head start

remember this?

with february's goal completed early (the scrap basket), moved on to sewing up some foursies from a stash of 2" squares, but for march it'll be this scrappy project....

i need to make 240 of these arc pieces, plus cut 120 melons plus the curved outer pieces for this flimsy.  have made a good start with these and with plenty of scraps, should meet this goal easily.  i have made 2 DWR quilts so far...but i am a scrappy girl at heart and have long admired them from afar.  ***  also in february made a start on this wallhanging....

all the color pieces are ready but more of the backgrounds are still needed before this can get started.  these projects plus quilting on the big quilt and doing an applique block for a guild member have kept my needle flying this month.  but also got a head start on this...

it's a loaf of irish soda bread!  this is my tried-and-true recipe (sans salt) from the boston globe cookbook published eons ago, quick to make and delish to eat.  i could have put the teaspoon of salt in it, of course, as that's my daily ration and spread out over 4-5 days would hardly have been noticed, but it's just something i do regularly and it didn't affect the taste one whit....there is nothing like St. Pat's Day in Boston, and a bit of trivia here, in Boston proper it's a holiday as it's also evacuation day, the day the British left town for good.   *** thankful that i've squeaked thru another month; without my little job the budget is back to serious penny pinching and juggling for the necessities of daily living...now it's time for your own head start!

a whole week?

has it really been a week since my last post?  i guess so but don't think i haven't been sewing....idle hands are the devil's workshop, as my grandmother often said.  been working on the hand quilting of my donation quilt, of course, plus an applique project that is about 3 hours from finished.  also spent some time on guild project and meetings.  another stack of scrappy brick blocks are done too.   finally yesterday got back to this stack of blocks...

these are setting blocks (left) for the brackman sew along "antebellum album."  another block will be out wednesday but thought i would get these done.  managed to use up a fair amount of muslin from the bag-o-scraps posted previously...here is what it looks like now...

makes me feel uber-frugal to find a use for the scraps and use them up.  have no plans for the remainders as of yet.  as february winds down and hints of spring are all around, hoping can finish the donation quilt in march and continue on using up more of the stash in my own little shop. 

saturday and sunday sewing

it was a sampler of sewing this weekend....first up, replenished my bow tie busy box for future hand work...this should hold me for a while and get me closer to a flimsy. 

next, from my cut-up scraps, assembled what bricks blocks i could.  now i'll have to pull from stash for more, which is good indeed.  it seems like sewing from scraps is all i do without even using any of the stash waiting...

next, pulled fabrics for a new project and these were from stash.  happily have all i need except for a dark pink batik but might have something else that'll work just as well.  thought this would make a cute door wallhanging....

found this on the internet...free pattern...and the bright colors really caught my eye....no surprise there!   and lastly, the most recent star block from mid-appalachian quilters was posted.  got right to work pulling kaffe fabrics for this, which was the most difficult part.  so many gorgeous prints from which to choose...it was paper pieced making it easy to assemble.

this is going to be one eye-popping collection!   some quilting got done while olympic watching....and gosh darn, wish the skating was on a bit earlier....have missed some due to late hours.  it's monday again, no big plans this week other than more sewing, continue with exercise and more olympics.  

off to the quilting pile

that would be the orange scrappy mod top...finally done, well almost.  have decided to add a very narrow white border to it to "stop" the eye and then it'll get bound with a gray solid which should pull out the gray in the alternate blocks as all those oranges are a bit overpowering.  and that aurifil variegated orange thread is perfect for quilting this!

this pattern came from the book "modern neutrals" altho would hardly call it neutral!  but it came out exactly had envisioned it would be and really like it a lot.  this one is a keeper....and yesterday was the monthly meeting of the bee; brought my little solid bow ties and got a small stack sewn.  still need quite a few, like 180 or so, to finish off this project but there's no deadline....basically to use up scraps and stash. 

am also quilting on the donation quilt and sewed up a small stack of 2" squares into foursies.  next up is the latest of the star blocks with those yummy kaffe prints and finish up an applique block PLUS kit up 20 blocks for a QOV for the guild...whew!  still missing my little job--and especially that nice little paycheck--but managing to keep busy regardless.  lots of quilty events coming up this spring and hoping can squeeze a bit out of the budget to attend at least a few.  now back to regularly scheduled sewing!

monday is some day

you know "some day"....that mysterious and hazy point in time where put-off tasks finally get done...for "some time" now have been shoving muslin scraps into this bag kept under the ironing station.  on vacuuming day it gets moved and thoughts of "some day" always crop up.  today is finally "some day". 

while i'm still in "scrap attack" mode, am cutting up some of these muslin pieces for Antebellum Album setting blocks.  there are 13 blocks in all and hoping to have them all done long before the sew along ends in december for an early 2019 finish.  not all these pieces are big enough for what i need, but some of them will be used.  while i didn't pay anything near today's prices for this yardage, it wasn't free so it needs to be used.  and one last look at this, for it probably won't be empty for long....

all the carefully cut units have been filed away in their respective shoeboxes waiting for inspiration and opportunity!  what can you attack today???

PS...for those of you of a "certain" age, you know that today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  My first recall of his birthday is sitting at my desk in primary school where mimeographed silhouettes of both Abe and George were passed out for us to color, cut out and tape to those cold, wintry classroom windows.   Today, of course, the two have been combined for the ease of retailing no doubt, a pet peeve of mine.  how would you feel if your birthday were moved just so there could be a giant sale weekend? 

solid scraps attack

tucked in the basket were some solid scraps leftover from various projects, which got set aside.  in one of the elfa drawers, there were more plus a whole bunch of inchies that someone gave me--looked like manufacturer samples all neatly pinked--plus some little blocks.  sat at betty and sewed up a whole bunch of twosies, foursies and ninesies to go with those on hand.  in deference to my neighbors, quit at 9:30 and finished up today.  every last inchie got sewn to others....a job well done if i do say so myself!

it was the top organizer that held all the inchies, now sewn.  the bottom left has 2" strips and squares still waiting and the other has finished little blocks.   far right are some 1.5" strips, most fairly short, waiting to be used.  and my mom asked what i did with such little squares....well this is one idea...

recently a few requests came my way for quilts for veterans and i honestly didn't have a single one to give away.  plan to rectify this situation and make up some twin size and keep them on hand.  our vets deserve my efforts and i feel bad i couldn't assist.  these blocks are a good start.  i know, the charcoals are not exactly the same shade, but it'll be warm and colorful and besides, i'm no blue ribbon quilter anyway. 

half full or half empty?

in this instance, half empty is the better choice...

that would be the (nearly eternally) full scrap basket, now happily half empty.  pleased to find lots of scraps already cut into squares/strips when i started this task making it go much faster.  this time around did not cut any inchies as already have a gazillion of them for one project that's in progress.  if i were 30 instead of 68, would happily cut up a gazillion more, but with such small pieces, each project takes exponentially longer to make and finish.  so after not that much time on a do-nothing-much-else thursday, this was the result:

on the far right is a small stack of patriotic fabrics i left alone for more of those cute little pincushions i made last year.  and just above is a stack of pieces not quite FQ size but big enough to use for borders or bit of yardage, so also left those as is.  whenever possible, cut nickel-size (5") pieces as i can handle math for those.  with february not even half over, this scrap attack task will soon be done and can turn my attention to something else...maybe finish the brick blocks or another UFO...have another possible swirling around in my mind for the ton of red FQs i have, something di ford-ish in a medallion quilt with applique and piecing.  envisioning some birds, some pieced borders, maybe even incorporate some broderie perse...but plenty to actually do before idea finalized.  so many ideas and so much fun fabric for play....isn't life grand!

my kind of detour

see these?  wednesday started out well....to-do list in hand and resolved.....filled laundry basket, washed up few dishes and put various things away.  was right on target.  next, attack bathroom and after the floor was swiffered, sat down at sewing machine to wait while it dried.  you might have done the same.  but my eye wandered over to a pile of scraps, a small pile.  next thing i know, rotary cutter in hand and cutting up bricks and other sizes, just to get rid of these few scraps.  well, before you can say aurifil thread, had pulled out the scrappy brick blocks and those that got sewn wrong...how did that happen?  unsewed and resewed some, but the to-do list beckoned and back to chores.  at 4 pm the scrap siren got louder and louder.  only one way to satisfy it....finished resewing the deconstructed blocks, sewed up a few more....and that's exactly how it went.  the to-do list isn't quite done but it was the detour that really made my day.  so glad the scrap siren called....uh-oh, there it goes again!

icy day

guild meeting cancelled yet again so it's at home stuff today.  probably first is to finish cleaning refrigerator that got started tuesday.  as far as sewing, will finish the binding on this little quilt and have two others needing sleeves.

have yet to tackle the scrap basket as apartment needs a thorough go-thru first.  and yesterday made a pot of tuscan tortellini soup.  it called for heavy cream, which i eliminated, but did add a smidgen (less than 4 oz) of cooked (drained) italian sausage that had some red chili flakes giving it a bit of zing.  so very good.  four containers got put into the freezer (without the tortellini) for easy meals ahead.

it's wednesday and a bookmobile day (every other week)...which is a great perk here.  i love the city life!

the quilting begins

finally got down to starting the quilting on this quilt....

no fancy pants patterns here, just simple and free form.  not blue ribbon worthy either, but rather evoking the memory of our quilty ancestors who made simple, utilitarian quilts with enjoyment and satisfaction for a pastime they loved.  no deadline for this as it's being donated as a fundraiser.  even so, got plenty of others stacked up waiting for their turn in the hoop and the year is already nearly 6 weeks old.  ***  and while it's been a pretty easy winter here in maryland, the few bad days we've had have fallen on quilt guild day and it's happening again tomorrow!!!  come on mother nature....guess i'll be catching up on house chores instead of communing with my quilty peeps....sheesh!    and for all of us in the snow path, i saw this on facebook and wanted to share with you....

from the "california native" page....figures!