Big Little Things

Occasionally I like to do small projects. This is a break from working on full quilts. It helps me to feel a sense of accomplishment in a short amount of time. Plus, I can be creative with fabric, stitches or whatever. So I will share some of the latest small projects I have done. Most have been motivated by swaps that I signed up for on Swap Bot.

Two fabric postcards for the swap theme of "Patches." I had these 2 inch HSTs laying around in a drawer. They had made it to the wastebasket before I saw the swap. After I signed up, they came out of the wastebasket and went to work as little postcards. The recipients were very happy with them and they fit the swap theme perfectly. Plus I had a good time sewing them together and adding the side borders. Another plus is that my postman enjoys each one. He always tells me so when I see him.

Again. more fabric postcards for a swap themed "Button Up." I used some of my selvages and some buttons that were given to me.  They had to go into envelopes as the buttons would have been destroyed in the mailing process. I hand sewed on the buttons before adhering the postcard backing. Poor postman.

Next was a mug rug swap. Again I used selvages, added a little pocket and did the envelope style of backing with top stitching. It doesn't show but I put some Starbuck's Via and plastic utensils into the pocket.

Selvage Mug Rug

Then there is the handmade pincushion for Valentine's Day.  I found this fabric at Creation Station in Buellton. We stopped there last August on our way from a week on the Central Coast. Love that place! It paid to buy ahead. The center cushion is stuffed with crushed walnuts to keep the pins sharp. I used a decorative stitch for the edges.

Pincushion with flange

Using the same fabric, I went back to fabric postcards for more swaps. One required the word February to be on the card somewhere. I went wild with my monogram feature on my machine.

Another swap required the use of lace.
Now the best fun is taking time out to make a bag. My older son went to Ikea so I asked him to check out their fabric. Yes. Ikea sells fabric! He brought me this wonderful floral print that I paired with pink from my stash and Voila! A new bag!

 It has 6 outside pockets and is super simple to make. The instructions are on the AllPeopleQuilt.com website. Let me know if you need help finding the pattern.

Last but not least is the small quilt from a kit I got at Road to California Quilt Show. It was so simple to add the pieced borders to the center panel. This company makes these kits for the National Parks as well as the states. You can visit their website here.

I haven't shared about Road to California because I was at a loss of what to say.  To say the quilts in the show were awesome would be an understatement. I was blown away by the Naturescapes in particular. Take a look at the prize winners that you can now see online here. If you click on the photo of the quilt, it will enlarge the image.

This is linky say with amylouwho's
Sew and Tell Friday.  Go over there to see what other projects can do to inspire you.