Tag: quilting

Scrap Happy for February 15th 2024

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Late, but not so late as last time…  😉

When doing laundry *two years previous, I suddenly noticed that the bed pillow covers were disintegrated!  Completely.  I have patched small holes in linens in the past, but this was truly beyond patching.

*And yes, I am truly shocked to realize how behind I’ve been in blogging, much less posting for scrap happy.  Sigh.  Yet here I am trying my best to get in the groove again.

Taking the usable 18 inch zippers out of the old pillowcase covers saved me quite a bit.  And going to the quilt closet I found percale sheeting that I had *purchased in quantity over ten years previous.  It came in a queen sized width, and the bundle I chose was about seven yards total.  I have used this cotton percale for many projects over the years.

*This and many of my quilt fabrics came from Sir’s in Tennessee, which sadly burned down about six years ago. The sewing, quilting, and upholstering aficionados, here in Alabama and Tennessee, have felt the loss deeply as he did not rebuild.

As you can see, this came together quite easily.  Seam down the side, one to close the bottom and the insertion of the old zipper.  “Better than store bought.” I say.  Cost to make would have to be estimated, but maybe 1 or 2 dollars?  And, pillow covers are really inexpensive to buy, about $4.00?  But, the satisfaction in making them myself was of immeasurably more value than the money saved.

Regarding the work journal:  the booklet is called a bullet journal and allows me to mark off the lines and columns easily where I see need.  I am purposely working on items that need to be completed from a long time ago… you know, the UFOs that seem to get squirreled away.  Right?

The system has what you are working on listed on the left and then columns from left to right for each step.

  • pattern
  • fabric
  • cut
  • pieced
  • backing
  • basted
  • quilted
  • bound
  • completed
  • SOLD!

From the photo above: Garden Snail needs me to decide on placement/layout and get it sewn.  Then its off to the quilters.  Pineapple Triangles is one I got and had the fabric for, but wouldn’t let myself start until I finished these UFOs… because…  I need to be disciplined! “Black Stallion” was not in the photo above but was recently bound and it needs a binding to be complete. Binding, like framing a photo or painting, makes the whole thing come alive!  (Binding is cut and the reveal will come soon!)

Thanks to Kate and Gun for getting us together and working!

ScrapHappy happens each month on the 15th.  The many participants are listed below, and although they don’t participate every time, it’s always fun to see what they have created from their scraps!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

~*~*~*~*~

 

—> An announcement or warning for all

I will be discussing my health in a day or two. AND right up front, I am not dying, OK!  😀  But for those who really don’t want to know I will let you know in the title that I am talking about health issues so you may skip it if you desire.  The things I am facing are medical issues that I know millions of others are dealing with, and so I feel the need to share my experience.  If you are clearly not interested as a whole group, then I will start a new blog channel and post my experience and information there.  I refuse to post any of this to Youtube, Instagram, X, or the like, as I find them all tedious and, with the exception of X, quite likely to block or fact check anything they don’t like.  You have been warned. 😉

 

 

Scrap Happy for January 15th. (the late edition)

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A lot has happened this week and I won’t go into it, but I HAD TO make a Scrap Happy Post.  I actually have several little items I have worked on but will start with this one first.

When Bob and I first got married we bought a really nice blanket for our bed.  That was over forty years ago and it had been well used by us, and then by the dogs since moving here to Alabama.  Frankly, it was quite warm for California weather, but simply insufficient for the winters here in N. Alabama.  Ergo, it became a dog blanket.  And pups, being pups, well, it did get some abuse.

So I measured and trimmed off the ugly bits…

Then squared and pinned the whole thing to split it down the middle.

I chose a leftover bit of flannel from some ten years back when I tried my hand at making pajama bottoms.

Cut into 2.5 inch strips, sewn end to end, the strips were folded, pressed, and then stitched as binding to the edges of my personal blanket.  I basted the backside of the binding so I could hand stitch it into place with embroidery thread… Which just happened to be an ombre of colors from the old paisley flannel.  To be honest about the thread; the one skein I had on hand went much faster than I could have imagined and I had to go searching for more online.  Amazingly, I found that this particular thread is still available after all these years and the newly produced thread matches perfectly to the old!

I would like to tell you that I have actually finished this blanket, but with ZERO DEGREE WEATHER overnight and not breaking freezing for the next few days, well, I am using it anyway and putting in a few new stitches each day.  But, the basting is holding and I am staying warm at night!

And that my friends is a comfort.

ScrapHappy happens each month on the 15th.  The many participants are listed below, and although they don’t participate every time, it’s always fun to see what they have created from their scraps!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
 Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa,
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

Oh yes, and the reason for this blanket being made in the first place?  Well, it’s because Bob is always too hot when sleeping and I am always too cold!

Scrap Happy: management

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I have a lot of scraps.  Scraps in drawers, scraps in baskets, scraps I really like, and some I don’t.  Big ones, little ones, some minuscule too.  Some are from quilting, crafting and sewing and quite a few are from old clothing; specifically Bob’s old shirts.  He’s a basic plaid man for shirts.

These past few weeks I’ve seen the need to manage them all.

So as not to overwhelm myself I decided to begin on the cutting table.  You know, all the stuff I didn’t want to put away lest I forget about it.  No judgements now.  You know it happens to all of us from time to time.

I scooted over the wastebasket and immediately tossed the scraps I don’t like.  Then I sorted by type and size.  I began the process of cutting to common sized block sizes.  Inchies, 2.5″, 4″, 5″, but I left the strips alone because, no matter how you cut them, strips make really awesome project starters.

I have begun making inchies, which are cut to 1.5″ to allow for the 1/4 inch seams, from any bits of fabric that will allow a 1.5 cut block.  Smaller that that?  Saved for crumb quilting or straight to trash.

Bob’s shirts I began cutting to 2.5″ and 5″ blocks when I suddenly realized I was working too hard. Five inch blocks can be cut into 2.5 inch blocks!  Larger cuts give me greater future options.

The Kaffe quarter circles will remain as they are.  They can be sewn together into half circles, whole circles or appliqued as flowers or wreaths, or who can say what I’ll come up with in the future?

This is only some of my scraps, but they are labelled and being properly stored.  Probably organized into that basket of Bob’s old filleted shirts! When I’ve emptied it of course.

The 15th of each month is the day Gun in Sweden and Kate in Australia, host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.

Though ScrapHappy is open to anyone who uses or reuses scraps to make something beautiful and/or useful, they may not post every time.  Go take a look, because there is always something of interest there:

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda (me),
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Bekki, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear, Carol,
Preeti, Edith, Debbierose

Tales of a pup, pumpkins, and quilting

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Things have been slow on the Farmlet this week, unless of course you are a Walker!  And, as it goes with a two year old, he is constantly being monitored and knows one word PERFECTLY:

NO!

No! That is not a toy,  no cats, no shoes, no socks, no table legs, no sticks, no leaves, and

no pumpkins!

And on the brighter side, literally and figuratively, I have a near finish on my Posh Posies quilt.  I got it back from the new quilter this week and it needs binding for a finish.  Remember this?

and peeking out from behind on the design wall is a nearly complete assembly of this quilt…

Can you imagine?  When I started this adventure I used to cut as I went to make a quilt.  I have seen the error of my ways.  Now I cut all, label the stacks, and it goes faster!   Imagine that?

And here it is by popular request – the obligatory cute puppy shot.

B.F. Walker

His eyes may tell you he is innocent of all charges, but his leash and collar tell the real story.

~*~

NOTES on chewed pumpkins:  I recently read somewhere, that a bit of pumpkin is good for dogs.  So I’m thinking of cooking it down, mashing it up and then mixing with a bit of brown rice to make frozen dog treats.  (2 p to 1 r)  If you know differently, please do tell!