all of my official patchblasting tools arrived yesterday so i was able to start on judah's quilty stocking in earnest.
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my new $6 iron (not investing too much in this hobby), $5 cutting mat, $5 ruler, $15 rotary cutter (which i will still get use out of for making burp cloths if this doesn't pan out)
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those little triads of fabric did NOT come like that. there are like 40 different patterns that come in loooong individual strips. i made them into those 3 piece little building blocks by cutting and sewing and measuring and toiling. didn't want you thinking, geez, that's easy. here is the raw material i was working from:
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i picked out 9 boy/christmas-ish patterned from this "jellyroll" (ah, quilting vernacular) to use for the stocking. they are normally $35 but i got this one for $18 on ebay. the whole stocking should only take 9 of the 40 strips in here so i will have plenty left over for anything else i want to make.
i had to set up a crafty station in our bedroom since jesse had his youth boys' small group in the living room. it was cramped and awkward doing this junk on the floor. after 2 hours of work this is what i have accomplished:
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if my math is correct (and it always is) that's $49 for this stocking...not including the hours of labor. so if i always use this same set of fabric, i will need to have 4 more kids to make these stockings cheaper than the $12 ones we bought for us. perfect..
this little gem is about a foot square. the plan is to just keep doing this until i have enough of this new patchwork "fabric" to use as the next raw material for making a stocking. then i'll use our stockings as a template for the shape. i still gotta figure out how to back it and make it soft, but i am highly pleased with my start.