A bit of housekeeping

One of the joys of my sewing room (yes it is almost finished!!!) is the pull-out ironing board set in to a cupboard. I know I am easy to please :)

Given the punishment ironing boards take around here I wanted to make a cover for it to make sure that the nice, fawn surface wouldn't get ruined when I inadvertently iron fusible wadding the wrong way round!

So, I grabbed an old shirt of my DH's cut one side out of it and added a part of a sleeve to give me the length that I needed. A rough  measurement of the dimensions of the opened out ironing board gave me the pattern and I then stitched a 0.5" channel all around for the drawstring. Job done :)

The ironing board folds over on itself, then swivels to slide back on the runners for storage. The cover stays on throughout that manoeuvre thanks to the drawstring tie.

I am happy now that any ironing mistakes will not result in a ruined board and happier still that the whole thing was put together from my (large) stash of shirts for recycling - win-win!

Cuddles for a boy

When I recycled shirts for the log cabin quilt for our new grandson, I was left with this pile of fabric that I reckoned could provide another quilt. Baby quilts not being very big after all :)

Having pulled out my Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks for my charity quilt group, I decided that the leftover fabric would probably work for those blocks too.

So, I cut as many 2.5" strips as I could from the leftovers and then sewed them together in sets of six.

Cut again and reassembled I ended up with 4 12.5" blocks (Bonnie Hunter's website Quiltville has a brilliant explanation of how to do this)

That wasn't really big enough, so I added a border of 4" squares (and recycled a white shirt into the bargain!) to make a reasonable size quilt top.

A quick purchase of some Moda Sweet Baby flannel from Plush Addict and I was all set.

I quilted diagonal lines to echo the Trip Around the World pattern and carried those into the chequered borders.

The cuddly flannel should keep that little man warm and happy, don't you think?

The binding is an aqua and white pindot cotton that was all I could find in the local fabric shop, but it works I think.

I am really pleased with how this turned out, and will definitely be looking more closely at the wardrobes of the men in the family from now on :)

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts

Something old for somebody new - Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew

Welcome to the September Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew Link Party! Despite the glorious sunshine here yesterday, we are definitely on the run-in to that big holiday at the end of the year, so what better time to get started on those crafty gifts and decorations that you have been meaning to start since January :)

If you are lacking inspiration, each month we add a brand-new Christmas or Holiday project to the Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew archive. Click on the button at the top of the page to see all of the brilliant projects dreamt up to date by our fabulously talented guest hosts and be inspired!

As an added incentive to get cracking on that crafting every month there is a great giveaway prize for one lucky linker and this month's prize, courtesy of Stephanie at Elephant in my Handbag is a cracker!

I am sure that you can all think of someone who would love a coin purse from this great pattern!

Not only has Stephanie donated the perfect pattern for gift crafting, but she is also giving all budding Ho, Ho, Ho'ers a 10% discount on their first purchase from her lovely online store. The discount code is naturally enough HOHOHO and is suitable for one time use between now and when this month's link party ends on September 30th.

Our guest hostess this month, Sandra, has been known to whip up a novelty purse or two in her time, so there couldn't have been a better fit of hostess and giveaway :)

My own Christmas crafting revolves around the arrival of this little fellow

our gorgeous grandson!

We have already managed to hurtle down the road for one visit and are busy planning the next, but in the meantime I have been working on a project to keep him warm and cosy this winter.

My new patchwork class were working on log cabin blocks and I decided to use that as an opportunity to do something that I have been meaning to do for a long time; make a quilt from my stash of used shirts. The shirts in question were discarded by my husband and sons, so there are some of grandpa's and uncles shirts as well as the new dad's!

I used all 100% cotton shirts except for one which was a linen and cotton mix, so I presume they will all be able to stand up to whatever our gorgeous grandson can throw at them :)

I am thrilled to bits with how this turned out, and can't wait to see the new man in my life wrapped up in it come Christmas.

So that's my Ho, Ho, Ho and on We Sew project sorted, now it is your turn so head on over to Sandra
and link up your Christmas and holiday makes for September and be in with a chance to win that brilliant novelty purse pattern. The link closes at 23.59GMT on September 30th so you have plenty of time to get that project finished and linked up, and don't forget to take advantage of that 10% discount code too.



Thanks again to all of these lovely sponsors who have provided such great giveaway prizes as an extra incentive to get those gifts done and dusted.

  

 

All the nice girls

We had a couple of long car journeys in the last week or so, which meant that I was looking for something to keep me occupied when the map reading consists of keep straight ahead for the next couple of hundred miles!

As you know from previous posts we have been redecorating our eldest son's now vacated bedroom with a seaside theme. So when the April issue of the Bustle and Sew magazine popped up in my inbox with a pattern for a cushion based on the song " All the nice girls love a sailor" well my travelling project was found :)

I used a piece of calico for the embroidery and then raided my son's wardrobe for the cushion fabric.

I should just say that I checked with him first before I ripped his shirts apart!

The embroidery was bordered with 2.5" strips top and bottom.

All the nice girls cushion 

I used more shirt strips for the back of the cushion and was also able to use the front placket from one of the shirts to make a button closure. I love it when that works out :)

So not only do I have another element of my seaside decoration, but it cost me next to nothing to make too. That's my kind of project!

And if you haven't come across the song before you can listen to it here. Needless to say since starting the embroidery I have been humming this ever since :)

Linking up this finish to 

Crazy Mom Quilts