Two out of three ain't bad

I have a lot of fabric scraps.   I have been saving them for a rainy day…  which coincidentally was today when we had rain, hail and even a tornado!

I decided to tackle another Little Things to Sew project and was inspired by these quilted balls by Goke Keiko

featured in this book

I hunted through the bucket of selvedges that sits underneath my sewing table

and my handy assistant (sister N) grouped them into assorted colourways for my use.   I made two quilted balls - a red one and a blue one

I used the fancy stitches on my sewing machine and some variegated King Tut threads to make 6 little crazy patchwork wedges.

freezer paper template ironed to back of crazy patchwork material

I joined these together following the book instructions and then topstitched along the seam lines (again using fancy stitches on the sewing machine).  Once the balls were completed and stuffed, I hand-stitched a row of embroidery stitches along the final seam line.  Hand embroidery is not my forte but they are tidy enough.

I also attached two little circles of fabric over the junction where the wedges (supposedly) met.  Mine looked a little bulky and didn't line up perfectly so I covered them up!

Circle appliqué over the wedges' join - and hand stitched with variegated thread. The row of cross-stitching covers the seam joining the two hemispheres

And after I made these two balls I was forced to stop because, without a thimble, my delicate little fingers were being torn to shreds.  Anyway, I ask you, how many kids do you know who can juggle three balls?  So, following Meat Loaf's advice, I figured that two out of three ain't bad