Rainbow Pincushion Project

Started Rainbow Pincushion
Started Rainbow Pincushion

I started this Rainbow pincushion after receiving the pieces and parts as part of the Happy Box from Sew Hungry Hippie.

The Happy Box is a subscription box, but not a fabric and projects subscription box exclusively. I received my first one towards the beginning of the month and really enjoyed the contents.

One of the things it included was a kit for this rainbow pincushion. The top was foundation paper pieced, which gave me the opportunity to try the Quilter’s Select FPP paper in a small way.

All of the pieces were cut and ready to sew, so I just started making it. I don’t really need another pincushion, but WTH? It is cheerful looking.

Gerre’s Scissor Cozy

Scissor Cozy for Gerre
Scissor Cozy for Gerre

Back in January I made a scissor cozy for Maria. I decided, at the same time, to make one for Gerre for her birthday.

I really like this project. It is pretty quick, has room for customizations (see leash) and can be made, mostly, with supplies on hand.

As with Maria’s I upsized this one. I don’t know what size scissors Gerre has, but I am sure she will find a use for this.

Bowl Cozy in Action

Amy's bowl cozies
Amy’s bowl cozies

A few months ago I made some bowl cozies for my boss. The other day she sent me a picture of them in action. She has told me several times that she and her husband both use them and like them. I am always so amazed that other people don’t have houses filled with useful items (potholders, napkins, bowl cozies, tea towels, TP totes, etc.) made from quiltmaking fabric!

It is a big shock that not everyone sews.

Scissor Cozy

Maria's Scissor Cozy
Maria’s Scissor Cozy

I got a bug in my ear to make some scissor cozies over the weekend. I’m not sure why, but I just went with it and made two. I didn’t like the way the tips came out, but I am pleased with the overall effect.

I made a scissor cozy for Julie and one for my Mom some time ago, so I had the directions, which I tried to use. There was some confusion, so went and looked up the pattern on Sotak Handmade’s IG feed. It turns out she has a YouTube tutorial now, so I watched that. She has tightened up the pattern and made a few changes, which worked well for me.

I used flannel for the inside instead of batting. I am not sure it made the corners much thinner. I might keep the batting away from the corners in a future version.

This one was for Maria just because. No particular reason. Making two was just as easy as making one. I added the leash.

Finished: More Bowl Cozies

Amy's bowl cozies
Amy’s bowl cozies

At work I have a team meeting every Monday. For some reason I started to show whatever items I made over the weekend to my workmates. Now it is a regular feature of our meetings.

Amy's bowl cozies - top view
Amy’s bowl cozies – top view

After showing the bowl cozies I made for the BAM swap, a big discussion ensued about what they were, how to use them. I offered to make some for everyone, but only my boss took me up on them. I finished them yesterday.

I am really pleased with the fabric choices. I am glad she wanted red and black!

After making these using the same tutorial I used before, I am thinking of making bowl cozies as family gifts. I could make gift bags as soon as I finish the bowl cozies and I wouldn’t have to do anything in December. If I start in January it won’t be so bad. You can remind me of my big plans when I am moan about family gifts in December. 😉

Finished Bowl Cozies

Two Bowl Cozies
Two Bowl Cozies

As I said the other day, these were a pretty fast gift to make.

The tutorial is one page of instructions plus the template for the darts. The tutorial makes total sense and isn’t difficult or complicated. I wanted to see what other tutorials were available so I put “bowl cozy tutorial” into Duck Duck Go (a search engine that doesn’t track your movements) and got a number of blog posts and videos.

Two Bowl Cozies (bottom)
Two Bowl Cozies (bottom)

Crafty Gemini has a video tutorial for a more more petal shaped cozy. The Caffeinated Quilter tutorial has thinner triangles for darts and the back is pulled around the front for a border/binding. Tara Reed’s blog post tutorial reminds us we can use orphan blocks or ‘made’ fabric as parts for the bowl cozy.

Bowl cozy side view
Bowl cozy side view

One reason I like this pattern is because of the angle of the darts. It would fit one of my soup type bowls really well. We have some larger bowls that we use for chunky dinner (not leftover) soups and stews. Those might fit better in a larger cozy with steeper sides. The good thing about this pattern is that you can adjust it and use the same directions. They only thing would be to keep the angles of the triangles consistent.

I think you could also adjust the shape of the corners to make different looks.

Bowl cozy 2 side view
Bowl cozy side 2 view

I am trying to decide if I want to make a bunch of these for DH’s cousins and siblings. While I can make them quickly, I would still have to pick out fabric. That takes time just because of the logistics. As well, most people won’t know what they are, so I would have to make a little tag to let people know how to use them. I also think one is kind of a mean gift. What happens if one gets dirty? I would want to make two for each family. I suppose I could start with one and see how things go. I’ll have to talk to DH and see what his thoughts are.

Try one out. Even if you decide not to make them as gifts, you will have something useful for your kitchen.

 

Trying Out Gift Ideas

Awhile ago, Mrs. K made me a bowl cozy.I never thought I needed such a thing, but I use it all the time and it is very helpful.

Bowl Cozy in progress
Bowl Cozy in progress

Someone told me about a bowl cozy tutorial and reminded me of that great gift. I decided to try it out over the weekend.

They are fairly easy to make. The process goes quickly.

My issue was sewing. I wasn’t sure whether to sew all the way to the corner, so I didn’t do it at first, because of the change in height of the layers. The batting bunched up as my sewing machine foot got to it, so I started sewing from the batting on the other corners. This looked bad, so I went back later and sewed to the edges.

Maria’s Potholders

My guild had their first in person meeting over the weekend. Maria organized a swap as a fun thing to welcome everyone back. I joined and was assigned Maria who wanted potholders.

Maria's potholders
Maria’s potholders

Potholders are almost the last thing I would consider making. When I use potholders I want them to protect my hands from the heat and I have not found that homemade potholders do that. Still, Maria wanted potholders, so I made potholders.

I had some Insulbright on hand, so I used that in addition to two layers of batting. The sandwich was super fat. I didn’t want to do very much thread sinking, so I didn’t quilt it as much as I could have, but they turned out pretty thin in the end. I hope all the layers will protect Maria’s hands.

She also wanted lime green. Since I made her a pillow before, I decided to stick with that theme and use the same block. I had to redraw the block in EQ8, because I couldn’t find my block from the swap. The proportions came out a little different in this piece, but I think they still look good.

I didn’t think about a hanging loop until it was too late to put one on. Oh well.

I added in pink because I like pink and it made the potholders look cheerful and celebratory. The theme of the swap is Celebration! so the colors fit. I made a gift bag in the same fabric as the binding. The gift is ready to go.

Finished: Eye Mask for Mom

3 Eye Masks
3 Eye Masks

Finally, I can show all of the eye masks together. I delivered the last eye mask yesterday to my mom for Mother’s Day.I know Mother’s Day is a week away, but she came over and refused to wait to open her gifts. It was fun to see her open it.

She has a gel mask, but I had already started making her this when I found that out. She said the one I made is much softer and larger, so will work really well for her.

You might remember that I showed my mask in January, which is when I finished all of them. Then, I showed Gerre’s mask in March after International Women’s Day.

You can see that I used Mom’s fabric so this goes with her set of small items. I have used the Dia de los Muertos fabric for Gerre before and this is now the fabric I am designating for her gifts since I ran out of the purple Asbury fabric.

Gerre’s Eye Mask

Gerre's Eye Mask
Gerre’s Eye Mask

I wrote about the eye mask I made for myself in January. At the same time I made two others and this is the second one, which I delivered to Gerre for International Women’s Day. It went with the Purse Organizer.

These eye masks are simple and quick to make assuming you have some rice on hand. I want to try adding some lavender, but don’t have any so I haven’t done that yet.

Renee’s Eye Mask

Renee's Eye Mask
Renee’s Eye Mask

Yes, I seem to be on an eye mask kick. I bought a large bag of rice and, with this mask, have used it up, so my eye mask efforts are finished for now. I like making a project a few times so I can get it right. This project will be a good quick gift going forward, assuming I buy more rice I want to use in eye masks and don’t want to eat.

Renee's Eye Mask - back
Renee’s Eye Mask – back

Renee is the Grand President of the Native Daughters of the Golden West. NDGW is the female version of the Native Sons of the Golden West. There are more dresses and more pomp and circumstance as well as more efforts to assist with various California History related projects. They also have a vibrant effort to help kids in various ways through their Children’s Foundation. If you are interested in joining, check their website. It is definitely an organization trying to find its way with a new generation, but there is potential and they do a lot of good.

The Grand President will be having a Parlor visit in April. Apparently, people make gifts and the Grand President opens them at this event. I am not able to attend this year, but I feel a special rapport with Renee, so I made her a gift. I will drop it off with the District Deputy and it will be sent on to her. Her theme is butterflies, which guided my choice of fabric.

Gift Post: Eye Mask

A friend of mine has Stage Zero Breast Cancer. I have never heard of Stage Zero Breast Cancer either, but she explained that it has something to do with calcifications. You’ll have to look it up, if you are interested. She said that her health system is one of the few that actually treats Stage Zero Breast Cancer. She will be having surgery on Friday.

Eye Mask gift
Eye Mask gift

I decided to make her an eye mask as I wanted to make her something that would provide comfort. After finding a piece of pretty fabric, I whipped it up and will be sending it off this morning.

After I made it I thought the curve would accommodate using it under her arm as well. I don’t know if that will feel good, but it is an option. I used the small amount of leftover fabric to make a small gift/storage bag.

Eye Mask Finished

My eye mask
My eye mask

Some time ago, I though about making some eye masks as gifts.This came up when my eye doctor said to put a hot compress on my eyes every night to prevent something I can’t remember now. I was suffering from whatever it was (stys?) at the time and the doc was concerned. I had never had them before, but when I told my mom, she said she gets them all the time. Then another friend said the same thing and here I am.

I know the side I closed after filling the eye mask is oddly shaped. The others came out better.

I used the Chloe Mullaney pattern with some changes. I guess I basically only used the pattern piece. This isn’t a difficult project: cut out the pattern piece from fabric, sew right sides together, fill with rice and close up. Yes, I used rice, because I wasn’t sure how other fillings would act in the microwave.

I bought a hand towel at Tuesday Morning to use as the back, which was not part of the pattern. I thought a towel would be more comfortable and more absorbent than quilting cotton. I wanted something pretty for the front, but purely functional for the back. I was able to get 3 pieces out of the fluffy part of one hand towel. The Tuesday Morning towel was very good quality, but not expensive.

 

Swap Gift

Minikins 2: Sewing Room Stand
Minikins 2: Sewing Room Stand

Yesterday we all opened our  swap gifts. Thus I know my swap giftee received the gift I made back in May. I mentioned that I had made it for someone, but didn’t say who.

The parameters of the swap were to make a pattern you have been wanting to try.

I did end up following those parameters by making a Boxy Clear pouch for Angela.

Minikins 2: Sewing Room Stand tool side
Minikins 2: Sewing Room Stand tool side

For the swap gift, I used colors I thought Sue S. would like and use. Angela helped me out by asking Sue about her decor and preferences. Originally, I thought I would make a cushion cover, but then I changed my mind. I have seen Sue S. at Sew Days using her tablet to follow a pattern. Thus I thought the Minikins Sewing Stand would be great. It isn’t a pattern I have been wanting to try specifically, but I have been wanting to try all of the Minikins.

Minikins 2: Sewing Room Stand tablet side
Minikins 2: Sewing Room Stand tablet side

I confused the lining and exterior, so the light is on the outside and the tools have to be against dark fabric, but at least Sue gets to look at pretty fabric.

I really hope she likes it and it is useful to her.

Gift Face Masks

I had some large-ish ‘scraps’ recently, so made a couple of masks for the YM. Since I was mailing him a package I also made one for his girlfriend. She is S-i-Ping 4 hours away from the YM, but I know that that they are trying to see each other as often as possible.

Black Circle Mask
Black Circle Mask

By ‘large-ish scraps’ I mean pieces too large for my scrap bin, but too small for filing in the bins I use for my larger pieces of yardage. For me, it is better to cut them up either for future projects or into usable sized patches. Some of the pieces were large enough that I had enough for masks. I want the YM to have enough for at least two weeks, so he can have a fresh one every day, so cutting mask pieces has been on my mind.

Green Vine Mask front
Green Vine Mask front

Of course, I didn’t have any dark green scraps, so I had to delve into yardage to find the YMG’s favorite color. I have very little dark green, but I found this Jinny Beyer print that I bought pre-blogging and decided it would work. I hope the horizontal vines don’t come across as having a passive-aggressive meaning…or something.

Black Circle Mask Elastic
Black Circle Mask Elastic

This is the same video pattern I have been using. I described some issues I was having in the last Face Mask post. I worked on redoing the way I insert elastic on these. I sewed similar rectangles on the ends, but inserted the elastic so that the ends are covered by folding the ends in. I might have made the elastic a little small, but we will see. I don’t try on masks I am sending to other people, so I don’t know if the edges will flap out like my previous batch. I know it is a small thing easily covered by hair, but the detail bugs me.