pillowcases

Merry Christmas!........

Merry Christmas!  I know.....this Santa is pretty strange. 












Now I can show what I have been sewing for Christmas.  This stack of pillowcases went to the east coast.





This stack of pillowcases will go to the party today.  I let everyone choose the one they want instead of deciding for them.












The top two in the stack above are shown here with the PJ bottoms I made for my 3 year old great grandson.  Altogether I used 19 yards of flannel.  My granddaughter used 4 yards of flannel on her sewing day with me last week.  That still leaves enough flannel to make at least a dozen quilts and many more pillowcases.  However I'm glad to have reduced the stash by 23 yards.

Gifts......

I planned to make this pillowcase last week but somehow never found time to do it.  I gave my oldest great-grandson (2 1/2) a travel pillow for Christmas with a pillowcase to match the PJ pants I sent.  He is now into Dr. Seuss so I made him a new pillowcase.
I also had a yard of laminated fabric with lots of the characters on it.  I made him a little tote bag out of it.  He is going to miss being an only child when his new brother comes home.

Happy Thanksgiving!!..............

Yesterday I worked on my church sewing circle project.  More children have moved into the mission apartments so I had to make 6 more stockings.  I chose three girls for my project.  They are 8, 10 and 10 years old.  One of the things I decided to make for them was flannel pillowcases.  I made just the standard style of pillowcase this time.

We had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner while my granddaughter's family was here from out of state in October so today we are just going to have pizza.  Less fuss and clean up.

Red thread...........

I cut seven more pairs of pillowcases yesterday.  I only sewed the ones that needed red thread.  The fabric on the left is from 1994 and I have always loved it.  It was time to use it.

My tutorial for this style of pillowcase is here.  Since a sliver needs to be trimmed from the fold edge and no more than 1/2" from the selvage edge, I had to press out the fold line on all of the fabrics.  Then I lined up the selvedges perfectly and repressed in a fold line before taking the 2 yard pieces to the cutting table.

Four pairs..........

I didn't start working on the pillowcases until late afternoon so I didn't finish as many as planned.  I decided to make pairs of pillowcases since the grandchildren are adults now and have large beds and probably at least 2 pillows.  I finished these 8 and one extra from the remainder of the blue zebra flannel.  I used my tutorial here for the kind of pillowcase where the pillow is tucked into an inside panel and can't fall out of the case.  Since I was making 2 from the same fabric I cut most of these as one long piece folded at the places where there would have been a seam.  I have a pile of flannels chosen for the rest of the pillowcases I need to make.

Keeping busy

I finished the dozen Christmas pillowcases for our church project, made with donated fabric.  They still need pressing and then I can deliver them.
I worked on the ditch quilting on this piece.  I finished all of the blue and purple areas and started the green.  This is a small piece, almost too small for a baby quilt, or at least an odd shape for one.
The gold mound spirea bushes are starting to change color.  Their blooms are dried and delicate.
 
I'm undergoing 2 tests this evening.  I have been healthy all my life and have never had to have these tests before.  I know others have undergone them multiple times.  It's always a little scary the first time.

Busy work......

I'm not ready to talk about my eye problem yet so I'll be showing the busy work I am doing to keep my mind off of it 24 hours a day.  Before I left and after I came home from my first medical appointment I cut 12 Christmas pillowcase kits for my church sewing circle.  I missed our meeting today so I might sew these at home before the next meeting.
My best friend from 5th grade through high school asked if I would make a couple doll quilts in the style of her childhood doll quilt.  I took a photo of it the last time we got together and she provided the fabrics.  They will both get borders and then be sewn right sides together with the back and batting and turned.  I have enough squares cut to make a third one with a mix of the 2 sets of fabrics.

A mostly leisurely day.......

The last time I taught an 'I Spy' quilt class was about 10 years ago and I made kits of 6.5" squares and kits of 3.5" squares to sell.  In the basement I found 2 medium size bins that had most of the fabric scraps in them along with some of the squares that were left over.  It was fun to see all of the prints again and sort the fabrics into piles of small scraps and large scraps. Then I went to my yardage to pull a few more prints which I cut last night.  I hope to meet with my friend soon and see which ones she will want.
I wanted something to do while I watched the 10 o'clock news last night so I pulled out the box of fabrics from church sewing circle.  One of the other ladies washed and pressed all of the donated fabric and I just needed to cut pillowcase kits from it for next Monday.  There is a little more to cut after I re-press a few of the fabrics.
 

Travel size pillows....

This was my trial pillowcase to fit the little travel pillows which are half the size of a regular pillow.  It really need to be about 1" longer.  My church's sewing circle is making these for a local Head Start program for migrant workers' children. 
I went through my fabrics looking for ones that will appeal to small children and used 12.5 yards out of my stash.  There are 18 kits piled here.  I added 2 after I took the photo.  The contrasting cuff fabrics are folded inside each one.  I made sure that every pillowcase is different.  There are 8 striped ones on the bottom from the same fabric but there are 8 different cuff fabrics.  This way they will be able to identify their own.  We will complete them this afternoon for distribution this week.