Small Patchwork Projects

After finishing my quilt top last week, I immediately wanted to get started on another quilt, but I'm lacking some of the materials to get going.  Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of fabric (too much), but I never buy solids for background and I don't have a lot that "goes" together.  I like to make things from the same lines, too, and the easiest way to do that is buy bundles or precuts.  None of which I have!

I didn't want to get behind on patchwork though, so I made a couple small projects.  The first was this drawstring bag from Pretty in Patchwork Holidays.  The tutorial was made available on Sew Mama Sew! last holiday season, but I found the book at Barnes and Noble last week and it won me over!  There are a ton of really cute projects in here, and most are small enough to finish in a weekend.

Again, I never buy solids, so the red and white Swiss Cross bag, as much as I loved it, was not an option!  But last month I won six yards of Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee line from Pink Chalk Fabrics, so I thought I'd use some of that to make a log cabin/cross patchwork design.  I love that design and think it's one of the best mixes of traditional and modern when done in contemporary fabrics.

The bag was so simple and I used three of the prints from the line, though I had a ton of fabric left over (I received six one-yard cuts).  I stuffed my finished quilt top inside to keep it safe from flying cat hair...not that Eleanor ever joins me at the sewing machine.

Right.

I also had a chance to work on our Christmas stockings.  For these, I used Creative Thursday's Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Thimble Blossom's "Merry" pattern.  I bought fat quarters and had pretty sizable scraps!

While using the same line, I didn't want matching stockings, so Nicholas chose the four fabrics he wanted and I chose my four.  Mine are blue; his are the green and red.

Nicholas chose the chevron design for his stocking and I chose the pinwheel, but both gave me the chance to try my hand at half-square triangles.  At first glance, this technique was way over my head, but I did some Googling and looked for tutorials and it made sense.  The hardest thing for me was ensuring all squares were exactly the same size.  Which, of course, they were not.  I should've made a template!

I was able to cut, piece and sew Nick's stocking front yesterday.  I guess I should have paid more attention to the direction of the design?!  Oh well, Nick likes it and I kind of like how crazy it is too.  While the pattern says to use a print and a neutral, I liked the look of two prints.  The chevron isn't lost in the faux-ric-rac or the trees.  There are definitely some mess-ups and my points aren't perfect!  But once it's quilted I'm sure it'll be fine.

I'm trying to only focus on quilting and patchwork during the week, as I mentioned in an earlier post, so over the weekend I like to shift back to clothing.  I'll admit, though, the shift is a little difficult!  Since learning these basic patchwork skills, I've noticed I'm not as drawn to buying yardage of quilting cottons or using them for garments, though I've always used them.  Maybe I'm starting to realize there are different ways to use different fabrics?  I wouldn't call it off completely, but my thought process is different than it was even a month ago.  

Did you work on anything over the weekend?  Next week I hope to have two stockings for you!