Make Nine 2022 photo recap

My Make Nine 2022 challenge wrapped up the week of Thanksgiving, but I'm doing a photo recap here before the year comes to a close. 

Compared to Make Nine 2021, the project mix was about the same—garments, quilts, pillowcases, a yarn project, pouches, and an upcycling project. Pillows and a few small quilted items for a Trunk Show rounded out the project mix.

Completed projects for Make Nine 2022
Top row: Kantha Zipper Pouch UFO, Fast and Fun pillowcases, cuddle quilt UFO.
Middle: New to Me faux color-blocked shirt, Wild Card Trunk Show; Upcycled sock weaving.
Bottom: Slow Stitch dishcloths, Scraps and Crumbs kitty quilts, two Make It Again Bristol Tops.

Make Nine 2022 worksheet

2022 was certainly a fabric-filled year—especially when including a Trunk Show (a business project) that satisfied the Wild Card prompt. The Trunk Show was comprised of 11 small projects that included pillows, bags, pouches, towels, a quilted table topper and a runner. 

Below is my worksheet that corresponds to the Make Nine photos above. Dates of completion are included for each prompt. 

Completed Make Nine 2022 worksheet.

Projects were completed nearly every month: January, March, April, May, July, August, and November. I continued knitting Slow Stitch dishcloths well into December.

Project details

These are the Make Nine 2022 prompts and the posts telling the stories and details about the projects.

• First UFO: I paired an embroidery and kantha stitched piece (the UFO) with improve patchwork to create a zipper pouch. (completed July 4)
• Fast and Fun: a pair of pillowcases featured the Kingfisher fabric print. This is a favorite of my husband. (completed March 20)
• Second UFO: the final Make Nine project was a shop sample quilt that was started several years ago. It was finished and donated to my guild's charity. (completed November 20)
• New in '22: was a faux color blocked shirt using a product called the "flat fat stack" from Paintbrush Studio. (completed July 31)
• Wild Card: to support an event for several of my shop customers, I created a Trunk Show with several projects using a curated fabric collection from Art Gallery Fabrics. The work and project spanned a few months this spring. (April 17 - May 30)
• Mend/Upcycle: a favorite childhood toy, the Loopy Loom, checked off the box for a repurposing/upcycling project. I'm taking worn out, unmendable socks and converting them into mug rugs and trivets. A satisfying and sustainable project in so many ways! (completed July 10)
• Slow Stitch: in July, I discovered the dishcloth knit-along. Knitted/crocheted dishcloths became my default travel project and also fulfilled the Slow Stitch prompt. The first three of 19 dishcloths were finished by August 27 and I continued through November and had a pile of 19 by December 21. 
• Scraps and Crumbs: I love making scrappy improve quilts for the kitties! This is an on-going charity project for me that continues throughout the year. Four kitty quilts were completed January 30 and twelve more were finished in December 8.
• Make it Again: two knit Bristol tops were my first Make Nine finish in 2022. (completed January 15 and January 23)

Looking back at notes in my sketchbook for this year's Make Nine, I earmarked a few project ideas that could satisfy the prompts. A few projects came to fruition, but for some prompts, life stepped in and presented other options. 

For history purposes, here is the Make Nine 2021 recap. This is a recap of Make Nine 2020. The 2019 recap is at the bottom of this post. 

Planning for 2023

I plan to tackle Make Nine 2023 in the new year. I'll keep some of my favorite Make Nine prompts and add something new. And perhaps, a few projects on the 2022 Wish List will migrate and become next year's successes.

Discovering a UFO en route to looking for something else, and the final Make Nine 2022 finish

Sydney J. Harris, long-time syndicated columnist for the Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun-Times, occasionally wrote a column called, "Things I learned en route to looking up other things." I was reminded of this recently while looking for a quilt top I took with me to my Intro to Free-motion Quilting class at John C. Campbell Folk School. I used the quilt top to illustrate how I pin-baste quilt tops.

Anyway... while en route to looking for the pin-basted quilt top, I found another UFO quilt that was pieced and quilted about 6 years ago. The top was made to showcase a vintage, sewing-themed fabric line. A long-armer friend quilted it, but I never put on the binding.

Finished quilt with binding. 37.5" x 37.5"

This weekend, I decided to finish both quilts—the quilt top I was searching for, and the 6-year old UFO that lacked a binding. 

UFO that needed a binding (left) and basted quilt top ready for quilting.

Thankfully, a black binding was conducive for both quilts. Convenient!

A black binding was used on both quilts.

Cool quilting motifs

My friend, Sherri, long-arm quilted the UFO with some really cool computerized motifs. Below are photos of the different motifs in each of the corners.

Computerized quilting motif.

Circular computerized quilting motif.

Computerized quilting motif.

Linear computerized quilting motif.

The free-motion quilting on the other quilt is not as elaborate as Sherri's work, but serves the purpose for a kitty quilt that will go to the Chattanooga Cat Clinic. The kitties will love it and the staff will be happy to have a new kitty quilt.

Finished kitty quilt. Finished size 28" x 24".

Back of kitty quilt showing the quilting design.

My 9th Make Nine 2022 finish

I wasn't sure which UFO I would need to complete to fulfil my last Make Nine 2022 prompt. This one is as good as any! And it fulfills the second UFO prompt. This quilt is headed to my quilt guild this week—along with 5 other cuddle quilts—for its community service project.

Pile of 6 cuddle quilts for the guild community service project.

Going down the rabbit hole unearthed two projects that are now complete and heading to new homes.

Linen stitch dishcloths: a color study and portable stash buster

I diligently strive to meet the daily goal of my 2022 Create Daily tracker—doing something creative in stitch or mixed media every day. Portable projects that can accompany me on the road make achieving this goal possible. Over the last 3 months, knitted dishcloths have become my standard take-along stitch project... and they've been an intriguing study in color as well!

Three knitted dishcloths in linen stitch.

Attributes of the linen stitch 

Most of my knitted dishcloths are knit in linen stitch. Below is a photo showing 9 of them. The stitch pattern's attributes are reasons why I like this pattern for this project:

• the linen stitch pattern is easy to remember;
• the slip stitch in the sequence makes a tighter fabric structure that is conducive for using this knitted fabric in water... to wash dishes;
• it adapts well to using multiple colors of yarn;

And for the color study:

• the slip stitches cause different colors of yarn to interact with each other in a single row.

Linen stitch dishcloths using variou yarn color combinations.

A fun stash buster project

Using up partial skeins and leftover yarns works well for these small pieces. 

Cotton yarn stash.

The smaller yarn lengths allow experimenting with various color combinations on one dishcloth or perhaps on only a few rows. Because the slip stitch brings one color up (from the row below) into another, interesting things happen with color.

Color play with linen stitch.

Depending on the lengths of the yarn leftovers, I'll work with two or three solid colors, two variegated yarns, a solid and a variegated, or use one main yarn and work stripes with limited yards of other colors. It's fun to watch the textures emerge as the yarn slips through your fingers.

The linen stitch also offers interesting color play—and a knubby texture—on the back side of the work.

Linen stitch back side.

Other slip stitch patterns

The knitted dishcloths project was prompted by the Modern Daily Dishcloth Knit-along this summer. Other slip stitch patterns I've used for dishcloths are the brick stitch and Three-and-One Tweed. I've made 12 additional dishcloths since fulfilling the Slow Stitching prompt for Make Nine 2022 in early September.

Brick stitch (left) and Three-and-One Tweed (right) stitch patterns.

My most recent dishcloth used up a leftover ball of the turquoise yarn. Talk about playing "yarn chicken!" The last row was completed with only a few inches of yarn remaining.

Three-in-One Tweed dishcloth: one variegated yarn and one solid.

The edges of the dishcloths are crocheted—usually with two rows of single crochet.

Knitted dishcloths—a portable colorwork project.

As the yarn stash dwindles, the dishcloth stack continues to grow...

Using Art Gallery free patterns to make a Trunk Show

This summer, several Tennessee quilt shops curated a selection of fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics for their annual Shop Hop event. Using fabric combinations from this curated collection, I decided to explore the free patterns from Art Gallery to make projects. 

Ruffle Tote (center) and the Atacama Clutch.

Inspiration, project ideas, patterns, and tutorials

Art Gallery has several resources for inspirational ideas and instructions to make things with their fabric collections: 

• Free quilt pattern downloads
• AGF fabric LookBooks
• the AGF blog
• AGF TV video tutorials on YouTube
• Free sewing patterns—bags/totes, pillows, wall art, hats, home decor items, holiday projects, items for kids and pets, etc.
• sewing tutorials
• and the AGF website to view the fabric collections.

Also check your favorite social media sites to see what other makers are creating with #artgalleryfabrics. 

Making projects with the Meriwether fabric collection.

Projects and patterns

Several of the fabrics in this curated selection came from the Meriwether fabric collection, so I checked the Meriwether LookBook for inspiration. Then I poked around the AGF website and discovered additional projects and ideas. Here's what I made... 

Clockwise from upper left: Blooming Garden pillow, Bunny Bag, Alamo Tote and hand towels.

I found the Blooming Garden pillow in the LookBook, the Bunny Bag was featured in an e-newsletter and is from the sewing pattern section, the Alamo Tote is a great scrap buster, and the hand towels were inspired by the Check pattern.

A hexie pillow with the I See Kittens pattern.

The I See Kittens pillow pattern inspired the long pillow above and the square pillow below.

EPP hexie pillow.

The Ruffle Tote Bag pattern was perfect to showcase a large motif. A short video accompanies this pattern.

Ruffle Tote Bag.

Take a closer look at The Bunny Bag...

The Bunny Bag.

Patterns: use just the parts you want

Patterns are a jumping off place for your projects! Don't want to make a full quilt? Use one block, or just the center section from a quilt pattern for a smaller project. Use whatever part you please. 

The star block from the Wistful quilt pattern made a simple table topper. 

One block from a pattern can make a table topper.

The Petal Trails quilt was in the Meriwether LookBook and I used the center section to make a runner.

Free-motion quilting on a Petal Trails table runner.

Table runner made with a portion of the Petal Trails pattern.

A pattern piece from the Petal Trails quilt pattern was used for the flanged pillow (below). Fussy cut the Meriwether rabbit for the center. 

Flanged pillow inspired by the Petal Trails quilt pattern.

Smaller scraps? Smaller projects

The Atacama Clutch, from Adina LookBook, was so fun, I made two! Make and add a fluffy pom-pom to the zipper pull for a whimsical accent. 

Atacama Clutch zipper pouch.

After completing all the projects, I took remaining scraps and did improv patchwork to make a project bag for myself.

Zippered project bag. Improvisationally pieced with fabric scraps.

Hand quilting and hand embroidery embellish this bag. 

Detail of hand quilting around the rabbit motif.

Embellished with an appliquéd flower and embroidery stitches.

A Make Nine finish

I'm counting these 11 projects—a Trunk Show, if you will—for my Make Nine 2022 Wild Card prompt.

It was a wild and fun process using free patterns from Art Gallery Fabrics. I hope this inspires you to investigate and give them a try.

Cotton dish cloths: a Slow Stitching, Make Nine finish

Since discovering the Dishcloth Knit-along issued by Modern Daily Knitting at the end of July, I was enticed to retrieve needles, hooks and cotton yarns to join in and make a few dish cloths.

One crocheted and one knitted dishcloth.

Fun, summer stitching

Using a small amount of a cotton yarn, a dishcloth is a cool, easy, summer knit, that is functional as well as fun to make. During the month of August, I sourced my personal yarn stash for half balls and left-over cottons and knitted and crocheted 6 of them… with another dish cloth WIP on the needles. 

Three handmade dish cloths: two knitted and one crocheted (center).

As I work through odds and ends of cotton yarns, there will no doubt be a few more dish cloths made by year’s end. It's been fun finding and practicing different stitch patterns for making them. The fact that I'm using up leftovers is also an appealing benefit.

A variety of cotton yarns from my stash.

My 7th Make Nine Finish

I’m counting these hand stitching projects as fulfillment of my Make Nine 2022 Slow Stitching prompt. 

Slow Stitching prompt on my Make Nine 2022 planning sheet.

This makes 7 of 9 Make Nine projects completed for 2022. I feel I’m in good shape!

Make Nine 2022 status: August 31, 2022

Color blocking a shirt with Paintbrush Studio flat fat stacks

Color blocked garments combine one or more fabrics that are usually contrasting, bold, or unexpected, in a single garment to make a statement. Color blocking is a cool trend and can make use of interesting sewing techniques. Have you tried this technique? 

I just completed a creative experiment to make a "faux" color blocked shirt using a flat fat stack from Paintbrush Studio.

Color blocked Siena Shirt using Indian Summer cotton fabrics.

So, what’s a flat fat stack?

Paintbrush Studio Fabrics offers "flat fat stacks" with their quilting cotton collections. A flat fat stack is a selection of fat-quarter-size (18” x 22”) prints that are printed side-by-side on a single, continuous piece of fabric. It’s like buying a fat quarter bundle only the fat quarters aren't individual pieces—they come on a long piece of fabric. I used a flat fat stack from the Indian Summer collection by Sumana Ghosh-Witherspoon for this shirt. It had 12 fat quarter prints—or 3 yards of fabric. 

The Siena Shirt pattern

My shirt pattern was the Siena Shirt from The Sewing Workshop. It’s a pattern I’ve used numerous times so I was familiar with the pattern pieces and the construction.

The Siena Shirt pattern from The Sewing Workshop.

Pattern layout and construction

Laying out the pattern pieces was similar to the pattern's diagrams except the fabric was laid out in a single layer—no pieces were cut on the fold or in a double layer. Left and right front pieces were cut from different areas of the fabric to achieve the color blocked look. Same with the back pieces.

Pattern pieces laid out on a single fabric layer.

The collar, collar stand, sleeves, and back yoke were cut from different areas of the fabric and prints, too. The Siena Shirt worked well for this initial experiment because there were several smaller pattern pieces that could fit easily on a fat quarter piece of fabric.

The Siena Shirt made good use of the variety of prints in the flat fat stack.

During construction, I was careful to line up the prints across the front and side front seams and the back and side back seams. I didn’t have to match anything at the side seams.

Matching the print at the front seams.

The button band also looks color blocked. After button auditioning, the dark red ones made the cut.

Auditioning buttons for the front button band.

My 6th Make Nine finish for 2022

I’m fulfilling the “Something New in ’22” prompt for my Make Nine Challenge with this project. The extra thought and time involved with laying out the pattern pieces and matching the prints was worth the challenge and experimentation. 

Make Nine 2022 tracker, July 31, 2022.

Using the continuous yardage format of the flat fat stack eliminated the piecing that's generally required for color blocking... but achieved the same visual effect. The asymmetry is very much like color blocking seen in garments with this fashion trend. Because the various fabric prints were from a fabric collection, the designs and aesthetic were cohesive... which made choosing the fabric(s) easy.

"Faux color blocked" Siena Shirt. It goes with everything!

My husband’s comment about my new shirt: “It goes with everything.”

That's a "win!"

Upcycle your argyles with a loom! Make Nine finish #5

If the socks in the laundry basket are really too far gone to mend, here's a fun idea to remake them into something useful. 

Ready? Get out the scissors! 

The worn sock remake.

Cut the socks into tubes...

Socks cut into tubes.

and weave them.

Weaving with a mini loom and sock tubes. 

The potholder loom keeps worn socks out of the landfill

Remember those rainbow-colored fabric loops and the mini weaving loom you had as a kid? They still make them! I have a shiny new red metal one. And now I'm cutting up worn-out socks to make the loops for the warp and weft. 

Those worn socks get a new life as a mug rug or hot pat and avoid the fate of ending up in a landfill. It's a great repurposing project, earth friendly, and quick and fun to do as well.

Three woven hot pads, metal weaving loom, and crochet hook for binding off.

The weaving process and design options

The weaving set-up and process is the same as when you were 7 years old. If you don't remember, there are instructions/illustrations online or that come with the loom.

My sock tubes were cut about 3/8" wide and it took most of two adult size, short, ankle socks to yield enough loops for my 7" square loom. If you're cutting up knee socks, there will be plenty of loops for one woven square and enough to start the next.

Cutting socks into tubes. The argyle will provide a contrasting color.

If your socks are various colors or prints, try blending them to create stripes and plaids. You'll see a change in color but the pattern of the old sock—like the argyle pattern—becomes obscure through the weaving process.

The weaving process on the mini loom. 

The loom is portable. I can weave on a table or in my lap. I accomplished the "bind off" with a crochet hook.

Binding off with a crochet hook.

The finished hot pad is between 5" - 5.5" square once it's been released from the tension of the loom. You can see the difference in size between the 7" loom and the finished piece.

The finished woven hot pad is approximately 5" square.

The loom came with a metal hook for weaving, but I found weaving with my fingers worked really well. 

I haven't tried it, but the woven squares could probably be stitched or crocheted together to make a larger piece if one desired. For now, I'm using the pieces straight off the loom as hot pads and mug rugs.

Three woven hot pads/mug rugs made from worn out socks.

My 5th Make Nine finish for 2022

Although I have mended quite a few projects this year—shirt collars, shirt sleeves at the elbows, T-shirt hemlines and necklines, toes of socks, the buttonhole on a pair of jeans—I'm going to count this old-sock re-make as fulfilling my "Mend/upcycle" prompt for Make Nine 2022. It's a blast from the past and still as much fun now as it was as a kid.

Make Nine 2022 worksheet, July 2022.

I hope you find the "joy of making" as exciting now as when you were a kid!