Some unexpected fun projects...

I mentioned in my last post (about sewing with a friend) that I had a second friend who recently asked me to help her with a sewing project. Well... time flies, and since I was last in here my friend Marti has been to my place a couple of times to work on a project together.

With Marti's permission, I will share the backstory...  

When Marti was in highschool, she made a baby blanket as a sewing project for Home Ec class.  When she had her first baby a few years later, she was able to wrap her sweet little baby girl in that blanket she'd made with her teenage hands.  I think it was when Marti was pregnant with her second child (and she learned it was a girl), she bought and cut out fabric to make a similar baby blanket for Baby #2.  But, as we've all experienced, life got busy, and her plan didn't quite pan out. The second blanket was not finished. 

Now...  leaping forward 37 years, my friend's second child is pregnant with her first baby.  Recently, when Marti was at my house, I showed her some things I'd made recently, and with a glint in her eyes she told me her story of the unmade baby blanket.  Telling me she had kept the fabric and cut-out squares all these years, she asked if she could pay me to sew it up into a baby quilt.

A reflexive "No" came out of my mouth - mostly because I have made it something of a policy that I don't make things on commission.  There was also the fact that I'd never sewn a quilt before, and I knew I'd feel stressed if I took it on with the expectation of being paid.  Knowing her daughter, though (since she was a young girl), I was excited by the story, and knew I'd love to have a hand in doing something so special. I readily offered to give it a try, and if I thought it was something I could do, I'd be happy to make a blanket for Marti's newest grandchild - as a gift to Marti and her daughter.  And then...  another thought popped into my mind, and I suggested, "I have two sewing machines!  What would you think of us work together on the blankets!?!"  The baby blanket would get finished, and we'd get to spend time together!

I'm happy to say, she said yes, and soon after, we began.

Now, for a little more back story (again, I share with Marti's permission)...  The reason my friend even asked me if I'd be willing to take the fabric squares she had cut out many years ago and sew them into a quilt is because sewing them together herself had become nearly, if not completely, impossible. My friend has been losing her eyesight for years, and recently was diagnosed as being legally blind.  If I understand correctly, it is perhaps a hereditary, maybe even congenital, condition that is causing her loss of eyesight.  

While Marti has been present each time, and has been a big help in the making of this baby blanket, it became apparent at our first working on it that actually sewing wasn't something she could easily do. 

Marti had already done the hard part - once upon a time cutting out all the squares for this blanket. While we worked together, she also picked out some seams that hadn't come together well in the first attempt, and just a couple of days ago, we pinned the layers together and tied every single corner with a sweet piece of white yarn.  

Tomorrow, hopefully, we'll go together to pick out a fabric that will work well for a binding.  I can't wait to see it finished.  And I can't believe I now want to start my own quilt of some sort!

But there is another project I want to finish first. Some time back, when I was first working on Manx squares, I was telling a couple of friends about them.  One of them, a retired Home Ec teacher, showed so much interest, I thought right then, "I think I'll make her a couple of Manx hot pads!"  Recently learning she had had her kitchen painted - in yellow and green - I asked her if she could send me a picture.  She also has a piece of colorful artwork on the wall in one picture, and having been to her house before, I knew she liked color. 

So, I dug through my stash, and bought a few more colors, along with some insulating "batting" to finally make her a couple of Manx square hot pads.  Except for the binding, I've finished the first one.  

I wish I fully understood why these squares skew so badly as I'm making them.  Here's a picture to show you the skew:

Anticipating this, I chose a non-directional fabric for the back, and I can "fix" the skew by trimming it down square.  But I wish I knew why mine do this when none I've seen online seem to turn out this way.

Or maybe other sewists just don't show them untrimmed.  🤷

Hopefully, next week, I'll have at least one of these projects finished.