February 11: I Don't Blog on the Weekend Very Often

Thought this was a good idea to share, so I am making an exception to my weekend posting.  Could work for any glasses if you play with the size.
Safety glasses are important to carvers and other woodworkers, but the glasses don't always come with a glass case.  At least that has been Kevin and my experience.  Maybe it is because we don't spend an arm and a leg on designer ones.  hehe  Anyway, I have been hanging my glasses from a loop on my carving bench and then carefully placing them in my box when I head off for my carving class.  That worked okay because I try to be careful, but yesterday, I had an "orphan" strings block and decided to pad it and stitch it and make an oversized glass case.  Worked like a charm and was actually big enough to hold the glasses comfortably.  Safety glasses are a little big for regular cases, so I shared my case with Terre, my carving instructor.  She laughed and showed me her storage place....the cardboard box he glasses came in.  She also said she could use a case like mine.  So this morning, I pulled out some of the ugliest strings I had and made 3 more glass cases.  One is for Terre and the others will go on my other pairs of safety glasses.  Probably will make Kevin a couple of more manly ones later.

Quick project with a very practical use!

I started with a 10" square foundation and then placed the center strip diagonally. My "orphan" block was leftover from this week's HeartStrings comfort quilt.   It was a matter of adding a strip and sewing, pressing, sewing, pressing nd then trimming to a 9 1/2" square.  I layered the fabric on top of a 10" square of foundation and then added a 9 1/2" square of foundation on the top.  I sewed a 1/4" seam around the edge leaving a 3-4" opening so I could turn the fabric right side out.  I pushed out the corners and sewed a narrow seam across the open section. (At this point I could have quilted the block but did not take the time.) Then I folded the stripped side face to face and stitched down one long side and the bottom.  I started the stitching about 1" from the top opening.  Remember to back stitch to make sure the seam does not open up.  I also back stitched at the bottom  When I turned it inside out the corners were a bit bulky, but that is okay since it will offer a bit more padding to the glasses.  I used a blunt turning stick to push out the corners.  Total sewing time for the 3 cases made today was 40 minutes. 

****Bonus:  This size works well to use on your rotary cutter.