WIPs This Week

I have a bunch of projects on this go this week, so I thought it was a good time to do a WIP post 😊

First up is my Island Batik ambassador project for April. The April challenge is called "Looking Back: Vintage Quilts Inspiring New Creations."

One of the goodies in my box from Island Batik was a layer cake of the Northern Woods line, which is a beautiful collection of greens, browns, creams and oranges with a couple of blues and teals thrown in for good measure. Island Batik also sent 1 1/2 yards of a light and a dark from the collection to supplement. It's the perfect collection for a masculine quilt and since I'm wanting to gift a throw size quilt to a man this summer, I chose it for this challenge.

When I set out to create a design, my must-haves were layer cake friendly, good for a man (so no applique flowers, lol) and using classic blocks. Here's what I came up with, coloured to resemble the Northern Woods line, although somehow some purples snuck in there.

There are 4 patch blocks, pinwheels and those large neutral squares remind me of old fashioned album quilts. They'd be great if you were looking to make a signature quilt for a special occasion.

So far I have the rows all pieced together. The lighting isn't great in this picture, so the colours aren't quite right, but they're close.

I'm looking for pattern testers for this design, so if you're interested just let me know. I'm hoping to have the pattern written and ready for testing by the end of next week.

Next up is my scrap sewing. I've finished all of the units I need for the quilt 😊 They look so beautiful all stacked up.

Here are a few scattered about.

I love some of the tiny pieces that made their way into the blocks, like the small green triangle and the small blue rectangle in this block. It was fun to use the tiniest pieces, though it did make piecing these blocks take longer than if I had been using larger scraps.

I took these pictures with a solid blue fabric as the background, which I quite like, but it's not what I've chosen for the actual background. I'll share that just as soon as it arrives 😊

And as my last project in the works this week, I have another first responder quilt ready to be basted and  quilted.

I thought I would get it basted last night, but I ran out of time. Hopefully it will happen tomorrow morning. Next week is our Easter break, so I'm hoping to get it quilted during the week off. Fitting in these last few first responder quilts (8 more after this one) around my deadline quilting means that it will probably be a few months yet before I get them all done. I'd really like to get them done and gifted before the summer, but we'll see. At least I'm down to single digits left to go, lol!

That's what on the go in my sewing world this week. What are you working on?

Island Batik - Everyday Skirt

March's challenge for the Island Batik ambassadors is to try something new. It could be anything, so long as it was new to us. I was planning on doing needle turn applique, because I've always wanted to try it, but I couldn't decide on a design and didn't really feel like doing a new hand stitching project with my two EPP projects, Scattered Stars and my Hexie Rainbow, already on the go. In the ambassador facebook group we had a huge list of possibilities, but nothing really grabbed my attention.

Then I thought, "I've never sewn with rayon before. I wonder if that would count." When I checked, I was told I was good to go, so I've made myself an Everyday Skirt (pattern by Liesl + Co) with the beautiful rayon sent to me by Island Batik.

Focus on the pretty fabric, not my non-existent modeling skills, lol!

I was a little nervous about cutting the rayon. I've made skirts before, but only with quilting cotton, denim and poplin (which behaves almost exactly like quilting cotton). The rayon is softer and shifts around more. It feels more fluid, which doesn't make much sense considering it's a solid, but it just feels like it has more movement to it. That's great when you're wearing it, but it made me nervous as I was laying it out to cut the pieces.

Sewing the rayon wasn't much different than sewing with quilting cotton. There's no stretch to it, so I didn't have to worry about that. Again, it felt like it shifted around a little more than a quilting cotton would, but I had no problems sewing it.

The Everyday Skirt is a great pattern and I will definitely want to make more. The pattern is well written so I had no trouble with any of the steps and I'm a novice when it comes to garment making. I wasn't sure what size to make, though. My waist measurement said I needed a large, but the pattern said that if you wore it a little higher (which I figured I would), then you could maybe make the smaller size as long as that size's measurement for the elastic when extended would fit over your hips, which the medium would.

I printed out the pattern and cut the waistband pattern piece for the medium and held it up to my waist to test it. It seemed like that would fit so, with a little trepidation, that was the size I cut out. It fits! Actually, I ended up using a shorter length of elastic that the pattern said to use for the medium, so I'm very glad I didn't start out with the large!

I also cut 2 1/2" from the length of the skirt before I hemmed it because of my short legs. I've made a note of that on the pattern for next time and I'll just cut the pieces that much shorter to conserve fabric.

And the best part about the Everyday Skirt (aside from the super-comfy elastic waistband)? It has pockets! Nice, big, roomy pockets. I'll be able to carry my phone and/or my keys no problem this summer, even when I don't want to carry my wallet. That's good because I often go for walks and I want to have my phone with me, but I don't want to have to carry anything in my hands. Pockets in a skirt are a must!

I wore the skirt to church on Sunday and it was wonderfully comfortable. The rayon feels wonderful and doesn't wrinkle much while being worn, which is a definite plus. I've been trying to find a Canadian source to buy the rayon batik in other prints because I'd love to make a dress with it for the summer and I see that Along Came Quilting carries 3 prints. They carry a large selection of the quilting cottons too, if you're looking for those 😉

While I was making the skirt, I kept thinking about the slow fashion movement. Have you heard of it?  Basically, it's a movement to get people to be more intentional about their clothing choices. To buy fewer pieces, to buy pieces that are made sustainably and by people who are paid a fair wage, to throw fewer pieces into the landfill. Making this skirt had me thinking about how much fabric actually goes into an article of clothing (almost 2 yards for this skirt), and how much time it takes to make vs how little we are often willing to pay for things at the mall. I know I'm guilty of trying to only buy things when they are on sale, which doesn't really make much sense when I consider the real cost in both fabric and time. It's the same as trying to sell a quilt for what it's actually worth, isn't it? It's something to think about, for sure.

Well, that's my something new for this month's challenge! Thank you to Island Batik for giving me the gorgeous fabric to play with. I'll be wearing my new skirt a lot this summer 😊

Like a Child

Devotion for the Week...

I'm looking at another familiar portion of Scripture this week, this time it is Mark 10:13-16: "People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.' And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them."

I've always liked this story, this picture of Jesus welcoming little children to Him and scolding his disciples for trying to keep them from bothering Him. Maybe it's because I love kids too and I like that Jesus wanted to take the time to bless them. Maybe it's because I'm a little suspicious of those who view children as nothing but a bother and so it's reassuring to see Jesus treating them with love and respect. Certainly it is because I like the idea of accepting the kingdom as a child accepts things, with a steady and certain faith that what they believe is true.

A couple of weeks ago, though, I came across this story in a way that made me think about Jesus' words a little differently. When He said, "anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it," I always focused on accepting the kingdom, as in accepting it for the first time. I took Jesus' words to be about our initial faith in Him, but never really thought about how being like a child would impact our faith in the long term.

But then someone pointed out that being like a child includes being dependant. Kids don't provide for themselves, and they don't question whether or not provision will be made for them.They just depend on their parents to take care of them. Likewise, we should be like little children and depend on our Father to take care of us.

How much do we like to question His provision, though? We worry and fret about the things we need (and sometimes over the things we only just want), stressing over whether or not we will have enough. Never mind that Jesus tells us specifically not to stress over those things (in Matthew 6:25-34), we feel the need to work ourselves up about them. I love when Jesus says, "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" (v. 27). Doesn't that just bring home how pointless worrying is?

Being dependent not only means trusting God to take care of us, but also acknowledging that we can't take care of ourselves. Kids aren't physically or financially able to care for their own needs. They are dependent on their parents to do for them what they can't do for themselves.

We like to think we have it all together. We like to think we can take care of ourselves and do what needs to be done in our own lives. The truth of the matter, though, is that we are dependent on God for everything. Acknowledging that one simple fact can go a long way towards curing us of our worry habit.

Like little children, we depend on our Father to care for us. And like the wonderful Father He is, He will.