Bitties and Calendar panel....

 Gosh, it's been a long time.  I haven't done much of anything lately but I have read a lot of books this winter!  Nothing exciting enough to recommend, but they kept me entertained while I huddled around the wood stove during our long cold spells.

I did sew a little- the bitty theme was "sewing" so I made this for group 1, a sewing bird, it's an antique gizmo also referred to as a 3rd hand.  The beak opens up in a real metal one and pinches onto your fabric, while the base clamps to your table.  This gives you a 3rd hand, basically.  Google it if you want to see a real one.  :)

 For group 2, I made a cat stealing fabric off the cutting mat.  

This has happened to me several times!

 I owed Kimmie a block so I made her a scarecrow for her Oz theme and 

thought he turned out pretty well.  

 Next up was the laundry theme- I made tiny little feedsack clothespin bags and hung them from a piece of rattail cording with 2 tiny clothespins.

 As you can see, it's March (banner above) and I made these 8 bitties for the new panel. These bitties came from all over the world, UK, Brazil, US, etc. 

 And this is the event tag for St. Patrick's Day on the 17th.

 Other than that, there's not much going on around here.  It's a warm sunny day today, in the 70's, but dropping down to freezing tonight and maybe a few snow flurries.  Spring can take it's time, I'd rather have a long, cool spring than jump right into summer!

Oh, and I joined a group on Facebook for decluttering the house, so I've been having lots of fun going thru things and getting rid of junk and donating good stuff to the doggie store!  That's time-consuming but rewarding!  I love simplifying the house.  Still have lots to do, but I have really pared down my clothing and the kitchen junk. It's like Spring Cleaning, only different.  That'll be later, after all the extra stuff is gone!

Easy Tutorial for E-Reader Cover Using an Old Book

A while back I posted a mini-tute for making a hardback cover for an e-reader.  I am just now getting around to making myself a new cover, just so I'll have a change, and I went ahead and took photos of the process.  So this is a better tute with more photos and instructions. 

I went to a used bookstore and picked up this dog book.  I like these kinds of books, the cover is hard and slick and will stay clean and won't pick up pet hair.  I pulled out a fat quarter of some fun camping fabric that I won't mind looking at for an hour or two every day and assembled the rest of my "ingredients", which are very few and simple.

Scissors, rotary cutter, pinking shears, Exacto blade or razor blade,  thread, 1/4" or 3/8" black elastic, a clasp (or velcro), white glue (Tacky or Elmers) and something heavy for weight. 

 When you pick out a book, make sure it's big enough to accommodate your reader.  It needs to be a little bigger than the reader and also thick enough.  Skinny little books might be too thin.

 This book is plenty thick enough!

 Remove the pages by cutting thru the tape that holds it in.  Don't cut through the actual front or back of the book!

 Cut gently.

 Cut both sides, remove the pages and then trim up what's left so it's tidy. 

 Before trimming, below-

 After trimming, below-

 Measure to find how wide and long to cut the piece of fabric that will reinforce this naked area and cover up all those raw edges.  3" x 8" is enough for this book.

Pink the top and bottom edges.

You will need a piece of fabric that is wide enough to hold your e-reader and cover that back cover of the book.  Then add 1/2" to that for seam allowances.  Measure the inside length of the book and double that and add an inch or two so you'll have extra fabric to fiddle with.  Now you know how big a piece of fabric to cut.  And cut a piece for the inside cover on the left.

My pieces are about 5" x 8", 3" x 8" and 5.5" x 18" (but 19" would have been easier if I had had enough fabric.)

 Brush on white glue and glue down the middle piece. Get it nice and flat and into all the creases so it won't pull up later when you're bending your book a lot.

 You can brush on more glue on the edges to ensure that they stay down.  If you do this to the pinked edges, be aware that they will dry a little rough and crunchy. 

 For the pocket panel, with right sides together and the fold at the bottom, sew up each side using a 1/4" seam.  Leave the top open.  Turn and press. 

 Because my panel was a little short and because the bottom of the pocket panel is left loose, I decided to add this extra piece here so I wouldn't have to look at raw book later.  It's applied just like the center piece, I brushed on white glue with my old sprung brush.

 Fold up about 1/2" - 3/4" at the bottom to make the pocket that will hold your e-reader.  The fold is the top of the pocket.  Try it on for size. Once you're comfortable with your pocket, pin it in place.

 See the pocket?

 Move the pins and try it on again.  If your panel is a lot wider, adjust where you will stitch in order to make the pocket tight enough but not too tight.

 Now it's time to add a piece of elastic to hold the top of the e-reader in place.  This will keep it from slipping out of the pocket when you're holding it or carrying it around.

 Place the elastic where you want it and pin it.  Then sew one side with the elastic wrapped around to the back to hide the raw edge.  Sew from the folded pocket up to the top, thru both layers of elastic. On the other side, just baste the pocket into place. 

Then put the e-reader back in and pull the elastic across.  Find where you want it and mark it.  Then determine how tight you want the elastic.  I like it to hold it, but I don't want it stretched really tight because then it's hard to keep the fabric glued down into the book.  Snug is all you should need, but you do it the way you feel best.  Then sew the other edge just like you did the first edge.

Try it in the book for size, then fold down the excess raw edged material at the open top, to the back.  Press.  Sew a large X thru both thicknesses and reinforce your pocket and elastic stitching, too.  Also sew across the top to hold that excess to the back.  Trim it off if necessary. (I didn't edge stitch the top too closely because I wanted a little room to slide an opened paperclip into that space.)

 Now you can glue this panel into place.  Apply white glue to the book and be sure to get a good amount down, especially where the elastic is.  BUT!  Don't glue the pocket down.  It needs to stay free so the e-reader can slide in and out easily, for charging, downloading, etc. Because this part is loose and you can see under there, that is why I added that other piece of fabric, I wanted to cover that part of the book up.  It finishes it off nicely, no raw book showing.

 I put a piece of cardboard down over the panel (except for that bottom inch or so where the pocket is) and weighted it down with birdseed and rocks.  (That was exciting, the bag holding the rocks broke right then and 400 little shiny pebbles went everywhere, CRAP!)  I also glued down the fabric inside the left cover.

 I left that to dry overnight.  Now it's time to finish it up!  Another piece of elastic for the closure and a breakaway cat collar buckle.  You could make your strap from ribbon, fabric, velcro, a snap, whatever.  I have these buckles that I use to make our cats collars and they come in really handy. Click that link for more info on getting the same hardware.

 I made the strap just like a collar - it's adjustable in case the elastic ever starts to get weak.  I punched 2 small holes thru the back of the book with a small nail and a hammer and then sewed the elastic in place with just a couple of stitches.  See the stitches just below the center of the X?  It just needs to be strong enough so you don't lose the strap.

This is how it looks with the e-reader in place.  My stylus rides inside on the spine and I have a bent paperclip in the top seam allowance that is my reset pin if ever I need it.  My power button is inside the pocket at the very bottom edge but I can feel it and press it thru the fabric to turn it on and off.

 And all closed up.  Look, puppy has a big collar!  :)

It's a really easy project- if you didn't have to wait for glue to dry, you could do this in 2 hours or less, I'm sure.  And you'd have a nice hard cover for your e-reader, one that the cats can walk across and not cause you to flip out.  I hope that this tute was helpful.  Have fun at the used bookstores, finding just the right book for your e-reader!

Mr. Manatee Comes to Visit..... and more bitty blocks!

 We did a special swap, Alphabitties.  My letter is M.  Some wanted blocks for children's quilts, others for a more mature audience, so I did 3 different ones.  Monkeys-

Mermaids in a margarita glass-

And Mr. Manatee, with seaweed M's.  The swappers got to pick which one they wanted.  I like them all, if I ever make the quilt up, it'll be hard to pick which one I use.  Since I didn't make me a monkey, though, that'll make it easier.  :)

 And earlier, we decided to do "Fairy Tales Gone Wild" where we each picked a fairy tale or fable and gave it an evil twist.  I decided to make Chicken Little.  I had seen a cartoon where a chunk of sky had fallen on the chicken and decided to use that for my block.  We are a group of 13, so I made 13 of 'em. 

I thought it was too subtle and wasn't sure it was going to please everyone, though, so I made up a Rapunzel block as a test, slightly taller, and the twist was armpit hair.  :)  So it's called "Ew, Rapunzel!"  Fortunately, everyone loved Chicken Little so I went that one.  I'm glad I didn't have to make 13 of the Rapunzels, as it turns out, because it took too long to make and used up a lot of my soft fuse material.  That translates to expensive.  :)  So I made 4 of them and will give them to my buddies that I owe a special block to, as a thank you.

 I can't wait to see what the others come up with for this swap, so far from sneak peeks, they're a riot. 

And a friend in CA, Marilyn aka Spiced Coffee, sent me a birthday package- a manatee with a Hawaiian shirt, he's so cute and soft and cuddly!  He's made from Minkie fabric and his name is Minkee!  I just love him, he's very kissable!  Thanks again, Marilyn!  Look at this FACE!

 Ready for a dip!  Oh, she included that cool water fabric, too, so he wouldn't dry up on the journey to my house!  What a pal.  She thinks of everything!

Yes, I had a birthday, May 22nd.  I turned 54.  Spent the day goofing off, sewing, talking on the phone, it was great.  We'd gone out for a nice lunch the day before, so I felt very special and happy.  :)  Spring birthdays are just lovely. 

Finished Swap Quilt, Swap Til You Drop, or STUD, as it's known...

 This is what I was talking about yesterday- I made a small quilt for my parter, Cindy, who made that fab Nosey Parker pirate quilt for me.  Cindy's favorite things were - 

So I made her this-

 The label rolls up and goes into the little rum bottle and hangs from a small hook on the back of the binding. 

 Since one of her favorite things is her cat, Took, I incorporated him (slightly tanner than his usual color) and his favorite things into the quilt, too....

 He's snoozing in the sunshine, dreaming of canned cat food, his litter box, his favorite scratching post and his MOM...  Most of which he has, right there on his island, the biggest litter box in the world, but all he really wants is his Mom... 

 So he's floating her off a message for her to send the boat to come and get him, 

that he's ready to go home now.  The boat is on the way, Cindy was missing her littlest of boys!

And I added a few little things to her package.  It's been delivered and well received, apparently the whole family likes it.  :)  And that makes me really happy!

 

 This was a fun swap and a challenging quilt.  It measures 9" x 12" and it was a bit fiddly to work on.  I messed up the first cat I did, so the whole thing nearly went into the trash after 2 days of working on it, but my husband convinced me it could be saved, so I spent about 3 hours picking out 5000 little stitches and I redid the cat and added the towel and it made a huge difference in this quilt.  There are a couple of things I would do differently if I was doing another one like this, like I'd leave off the seagull because I don't think it's adding much to it, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy overall. 

Rainbow Village, the doll quilt....

I don't know what I would do without all my helpers.  Godzilla, aka Nosey Parker, wants to rid those houses of their antenna.  Monster!  I have been locking this quilt up for weeks to keep it safe at night!

I managed to finish it, though, finally, with a little time to spare.  I can't show you what is under the sun in case my partner is peeking in.  *wavies, hi there!* It spells something out, though, I'll show you after it's been received because it's a really cool effect and I copied it from my friend, Pam/Uberstitch, with her blessing.

Anyhoo, Rainbow Village.  It's not dull or boring, it's just as vibrant, I'm afraid, as it appears.  In retrospect, maybe it's too vibrant, but it's done and it is what it is.  I hope my partner doesn't get sick of it too soon.  I matched the binding to all the fabrics on the sides of the quilt, as nothing I had in my stash was auditioning quite right. 

The houses all have little metal plates sewn to the back and on the back of the quilt are little pockets with very strong magnets in them.  That makes the houses removable and interchangeable, so she can rearrange her houses any way she wants them.

In the pond- a small, subtle fountain. A vintage button plays the part of the sprayer.  Tulle netting tones down the white of the fishie fabric.

A rather ordinary label, name blocked out to protect the surprise.  I love the tiny house fabric for the backing.  I was lucky enough to stumble across that online a while back and knew it would come in handy!

I think she's going to like this, at least I hope she does.  I did have fun making it.  It turned out almost exactly like I had pictured it in my head and in the sketch, with a few changes.