saved by sewing

tuesday calendar clear so what to do?  sew of course!  i had pulled out a pattern sheet of bonnie hunter's from Quiltmaker column i'd saved for 'someday'...tuesday was someday!  

blue and cheddar....nothing better!  while rummaging in the stash had seen just the right fabric--small enough to use up but big enough for placemats or small wall quilt.  instead of using neutrals with the blue, using the cheddar with neutrals for setting pieces.  let the stripping begin!

hmm...are there some blues in scrap basket i could use?  went to check and shazam!  saw strips of a red batik mistakenly cut for a previous project PLUS some leftover green squares from last year's gift quilt....hmmm, red and green?  sounds like christmas!  so i pulled them, ironed them and stripped those as well....took me about 5 hours (includes bathroom and lunch breaks) in all but this is the result...

leftover solid apple green on the back and used for binding....a win/win!  not only did i wipe out aforementioned red/green scraps, ended up with a very festive, seasonal and possible gift!   late afternoon returned to the original project, blues and cheddars.  so it was sewing and inspiration to the rescue for an otherwise boring day.  

brrr cold day here, 24 degrees....yes that's maryland cold.  no matter, got my ll bean heavy coat, my lovingly knit hat/mittens/scarf/sox and those all-important cuddle duds long underwear.   ready to brave the elements!

necessity, they say....

is the mother of invention.  i never invented anything but having a need and finding a solution has challenged the little gray cells many times.  during a sleepless early morning, trying to figure a way to move quilted items to a tall shelf--vertically challenged, you know!  here is the shelf...

this was my solution.....

used the walker and wooden step left over from broken hip rehab, along with my regular step stool, to gain enough height to move things and make sure i had necessary support to avoid another broken hip.  worked like a charm!  i'll use this method to hang the rest of my wall quilts too.  

so now i have this....empty half shelf

that i hope will fit these....

things that need basting and quilting.....(ignore broken printer on bottom)....hmm might be a tight fit.  getting the last couple of stacks off the floor makes me happy.  

while moving things around, came across these in the "to be quilted" pile, 3 more of the hawaiian album blocks.  thinking a table runner for these once the squares have been evened up....

in addition to the blocks--i think there are more tucked away--came the pattern and a small stash of beautiful hand-dyed fabric pieces to make more.  i don't think i'll be making more but will finish up the blocks and use the remaining fabric elsewhere.  as i said, these were gifted to me and it's my honor to use them.