Nov.26.. Hand quilt along

My how time flies! These last few weeks have been busy with caring ,visiting with my Mom. Then family coming home for thanksgiving. It hasn’t left much time for quilting or sewing. I was surprised at just how much I did get done when I sat down to post my progress. Here’s the update on the fire island hosta …

A few more stitches…

I did get my double wedding ring quilt top marked and started on….

I started another project when just sitting with my Mom ,I needed something small to work on. I have been wanting to do a cathedral window quilt for awhile with these old scraps that came in a bag of other scraps. I think someone took the bigger blocks from these border pieces,these were cast offs.

I believe they are fabric pieces from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Some of the fabric is too thin and old to use ,some can still be lovely displayed in a little window. I have just what is in the bag to take apart with this stack already done.

Here is a few blocks with the old pieces…

It has given new life to the oldies.😀

Now off to make more food for dinner,there’s to be twenty sitting around my dinner table .

Oh , and check out what some others are doing by hand….

Kathy,http://livinginrapidcity.wordpress.com/

Bella,http://createdbybella.wordpress.com/

Lori, http://www.quiltingneeds.com/

Margaret, http://www.thecraftycreek.com/

Kerry, https://lovethosehandsathome.wordpress.com/

Emma, http://emmacraftprojects.wordpress.com/

Tracy, https://itsatsweetsday.blog/

Connie, https://stitchingirlblog.wordpress.com/

Deborah,https://adailydoseoffiber.wordpress.com/

Susan, https://desertskyquilts.wordpress.com/

Jessica, https://myhappycountryfarm.wixsite.com/website

Sherry, http://www.bookshookssticksetc.blogspot.com/

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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

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.

July 31,….. mowing,old fabric scraps and fabric balls

As a young teen into my early married life ,I did a lot of mowing with tractors, when the oldest boys were old enough to mow I had them do the mowing to help keep them busy. Now I'm back to mowing my own yard again … but time brought changes to the type of mower. We have a zero turn lawn mower, which looked so easy as Russell maneuver that mower over our large yard. Oh wow was I in for a surprise!! The instructions never mentioned to handle the bars with a very light touch,and I liked to make my self seasick until I learned that light touch!😳😁 I am pride to say that I have learned to handle it in a more productive manner.
My daughter LouAnn and I went to some yard sales recently, a fun time of trying to find that little treasure. Oh how I found it!!
I was so delighted when I found it. It was old balls of fabric in a lovely old jar.

Perfect to display in my sewing room. I also bought 5lbs of dirty old scraps ,I almost didn't get them but they call out for a second chance of being beautiful again that I didn't have the heart to just ignore them. They were so smelly!! Poor things…
Here are some soaking in the sink in baking soda and laundry soap.

I hand washed them then put them in the dryer .. I had many little pieces to iron which I worked on when I needed a little break from other work.

There were many pieces that looked like they were from a shirt factory, I believe that they are vintage maybe dated at 1940's to 1950's . If any one knows for sure of a date let me know,I would be pleased to know .

I have been working at this top again.. I had to make some changes as I didn't have enough of the one fabric . There were two pieces to be used but I thought maybe they would clash some for the pinks are just a little different so I was hoping that I would have enough of the one .. not so. It not going to look too bad.
Now off the decide what pattern would be nice to use the old scraps in….. maybe a tree of life or a grandmothers fan…..

July 15th ….. a box of scraps

I received a pile of scraps. Ok, so your thinking what’s new ,that poor dear always has a pile of scraps.  And boy are you right!!

Last weekend an older gentleman from our church ,who to keep himself busy, cuts up fabric into 6″, 5″and 4″ that people give him. He does this to support a program that helps poor widows support herself and her family. The widows will receive these blocks with batting and backing, they then will make quilts to sell. To make a long story short… He brought me his scraps to put into quilt tops for Christian aid ministries. Of course.. I can’t say no. Here’s the big bag of scraps,which I dumped into this box.

The type of box… my daughter likes lightening McQueen.. so instead of wearing princess pull ups she wears these😁

I want to go through to sort the big pieces from the little . I made a few blocks like this to see if I cared for them. I believe it will make a nice top.

This is what I’m going to work on this week, the weather is to be hot  for awhile now.. time to keep myself in except for early mornings.

I was messing around in my fabric closet,digging down under looking for an old briefcase that I wanted to put my art stuff in to keep it all in one place. I got a surprise…. the old case wasn’t empty.  Guess what was in it!! No not a mouse nest!😜 an unfinished double wedding ring top.

There are two rows of four blocks to a row. It is in vintage fabric except for the navy blue . Plus there are lots of little pieces ready to be pieced.

I want to make this into a throw for at the end of a bed,then use the rest of the pieces in this top

I had the life scared out of me Saturday… I went out to do some watering , I have some small oak tree starts that needed a good soak, well.. when I first grabbed the hose to fill up some pails I  thought heard a raspy noise .. looked around .. saw nothing ,continued to work ,when all of a sudden Wiggles ,our Jack Russell came unglued!!!! Not more than 3 feet away was a rattler!! Needless to say it’s history.  Can’t say I care for a rattlesnake right outside in my front yard.

 

We had a storm pass through this evening ,the clouds were beautiful!

Take care ,Deb

June 11…. update on a double wedding ring quilt

With all the other sewing that was being done, I haven’t been able to work on this top very hard. I did how ever take a few minutes each day to do a few stitches on it.

I have 77 of these done and 57 more to do, have two complete rows done with seven more to go.

There are many little stripes of  scraps that I can’t use in the double wedding ring , I made a log cabin block that took 1 1/2 inch strips . I really like the block. 

Did a few more blocks… I think a log cabin is also going to be made out of these old scraps.

There was a gorgeous sunset this evening ….

and of course , I need to add a few more flowers.

 

Oh yes.. I need to share what I found in my washing machine that made me take a second look…

It fell out of my son’s jean pocket when washing. He had been fishing. 

Have a great week ,

Deb

March 15 th .. a few scrap quilt tops

I’m doing a short update on a few scrap tops that I put together . I want to get a few more done ,that way when hubby goes out of town here soon, I’m going to use the dining room table to knot the tops. When hubby leaves ,Leona and I just eat whenever,as the other children, ages 22 and 24 ,at home often have their own plans.

I was surprised at how the different creams and whites came together, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like using so many different shades of cream and white. Had to use a few other light colors to finish out the light out around the dark. 

Another log cabin that I messed up on in the far left zig zag. Lesson here .. never wait to sew a layout several weeks after laying out your pattern cause you forget just exactly what the plans were.

Working on a stack of these blocks now

Oh yes,I found the neatest way to quickly learn knitting online.

I must say that this tickled my funny bone😂

Break time over,back to sewing. Deb

March,12 th…. a trip up north

It is that time of year when hubby goes to dealer meetings again. I alway enjoy riding along ,taking a littler sewing machine then while hubby is in meetings I sew away. Here’s a peek into our journey.

We started out with temperatures in the upper 70’s … so in packing I only put in a heavy sweater forgetting just how cold some parts of the US still are. I really didn’t mind the temperature drop until it hit freezing and below temperatures…. needless to say there were a few times I was nearly frozen myself.😄

 
From hills to flat land

 
From warm to cold

 
From upside down house to huge tires

 
From lovely farms to rocky views

 
From red barns to brown ones

Now for all the quick miscellaneous shots…

   

Soooo… what did I work on while hubby was in meetings….. take a guess😄

Yep the double wedding ring quilt. I have 54 ring sides done. 

 
What the rings look like before trimming. I did sew a few of the rings together to see if it was what I thought it was going to look like in my minds eye ..as to what quilt would really be. 

I’m happy with it! Sorry about the wrinkles as the iron was worthless there and I was afraid of ruining my fabric. Two of the rings aren’t sewn to the center neither.

I also took a book along to read,”Georgia quilts” what a wonderful book! I didn’t get it finished completely,but I did find a pattern in there  that would use my little scraps up ,that would make me very happy. It was made by two black ladies here in Ga .

The flower petals were done by Mary Lizzie Parham in her elder years then her daughter Annie Howard finished it after her mothers death. Fabric era… about the same time frame as what I’m working with now…. 

 
I believe the design is simple enough for me to make one similar.

We did go to two museums on the way home ,that I will do a later post on.

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..😄