Oct.16….. more scraps…

A quick update on the blocks for the 70,273 project. I have a picture of Leona doing a block in red crayon. Sad to say I didn’t take any that I did. I mailed them in a hurry as we were leaving town for the weekend.

Now for the scraps…. I have been working hard on getting the scrap pile down. I had it down to one box full when Mr. Issac once again brought me his left overs.

So I went to work on some more log cabin blocks, a whirligig block,and a buzzsaw block.

I think they will all look nice in a quilt top.

I also put together two tops for a ladies church sewing as they were wanting some.

These tops were made from yard sale buys where some pieces were in a few yards to larger scraps. I love a yard sale where I can buy a few yards of fabric for $1.

Also took time to work on some more rings for the double wedding ring quilt,which I’m half way done with.

Have a great week ,Deb

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Jan.8th…. scraps,and more scraps

And the boxes of scraps that turn into a storage tub,then two storage tubs…. you get the picture .

That’s what I’m looking at.. I have scraps of my own that have piled up ,scraps from my Mom when we had to rehome her,and more scraps coming from a elderly church lady who called ,saying she has some scraps for me.

So what am I going to do with all this fabric that would take ages to cut up into blocks,then there would be so many little  sizes.. (that thought gives me a headache.)

I went for my pencil ,paper and ruler. I’m not an artist but with the help of a ruler I can draw some lines. I made two block patterns that I liked that used little pieces.

I am also going to use the log cabin one again for I really like it. I once again removed the thread from my machine ,then stacked ten news printing paper under the copy pattern that I had made. I copied off 10 copies of the white copy paper as my guide to sew the lines on the thinner news print. You can see the lines where to sew ,also it makes tearing the paper off easier.

I use the larger pieces for the log cabin ,then put aside the even smaller ones for the little 4.5 inch blocks.

I have fifty five blocks done of the log cabins

Then this block

Fifteen of these done… then the last block pattern.

These are using little shapes of all sizes..

The blocks look like this before you trim them

Trim up the blocks and you had a lovely block full of color.

I have twenty of these done. I have many more to make as it hasn’t even made much of a difference in the scrap stack. I will decide later how I will use them .

I have put in a quilt top back in my frame again,it will keep me busy quilting all winter.. and maybe into next one. It is the fire hosta island quilt top that measures 100″by 100″.

This is the quilt that I just took out.. now to bind it. I really procrastinate when it comes to binding.

Keep warm friends ,for even the south is cold today. I have ice on my porch even in the middle of the day.. Deb

Nov.1… a Christmas project

Life around this household has been far from normal lately. My mom’s health has been failing her for sometime now,and it is to the point where she can no longer care for herself. We siblings got together to get mom’s house ready to rent out. We hauled,sorted,priced and threw out stuff to get ready for a yard sale. The yard sale day was a lovely day,with a nice amount of sales. Mom had too many things to get rid of in one day,…so once again we boxed ,and hauled,laughed and aggravated each other …and…Things are now ready for a auction. 

I have a pile of boxes to go though that I brought home..and a lovely antique wash stand to do something with, also piles of house work….6 more blocks to go on the red embroidery block quilt ,then I will start on this advent Christmas pattern. I know it is to be done in Dec. but I want to have it on display for Christmas.

It is marked for each day,I think I will do a number a day.

Now back to boxes… Deb

August 14th, tech problems and a relaxing summer eve

Why is it that a computer or printer decides to go on the blink when you are in need of  them right at that moment?!

I have been working on the log cabin block with the pile adding up,when the printer decided that it no longer wanted to print newspaper foundation paper that I use. 😖 now what.. I didn’t want to wait until it was fixed or have to buy a new printer.. So how could I work with what I had? 🤔 then I had a light bulb moment when I remember reading long time ago how a quilter used her sewing machine to mark lines. If I copied off on regular printer paper which it would still print ,I could use that as a pattern guide! 

So I took and unthreaded the machine,removed the bobbin,added a size 14 needle. I added ten newspaper foundation paper to one regular printed paper.

Sewed the lines as you can see. This is how it looked when finished.

Now all I needed to do was letter or number the steps in order of which lines were to be sewn first ,also which were to be of a darker fabric or lighter fabric. Worked great!

I now have 100 blocks done.😀

This evening was warm with a soft wind, flowers ,wonderful clouds,and a moon. Oh yes,also a traveling locust.. (Sorry folks it’s a Cicada)

Can you see the little spider hiding?

And one needs to add a sunset.. Right?! This was taken several days before though.

Wishing all a lovely week, Deb

April 26 th, scraps and little blocks

I’m catching up on the weeding ,mulching in the flowerbeds.. So I felt the need to visit my sewing room.

I pulled out the fire island hosta quilt top, began to work on it making a nice pile of little scraps. I decided not to put them in a box like I do so many little scraps .  

 
I have a book of block patterns that has some age to it, perfect for finding a small block. 

  
I had to tear it out of the book to copy it. Then I broke it down,each block will have four squares. The numbers tell me where to start, the letters the color.

  
Copy off the pattern on to newsprint paper, cut out leaving enough room for a quarter inch seam. Then layout a square ,add  elmers washable glue to the backside of  c-1. Lay on to fabric with the right side of fabric facedown on table. I make sure the little scrap covers the number 1 area with fabric hanging over the seam line .

  
Lay a small thin object,like a note card or plastic ruler, right along number two space line,

 
 fold back over ruler than lay the cutting ruler on top of the folded back piece,adding a quarter inch seam allowance.

  
Then cut..

  
Then add another scrap fabric fabric face down to trimmed piece.

  
Keep doing this with each number until done ,then trim adding your quarter seam allowance.

Here are what some of the little blocks will look like.

  
I like them. Haven’t any idea how I will use them yet. I’ll just make a nice stack then decide.

Until the next post,  Enjoy your projects in progress. Deb

 

Nov.14, adding machine paper,and scraps

Remember the rolls of adding machine paper… I have ,had some just sitting around collecting dust. I hated to just throw them out as the old machine no longer worked. As I was trying to clean up my sewing room some, I came across these rolls again.” Look” I said to myself,either you do something with these things or pitch them. Putting them back is not allowed…. Here’s the product of, not allowed ,to put them back. 

 
I pulled out the little scraps that were piling up. Sewed them to the paper that I cut into lengths of  8 inches. Then trimmed the sides. Nice little strips were soon piling up.
  
Then I discovered I had these left over strips. Perfect for this little quilt top. Now it will make its way to a group of ladies who finish them for charities. 

My daughter gave me an idea of making a tic tac toe quilt top out of the strips. I think I will for I still have some left over. 

Then I put together two other baby quilt tops.  I had a really bad headache so I had stop sewing a top that required thinking which I wasn’t up too… 😕 but just sitting around just made me go into self pity mode. 

Now I have a box full of quilt blocks to sew up in a hurry ,if the need arises. I pulled it out ,found some blocks ,Then sewed in a robotic fashion. These didn’t take any brain!!

  
  

After a few days I went back to working on this top.

  
As I was sewing I realized that it was going to need a little toning down. A dark brown border fabric fit the bill.

  
As I was cleaning I also discovered that the borders weren’t put on this little quilt… That’s what happens when you jump to another project before your finished!!

  
I still didn’t finish the sewing room …when picking up the scraps left over ,from the little scrap strips made from the machine paper. I made these blocks.. Not sure how I will use them but they are stacked nicely on a shelf,instead of scraps hanging out of a box.

  

And is the sewing room clean yet…..well, part of it is!🤓

 This little fella slipped in the window to see what I was up too!so for a bit there was a lizard chase on ,to shoo it back out.  
 
These are my daughters babies… Aren’t they so sweet!   

 
This young man helped PopPop change oil in the work trucks. My sons boy.

Have a great week, friends!

Sept 4th, an old barn

  
As hubby and I were traveling to VA.,we pasted this old barn in a very lovely setting. I quickly snapped a shot of if as we went flying past. Today when I pulled the picture up to see how it turned out,….I was taken down memory lane.

As a child, I grew up on a dairy farm,owned by my grandpa and farmed with the help of my dad. I have a brother who is a few years older than I. We loved the barn! We would play in the hay bales making tunnels with sudden drops that were delightfully scary as you crawled through in the dark. We would swing over the piled up loose hay and drop into it. 

In the spring , we would watch the pigeons hatch their young,and once we try to rescue a baby when it fell from the nest. It most of hurt itself to much from the fell ,for it only lasted a few hrs. I always hated when critters hurt.

Oh, how wonderful that barn would smell when fresh hay filled the loft! I won’t say what the down stairs smelt like on hot humid day.:))

There was one thing that my brother and I were not to do… But slipped it in if we thought we could get by with it, that was to climb the silo. It was so delightful to sit on top and see the view,for one could see for miles!

Those days were good days,but time has moved on. The barn we played in is gone now,so as I looked on this picture I wondered what stories it could tell… and how long it will be before it will too be gone? Kinda of sad isn’t it.

  
Now for a quick change of subject, (which is a trait of mine)  I saw this pattern on Pinterest. I loved it, so of course I wanted to make one for myself. My son made the frame for me out of scrap broads and old barbed wire. I was thrilled with the way it turned out!

  
Now backing to hand quilting…

July 14 th, a quick update on Charlecote

I have learned to appreciate even more the work of those before computers when it comes to pattern making and getting measurements accurate so that there were no waves, ripples or volcanoes happening unwanted in a quilt,even seam matching is a challenge . 

I have been challenged with this pattern making. I have enjoyed it but sure glad that I don’t have to be so challenged every time I want to sew a quilt. 

Here is half of the quilt top, it is not perfect . I m okay with that.😃 

 Have a lovely day friends, Deb

July 11 th, a year later

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by! Can’t say my writing skills have improved,but it was fun to visit projects that were done and a reminder of ones that haven’t. 

The Be Colorful top is coming along, I really like the bold colors. 

 
Then I got sidetracked with a challenge of making a pattern from a layout of plans for planting the flowerbeds of Charlecote park of England. A friend gave me the challenge.

 
I decided instead of making blocks, I would go with a center piece.

  
It is hard to get a good picture for it is done with pencil.

  
I will probably appliqué the petals on the outside edges.

It took me a little bit to figure out how to break it down for piecing. This is what I decided on.

  
Still a little hard to see because of using pencil. I used freezer wrapping paper to draw pattern on.

  
Pieces cut and ready to use as templates.I did sew a few pieces together to see if measurements were going to work. They did!! 😄

  
By the way these are not the colors that I will be working with, so don’t freak out……😉I just grabbed some scraps for trial. That way if it didn’t work out I could just throw it in the trash.

  
Picture of the parks flowerbed! It’s so beautiful….. I would love to visit there, but I’m afraid that I will only be there by picture.

Until later, Deb

June 30th, a quilt with a rainbow of colors

First I’m showing some hand quilting on the Fire Hosta Queen quilt . It will be quilted with 4 different colors, one is a metallic thread. I have never used this kind of thread before but wanted to add a little sparkle to the outside border. I did find that I can only use a short thread for it will knot quickly if to long.

  
The sparkle doesn’t show up very good on the photo.

  
  
Now the Be colorful pattern… 

  
I love this pattern and have been enjoying piecing it together.

  
First I copied all my pieces and placed in bags so as to not confuse or lose pieces.

  
  
My color choices.

  

Lastly I’m gonna sneak a picture of my sons bed with his new quilt… A made bed … Wonders of wonders!! :))

 

 

Until the next post…