Thursday, December 24, 2015

Cozy Infinity Scarfs - 30 Minutes or Less

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
***
Tis' the season - the holidays are upon us. With the holidays comes a whirl wind of activities! Plays, projects, shopping, parties ... I could go on. With all that said I know I have slacked a bit and have not written a blog post for almost a month. How times flies.
 A lot has happened in December, a few projects got started and some even were completed !!!
Also there were some great visits with family and friends.
This may be a long post ... so grab a nice warm egg nog and settle in ☺
***
December started out with my BF heading off to the mountains for one of his annual sled trips. With him gone this was the perfect time to work on some projects, get the Christmas shopping done and  spend some quality time with my Mom.
We decided to make a weekend of it, mom packed her overnight bag and was ready to go. As usual we had to start with something girly - this included getting a manicure and pedicure ☺ my favorite.
Next we had some fabric shopping to do - I needed to pick out some material for infinity scarfs. I have wanted to make these for a while and thought they would make great Christmas presents.
Below is the fabric that we picked out for the scarfs. Three nice warm flannels.
 



I think I have read all the online tutorials imaginable for infinity scarfs. For the most part they were all basically the same, with small differences here and there. What it boiled down to was taking an infinity scarf I already had and loved and measuring it to get the measurements we used.
For these scarfs the fabric measurements were - 2m x 0.35m.


  
Once we had the fabric cut we then sewed the two longest sides together (right sides together)
You will end up with a 2m long tube
 Now this is the tricky part to explain !!!
You will need to place your hand in the tube you just sewed together and grab the other end.
Once you have that end in your hand you will pull it back through to the top of the tube.
Stop when the bottom end and the top end of the tub meet.


Your tube will now be 1m in length and all you will be ale to see will be your "wrong sides"
You will need to match up the ends and sew all the way around joining the top to the bottom.
Make sure to leave a small opening.
You will place your hand in that small opening, go all the way to the bottom and grab the fabric and turn it right side out.






Lastly you will need to stitch closed that small opening you left open to turn your fabric.


   




We had to try a couple times to get a thread that worked with all the different colours.
This nice brown is the thread that we choose. 



I am very happy with the final product and they took all of ~20 minutes give or take some time for the hand stitching. The fabric cost $50 and I was able to make 10 scarfs. So in total each scarf cost about $5 each. These are quick and easy for Christmas presents and don't break the bank.
Let us know if you make your own infinity scarfs and if you have any tips or tricks.

Love to hear from you!
- The Youngest

Merry Christmas Tree Skirt


This skirt was made at the Fall Retreat in October 2014 - it has taken almost a year and a half to finish. Of course the supervisor was there every step of the way.


The quilting took about 1 week. I could only manage one round at a time before I had to quit with my hand. Although my hands were flat all the time, my CRPS from my surgery in July was causing me great pain.

It took another two weeks to stitch the back down. I manage to do about 8  inches or so at a time before I had to put it down for the next day. Frustrating, and a tearful journey.   Chef kept on encouraging me and told me that this condition is not forever. What I worry the most about as a quilter is losing the loss of my hands and my eyesight. I can't even type for longer than 10 minutes at a time before the pain prevents me from moving my fingers anymore. I am still off work and I do very little. Chef is doing my hair -- but hey! He does a fantastic ponytail and I CAN pull my pants up by myself finally!
 Supervisor....
 Of course he had to take a wayyyyyyyyyy closer look to make sure I was doing it right! What will I do when he's gone? He's 15 now! Can you believe it!
 The end product under the tree. Finally replacing the old felt one that was used for 30+ years!
 The reverse side is fun too!


 It will be some time before I am back at the machine an into my 'normal' again! Thank you all for your emails and encouragement! I have love reading them all! I am hoping the neurologist will be able to find a solution to all this and stop the relentless pain. I am now stoned on morphine and sit gazing at the tree. If this is my last project -- let it be a joyous one!


Merry Christmas one and all! I wish you all the joys of the season and a fabulous New Year to you all!

Margo