I spent 2 hours yesterday looking for a pattern; no, I didn't find it.
This is the table that is in the background every time I show a quilt on my longarm machine. I usually crop the photo hoping it isn't noticeable. I have decided it is time to take everything off the table, sorting as I go. This is the table my Studio die cutter used to be on. It has become a dumping spot. Time to fix that.
There were storms predicted yesterday late afternoon and evening. On the radar maps on TV it looked like we would get some rain. Not a drop at my house and we need the rain so I guess I'll be out there watering everything today.
I pre-ordered Kaffe Fasset's new book and I got a notice yesterday that I should receive it on Saturday. I hope it is a good one.
I was sorting a box of scrap batik strips yesterday. I pulled out a pile of narrow strips, less than 3/4" wide and a pile of 1" to 1 1/4" wide pieces.
There were a bunch of 1/2" wide strips in the left pile so I pulled them out and consider them too narrow to sew. They should go in the dog bed stuffing bag but for now they are in a little plastic bag.
I started making some mug rug tops while watching TV last night. They are approximately 8" x 10". Some of the sewn strips are only 1/8" wide.
I ended up making four of them and then wondered what they would look like with a strip or two inserted across the strips. I just laid some strips on them to see how it would look.
I think maybe I like them just like this.
I'm still working on Hunter Star blocks too, little by little.
The reason most of us will never run out of scraps is because we are creating them all the time. I know people who can throw away pieces this size but not me.
This is my throw away pile and it will go into the bags of stuffing for dog beds. The strips in this pile are narrower than 3/4".
I had a lazy day yesterday and only got the cutting done. I cut the last 6 fabrics after I took this photo.
This is the little pile of pieces too narrow to cut a 2.5" strip.
This pile will go into the bag of dog bed stuffing.
Thanks to all of the Google+ and other no reply commenters yesterday. I really would like to thank you in person but you don't have your email enabled. And......Google+, I can't even leave you a comment on your site because only Google+ members can leave you a comment.
On July 4, 2007 at the urging of my friend Diane, I started my blog and it has been a wonderful journey! Today is post #3489 in 3288 days. And I thought I would run out of things to say..... I love taking the photographs for the blog too.
Yesterday I changed my mind on the mindless piecing. I was going to add more blocks and make it longer but instead I chose the Martha Negley twig fabric as a narrow border and decided to use the pieced strips as borders.
I trimmed the center and the border strips and sewed it together. It is 17" x 21". Now I'm not sure if it is a table centerpiece or small wall art.
My other project yesterday was ironing the creases out of 23 pink fabrics. I have wanted to make an all pink quilt for a long time. The fabric on the right is enough for a backing. I have decided to do another 16 patch quilt because that is great mindless sewing while watching Netflix. Some of the fabrics are fairly small pieces so the larger pieces will be repeated more often in the quilt. There is no hurry on this project and it will be a fill in when I don't have anything else to work on. I will start cutting strips today.
This is what happens when I put everything away when company is coming. After they leave I don't know what to work on because nothing is laying out all over the place. But.....that is OK because I'm having fun. I added on to some of the smaller blocks yesterday and also made the four long strips with a bunch of small pieces. I seemed to have way too many small pieces so this was a fun way to weed them down a little. I paired some of the pieces that may become an extension to the piece that is already sewn (to make into a table runner). I could have worked on the sunflower blocks for the Farm Girl quilt but I didn't want to think too hard.
I got my answer yesterday on the balloon flowers.....I still have two colors of them. The white one used to be a pale pink but it is mostly white now.
There are LOTS of buds.
I must have planted my Dahlia bulbs the right way because they are growing. I can't wait to see how large the flowers are. These are the dinner plate variety.
It was a beautiful day to mow the lawn with a nice cool breeze and below normal temperature. I didn't get to the sewing machine until 10 p.m. while I watched the news and weather. I added one more section onto the piece I showed yesterday and made a couple more blocks. This is all scraps which are fairly straight but not perfectly straight.
I still had them packaged by approximate lengths from 2012. See this post when I was sorting them. I think I used those block for mug rugs. I'm thinking about making a table runner this time.
It was a sorting kind of day. Earlier in the day yesterday I was going through things in the basement. Last night the thunderstorms rolled through so I unplugged my machines and sorted scraps while I watched TV.
In the afternoon I walked around my gardens to see what was new. The Cranesbill was starting to bloom by the Brunnera. There is also wild strawberry and violet leaves in the photo.
The Cranesbill by the porch is in full bloom.
This is the early peonies. They will probably bloom before Memorial Day. The rest will bloom a few days to a week after this one blooms.
When I was back in the kitchen I saw this huge bunny laying down under a bird feeder. There is a mourning dove in front of him at the right. I have seen them standing there eating under the feeders but have never seen a reclining bunny there.
I had a large pile of scraps by my Studio die cutter after cutting all of the hexagons and triangles. Yesterday I sorted them into scraps large enough to cut a 2" square, then scraps to cut 1.5" squares, then scraps too small to cut squares, scraps shaped like an equilateral triangle, and larger scraps. The squares that I cut are in the photo.
I store the 1.5" squares in the bottom tier of a stacking storage bin. They are sorted by Kaffe, batik and regular quilting cottons.
The 2" squares go in the middle tier. They are sorted the same as the smaller squares. When the bins are full I will make something out of them.
My two quilting friends came over yesterday and I worked on a couple projects. Here are 3 of the 12 Laurel Burch Stack and Slash blocks that I will use for the layout demonstration when I do the workshop.
I asked my friends' advice on the borders of the medallion. We unanimously agreed that I needed to trim the spiky borders by 1/4" on both sides which meant the light outside border strips on the corner paws could be cut down to 1/2" finished. I trimmed them while they were here and sewed them on last night. The outside border is still just pinned in place.
While the washing machine was running I decided to clean out a box on a top shelf. There is one bag of flannel scraps, mostly long ones anywhere from 3/4" to 2 1/2" wide, crooked cuts, not straight strips. I was going to toss them into the dog bed scrap bag but thought I would offer them to any local person who could come and pick them up.
There is also a bag of homespun scraps, same thing 3/4" to 2 1/2" wide, crooked cuts, not perfect cut strips. Again if there is anyone local who reads my blog and want them they are free for the taking. If no one wants them they will end up in the dog bed scrap bag.
Also in the box was this tablerunner that I made for my mother back in the early 1980s. It isn't quite as bright as it looks here. The blues have mostly faded. That is typical of that age blue fabrics. I made this to see I liked making this pattern. Well, this is the only double wedding ring thing I ever made so I think the answer was no, I didn't want to make a quilt of this pattern. Now I am much more experienced in sewing curves so maybe I could master it but I have too many other quilts on the 'want to do' list that look like more fun.
