Yesterday I spent some time making blocks for Missy’s quilt. I took some pictures of the process I’m using for making the blocks. Each block is unique but I use the same basic approach to make them and will outline it here for you today if you want to use this technique too. For the first entry I wrote about this quilt and how it came to be go here.

Step 1:

Start with a smallish (2”x3”) trapezoid shape. The more irregular the shape the more skewed the finished block will end up.

Add the side pieces to opposite sides. I usually pick a piece of fabric that is longer than the side I’m adding it to to give me plenty of room for trimming later.

Sew (1/4” seam allowance) and press with seam allowances toward outside.

Step 2:

Trim excess fabric. I line my ruler up with the edge of the original piece and trim off the excess fabric. You can also trim at a new angle if you want to skew the edges even more.

Step 3:

Add the next round. Again choosing a piece that is a bit longer than the edge it is being added to. This round goes on the other edge of the first piece and the seam crosses the ends of the seams of the first round. Press open with seam allowances toward the outside.

Trim overhanging fabric like in the first round.

Step 4:

Continue to add fabrics to opposite sides, pressing and trimming as you go. I typically add a total of 7 rounds, the center square counting as “round 1”. I planned this quilt so that the 6th round will be white fabric and the last round (7th) will be the darker green.

Step 5:

I want my finished squares to be 11” square so I make sure the last two rounds (white and green) are plenty thick enough to give me room to trim them down to the finished size.

Lay a square ruler on top of the finished block and make sure your finished dimensions fit on the square.

Trim right and top sides.

Line trimmed sides up with the 11” marks on ruler. Trim remaining two sides.

Your finished block should be square with opposite green edges and opposite white edges. You can vary the width of the inner rounds to make the outer rounds wider or thinner. You can also add more rounds. The bigger the angles you use to cut the edges will skew or square you block more or less depending on personal taste.

Step 6:

Putting the finished blocks together.

Line the blocks up so that a green edge is touching a white edge (turning each block 90°)

I am pretty sure that this is how I’m going to assemble the finished quilt. But I may experiment with adding a narrow green sashing between blocks. But right now I like how the green edges make the rest of the block “float” in space and blur the lines of the finished blocks.

NOTES:

For a while I was making the blocks so that the 3rd round was always white but then I thought that made the finished quilt look too white all over so I started eliminating that round of white and varied the fabric placement to make more darker blocks. I’m also trying to make more blocks with thicker green edges. I think the overall effect will be very cool and modern looking. I love the fresh clean look of this simple color palette. Right now my quilting plan is to just straight line quilt with lines going across the quilt in different directions. I just don’t know what color thread to use. I think white will show up too bright on the green parts but green or blue will muddy the white sections. I’ll have to do some test blocks to see what I like best. Of course I’ll post results here to get your opinions!

I also made this one square using the breast pocket from one of the shirts. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to incorporate it into the finished quilt. I may do a partially pieced back and put it there with a note to Missy in the pocket. Or I may use for a coordinating pillow. I also saved the front button bands from the shirt with the idea of using them on pillows as the closure. The possibilities are endless!

If you use this technique please link back to me so I can see your creations. I love these improvisational techniques because the end results are all so different. I can’t wait to see what you all make with it too!

Emma heads off to summer camp tomorrow for the first time. She will be 13 in less than a month, I thought it was high time she spent some time away from home. She isn’t exactly excited about it but we’re making the best of it.

When I was a kid summer camp was the highlight of the summer, right after the County 4H fair. Probably because I lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone else from birth to death and the majority of us were cousins I looked forward to any opportunity to get away and meet new people. For either one of my many trips to camp or maybe when I was in the Performing Arts Troupe that toured the state all summer, my Mom made me a drawstring duffle for my sleeping bag and pillow. Mine was heavy denim and had my name appliqued on the side. It was also huge!

I made this simple duffle for Emma to put her sleeping bag in and to keep it neat and easy to identify. I made it in less than 2 hours with one yard of cotton fabric. It would probably take less time now that I have measurements and am not stopping at every step to take photos!

(It still needs an actual drawstring, seems that no matter how much fabric, notions and other stuff I have here at home I still need to make a trip to the store to finish a project!)

Step one:
Measuring and cutting.
Measure around the rolled up sleeping bag. I added quite a few inches to leave room for extra stuff like a blanket or small pillow or if Emma can’t get it rolled back up as tight at the end of camp. I determined that one yard would be just right.

Cut yard of fabric in half length wise set aside one 36″ x 22″ piece to use for bottom and optional pockets.

Finish raw edges of 22″ sides. I chose to serge mine with a narrow 3-thread overlock stitch. You could also trim with pinking shears or sew a small zigzag stitch.

Step Two: Marking and Sewing
Fold right sides together matching finished edges. Pin
Make small marks in seam allowance 1.5″ and 2″ from top edge. I chose to leave the selvage as my top edge.
Sew seam using a 1/2″ seam allowance from top edge to first mark, secure, cut thread.
Sew remainder of seam from second mark to bottom, securing stitches at mark.

Press seam open.

Step Three: Making Round Bottom.
Here’s where the math part comes in. If you don’t remember your basic algebra the formula to determine the circumference of a circle is: Diameter x 3.14(pi) or for our purposes we’re going to reverse the formula and take the circumference and determine our diameter: Circumference/pi + 1″ for seam allowances.

Because I serge my raw edges I ended up with a 34″ circumference instead of the original 35″ that I had planned. That gave me an approximately 11″ diameter (10.83 to be exact) So I cut a circle with a 12″ diameter.

Fold circle in quarters and mark with small notches.

Fold main body into quarts and mark with notches.

Step Four: Sewing body to bottom

Match notches on body to notches on bottom, pin. Continue matching and pinning the raw edges (right sides together). You may need to make small snips in the raw edge of the body to help ease around the curve to match the bottom.

Sew. Be careful to keep both layers flat under the needle, stopping every few inches with the needle down to straighten fabric and keep raw edges matching.

Finish edge.

Step Five: Make Drawstring casing.

Fold top edge down, wrong sides together 1 1/4″ inches. If you have a raw edge here turn raw edge under 1/4″ then turn down remaining inch. Press and pin.

Sew 1″ from folded edge. I chose to sew from the right side using a 3mm topstitch. You could also stitch from the wrong side 1/8″ from finished edge.

If you made your small opening in the side seam in the right place you should have a small hole right at the top of the bag to thread your drawstring through. I typically use one and a half the circumference of the bag for my drawstring, 1.5 yards in this case. I plan to get a slippery nylon cord and a cord stopper. After my trip to Joann’s I’ll try to remember to take a photo of the finished product and post it here.

I just made mine plain and simple but you could add a pocket to either the inside or outside, if you have an embroidery machine you could add a cute design or your child’s name to the side. If it is going to get a lot of rough and tumble use, like when I took mine on the road for the summer, you may want to make it out of a sturdier fabric like denim, canvas or home dec weight cotton. There are even some really cute new vinyl coated cottons out there that would make it slightly water-resistant.

Happy Summer. Don’t miss your kids too much while they are off on new adventures. I’m going to try not to miss Emma but it won’t be easy.

To celebrate I cleaned up three piles of cat diarrhea and scooped and stinky litter box at 6:45 a.m. What a life I live! I then took the culprit cat to the vet at noon instead of enjoying an afternoon at Friday Knitting.

Now I am sitting here at my computer and finding inspiration to get some sewing projects started. (Notice I said “started”, I make no promises of finished projects!)

First I found this: Off The Grid Quilt. I found it through Sarah at My Spare Time blog but now I’m getting 404 errors when I try the direct link. She made her version smaller to make it more of a stroller blanket. I really like that idea because I remember when my girls were babies and that smaller size really came in handy. My niece is expecting her second baby girl any time now and I have an abundance of the Tula Pink Hushabye line of fabrics left so I’m inspired to get cutting and piecing again.

While investigating that pattern I came across this: Child’s Activity Bag I think this will be a quick sew that will make a perfect “Big Sister” gift for Kaija Jane.

Both of these tutorial/patterns came from the Moda Bakeshop. The patterns are designed to use the precut fabric bundles Moda sells but are easily adapted to using any fabric. There are pages that give all the measurements for the precuts so using remnants or regular yardage is pretty simple. I’ve added a link in my sidebar to the “Bakeshop” so if you’re looking for inspiration or patterns it is easy to find.

************************************************

Heidi update:
Earlier this week I was afraid I’d have to report that we had come to the decision to finally say goodbye. Monday and Tuesday she was really doing bad. She could barely stand and dragged herself outside to potty and had accidents both mornings in the house. But yesterday she rallied. She got her feet back under her and managed to walk with some difficulty. Last night after we went to bed she somehow got herself across the house and into the bedroom with us! She hasn’t left her rug by the front door other than to go outside in weeks so this was a big deal. This morning her eyes are bright and all of her happy personality is back. I attribute some of it to the fact that Steve got home last night. She is really bonded to him and misses him when he travels. Also Sarah and I took Maizey for a walk yesterday and Heidi was beside herself because she couldn’t go with us. Maybe she is trying to prove she can still get around if we give her the chance. Her 10th birthday is Sunday and I plan on treating her like the princess she is. If it’s possible I’m going to get Steve to join us at the dog park and hope that the snow in the forecast really comes.

While I was at the vet today I had a conversation with my vet about our end-of-life plans for Heidi. As difficult as it is to even think about I think it is important to have a plan in place. Because we’re pretty sure she has DM but there is no way to know for sure without doing a necropsy we are planning for that. The University of Missouri is doing a study of many breeds of dogs to try to determine the causes and genetics behind this disease and someday hopefully the information they gather will lead to treatment and maybe a cure. I have decided to participate in this study and have Heidi’s spinal cord sent to them for their studies. I also shared my worries that she will fail when Steve is traveling as he is in his busy season again. I want him with me if at all possible when this happens but if he can’t be I will need help moving her. I was reassured by my vet that if the need arose they could either send a tech to help me transport her or she would make a house call if worse came to worse. Having these difficult conversations and having a plan in place does help put my mind at ease. This is the hardest part of being a pet lover.