I've Been Making More Hanging Dishtowels For Holidays

   I made some hanging dishtowels to keep and share for the Thanksgiving holiday.  This is a picture of four the the six that I made.  The other two are gifts and are going to get mailed later next week.

  The towels with the white background have doggies on them and they look like this:

    I'm share these towels with dear daughter and she will get hers tomorrow.

Halloween Hanging Dishtowels

I made these dishtowels for dear daughter to help her decorate for Halloween.  I love the black and cream homespun fabric on these.  The other black fabric has the deathly hallows symbol on it from the Harry Potter story.

I know I said I would stop knitting dishcloths, but I can't.  I knit dishcloths all the time now.  It's the perfect waiting room knitting.and I'm really enjoying using the dishcloths in my own kitchen.  I found that I like them a lot better than the crocheted dishcloths I have been making.

Patriotic Kitchen Decorations

    I had to make some patriotic hanging dish towels for my family.  I'm sending these off to my two brothers.  I have to make four more, two for me and two for my daughter.  I love the red, white and blue fabric and I was really lucky to find those beautiful navy blue kitchen towels to go with the fabric.  We can use these from Memorial Day until Labor Day. 

Christmas Is Coming, Believe It Or Not

    I thought I would get an early start this year.  I hate giving Christmas gifts, I have a hard time deciding what to give anyone.  I do know that my daughter and my brothers like the hanging dish towels that I make, so that's what I will make to give to them.   I will make five of these pretty dish towels and I should have them all finished by next week.

    I bought the fabric and the towels for this project last month.  I bought two huge white tea towels and cut them into quarters.  I hemmed the one cut side on my sewing machine and then I put the towel into the hoop to add the embroidery to it.  I only got one embroidery made tonight but I love it.  I will embroider the rest over the weekend then I can start adding the fabric toppers to each one.

    Here's the embroidery design I'm using on the towels.

     This makes a nice break from hand sewing hexies.  I really miss my sewing machine when I'm doing a hand sewing project.  I love pressing down on the foot pedal of the machine and sewing at full speed.

Scrappy String Blocks For One Quilt Top Are Done

   I made the 49 scrappy string blocks I need for a quilt top.  I laid them out to see all the pretty colors.  Some of the blocks are placed in the wrong direction but that's easily fixed.  I just have to remove the paper towel foundation from each block and I can sew these up into rows.

   I'll finish this quilt top up and then I'll make more string blocks for another top.

Scrappy String Block Process Photos And Foundation Research

    So I spent the morning making scrappy string blocks and I took some pictures of my process because these are so easy and fun to sew.

    I place my center white strip right side up on the paper towel diagonally, I don't use glue or pins.  I lay my first scrap strip right side down on top of the white with the edges lined up.  I sew along the right edge using the presser foot to measure my seam, approximately a 1/4".  I press the fabric open, and place another scrap piece right side down on top of the last strip sewn and I sew up the right edge, press open, repeat, until the entire paper towel is covered.  I usually work on one side until it's covered then I flip the paper towel and sew strips on the other side.

    After I sew up a few blocks, I trim off the edges and square each block to 10".

    I now have 29 blocks sewn up, I have to make 20 more.  Forty-nine blocks will give me a top that is 7 blocks x 7 rows and measure 66.5" square.  The perfect size for quilting this on my domestic sewing machine.

     I did a bunch of research on what to use as my foundation and I'm using a full size paper towel because I want 10" blocks and these full size paper towels measure 10.4" x 11".  The price is right as well, I got two rolls with 96 sheets each for about $3.50 at Walmart, that's 192 blocks which are enough blocks for 3.91 quilt tops with 49 blocks each.  I got the idea to use paper towels from my former mother-in-law who made string block quilts for her grandchildren and used paper towels as foundation.  Thank you, Mama.

    I also looked at children's doodle pads a/k/a newsprint paper (the sheets were too small, 9" x 12", a pad of 100 sheets about $2.00) or a roll of newsprint 18" x 300' (too much paper waste for 10" square blocks and the cost for the roll is $16.15 on Amazon).  I also thought about using muslin but I would have to spend almost $20.00 for the fabric and still have to cut it to 10" blocks.  I don't have to cut the paper towel before I sew on it.  It's already a great size to trim down.

 One Final Note On The New Ironing Board Cover

       I almost forget to add some new padding to the ironing board when I put the new cover on it last week.  The old padding was flat.  The other day I added two layers of cotton batting and placed it on top of the old cover (I kept the old cover and the old padding under the new cover) using a crib size Warm and Natural cotton batt  ($8.00).  My ironing board has lots of cushion now and the cats enjoy using it as a napping spot when I'm not pressing my quilt blocks.

Time Spent with My Embroidery Machine

      Wow, I just spent 6 hours with my embroidery machine learning, learning, and learning some more.  In that time I made two items that I deem good enough to give away.  I made this super cute dish towel for someone I love.  I can't say who, but they will adore it.  My family loves St. Patrick's Day.  My mother was 100% Irish and St. Patrick's Day was very special to her.  By the way, I ruined two other dish towels getting this one done.  The other two dish towels each have one good stitched out design on them and I will cut them up and sew them together for me.

     I learned a lot about my embroidery machine today.  I learned how to change the needle (I broke two), I learned how not to break the needle, and I learned how to insert the bobbin correctly.  I also learned how to go back and restitch when the thread breaks and I learned how to change colors on a design in my design software on my computer.  So all that time was not wasted.

Here's another design I stitched out today.  It was almost too easy except for the one time the 

thread broke (I have no idea why).  This beautiful Napoleanic bee in a laurel wreath will be going on tote bag I'm making for a birthday present for one of my bosses.