Scraps 'n Boro

Since making my Hourglass blocks, I’ve decided against trying to find a suitable fabric for sashings.  At least until I get home.  Unless we are hooked up to electricity at a marina dock, solar panels can only produce so much and our fridge & freezer must always come first.  Along with navigation instruments and trusty computers for weather reports.  So, my sewing machine has not seen light of day since we started heading north.  And whilst fabric is nice to have, it adds extra weight to my (one) travel suitcase. I like to travel light.  With all this in mind, it was back to Plan A, which was of course, making bags from leftover scraps.  

Two pieces fairly heavily stitched. Hardly exhibition quality
but it won't matter for an everyday bag or wallet

So now, I’m currently hand stitching scrap pieces – and attempting a bit more boro!  Basically, my process is an assemblage of bits of scraps on a cut-to-size piece of thin cotton batting and a light backing of flour sack cloth.  I think I purchased the flour sack cloths in a pack I found in the cleaning products area of Walmart a few years ago.  They look a bit like a more robust cheese cloth and the whole lot just needles through quite nicely.

The batting size is cut mostly 13 x 8 inches with the cloth backing slightly larger.  Once the scraps are down and held by pins or glue.  I use 1” masking tape as a guide for my stitching lines to keep them straight, then stitch the rest, mostly by eye.  I’m happy doing that (keeping it simple) rather than being too creative with other designs.  Its relaxing and achievable, even on a boat anchored out in the middle of nowhere… 

You can see how I pinned the pieces, then stitched
guiding lines 1" apart, making the final stitching easier

My thread of choice has been Perle #8 in two shades of pink.  A nice big-eyed sashiko needle helps make threading easy too.  

When the pieces are all stitched and any loose threads trimmed, then I’ll decide exactly how best to incorporate these pieces into a project of some sort.  Perhaps a dolls bed quilt for my larger piece?  That might make me rather popular!  Anyway, keeping an open mind for now...

And for the back.  Not sure I want that to be seen!

I'll post a photo of the final product when it is done... could be a while yet!!