Sew Cindy- 1st Sewing Project

Finally! I got started with a project on my new sewing machine. Its funny what inspired me. My parents stopped in Atlanta for a couple days on their way home from Tampa last week and my mom and I went to Forsyth Fabrics. I have been hunting for something cool to recover my dining room chairs. (The boys went to the Albert for the delicious smoked wings)

As soon as we stepped in the door, there was a "free" box at our feet full of fabric sample books.

As you can see to the picture, we may have gotten a little greedy. We walked out with 13 books. ("waste not want not," as mom always says)

Our creative juices were flowing, and we knew we could somehow make use of these scraps. There was much laughing [at ourselves]. My dad just shook his head when we lugged it in the front door.

The first idea that popped in my head was to make a patchwork blanket for all the picnics E and I will be making this summer.

The books arranged the swatches by color. I went through and cut the ones that I liked, mostly cotton. I also arranged them by color and in piles of 10. Greens, tans, reds, pinks, black and white, and blues.

My mom taught me a lot about sewing back in high school, and a lot of it stuck! I started by sewing together each color pile length wise. I stitched each seam twice for strength. I will continue to sew all the squares into rows and then sew the rows together into one big square. I will finish by adding a durable canvas backing and border on the edges.

I will be sure to post pictures of the finished product. Have you ever taken something from a "free box" just because it was free? (mom, you don't have to answer)