Nothing new in to report, but I'm starting to see progress in the almost-finished column - mostly Christmas presents which I can't share here yet. I did finish one thing for me, a tote bag for my Featherweight sewing maching:
It is my own design and I used the contents of a Moda Scrap Bag purchased from Fabric Depot a couple of years ago.
I love these little scrap bags - they actually hold quite a bit of fabric (I estimated between 2 - 2 1/2 yds) and are all from one coordinating line. The only downside is you don't get to specify. Only once have I received a bag with fabric I wasn't crazy about (a civil war reproduction), but I just fed the strips into my scrap bins and some of them found their way into my Orca Bay quilt! I use Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User System, which has increased my productivity four-fold.
Each side has a pocket, which fit all my essential tools (the 6x12" ruler fits in the bag, I just tilted it to show it.) The bag looks a little big right now, but I wanted to allow for shrinkage the first time it is washed. I made it to protect the case and handle, as the bottom edges had a little fraying, and I've heard the handles can give over time, and I want to preserve my case as best I can, since it is in such good shape for a 65-year-old!
The strips on the pockets line up with the strips on the base. The whole piece was made using the quilt-as-you-go method and I also incorporated the handles into the base sections as well for additional strength. There is no way those suckers can pull off! I covered a button with coordinating fabric and made the tab from scraps.
I made a matching mat to go under the machine when I'm sewing. When I sew at my friend's house, we use her dining room table and I want to help protect it. I just realized as I took these pictures, I forgot to do the double-lines of quilting beside each seam, so I'll go back and add those before I stitch down the binding (after I finish this post!).
I used a simple white muslin on the back of both the bag's quilted pieces and the mat, since you won't see them anyway.
The binding was pieced from the rest of the scraps. I think I only had about 24" of 2"-3" wide strips left, which have now found their way into the scrap bins, to be used in a future Bonnie Hunter scrappy quilt.
So at the end of the day, my stash went down a little - with the backing I've estimated a conservative 2.5 metres.
Used since last
report: 2.5 metres
Used year to
Date: 88.25 metres
Added since last
report: 0 metres
Added Year to Date: 93.5
metres
Net Used/Gained for 2012: 5.25
metres
This week should show a huge number used, as I have started quilting Zoey's quilt. It has to be done by Christmas, but I want it done by Thursday so I can start living on Easy Street!
