some sewing at last!

DD and I finally got into the sewing room together yesterday. Well, we had been in here in the late afternoon of the day before but we found deciding how to make the backing of a donation quilt with the fabrics that had also been donated too difficult for our tired minds so we didn't end up doing anything!

So, yesterday we came in with the intention of making the backing for another quilt. But we got distracted on the way. For Christmas, WM and I gave Older Grandson a set of skittles which he loves. They were in a plastic carrier which was way too difficult to put together, especially for a not-quite-two-year-old. Yesterday he stood on the lower part of the empty carrier and snapped it in two places. So we decided to make him a drawstring bag to keep the skittles and balls together. OG was given three flannelette fabrics to choose from and chose the one we thought he would. 

finished size: 19" x 13"

While we had the machine threaded up for the bag, I thought I may as well make another change mat for him (he has only one here) so cut out the same fabric as the bag and a coordinating stripe.

It's a bit scrunched because OG loves it and has been carrying it around the house - to sit on or as a skittles bowling lane! DD hasn't even done the quilting yet!

While DD was working on the drawstring bag, I chain pieced and cut some scraps left over from the Scrappy II quilt top to insert into the back. We needed 48 inches of width for the quilting frame and, of course, our fabric was only 44 inches wide. So a panel of scrap fabrics was inserted to gain the extra width. WM had to stand on the lounge (sofa) so I could take a photo - thanks WM!

finished backing 48" x 88"

I finished the final piecing at 11:30pm - I just couldn't go to bed with one seam left to do! Here is a close up of the 4" wide panel.
Only thing was, I made a panel that was 154 inches long - boy that gave us a huge chuckle! Now we have some scraps left to start a "coin" quilt!

Perhaps today we'll figure out a backing for the other donation quilt!

ready for blast off

Seventeen month old Older Grandson (OG) doesn't much like having his nappy (diaper) changed. He has long since outgrown the change table and is usually changed on the floor by his parents or WM, or on a bed by me.

OG squirms and wriggles and tries to escape. Usually that's okay, we're bigger and stronger than he is, but there are some nappies (diapers) that need an octopus to change them!

In 2007, long before we thought of our little girl getting married and having children, we bought beige carpet! Yes, that's right, beige! It stains very easily (despite being marketed as "stain resistant"). To protect this expensive (read: not to be replaced for a long time) asset, DD and I made two play quilts, one 36" square and the other 50" square, to catch the dribble, milk-chuck and other stuff that comes out of babies' mouths (and lower ends).

But quilts take a while to line dry so I wanted something that could be laundered more easily. (Yes, we have a dryer but we hardly ever use it; line drying is normal in Australia - this is the land where the rotary clothes hoist was invented!!)

On Saturday I cut some of this flannel

and some of this flannel

and sewed them together to make this

87cm x 55cm (35" x 22")

... the first of two change mats for an active, growing, not-yet-ready-to-be-toilet-trained boy.

I had such fun quilting this using my walking foot and having the machine on very slowly (I got faster as I went on); I also used Jan's ability to drive herself leaving me to concentrate on what my hands were doing!

I only wish I'd used a different coloured thread so I could see my work! LOL