Don't ask me, I don't know

Truly, gentle readers, I have no idea how it gets to be early October the end of September.  What's happened?  Hmm.  I got a new job in July last year, which was pretty OK until about a month ago, when some changes that were unexpected & unwarranted lumbered me with a new boss, who was previously one of my peers, or equals.  This person has been given the job of being my boss not because I've done anything wrong or done my job badly, but because they need to tick a box that says "I've managed people", before their next promotion.  Needless to say the other people who've been put in the same boat are also pissed off and angry.  

The organisation I work for is almost unrecognisable from the place I worked a few years ago, and that, along with the cultural difficulties, means I'm looking for a new job now, and I'm fairly pissed off about that, because this was going to be my 'job until retirement', which, all things being equal, should be the end of 2021, when I'm going to be ... gasp... 60.  I remember my mother being horrified when she turned 50 (when I was 23) and now I know why.  It goes so. damn. fast.  

Anyway, interview yesterday, results TBA good, just waiting to find out if there's a third round.  I'll keep you posted.

In other, crafty, news... not much has been done - I've made big strides on the blue & white quilt, 

I had a stall at the Cherrybrook Uniting Church destash sale, and managed not to come home with more than I took (and a huge thank-you to Miss Grace, who was my willing offsider that day!) 

Some babies have been born in the family, and we now number 19 at Mr Golightly's family gatherings... 

Mr Golightly went skiing, and we spent $60 on a skitube ticket for me to go to the top of the mountain & spend time up there sewing while he skied out the morning, only to find that none of the lifts were working at the top, so he couldn't ski, so we had a hot chocolate and came back down. I have many un-publishable things to say about deceptive conduct, however, here's the hot chocolate:

And in the most exciting news of the lot, I made a cutlery roll, and because you've persisted through all this blather, here's the tute:

Cutlery Roll

This will make a finished roll for cutlery and chopsticks.  If you have a particular pair of chopsticks to use, measure those and use their length plus an inch for all your length measurements.

Cut 1 Back Fabric A 25cm X 28cm (10” X 11")

Cut 1 Front Fabric B 25cm X 28cm (10” X 11")

Cut 1 Front Bottom Flap Fabric B 24cm X 28.5cm (9.5" X 11.25")'

Cut 1 Front Top Flap Fabric B 24cm X 25 (9.5" X 10") (optional)

Cut 1 piece of batting or other soft padding material, 24cm X 26.5cm (9.5” X 10.5”)

Ties to suit – 11” of 2” wide fabric, or ribbon, or ricrac, or you can make ties out of the inside fabric, like I did here.

I used .6cm (¼”) seams all the way round, and polyester thread for strength.  Be aware that bigger seam allowances will eat into the width available for your channels.

To start:

Fold the bottom flap in half horizontally, right sides out, press, and then align the bottom raw edges of that piece and the inside back piece, right sides together, then press.

Pin the flap to the backing piece, RST, then using a marking pen, mark the channels for your cutlery - I allowed 2.5cm (1”) for the straw and the brush together; the same for the chopsticks and 5cm (2.5”) for the spork.  A standard knife and fork might require 2.5cm (1”) each.  There’s room within these measurements for at least three other channels but you can suit yourself.

 The channel stitching goes to the top of the inside bottom of flap.  Make sure you reinforce the stitching at the end of each channel with a few backstitches.  

Using a long stitch length, tack the bottom flap and inside back pieces together along the bottom.

For the optional top flap, fold the piece in half right sides together, then stitch the sides together.  Turn it right sides out.  Poke the corners out with a sharpish stick, being careful not to poke through the corners, then press.  The flap should be smaller than the finished inside back piece by .6 cm (1/4”) on each side (this is so you don’t get the flap caught in the side seams when you sew it up).

Pin the top flap to the inside back piece.  You can tack this into place along the top using a long stitch length if you want.  The two flaps can touch in the middle of the roll, but should not overlap.

The Outside:

If you want to quilt the outer back onto some batting or other soft padding, now is the time.  This is optional but gives a nicer finish, so it’s recommended.

Once you’ve finished quilting the outer back piece, stitch the tapes to the right-hand side of the outer back in the horizontal middle, inside the .6cm (1/4”) seam allowance on the right side.  The bulk of the tapes goes to the left of your seam.  Reinforce the seam where the tapes go, this will get a lot of wear & tear.  You can just see the reinforcing on the right hand side of this pic:

 To put together:

If you’ve made the optional flap, pin the corners out of the way so they don’t get caught in the side seam when you stitch it together:

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Put the front & back pieces right sides together, tucking the tapes out of the way. 

Pin the two pieces together, then stitch all the way around, leaving a three-inch gap open on the opposite side to the tapes.  Stitch the bottom seam of the bottom flap twice for strength. 

Turn the roll right side out through the hole, carefully.  Check that you’ve got all the edges enclosed, then turn it back inside out, and trim the edges.  Trim the corners diagonally, close to the stitching, being careful not to cut through those stitches.

Turn it back right sides out, and ladder-stitch the hole closed.

Press, insert cutlery & be nicely smug that you aren't adding to the pile of plastic cutlery floating in an ocean near you!  (Mine lives with me at work.  Funnily enough I have reusable cutlery at home ;-D).