April :: Making moments

Wow. With all that has happened this month, travel and birthdays and tax preparation, I feel like making has taken a bit of a back seat. And this always leaves me feeling a little unsettled. Me no like. So Monday I took a few minutes to push all the new toys scattered throughout the house out of my peripheral vision and got to work at the machine.

A few weeks ago I caved in to the pressure to add to my already burgeoning bookcase of craft books and added a Denise Schmidt book (what can I say, I was ordering this from Amazon and had to qualify for the free shipping). It is a great introduction into the DSQ way which seems a little bit funky and very verbose. The book has two sections, one focused on small projects and the other actual quilt patterns. I loved the idea of pieced scrap cards and took that on this week.

It was such a simple way to use what we have and make something special to say 'Thanks' to the lovely family and folks that literally showered the boys with new things. I used the pattern in the book as inspiration but knew I had to make quite a few so here is what I did ::

1. I Cut strips of scrap as long as a regular piece of regular cardstock (8.5 by 11.5 I think) then sewed them to the page until the blank piece of cardstock was covered. Important :: You must press each piece to get a nice fold. Other than that, don't be too fussy.

2. Trim the overhanging fabric and then cut the card into four pieces. Also cut extra blank cardstock for the back of the card.

3. Using sewing machine and wide zigzag stitch, sew the fabric and blank piece together, just catching the fabric piece which will allow you to fold the card nicely.


4. Straight stitch around the fabric edges to keep the pieced fabric from rolling and turning under.

I found that I could crank out quite a few in an hour and they are signed and ready to be mailed as of yesterday afternoon. I love that they feel as special as the people that gathered but cost nothing as I had all the supplies on hand. And I think I might go back and make a few more just to have for those times when you want a special something to throw into the mail box.


Tomorrow...more of this...here is a sneak peek...


And I did not think I could deepen my love or obsession with all things Alabama Chanin. I was wrong.