Layer Cake Ottoman Quilt

Quilt for dad's antique ottoman/sofa. Lucy loves to sleep on this!  I purchased a Regency Blues Moda layer cake in a sale last year, they're so expensive to purchase at full price, so when they go on sale, there are sometimes prints I don't like so much, I just left those out for fabric scrap and used spare layer cake blue and beige prints I saved from layer cakes leftover from charity quilts. I used white on white yardage and for the border a grey with feather/sprigs? Print (Benartex). Green backing Windham fabrics Light grey Aurifilthread in a serpentine stitch. Batting 80/20 Sew Easy crib size. Pattern is Tango from Fabric Café Double Focus.

Recycled Mens Shirts

You can sew a pet or baby mat from 4 x short sleeve shirts. I made this for dogs when they get back from a walk or sit down to eat their treats.

Recycling long-sleeved mens shirts x 4 for baby/pet quilts the red gingham was short sleeve, so it had to be this size. I sewed it as 9 patch blocks, but you could sew it as rows. I usually check and unpack and redo my point matching, but really wanted to complete this no fuss, it still turned out nicely.

4 x mens 100pct cotton shirts.

Backing: #benartexfabrics took a lot of pinning to get it to fit on 1 width length of cotton.

Binding: #artgalleryfabric

Batting: 2 layers of prewashed cotton flannel

Quilting: stitching each side of every seam, grey cotton Aurifil thread front, navy Gutermann thread back.

Canvas Tote Bags

Cotton canvas gifted by #Minervadotcom fir review. Thank you. After making the storage cases, I made Laura Ashley Simplicity 9814 #sewingpattern hand bag style totes. Mr W uses his #simplicity9814 every weekend as an #overnightbag. I interfaced the top and bottom of the bags, the hands, and the front and back pockets.

2nd hand: orange (my current favourite colours are cream, yellow and orange - Mr W said "Fallon colours") quilting cotton, Andover fabric. Leftover: the grey cotton canvas and the coral Art Gallery Fabric. Black zips were purchased for making cushion covers a few years ago.

Antique Wood Trunk

After/before antique wood chest/trunk, no lid, torn and chipped veneer, which was glued down and stapled down in places, and I didn't remove the metal. It's expensive to find real wood and cast iron

Hot towel, iron, chisel to remove veneer. Washed. Sand with electric sander. Oak varnish.

Measured sides, sewed a bag with drawstrings from a cotton suiting I had in the attic, cream  with white pinstripe, I like neutrals as they're good for small spaces, everything matches, unisex.

Recycle - Denim Shopper

2 x Mr W's old jeans (grey and charcoal, 2 x 2nd hand cotton placemats and 2 x cotton 2nd hand napkins for pocket linings, 2nd hand cotton for bag lining. 

I interfaced the handles, bag and top of pockets. As I was using jeans, I had to cut the bag outer in 2 parts with a seam allowance and piece. I topstitched the handles in charcoal Gutermann thread and medium grey for the bag.

I edgestitched the bottom where the box corners meet, but pressed the sides down for a softer look. 

Mr W is going to take this to the craft fair for handmade shopping!

Storage Packs

I made two cotton canvas storage bags the same in the size large. This size fits fat quarters bundles!

Useful and reliable basket weave cotton from Minerva for review - thank you. Both sides of this fabric are pretty similar, so you can make bags without linings, then just bind the raw edges inside, or outside as per the pattern, if preferred.

I didn't have soft and stable, so I used light interfacing for the grey pieces. Instead of a mesh lid, I cut 2 of the bottom panel for each bag.

The lining is seersucker I purchased 2nd hand "1960s/1970s.

I used zip tape and fastened on the endings myself, firstly, a 36-40 inch metal zip is £10 each and secondly, I wanted to make a few bags in different sizes, including navy blue packing cubes for my friend who loves outdoors.

I added a folded in half square of grey canvas as an overlap to the end of the zip, as I cut them too short (pattern advised to hang the zip off the end of the bag, and I had cut the zip tape exact).

There is a video for instructions but I didn't use it as I've made a lot of purses and tote bags, and many bindings!

Now to decide which pattern to use for the remainder of the fabric! It could be anything, craft or clothing.

I used yellow and grey print Art Gallery Fabric poplin for the binding.

Denim Shopper

Mr W's new denim shopper. Tote / shoulder bag made from a deadstock remnant of soft denim, only had enough for 1 bag. The cotton lining is 2nd hand, it arrived with a quilt top made by someone else I purchased & quilted/bound for charity. I interfaced the facings and the top of the pockets, but usually interface the whole outer. I edge stitched the creases.

Checkerboard Baby

No pattern. 9patch quilt made to replace a sunny yellow babyquilt I donated. Layer cake: Moda Coriander Quilts Cosy Up, without the gingham as I used those for a different quilt. 

Backing: Windham fabrics, grey with yellow flowers. Border: yellow thatched Timeless Treasures Fabrics. Binding: brick print Art Gallery Fabric 

Positively Charming

Positively Charming sewing pattern from #corianderquilts #coreyyoder  51 inch x 59.5 inch.

1 day to cut the fabric, pieced a weekend and few evenings, 2 days to quilt and bind. This quilt is cost effective as you can use 1 charm pack or 1/4 layer cake as I did. Mint green is a different change to white backgrounds and I was able to use blue for the backing without worrying about colour run too much (use colour catchers, cool temperature, take out of the washing machine straight away).

Quilting: approx 2 by 4 inch straight-line grid in aqua Glide thread.

Moda layer cake by Sherri and Chelsi 'The Front Porch'. Background and backing #benartexfabrics

Should have used a lower tension with this high loft 2oz wadding, only noticed the tension in the sunlight photos! I will redo part of the binding that waved a little, again noticed in photos.

Checkerboard Baby

Checkerboard baby quilt no pattern (just 9 patch). Fallon sleeps on this every night. A few days to piece, then just 1 day to quilt and bind! 1 Moda later cake, Sweetwater "wishes", which I think is from 2014, had that on the squares I left off. Turquoise polka on white yardage Makower. Binding yellow thatched Timeless Treasures. Backing pink lambs Benartex. Quilted straight-line every two squares and then criss cross through those boxes. I cut the layer cake squares into 3 strips and strip pieced, I cut them 3 1/4 inches and I needed to cut the white with blue polkadot to centre the red. I like the way it created despite making one block (or two blocks with the colour variation). I think it is 45.5 by 53 inches.