Monday 7 May 2012

Zakka Monday - Magnets - Week 6

I woke this morning, realised it was Monday and the first thing I thought was Zakka, so from this day forward, until the end of September, I have renamed Monday as Zakka Monday.  But oh my goodness - when I set out on the itsy bitsy magnet journey I did not imagine they would take so long.

There are six designs of magnet and it never occurred to me not to make them all - after all they are so little - how long would it take?  It took hours ... and hours .... and hours.  I have rated the six magnets dependent upon skill required to patch them as follows:
EASY -  Brick Cross and Offset Log Cabin
INTERMEDIATE - Nine Patch and Pinwheel
TRICKY/FIDDLY - Friendship Star and String

ALL of them are fiddly to finish off.  I also found it impossible to find magnetic sheet in Southern England so I purchased self-adhesive magnetic card used to create magnetic business cards - this was available from the main (or should I say 'only') craft supplier in the region.  I cut one card into six pieces and stuck a square to the back of the finished magnet.  It is really strong and will not budge. 

I really enjoyed patching these little magnets and found a simpler way of constructing the Nine Patch.  My favourite is the friendship star.  In a Zen moment of madness I have decided that I will actually give this one away (Zen/Buddhism states we should give away that which we hold most dear).  I will just enjoy it for a few days first though!

So my recommendation is to make just two to begin with.  As an added bonus, if you follow my simple construction of the Nine-Patch you automatically make two magnets in the time it takes you to make one - so this is a good choice to start with.  Click here for the quicker construction of the Nine-Patch magnet block.

4 comments:

  1. LOVE your fabric choices!

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  2. Lovely! Your stitching adds that special something!

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  3. I couldn't agree more with the amount of time taken for these fiddly little magnets. Zakka Monday sounds great to me.

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  4. Yours are so very special! Great ideas. I used a strong magnet and just stuck it inside before stitching it closed on the machine. Putting it on the back is a good idea!

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