Yes, those are great projects to start learning how to sew! The best way fabric to start with is 100% cotton fabric. I know a lot of beginners in my sewing class want to start out making a cute dress from a knit fabric, but knit fabrics are annoying to cut even for an experienced person.
I learned to sew from my mum when I was a kid and I started learning by making a basic quilt. I stitched together rectangles that I cut from her sewing scraps and from old clothes. Is it pretty? Not really, from an objective point of view. There is not a straight line in the entire quilt. Is it still keeping me warm 25 years later? Absolutely. And also full of memories now. The quilting process itself is more challenging than piecing a top but there are alternatives like tying a quilt, using fleece as a backing, or doing a very basic form of quilting (my friend does this: she uses iron-on batting, sew backing to the top, right sides together, turn, close, then add a few tacking stitches here and there by hand to keep the layers in place).
This didn’t use up all 160 HST’s leftover from making the quilt top, but it did use up 144 of them. Not bad! It comes to about 17" square(-ish).
Meanwhile I looked around for batting and backing at home, but I couldn’t find anything for backing that I could even possibly pretend worked, and I am completely out of batting, even scraps. So I checked Joann’s. They had both quilt batting and backing on sale yesterday, but they also had a 25% off anything you order online for curbside pickup, even if it was already on sale. So I scored 2 twin size battings for $16 each, and flannel backing for this for $12, and grabbed some backing for another quilt top I have laying around for $15.
Where has this month gone!? Seriously, I feel like I just typed out the message announcing the September prompt and the Super Spectacular September Scrap-a-thon.
Speaking of which, there are 5 days left in the Scrap-a-thon. That’s definitely enough time for some small scrappy projects like some Quick to Quilt Coasters, a Quilt as you go placemat or two, a bowl cozy (which could be made using larger scraps, or given a ‘scrappy’ look with smaller scraps. It would be really neat to make a Christmas ornament out of scraps from projects completed this year! There are definitely a ton of options that would easily fit within the definition of a small, which is something that takes you less than ten hours to sew and quilt.
So far, we only have one entry into the Scrap-a-thon. With two prizes at stake, everyone has pretty good odds if they submit an entry. So quick, to the sewing machine with those scraps!
@MistressJennie That crystal ball skull makes for such a fun center square. I really like your block’s color scheme! Also, you’re such a quilting superstar, that you’ve already submitted a medium challenge entry for this quarter (your rainbow carpenter’s wheel). You can submit your scrappy diamond trip quilt top as a personal finish or as a Scrap-a-thon entry. Just let me know which one you’d prefer to enter it as.
I marionberries submit this as my current Sept BOM entry.
I went with a Holiday theme and this block will take the December position on the quilt. It looks like an open package to me. Now to decide what I will do with the October BOM.
What a fun and festive bright block! I like your open package interpretation, I can see it now that you mentioned it!
This is an excellent question. I didn’t realize there is not a BOM block for October. We have four days to choose a block, does anyone have any suggestions? We also need a block for December.
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