Garlands

I did it! I made garlands as planned!! When I finally sandwiched, quilted, and trimmed all the strips and scraps, I had 367 strips (7.25"x1.5") to make into chains.

Now, this isn't a nicely divisible number, so I contemplated my options. I could make one more link and make four garlands of 92 links, or I could make three more links and make five garlands of 74 links. These 7.25" lengths, when joined and sewn together, end up being 1.6" long per link, so a 74-link chain would be very close to 10 feet long.

Three more links it is! I certainly had the fabric and batting to make three more, but my poor FMQ foot, after several days of non-stop action, had quietly decomposed the final time I put it into my parts box. I had worked it to death. It put up a good fight and only started complaining toward the end (and I, in my ignorance, didn't recognize what that sound was).

That broken bit started out attached to the top of the springed bar.

RIP, my faithful and hardworking Brother foot!

Not to be thwarted,  I tried a mystery FMQ foot that's been lurking about, waiting to be played with. No go--not built for the Brother. I tried using the darning foot. No go--not built for FMQing. So I tried using the regular sewing foot. It was a go, but without much of the Free Motion part of FMQing. I struggled through one additional link and called myself thwarted.

Assembling the chains was very easy using the weird cutoff piece of cutting mat (from one of The Loud's mystery projects, which I've still never seen) and a stick of Elmer's glue. I'd dab a line of glue along one short edge . . .

Starting with my oldest glue stick, from the days when the glue was white (today's glue is purple).

. . . align that edge along the 1/2" dots . . .

. . . overlap the other end along the solid line . . .

 . . . and clip to secure.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Due to a shortage of clips ("wonder" and hair), I could only glue up 22 links at a time. I kept each short chain at 11 links (plus an unglued link pinned at the bottom to later join all the lengths into one long chain) as I had a fairly good idea that the sewing portion of this project was going to be clunky. 

I gave the glue several hours to dry. I've no idea how little time it really takes to be completely secure--I had plenty of other projects to occupy that wait time! For the first link I tried running a line of stitching along both raw edges (the one I could see on top, and making a best guess at the placement of the raw edge underneath), but the flimsy green fabric on the bottom folded over on itself and exposed too much of the batting, making an ugly mess of things. So I did two passes of stitching per link: up the raw edge on the back side (and return), then flip and sew up the raw edge on the front (and return). 

This is probably stitching overkill, and I'm okay with that.

This gave me two opportunities per link for Leader-Endering, and I had just the thing--a tin of paired bonus triangles a quilting friend gave me (results of a recent quilt, and she didn't want to bother with them but couldn't bring herself to throw them out, either).

I'm thinking Cat's Cradle blocks, like Nann's.

Rather than finish the ends with a large loop of something, as I'd seen online, I decided to sew on ties because I think that gives the user more options for fastening the garland onto something.

Ends are knotted then trimmed with pinking shears.

I had plenty of fabric from this WIP, currently lurking behind my hanging storage system (it really does have 90-degree corners, but the top ones have drooped down) . . .

. . . plus my secret weapon, without which making 20 ties (one attached to each end, plus two bonus ties loosely knotted around two inner links for creating swags) would've been inconceivable:

And here is one of the five garlands (I ended up making three with 74 links, and two with 73 links), also demonstrating the use of the extra ties to make the swags.

Close look, just 'cuz.

And they all started with this:

Nann had asked how heavy these would be, so I weighed a set of links. Seven ounces.

This month's CF!Q meeting is our last chance to turn in items for this year's Community First! Village's Holiday Market. I'm hoping to get that lurking wallhanging finished and donated as well. I'll finish Bunny's face (he needs a mouth) and include him. Doesn't he look dapper in his blue scarf?

And finally, I'll see what kind of headway I can make with these (there were six panels tucked into one of the CF!Q fabric bins). 

They aren't your typical Advent calendars, but more of a "Pay It Forward" type of thing:

I still have a week to keep working on items. Let's see how far I get! (Frankly, I've already "won" this race simply by having made those 5 garlands.)

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Ready for tomorrow.