One Small Step...

... can lead to unexpectedly cool things.

 Recently I saw something that inspired me.

Take a close look at the detail picture. Those little squares finish at 1/2". Look at the construction. Its so simple, and you never have to match up any seams. And so well organized, you end up with really cool looking blocks. I became completely enthralled with the idea, and so I bought the book.

What makes this really thrilling to me, besides the fact that I love working with teeny tiny scraps, is that I have a zillion of them and until now have not had a plan for anything more than a mug rug or a small mini. Which are fun and delightful, but don't make a dent in my little scraps.

The book arrived a few days ago and I immediatly went to work. One by one I went through every box, bag, tray, basket and other container of tiny scraps - and believe me, I had lots of containers full of these things - and methodically started cutting and organizing them for this project. I was surprised it only took me a few hours, and with a good playlist of music going, it flew by. 

Then the fun began!

I stopped here, thinking I'd like to make the four-patches as leader-enders. As of now, I'm not sure I want to make the exact quilt as shown above. But who knows. At this point I'm more attracted to the blocks themselves, and will work with these in my own way.  Whatever that may end up being ... ;-) !

Next up - I've been wanting to make Lynn Wilder's " 'Lil Orphan Scrappy" ever since she designed it (?) years ago. She recently posted a tutorial for the Ohio Stars on her blog (Sew'n Wild Oaks) for a sew-along. I was spurred on, and thrilled to be finally starting this quilt!

It helped that I actually had a head start on it, as I had several Ohio Star blocks kitted up and a few already made, leftovers from another project. So really, it can be considered a UFO rather than a brand new project, right?

My stars are slightly different from Lynn's, and my quilt will be similar but not an exact replica of Lil' Orphan Scrappy. Like maybe Orphan Scrappy's Illegitimate Daughter, or something like that.

My intent was to dig into my scrap basket for at least some of these blocks. But first I have to spend some time filtering through this mess to glean acceptable pieces. And that's going to take some time. My feeling is, there won't be as many as I hoped. Not to worry... I believe I have some regular fabric (as opposed to scraps) stashed away somewhere. I will meditate on this, but do want to attend to those scraps.

So I moved on, again, to another project, which is to make another one of these ...

... which, like this one, will go to the VA.

I already have a box of 2 1/2" squares, and another one of triangle squares, ready to go. Plus a giant bin of 2 1/2" strips, that I'd dearly like to empty, as it takes up far too much real estate in my closet.

Boxes of parts, complete with notes to myself, lol! Methinks I have enough of all of the above for several lap quilts. And its high time to get working on emptying some of these boxes and bins that have been hanging around far too long, taking up space.

Well, it looks like I won't be getting bored anytime soon!

Stay well, dear ladies (and men), stay in and be safe, and be grateful we have quilting to keep us sane!

love,
Sandy

March Monthly Mini (and other things)

Before I get to my March Mini,  I should show you what else I've been working on.

I finally finished my 2015 Summer Sampler from Temecula Quilt Company. Finished the top, that is. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to quilt it.

I had a lot of fun making this, especially interpreting and drafting out some of the blocks from the original inspiration quilt. (did you notice I actually performed a tiny bit of applique?!) You can read a little about my process here.

The background blue is Evelyn's Homestead, by Betsy Chutchian.

I also finished a give-away quilt, which I just now found a home for.

 Very simple quilting, by machine

This will now go to my client's husband, who has terminal cancer. I will deliver it her tomorrow, probably in some parking lot, we'll both go home and shower, and she'll launder the quilt before giving it to her husband.

OK, now for my March Montly Mini, made from fabrics gleaned from an old quilt top

After quilting and trimming, it was looking like this. I realized too late, it really needed a border, as a thin little blue binding wasn't going to do it any justice. So I figured out and installed an extra wide butted binding, made to look like a border.

The binding/border extended the size of the quilt, so I made sure to fill it in with perfectly fitting strips of batting. Unconventional I'm sure, but it worked. 

I hand quilted in the ditch between all the logs, then across each block. I'm really happy I got to show off these wonderful, quirky fabrics!

This was the last of this versatile print (what do you call this? its not really a toile.. ) which you've seen on the backs of other small quilts of mine, and at least one large one. Too bad the picture is blurry, but you get the idea. Label to appear soon, I promise!




This is one of those "shaded" shots, to better show the effect of the quilting.

I would dearly love to wash and dry this little beauty, but I already know those reds are real bleeders. I know because I pre-soaked them in (Retayne?) thoroughly washed them, then gave them another good soak with a little white vinegar, rinsed again, then blotted them out to dry. I thought they were good to go until I put my hot iron over one of the blocks, and it bled into my ironing board cover. Like, a LOT.

So, I'm afraid to wash it. And I'm wondering if there's a way to get the crinkly look without actually washing. Cold water? I might do an experiment with some scraps and see.

Meanwhile, don't forget to check out Wendy's blog to see all the other mini quilts for this month!

love,
Sandy

Sew-cial Distancing

I learned a new phrase today: "sew-cial distancing", coined by my friend Tracey, referring to the many of us in California who are refraining from social contact right now, for health reasons. If you live in California or Washington State, or New York, you know what I'm talking about.

Those of us that are quilters are blessed in that we have something to keep our hands and minds busy for many hours at a time, during the long (potentially) boring days ahead.

What better time to get started on the somewhat daunting project of deconstructing this vintage top I recently picked up at the Bargain Garden at our quilt show.

Picking the seams apart was out of the question, so I set about cutting the blocks apart with my trusty Ginghers, and then separating the logs with my rotary cutter. Mindless work, but it ate up (several?) hours, then it was done. Resulting in this:

And then this:

Organized, usable strips of a bunch of really cool vintage fabrics!

That accomplished, I started playing around. What does one do with strips? The first thing that came to mind was a log cabin.

I spent most of the day yesterday composing and sewing twelve little log cabin blocks, and when I was finally (mostly) happy with them, I sewed them together into a top.

 .



I have just enough of this blue floral for the back, assuming I don't end up putting borders around it.

I'd like to hand quilt this. If I start soon (and my fingers hold out) I could have it done by the end of the month!


love,
Sandy

*update: As of tonight, Santa Cruz County is on lock-down.  All businesses must close, except for those considered "essential". We are being told to "shelter in place" ie stay home. Officially this stands until April 7, but my feeling it will last much longer. My advice to those of you in areas that haven't been hit yet is to stock up now, before the stores run out of everything. But please, do not hoard. You can't even get toilet paper around here, let alone disinfectant wipes. Word to the wise...

Catching up on a few things

We've finally been getting some rain here on the Central Coast, which means I've had an excuse to stay inside and sew. Good timing, as the UFO's were starting to stack up. 

Here are a couple of lap quilts I just finished. Each year our guild members make somewhere around 100 of these and deliver them to the VA hospital in Palo Alto for the wounded soldiers.

The first one is another rail fence quilt, which is easy and an excellent stash buster.

I really like the look of overall stippling on quilts like these, but alas, I am not keen on trying to learn and perfect free motion quilting on my home machine. Instead, I've been playing around with alternative quilting methods I can do with a walking foot. The wavy line works well, and is stress free and actually fun to do.

Here it is, hanging on the porch rail in natural light.

This one is Sheryl Johnson's Joyful Jumble pattern, from her book Return to Temecula. I increased the block size to six inches, which keeps the scale the same, but increases her mini to a lap size quilt.

I think Annette Plog (Petite Quilts.com) and I must have come up with the same idea at the same time, as she just finished her version, which is huge! I think hers was a block exchange for more variety.

This time I thought I'd try making the wavy lines closer together and overlapping in some places. I really like how it looks, and the overall feel of the quilt once its washed and dried. There's a heck of a lot of thread in this quilt, and it took about twice as long to quilt it as the rail fence one, but I love the result.

I used Superior Threads Micro Quilter 100 wt. thread in a medium neutral for both quilts, which is perfect for going over a variety of darks and lights without standing out.

Another porch rail shot. Hopefully you can get an idea of the texture of these quilts from some of the pictures.

Another flea market find for this groovy back on Joyful Jumble. Kinda makes your eyes blur just looking at it! 

This one is easier to look at.

 Next up....   labels! I have way too many quilts, recent and old, that need them. I really don't even know how many. I've been terribly remiss (insert: lazy) in this. I got a few done last week, but there are many many more. 

I recently had an "aha" moment while watching a friend sewing labels on multiple quilts for a project she's doing. Glue basting! Why didn't I think of that? You're probably all nodding "yep.." Anyway, better late than never, learning this little time saver. I should really look up some tutorials and see what else I can learn.

I long ago gave up making fancy labels, but I still like to give them some character.

OK... back to the sewing room! 

love,
Sandy

Vintage fabrics, pigs ears, and other things

Last weekend was my local quilt guild's Quilt Show - my guild being the Pajaro Valley Quilt Association in Santa Cruz County, California. I'll just say right off, it was another great show, featuring our many, many talented members and their fabulous quilts. I won't talk too much about the quilts as I have no pictures to post. I took a few with my iphone 5 which is barely limping along these days, and among other deficits, can no longer send photos. And I didn't want to lug my ipad around the show. Anyway...

I spent an inordinate amount of time at the Bargain Garden (aka flea market), digging around for buried treasures. The first thing I look for is anything "vintage" so no surprise that I honed in immediately on the above blob of interesting looking stuff.

 Yes, its a vintage top!

Sort of ugly and lots of stitching crimes, but....

 you can see there are some pretty cool old fabrics here

 including a lot of great shirtings

 and all in pretty good shape.

Being a Log Cabin, there are no big pieces, but the strips finish at 2" so still have lots of possibilities. I am already in the process of deconstructing the blocks and thinking of ideas - lots of ideas - of what to make with them. As you've probably guessed, I'll be making them into doll quilts of various sizes and designs.

And that was just the beginning! Multiple days of digging yielded all kinds of yummy stuff.

  I got off with quite a haul, including several large backing-type pieces (not shown) and I stayed just under my allotted budget. I am going to have so much fun with this!

Meanwhile, you may remember this picture of my design wall a while back, all goodies gleaned from some vintage blocks my MIL gave me, some having already become little quilts.

I decided I wanted to work with that little block on the bottom next.

Here's a closer look, and you can see it has serious issues. It was cut to within an inch of its life for one thing, meaning most seam allowances disappeared. And look at the way-too-tiny blue triangle on the upper right. Plus, its significantly stained. I probably should have rejected it as unworkable, but I thought it was so darn cute and wanted to give it a try. 

I decided I could replace both the blue corners with some shirting fabric that's very similar to the dot fabric in the block (you can see it poking out from behind the block) and work around or accept the other issues.  

I did a simple frame with fabrics from my "vintage" stash, which I think worked well together.

Sewing the little black border around the block without cutting off its points required good dose of spray starch, some hand stitching and a bit of magical thinking. It held up through washing and drying, so that's a good sign!

It washed up a LOT cleaner, too.

 

I "Hand quilted" it by machine, my usual MO these days.

This was sort of like trying to make a silk purse out of a pig's ear, but I like how it turned out, especially after washing and drying it, giving it the crinkled effect. I just love how it feels!

And that, my dear friends, is my Monthly Mini for February!

I might not be able to do an official link-up at the end of the month due to not having access to my desktop for a couple of weeks, but I'll try to do it from my ipad. At any rate, just go over to Wendy's blog on March 1 and you should be able to see all the other Montly Mini's.

love,
Sandy