Ready for the Baby Shower

Over the past few weeks I’ve been busy knitting baby clothes ready for the Baby Shower which is taking place at my church tomorrow. We have asked for donations of useful items for babies and pregnant mums in exchange for coffee and cake. I’ve made a coffee and walnut cake and will be helping in the kitchen and receiving gifts.

I have also added a crochet baby blanket which I made a few years ago.

I do hope lots of people come and we are able to pass on enough baby things and items for the mums to take into hospital when their babies (around 70 I believe) are due. They are for refugees, mostly from Syria, who meet at a centre in our nearby city and our church is supporting their efforts.

Being creative with red scraps

This month’s colour for making Sunshine Guild blocks is Red, another colour that is always lacking in my stash so I had to get creative. I had some 1.5” strips, a few 2.5” and 3” squares in the scraps collection gifted by Wendy and a couple of Christmas fabrics that I thought I could use. “Holiday “ fabrics are not allowed so no Santa Claus, Christmas story, Easter eggs etc.  However I have risked using a snowflake fabric and a red with gold etched flowers.

I made some 4 Patch blocks from the 2.5” squares and trimmed the 3” squares down so I could have a bit more variety.
I enjoy making Sawtooth blocks and found I could make some 8” ones which I framed with a double border to bring them up to the requested 12.5” block size.
Here they are:

I made 5 blocks in January in the Blue and Yellow colours that were requested. I saw the block on a blog and tried to replicate it. Most are right but I seem to have twisted the four parts of the block around wrongly in a couple of them. But I decided not to do any seam ripping!

It’s a very dull day here so I’m afraid the colours look much duller in the photographs that they actually are.
I’ll post these to Tammy in Texas tomorrow.

More Orange blocks for RSC 2020

Rain and cold winds still continuing so, as I had a completely free day yesterday I sewed and sewed.
I had made some orange Twinkler Blocks earlier in the week and yesterday made one 49 Patch block using already cut 1.5” orange squares from the stash I have in a tin. I sewed the small orange squares together Leader and Ender style in between working on some Red blocks for the Sunshine Guild. As both orange and red are always in short supply I have really turned over my stash thoroughly looking for scraps.

Here’s my orange total from yesterday:

I started making Twinkler Blocks last year and I now have 36 Twinkler Blocks, my 4 orange blocks bringing my orange total to 7.
The only orange scraps I have left are a few 1.5” strings, all fairly short length and a few 1.5” squares. I may make another orange 49 Patch block.

Linking with Angela’s So Scrappy RSC post.

Making my RSC 2020 blocks

Orange is the colour for February, a colour I always struggle to find scraps for the blocks.
However, due to my recent gift from Wendy I did find a few orange squares so I made 6 Ship blocks, 2 in each size.

I don’t appear to have many suitable blue fabrics for sea and sky backgrounds so I think I’ll have to buy a few FQ’s so I can get more scrappy variety into the blocks.

Basket weave baby blanket

I’ve enjoyed knitting a basket weave baby blanket for the upcoming Baby Shower at church for a local organisation supporting Refugees. We’re hoping to make up 70 baby layettes and sets for the pregnant Mums themselves to take into hospital(slippers, dressing gowns, nightdresses, toiletries etc)

This blanket measures 27” square, a nice size for a new baby. I’ve started another one which I hope to finish in time for 29th February. The yarn is a pretty variegated blue and fawn colours.

My friend Amy has been sorting out her 2year old’s outgrown baby clothes, some barely worn, so I’ll be donating them to the cause too. Looking forward to seeing all those pretty baby things when I meet up with her next week.

We have had heavy rain and winds this weekend but thankfully nowhere near the fierce weather  some parts of our country is experiencing as Storm Dennis works it’s way through the country, so I have been sewing this weekend. Just off to my sewing room to have another session now. Some RSC blocks and continuing with another Jewel Chinese Coin flimsy for Australia.

UFO finally becomes a flimsy

Back in June 2016 one of the Patchwork Groups I belong to had a Project Linus Day organised by Wendy (the quilter friend who recently gifted me SO many super scraps). I wrote about it on my blog on 23rd June 2016.
I brought home a kit Wendy had put together to make another one. I finished the centre and then it got put away - for whatever reason I now can’t remember.

I didn’t even remember it when I did my Sewing Inventory at the end of 2019. However a few days ago it came to mind and I thought I could finish it and send it as a flimsy to Jan Mac in Australia for one of the children traumatised by the Bush Fires. There was a border fabric with the quilt  kit and I managed to enlarge the quilt a little by adding an extra pale pink inner border from my stash.
The original centre panel measured 26” x 34” and with the two added borders it finishes at 34” x 48”. It’s a bright happy quilt ideal for a little girl. It’s now added to the Jewel flimsy and I have another UFO project in mind to finish to add to this collection. Itching to make some more QAYGs as well as I’ve just found some ideal backing fabric in my stash.

Here’s the Happy Fish Flimsy:

A flimsy jewel for Australia

I was gifted such a huge number of scraps by my quilting friend Wendy, including two bags full of
2.5” x 4.5” rectangles, all beautifully cut and pressed.
I used a lot in the little Jewel Quilt I made recently and decided I would make another Chinese Coin flimsy for Jan in Australia. I asked her which size she preferred and the answer was 50” x 70” so I have made a Jewel flimsy, finished this morning.

I still have a huge number of rectangles left so I will make another, different colours this time as almost all the pinks, purple, greens and blues have been used! Just worked out there are 408 Scrap rectangles in this top.