Goodbyes

My college-age son left for an adventure yesterday - a year abroad. I didn't schedule any work this week, as he is a last-minute kinda guy. He called this morning to tell us that he'd arrived safely at his destination (as did his checked luggage.) I've also been dealing with my younger brother's belongings, as he died unexpectedly last month. My busy work has been mending and working on charity projects.

Quilting detail on Storybook Quilt - Butterflies. Finished and bound this week.

The Christmas stockings for Toy Rescue Mission are coming along nicely. The eight smaller ones (using the extra backings cut out last year) are finished.

The 23 other scrappy-pieced stockings are sewn and ready for finish work (turning, tying off serged ends, pressing, adding hanging loops.) The top edges will be turned to the inside, and have a hemmed edge.

Another 25 made from a Christmas postcard print are also sewn and ready for turning. They have a cuff sewn from white felt (with sparkles!) that flips to the outside, with an exposed seam on just the felt. I have a meeting tomorrow for charity work and will bring them along for finishing.

Since these stockings will probably become an annual project for me, I've kept better notes on how they were constructed. I answered a sewing blogger's question last month about what to do with "ugly" fabrics, and forgot all about how useful it can be for testing!

This is a sample of the cuff turned inside - much easier assembly if sewn to each side first, then the side seams. My first attempts had a cuff sewn as a tube, and they were clumsy.

The single fabric stockings with felt cuff were definitely the easiest. The larger size that TRM prefers is also easier to work with too. The Christmas fabric stash is largely depleted, though there is a box of Christmas print scraps for a simple strip quilt that will probably yield leftover. There will likely be other fabric gifted to me to build up the supply as well.