Aug 22……the meaning of scrap..

Scrap…
A small piece or something left over from use of a greater piece . (Noun)
Discard or remove ( verb)
Words that are similar in uses , fragment,snippet, shred

I have this problem of discarding little pieces of fabric,also accumulating from others their rejects…I so enjoy the colors of a scrappy quilt while the last quilt top I put together was pretty, it isn't a delightful display of colors like the log cabin….

Here are some scrappy knotted quilts that are finished.

I have been having some back issues 😟 ,puts me in a chair for a few days. I don't mind a chair for an hour or two but after awhile I get really disgusted with sitting… so I put my office chair at the table ,got the scraps out that I found,cleaned and ironed, and started cutting these strips into little fan pieces. I need to decide if I want to use the cream fabric or the barn red..

I like both .. although I think the red brings out all the colors of the shirting fabric, where some of the shirting gets lost in the white. What do you think?
The weather wasn't perfect for seeing the eclipse ,as the storm clouds kept getting in the way. I found that it was still beautiful. I needed to always look though the camera on my iPad as I didn't have glasses . Love the reflection of the sun ,moon in this photo.

Take care friends.

Advertisement

Aug.13th, a miscellaneous post

This month is flying by so quickly! We have been butchering,enjoying company,and trying to keep up with yard work between the thunderstorms.
I did finish the pink and white top.
.

Put together this little lap throw, I used a cheat fleece piece for the backing. That was a real no- no ,but a lesson learned. It left the quilt rippled on the edges,as it stretched this way and that as I tried to sew.

My flowerbed is starting to show signs that it is time for cooler weather, although there is a few beauties left.

I still am learning to draw, while I know that my talents are limited, I so enjoy sitting down and doing a simple drawing of something I have seen around me. Here's a few things that I scratched out…

Does any body know how to keep cute little bunnies from eating all your lilies down to stalks? Isn't this stalk rather pitiful!!

Take care friends 🍄

July 9th…. A little bit of this & that….

Seems like I haven’t got much accomplished the last few weeks when it comes to sewing. First ,we moved Leona into Russell’s old room,we fixed it up for her so it didn’t look like her brothers old room.

I really hate to admit that having our youngest son leaving home for good has been a little hard..okay a lot harder than I wished for it to be. So I did something that I have been wanting to do… that is to learn to draw. I ordered a book for beginners,bought an online course,and got some pencils. I have been enjoying it to the fullest. It has helped me see things in new ways. I see shadows ,depth,little details and colors that I hadn’t noticed before. While I will never be a fantastic artist, it is good to be challenged instead of mopping about life’s changes. Here is a peek at my newbie work.

 

I did put a little top together for a friend. She had found these old blocks at a yard sale , and wanted to display them in a throw. The blocks are vintage ,my guess would be 1920 to early 1930’s.

And back to work on this top.. half way through 

Even with the hot weather that we are having the flowers are still going, not sure how long they will go until some of them will stress out. 

 
 
This last photo is a mushroom,these grow randomly in our yard. 

And one of the boys found this arrowhead .

I wonder what the story of this arrow is ? Lost in a practice run.. or missed the animal it was shot at .. or maybe it was a no good curving so it was tossed aside….

Take care, Deb

April 1st… Strawberries and double wedding ring update.

Strawberries are in full swing here,and my counter is full of bowls with berries. The kitchen smells so good with the smell of cake and strawberries.

I will put some in the freezer for milkshakes and homemade ice cream when the weather is hot and we are looking for a cool supper. For the shortcake I use an old recipe that is a plain vanilla cake. Here’s the recipe..

If you wish to try the coconut icing that is wonderful tasting as well.

Now for the update.. I didn’t get as far on the Double Wedding Ring quilt top as I would have like but there is still a little progress. I was able to get more rings sewn.. and started sewing the rings together.

  
It is hard to match the rings at the seams evenly, some are off a little bit . I was able to get one row done which has 9 complete ring sections,and started on row two. There will be 72 sections when top is completed. That means I have 61 more to go.

Here you can see how row two is joined on.

Have a lovely week! Deb

Feb.4 th.. another sewing post

But first it is good to say that the pecans are all picked up.. while I enjoy picking up pecans it is good to see the end. So goodbye pecanpicker upper until next year. 

I took a better picture of the first finished scrappy quilt after washing it.

And a top finish with these blocks…

Then I decided to play around with appliqué 

All was going nicely….

Until something felt different as I was sewing .. I couldn’t believe I did this..

I was sewing on top of this block!😳 so out came the seam ripper…. after careful ripping and more sewing I was able to finish this baby quilt. Hubby and daughter say my teddy bear has wings, which is supposed to be a pillow but I guess it won’t hurt to have an angel bear watching out for baby. 😊

I got some hand quilting in…long way to go though.

And now I need to go find my coffee cup,and watch “Annie” with Leona. 

Jan.27th …sweet potato plant,and scrap update

I had an interesting find this week while trimming rose bushes, two large white sweet potatoes in my flowerbed! How did they get there… well, I planted two small oriental sweet potato plants that I had gotten out of a planter that was given to my daughter . I wanted to see if they would grow in the very acid soil,for most other plants other than roses won’t..

These plants grew like crazy making a great ground cover around the roses. I never once thought to check for potatoes when frost hit. Here are the potatoes that I found…

Come to found out that they are very high in calories …perfect for my daughter. Leona loves them.👍 

Update on the scrap projects…

Log cabin blocks all ready to sew…

209 blocks done in these blocks… only 20 more to go

And a little baby quilt out of the string blocks..

Have a lovely week all… Deb
Ps.. remind me not to take on any more scraps for awhile.. I still have a small storage tub and a men’s boot box full to do yet..😄

Jan.16th.. jeans and fleece

My daughter hasn’t been doing so good this last week,she has a nasty  cold,when she gets sick  like this I need to be within sight to help her with everything. So being in the sewing room was not an option,no problem… Just need to do something close by on a table near her. Off to search….. this is what I found..

Some of my dads old jeans with a small remnant piece of denim…

Some fleece strips that was in amongst mom’s scraps.. I cut the jeans up into 6.5″ blocks ,also the fleece.

Had enough blocks to make two crib size blankets. I then pulled out my treasured old girl ,she was up to a good warm up. This is the end result of one of those stacks of blocks.

 
Front.                                                                             Back

 I have 88 of the log cabin blocks made.. I slipped into the sewing room a few times when Leona was napping.
When out getting some fresh air while second daughter LouAnn did the caretaker duty.. these cows were very curious about the old lady walking down the road. :))

 
Have a good week…Deb

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

Dec.12th… a few more tied quilts,and an experiment

I finished up some tied quilts,some were from scraps that were in Mom’s attic. Some were old knits that were in great shape!

I put fleece on the back of the knit,it is so soft.

Then I had some heavy fabric, I think it is upholstery fabric . It is one heavy quilt!!

Then a few more scraps put to good use!

I received the cutest little gourd ornaments from my oldest son.

Now the experiment.. many years ago I used to make friendship cake which my hubby loved ,somewhere along the line I last the recipe. I love the Internet when looking for a recipe,it’s amazing what you can find. I found this fruit cake recipe that has a starter that needs to set for 30 days. It won’t be ready for Christmas like I wanted but it just might be for the New Year! Here the starter in its jar.. if it is a good recipe I’ll post it.

Have a lovely week! Deb

Nov 15.. an old knit quilt

My daughter Lynn had given me an old quilt to repair that was her hubby’s ,given to him as a child.  It was a lovely double knit tied quilt made by his grandma. Years ago Lucas’parents bought a farm , in the old barn was this double knit fabric that granny salvaged. The repairs were to redo some seams ,also the ties were either missing or in poor shape.

The knit fabric is in wonderful shape,one would never guess that it has been used hard. When I finished the repairs it looks almost new!

I would guess these knits to be 50 some years old.

I know that knits are not poplar in the quilt world. I have made a few simply because they are tough and hold up to boy abuse…. one I made has held up for twenty one years,and still going strong. 

 
 these I made from old shirts ,dresses, skirts ,and fabric scraps that I would find..In our early years of marriage  money was a little short, which taught me to be creative. There was no rotary cutters or mats then,just cardboard ,pen and scissors . 

Now for an update on the nativity project… two blocks done

And the embroidered block quilt top….I thought was done until I laid it on the couch…oops…

I have it ripped out already for me to sew in right tomorrow.

Lynn sent me this picture last week,she took it standing in their field facing the neighbors. Isn’t  it gorgeous!!

Deb