bits and pieces for around our home and the odd pair of PJ pants now and then I had gathered a big bags of scraps that were too small for most things. Then I came across this marvellous site that teaches how to use these scraps or crumbs to make a pretty quilt.

Slowly but surely I began to patch together a set of blocks and finished this little lap quilt recently. It's backed with some pink fleecy and has a small amount of hand stitching in each square to keep the layers together.

Yesterday the weather turned cold and wet again so it was perfect sewing weather and I grabbed my second pile of 9 squares and got to work finishing the second lap quilt. However after an hour or so I realised that I had the wrong pile...this one was made of what looked to me like dowdier fabrics and it hadn't even been trimmed to make all the blocks the right size. By this time I'd invested so much effort that I pushed on regardless and here's the finished top which I will backk with some leftover blue fleecy. I know the blocks don't line up evenly but I still like the finished top...

It's fascinating to look at both of them and see bits of fabrics from long finished bags and cushions etc. And I still have another set of blocks for another quilt ;).

Next project I must get on with is my hand-pieced hexagons, started 18months ago and meandering along very, very slowly....I am going to take the bull by the horns with this one and cut it to make a cover for a my favourite big cushion on the settee...my knitting cushion!

On the back you can see why it is so time consuming, each hexagon is created by cutting out a paper hex, pinning it to the fabric, cutting around it with enough material to fold over to prevent fraying, then all the hexagons are hand-stitched to each other. 

The front shows my love of flowers. There are fabrics here from Japan, Canada and the US as well as Australia.

This lap-quilt was finished last month and is made entirely from used clothing, denim jeans and shirts, cotton shirts and even Mum's trousers lol. The back is a fleecy blanket that cost $2 in Montreal.

I tried to use as much of the fancy stitching on the shirts as possible.

Oh dear...here's something else that needs to be finished properly too...this is a lot like my dislike of sewing up completed knitting projects isn't it???

Do you enjoy sewing or quilting? I also have many patchwork cushions and shopping bags in my photos so will show you them another day.

Joe is off to Camera Group today so I'll have some lovely local photos for you tomorrow.

Hope your week is treating you well,
Love from Sue
xxx