Woody and Buzz Lightyear

While trying to maintain my momentum in stitching down my stash of flannel, I came across some half-yard pieces with the characters Woody and Buzz Lightyear. My special needs adult son Alex still loves Woody and Buzz Lightyear so I decided to put it them in service as some absorbent cloths for use in the car. Alex is beyond ... perhaps not "to infinity and beyond" beyond ... but still, far beyond burp cloth usage. He still, however, has bouts of spills and untidiness; but everyone, no matter their age or ability, has a "whoops" now and then. Besides the practicality of these cloths, their feature fabric brings a smile to the face of those who need to use them. So I made four more burp absorbent cloths.

As I am wont to do when I write these blog posts, I went down the internet rabbit hole and learned some facts about Woody and Buzz. Woody is primarily voiced by Tom Hanks, who voices him in the 1995 Toy Story movie, follow-on films, and TV specials. Hanks's brother, Jim Hanks, voices Woody in video games, attractions, and other merchandise. Woody is named after Woody Strode, a character actor known for many roles in western films. Buzz is voiced by Tim Allen, and named after American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon after Neal Armstrong.

These are the "fronts"of the four burp absorbent cloths I made. The previous picture showed the "backs", though which is which is debatable. They are shown folded in half and measure about 20" long x 13" wide when unfurled. For the central triple thick sections, I used the secondary fabric, keeping the highly recognizable Woody and Buzz prints the most visible as the bulk of the cloth. We will keep one Woody and one Buzz in each car.

I have been making these burp cloths since 2012, when my first grandchild was born. Instructions are in my blog post dated 6/18/2014. Adding these four, my running grand total for these absorbent little gems now sits at 292. Since each cloth takes two fat quarters of flannel, or ½ yard per cloth, my running grand total for yardage consumed is now 146 yards of flannel!

Alex has come a long way since this photo, taken from his Make-a-Wish trip in 2004 when he was 17. The next ball tossing photo was taken on his 37th birthday at the Discovery Museum in San Jose. Alex still wears that green hat and, young at heart, he still likes Woody and Buzz!

Dalmatian Pillowcases

My son is a super fan of Disney's 101 and 102  Dalmatians movies – the non-animated versions. 

I bought 5 yards of this fabric many years ago (the copyright on the selvage is 2004) intending to make curtains for his room but, well, never did, and my son has moved out now. Then the colors turned out to be perfect for a Christmas Cars quilt I was making, so I repurposed the fabric. Well, not all of it. Guilt surfaced over the dalmatian curtains that never materialized. I did, however, manage to cut out the backing such that a strip wide enough and long enough remained to make the bodies of two pillowcases instead of curtains. The way the fabric is printed allowed me to cut the longer 41" dimension that wraps around the pillow along the grain. That also meant I only needed 27" of the fabric width for the pillowcases and was able to get it without infringing on the narrow strip remaining needed to widen the quilt backing.

Picking the fabric for the border I tried various reds, blacks, and grays as I had for the Christmas Cars quilt, discussed in my previous post dated 7/21/20.  They were either too dark or so loudly red they competing with the thin delicate red bands on the dog collars. What did I want to focus on? Why, the spots of course! But polka dots, white on black, or black on white did not appeal. I wanted something more funky. Then I remembered this end of bolt fabric in my stash, of which I had 3 ⅜ yards, waiting for a backing of some sort. But really, would you back a quilt with white? So I pilfered a half yard off the yardage. I did give it a second thought suspecting it was cow spots and not dog spots. But I decided to invoke poetic/artistic license and use it anyway. I looked up the difference between canine and bovine spots and found it explained in a post from a Sammy Davis Vintage fashion blog.

... you can confuse the black & white cow print with it’s similar B&W counterpart, the dalmatian pattern. The main difference: A cow pattern has irregular shaped black spots that are various sizes scattered on a white foundation. The dalmatian pattern, on the other hand, are smooth ovals of similar size concentrated tight on a white foundation.

My chosen fabric looks like sort of a hybrid between a cow and a dalmatian. The spots were irregular, but smooth, and spaced a medium distance apart. Perhaps it can be named a "moomatian"? It may not be technically correct but I liked it paired with the dalmatian focus fabric. 

Next up fabric choice was the accent flange. Here I did choose a polka dot, but tiny and black on gray. While networking at Cooking Up Quilts MCM #184, a blogger gave me a tip that I'd like to pass on  – and blog about in a post of my own so I remember. I learned a new way of inserting the accent band from another blogger, which works very nicely and keeps that flange from from flapping around or wrinkling in the wash. In an email response to a comment I made on her blog Bonnie replied:

A friend taught me to cut the flange around 1.25”. Then line it up on the top of the case part, right sides together. Then stitch a 5/8th inch seam. Take it to the ironing board and press the flange up toward the seam. Then finish the pillowcase the normal burrito way. It makes the flange attached rather than flapping. Also, the side seams don’t get quite as big where you sew the flange edges together...or so it seems to me.

I tried the technique, really liked it, and intend to use it on pillowcases in the future. I cut my strip for these Dalmatian pillowcases to finish with a ½" wide accent: cut 2" wide, sew to main body fabric 1" from edge with flange fabric open, fold flange down in half on that seam line, and add border fabric with ½" seam. I think in the future I'd prefer the look of a wider accent and will cut the strip wider. With it fastened down at the top, a wider strip becomes more practical since there is no annoyance of it curling over. See? The top edge of flange is not loose.

Here is the finished pair of cases, shown folded in thirds lengthwise and shown on a bed. Note that I was careful to sew on the borders so the pillowcases are mirror images of each other. When on a bed the borders can drape over each edge while the focus print is right side up.

True, writing this blog took longer than making these pillowcases, but I did make a promise in my blogging to show process and not just product. Moreover I have six accomplishments:

1. Most obviously, I have two pillowcases for my son
2. I alleviated my guilt over repurposing fabric and not making curtains
3. I passed on a tip from Bonnie another blogger for improved flange attachment 
4. I became educated in the different types of fur patterns
5. I had fun writing and photographing for this post
6. I am keeping up social connection by linking up to Main Crush Monday #185 at Cooking Up Quilts

Rabbits for Alex

Renaissance Ribbons from France first caught my attention while visiting the 2018 Road2CA show. Besides designer ribbons, Renaissance Ribbons offer kits for adorable animals made from a soft polyester velvet and I have made two before. Paulette and Gaston are well decked out kittens with reverse night and day sides, described in my post dated 4/28/18. I bought two Le Lapin d'Alice kits, one on each color of course, for these two white rabbits from Renaissance Ribbons' website to make for my son Alex, who is a true fan of real bunnies and Alice in Wonderland. I finished the two rabbits tonight and will give them to him on Easter Sunday.

These rabbits only have three pieces each and are much simpler than the Stacy Hsu bunny panels I made in my previous post dated 4/8/20. The instructions say to cut around each design and to cut the base 5mm in from the line. I questioned 5mm (0.2") inside the line. Won't that make it too small? If that's where I am supposed to cut, then why isn't the line drawn there? I tried measuring across the base of the rabbit and curling a tape measure around the curved base to see if the dimensions matched. It was close and unclear what to do. Ever doubtful I cut on the line, figuring I could trim later but putting the fabric back would not be possible.

When I attached the base I had to work hard to ease it to the top. In fact, in the last two inches of the base I had to trim some off of it. The 5mm inside must have been right and I was wrong to second guess. When I did the second rabbit I cut about ⅛" inside the line and it worked out perfectly. Then the instructions said after stuffing the rabbit, to trace around the base to make a cardboard insert. Instead I used the base of the rabbit panel I had not started as a template for the base stiffener.  When  a situation like this calls for cardboard instead I use plastic mesh. It can go through the wash without having to be removed. I also use this same mesh at the bottom of my reusable grocery bags. I placed it right over the base and traced with a permanent marker along the line. At first I used blue but it did not show up enough. Since the mesh has holes, you only get a dotted line to cut on so there had better be good contrast between the mesh color and the pen color. Blue ink did not quite hack it for me so I switched to red and even then went over it with black.

Finally I had two bases after I had cut ½" inside the marker lines. Another benefit of the mesh over cardboard is that you can bend and curl it to fit in without introducing folds as you would with cardboard.

So just what does this base say? My hand Google translator helped me out. If there are any people from France reading this post, please stop laughing at me.

The base insert does help them to stand upright unassisted. Here is the finished rabbit with the red coat and his partner with the black coat. I love the little detail of that each of them is clutching a pocket watch in his paw. I also love the feel of these stuffed toys; the velvet surface is so soft and appealing.

Of course with every project there are scraps. I do not know what I am going to do with these but at this point I could not throw them out. Those vignette silhouettes are precious. So what do the other words say? I amused myself once more with Google translator. At least, yes, I do recognize the words for red and black. But I do not know the words around rose-toned the oval image.

The letter sequence odile bailloeul is the signature of a designer for Free Spirt Fabrics. 

Odile Bailloeul also has her own boutique on line where she sells fabric kits. These two rabbits from Alice in Wonderland may be worried that they will be late. But I for once am not late. I finished my project in time to give it to Alex Easter Sunday.

Bunny Pillow

I spotted a bunny fabric panel on the giveaway table at a guild meeting. As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. My son Alex loves bunnies so I decided to make it into a pillow for him. Here is Alex with his bunny.

I did not  think to take a photo of the panel before cutting off the trim but a quick Google Image search with the phrase "colonial bunny fabric panel" yielded this result.  It has poor image quality but you get the idea. My freebie was the bottom right quadrant only of this panel.

I cut off the checkered bordered with the black silhouette weather vanes - and did I discard that 18" strip? Of course not! You just never know when it will be the exact accent needed somewhere.
I realized I could update the panel by trimming off the narrow dated colonial beige and olive green border. The narrow accent also had small red hearts that did not give off a masculine vibe. I would substitute a black mini-print of some sort. The bunnies were such a close match to Alex's pet I could not pass it up.

For the back I chose a black and white funky uneven stripe. (It was left over from a lamp I revamped in my post for April 4, 2014.) I sandwiched the striped backing with a piece of bamboo batting and lightweight flannel backing to give the pillow surface a bit of substance and not wrinkle as readily. I used the sandwich as an opportunity to practice my FMQ on my HQ Sweet Sixteen. The lines are intentionally not ruler straight to retain the feel of the uneven stripes. I could have done this on my domestic Pfaff but I wanted to grow my FMQ skills. The longarm also has the added advantage of being able to stitch backward as well as forward. I FMQ'd only the white stripes so the black would stand out and give a textural feel to the surface. I kept the spacing uneven to add to the casualness. The result was subtle but worth the effort.

The stitching is more obvious on the flannel back, but that will be hidden on the inside of the pillow.

On the bunny panel itself I followed the contours of the hills and left the bunnies un-quilted so they would raise up. My hills contours looked relaxed, an effect I intended. I will confess however, were I more skilled, I would have had more control over the degree of "relaxation".

But the bunnies did stand out, as did the carrot. I used my domestic instead of my HQ16 to stitch in black along the black/white interface of the bunnies' bodies. I did not want to quilt that short isolated line in green nor did I want to wind a longarm bobbin in black for that little bit.

The clouds in the sky above the  bunny romping in the distance called out for some fluffy white scribbles.

Here is the back of the quilted panel before assembling it into a pillow.

I added a zipper at the bottom before sewing the outer seams of the 18" x 18" pillow.

Here is the front of the completed pillow. It was just chance but I am bemused how the blue sky and cloud from my sewing room window is peeking above the pillow when I took the photo.

Here is the back. The quilting and textured gave it just the spark it needed to keep it from being boring.

After I'd uploaded the previous pictures and written this post I discovered on the computer screen that I had missed a spot of quilting right smack dab in the middle of the pillow front! Can you find it? I did go back and add it and take the following detail photo before I gifted the pillow. Hint – its omission is easier to spot in the all-white flannel view.

On Christmas Day, Alex opened up his bunny pillow present. He liked it. He is patting his chest as his sign that rabbits hop!

This came out cute enough that I am linking it to Let's Bee Social #157 to share.

Sandwich Making & Some Nibbles

SANDWICH MAKING:
This week I intended to make quilt sandwiches.

Today I seamed the backing for Simple Gifts. The backing fabric was originally purchased to be two lengths running sideways across the quilt back. I just noticed the backing fabric has a direction. Since I want the written lyrics to the Christmas carols to read horizontally, seaming the backing became a bit more complicated.

I did not have enough length of fabric to run twice the height of the quilt. I needed to finesse this backing to have one lengthwise section with a second horizontally seamed lengthwise section joined next to it. I also want the print to match along the seam lines. Alas, the sandwich process on Simple Gifts has been slowed down by ... the need to think! Here is my PowerPoint diagram to help me figure out how to do this. I was hopeful that I could match the one long vertical and one short horizontal seam if I was careful where I cut the pieces. The pattern has an approximate 12" vertical repeat.

After several hours of measuring many, many, more times than twice, and finally cutting only once, I convinced myself that it was not possible to match all the seams to my desired level of accuracy. I did eventually come up with a pieced backing I am content with.

One part of the pieced section needed to come from near the left selvage and the other part from near the right selvage. What I had not recognized was that the fabric had been printed with a bit of upward drift to the design so it was not possible to match that horizontal seam along its whole length unless I cut the fabric at an angle, sort of on a slope. Then I would be totally out of luck for the vertical seam. Here is my compromise seamed backing. Overall the spacing and flow of the dominant red reindeer appear uninterrupted.

The horizontal seam is pretty good at the corner near the vertical seam. It diverges from a good match toward the outer edge. I have cut the batting and need to put them all together. I am resolved to be wiser in the future in my choice of backing fabrics. This was a real time sink for not much gain. I did not accomplish the sandwiching today but I am in a good position to do it tomorrow or the next day.

While I was at the sandwich stage of Simple Gifts I intended to resurrect my Classic Cars top and make the backing, batting, and top quilt sandwich for it at the same time. I'd started Classic Cars a couple of years ago from these fabrics and a black background fireman novelty print.

The top has been sitting around with its already pieced backing since my post on it August 3, 2013. Re-reading that post reminded me I also had plans for a matching pillowcase. Maybe I will do that tonight so I feel I have some accomplishments. The upstairs hallway outside my sewing room, both sides of it, attests to the fact that I am in quilt sandwich mode but do not have much to show for it.

SOME NIBBLES:
Earlier this week I nibbled away on some smaller sewing exercises.

I played a bit more using striped fabric and a flying geese components assembly technique from my Lynn Wilder Patchwork Math Workshop. I thought long and hard and now understand just how to orient the fabric to make sets of four geese at once and have stripes go the way I want them to. I captured my conclusions in PowerPoint again. Hmmm, seems like I played on my computer this week as much as in my sewing room.

Here are those four-component sets of flying geese arranged as stars. I got the striping as I intended and not just by luck! I can now make an all one direction striped star (left), a radial striped star (middle), and a perimeter striped star (right), at will by orienting the corner squares appropriately. Of course, I could do this by making one flying goose at a time instead of the speed method of making four at once... but that's no fun!

I hemmed a dress I wore to a Great Gatsby themed dinner dance on Friday night. I procrastinated until two hours before leaving to do this – guess I did not learn much from my May 20, 2013 post on how not to hem a dress. This long black dress had two layers to hem, an outer shear slippery one with glitter and an inner knit slippery one. I least I did not make a scarf as well, this time. I wore a fluffy feather boa instead.

This week I also added my son's name to his pants to identify them. I love this feature on my Pfaff. The only trick is to remember to use the foot with the central raised channel so the letters can pass through unconstrained as they are embroidered. I put his name on the front pocket, the rear pocket and the bottom of one pant leg.

The last time I posted my projects list was January 7, 2015.  Here are my stats since then. I figure giving my stats once a week is too often to show progress. After a minimal progress week though, I needed to see that I was getting somewhere.

Completed projects since January 7, 2015:

1. December Table Topper (January 13, 2015 post)
2. Blogged about Patchwork Math Workshop (February 6, 2015 post)
3. Blogged about and put away purchases from San Mateo show (February 21, 2015 post)
4. Name on Alex's pants (February 25, 2015 post)
5. Hemmed black dress (February 25, 2014 post)

Ongoing projects:

1. Simple Gifts quilt - pieced backing, ready to sandwich
2. Making patchwork math components from Moda's Jovial fabric, designer BasicGrey
3. Classic Cars strip quilt (August 3, 2013 post) - resurrected to sandwich, quilt, and bind
4. Overlapping square wall hanging - paired with thread, awaiting FMQ
5. Mask quilt (October 19, 2011 post) - packed away... again ... may abandon

New projects since January 7, 2015:

1. Simple Gifts quilt started
2. Patchwork Math Workshop (1/31/15)
3. Name on Alex's pants (2/15/15)
4. Attended San Mateo Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival (2/19/15)
5. Hemmed black dress (2/20/15)

I am hooking up to today's Freshly Pieced post for WIP Wednesday.