Summer hols 30 day challenge - Days 6, 7 & 8

I would love to say that I have discovered some amazing money spinning/debt reduction secret and I'm about to share it with you here! In reality I have spent the last three days chopping up shirts, ironing and die cutting to produce more tiny triangles for my new quilt idea.

My son was throwing out some shirts this week, so naturally I nabbed them for my stash.

I also sorted out the next batch of material.... 

.....and die cut some old magazines....

...to add to the English paper piecing 'tumbler' quilt I'm working on.

I wish I'd gone more random rather than stripy now, what do you think?

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 5

More die cutting of triangles yesterday, my pile of old shirts is almost gone. 

I fear, however, that my iron is about to pack up on me having tripped the electrics twice on Thursday. I've been using a circuit breaker since then but need to start looking for a bargain just in case.

So much for saving money, eh?

Summer hols 30 day challenge - Day 4

Malcolm has spent some time lately getting rid of a lot of junk from the garage with the intention of being able to put his beloved Beemer in there over the winter (a money saving manoeuvre in itself)

 When he bought a motorbike a few years back it was kept in the garage while the car was relegated to the driveway. The bike was sold some time ago but the accumulated 'stuff' that took up residence beside it still remained.

That includes my stash!!

Much of the wool I had was used to make this crocheted blanket 

and what's left fits into one plastic box. The bulk is taken up by material that has been begged, stolen and borrowed over the years and it is long overdue for a sort out.

So, as part of my 30 day challenge, I have begun the process of turning my stash into 

• soft furnishings for our home or the kids uni flats
• Christmas presents/birthday gifts for friends and family
• items that I can try to sell online, either Ebay or in my currently abandoned Etsy shop

This morning I began with my stash of checked cottons, most of which began life as my daughters shirts.

From this....

....via the ironing board.....

....and the die cutter....

 

....to these lovely triangles just waiting to be made up into something new and gorgeous!

So far I've only used the smallest scraps for these tiny triangles, the larger pieces may become different shapes - hexagons or tumblers perhaps?

Dresden Plates - my first attempt at hand quilting.

Some time ago I pieced together some Dresden Plate flowers and I've finally got around to doing something with them!

I managed to make 2 each of the 4 colourways with material from my stash using the English paper piecing method. My favourite toy piece of equipment, my Sizzix Big Shot, was used to cut out my paper shapes.

I love EPP for patchwork as I can be downstairs watching telly or listening to the radio with Malcolm. While my sewing machine is great for bigger items like cushion covers or bags I prefer to do most crafting by hand. Although it's more time-consuming it just seems more satisfying and therapeutic, like making bread by hand rather than in a bread machine.

Also, I have to use Bethany's bedroom (when she's at uni) or the kitchen table for my sewing machine, with the ironing board set up in the living room - not very conducive to the creative process!!

I've wanted to have a go at quilting for some time but found the idea of tackling a whole quilt very daunting, especially with a basic sewing machine like mine (and my even more basic skills!) So with this in mind and the reasons mentioned above, I decided to combine hand-quilting with quilt-as-you go for new project.

Ooops, wait!

I had to remember to remove all my paper pieces before pinning the layers together!!

My first two finished blocks

and the back, not perfect but I kinda like that!

All I need to do now is decide what to make them all into. The blocks are 12" square and there are 8 of them. I could intersperse them with other blocks and use sashing and borders to increase the size. I'm thinking maybe a wall hanging or cot quilt....

..... any ideas?