When You Can't Leave Well Enough Alone

Triangle blocks complete...now to fill in the open areas!

In only two weeks we will be packing up for our journey to our winter home in the Rio Grande Valley of TX.  An entirely different lifestyle and routine.  We are eager and ready.  

This summer has been peaceful and quiet and I've been able to focus on my goal to complete many unfinished projects, use up some scraps and make some fun quilts for charity..

My plan for the last several weeks still in Omaha was to relax, organize my sewing room, and prepare for leaving.  But, as is usually  the case for me, I got distracted, sidetracked, unfocused....(who me?)   

My good friend Pam (did you say Pan??")  and I have been drooling over African Print Fabric and over the last year I've collected a nice little pile of unique and colorful designs from there.  We had seen a very simple shadow box type quilt made with them at a quilt shop in Lincoln, NE.  So clean and nice. Not only a wonderful way to display these awesome fabrics but a quick and easy way to do it.  We found just the right background fabric at "Around the Spool" quilt shop in Louisville NE.   I bought it, and also the black for the shadows and then promptly got stuck in the mud.   I just wasn't thrilled with the shadow box look.  Clean and nice, but maybe too simple?  So my pile was relegated to the corner and there it sat, waiting to be elevated once again. 

How the triangle blocks will look on the background fabric

Thanks to Pinterest, I saw a method of piecing that I liked and somehow on the web of live links and clicks I got to Craftsy.com and found a tutorial on how to make inset isosceles triangle blocks.  I had to go so far as paying to join ($4 special for the year, woot!)  An awesome way to show off these prints...a simple pattern using only seven triangles of different sizes.    I made the blocks...but wait, 7 is not enough to make a quilt of a size I could really use.  This one will not be donated.  So I made 11.  Still not big enough.   The remainder of my African stash did not include pieces large enough to make additional triangle blocks nor did I have enough background fabric to do so.  My head was now spinning with ideas to make alternate blocks and inserts to make it all fit together by using what I had on hand.  

So I got out my graph paper, grabbed more coffee, lit a candle and away I went...for two days! I've now created 15 different panels and inserts to make my African quilt large enough for my king sized bed.  I still haven't figured out if I need a border. Most of the fun comes from figuring it all out as you go along.

Graph paper, pens  and (thank God) an eraser!

I don't think I will finish by the time we are ready to leave but I'm going to work on it!   I sit here at my laptop wondering why I couldn't have left well enough alone and make the simple quick and beautiful quilt as the pattern taught.  I could have enlarged this quilt top by adding plain background blocks, but how fun would that have been?  I could have decided to design one insert panel and use the same for each space, but would that be boring?    My heart is singing with excitement to get started on my designs.  I'll start with the one with the largest pieces and then I will use the smaller pieces to make the more detailed ones.

Time to get started!!!

Stay tuned, I'll keep you posted!  

Masks on Parade

 Covid19.   It's been around for nearly two years now and not going anywhere fast.   We are now facing a 3rd booster shot and new vaccines coming out every day.   Up until recently Ive had few friends and family experience this virus.  Today I know six people that have it.  Some are vaccinated and some are not.  They are sick. 

In the thick of the lockdown last spring and summer, my sister Kris and I jumped in with a group in Omaha making masks for local organizations, companies, hospitals etc.  I made over 2000 masks last summer.  I greatly reduced my stash, which was a welcome relief.   The act of sewing masks was also a welcome relief from the stress of the lockdown and lack of social interaction.  

I had scraps left over.  Last winter, at the end of January I came home from TX for an emergency visit to help my dear neighbor when she lost her husband, tragically to suicide.  My one week visit turned to 3 weeks due to weather, both here and in TX.  First extended long freeze in TX in over 100 years,  knocked out the electricity, froze all water sources and cancelled flights.  In Omaha it was  certainly cold outside and snowy, but my house was warm and my sewing machine plugged in.  :)   So, I sewed.   I took out the mask scraps and began this little quilt.

This summer I was able to finish the top.     On to the quilt machine with this one!  

The Sweetest Sewing Buddy

 Lucy is my sweet kitty who has been with me now for over 14 years.   She is the best cat ever.   She has lived with up to 3 other cats and now that she is the solo feline in the house, she is flourishing.   She enjoys being an only cat and is in every definition "catty".   

She is as passionate about quilting as I am.

I hope you will indulge me when I share an occasional pic of her amidst my projects!

**Please note:  When I made this post, I neglected to note that Lucy was ill.   She had a tumor in her nasal cavity, and she was having increased difficulty breathing, eating, swallowing.  Our vet prescribed a steroid injection that seemed to help for a little while.  She got worse and sadly on September 25, 2021, I held her as she gently crossed the rainbow bridge.   To say I miss her would be an understatement.  This sweet little soul has been my friend for a very long time.  She is the last of a string of kitties that occupied my life and my heart for 15 years.  My house is empty without a cat...but I'm not ready.  Lucy still takes up too much room in my heart.  

Playing Games in my Sewing Room

Step #1 was sewing small pieces to adding machine tape

 Quilting with no pattern, no real idea of what the finished quilt top will look like, is a lot like playing a game.   The biggest difference is that there are no rules!  I can make it up as I go and play as long as I want to.  One of the biggest advantages is that I don't even have to have anyone to play with.  I can play alone or with friends, it doesn't matter. The biggest hinderance is that one's mind goes faster than the project at hand. As soon as you are up to your hips in one idea, several others are chomping at the bit to get your attention.   

Trimming makes the magic happen!

Here I am adding the "Shoots" to the "ladder"  Looks like Butterfly wings!

Again....the Magic of trimming!

My "game" at hand is "Shoots and Ladders" and I am having a ball making the blocks.  Initially I thought I would make the top totally of Shoots and Ladder blocks, but it is sort of crazy busy, so now I'm playing with alternate blocks of two different colored solids made using thrift store cotton sheets.  I checked out images of the real Chutes and Ladders game board and you can find it in many alternate colors, yellow and white, blue and white, even green and white.  Since I don't have yellow (yet), I may go for green...blue seems too predictable.

The totally cool benefits of a design board.   It makes it so easy to play the game and change the rules!

Tips for beginners:  

1.The sky is the limit for quilting!  Don't be afraid...a seam ripper is a quilters priority tool and there is no shame in using it! 

2.  Squaring up is vital.  It should be done frequently.  Square up each block to the desired size and then be sure to square up anything you add to it.   If your sections or pieces are not the proper size or straight on the edges, they will not fit well.  If you are going to only have one square quilter's ruler, choose 12.5"  

3.When setting rows of blocks together, I have found it much easier to set four blocks together in a four patch and then put those patches together. Fewer long, long seams. Working with larger sections makes it all line up easier than trying to put long rows together...  See the photo below.  You can see the four blocks sewn together in a 4 patch.  At this point I will square each of these to a uniform size, which should be 15.5" each.    Note:  I have an uneven amount of rows in this little top (5) so the bottom row is pieced with only blocks together instead of 4.  I will add a 2 patch to the four patch above it once all are squared up.

Another Donation Made

Shoots and Ladders block (designed by me!)

 I got a chance to run some kennel blankets out to my friend Cheryl at Avoca Veterinary Clinic in Avoca Iowa yesterday!  12 little flannel beauties to keep the kitties cozy!  Final donation for them this season too.  

I'm wrapping up my donations  to be made here in Omaha, as our departure to TX is looming on the horizon.  I want some down time to "create" during these last few weeks here.

I'm working on the above blocks and calling them Shoots and Ladders!  Im not sure how the quilt top will play out yet, but it's fun to work with these little pieces most people would throw away.  Shoots, becasue the crumb side of the block includes scraps and pieces of blocks that didnt work, were wrong size, didnt like etc (shoot!) and ladders because what's between the black line resembles a ladder...Chutes and Ladders after the game....Cleaver?

I found another fun idea on Pinterest using larger solid square with a flip and sew scrap square in the corners.  It also looks so fun and modern.  I may have to play with that at the same time as working on Shoots!

Did I mention I want to make a modern scrap house quilt too..???...I more ideas than time.  Stay tuned!

Final Donation to Project Linus for this Season

Here is my Lucy, "helping" me sew one of the flannel baby quilts

Again, Sweet Lucy, keeping my flannel blanket project warm while I went to lunch!

These little blocks and extra fabric was found among some scraps given to me.  I just finished it up!

 My sister Kris and I took a trip to the Country Sampler yesterday to deliver a load of baby quilts to Project Linus.   I took 4 flannel and one pieced quilt as my final donation for this season.  Although I forgot to take pictures of all the finished quilts, I do have a couple of in progress and a picture of the finished pieced one.   

This donation has about depleted my flannel stash so now what???    It's just a bit humorous when I think that I want to use up my stash, but when the stash gets low, I begin to get a little nervous and a bit sweaty....and go on lookout for a good bargain!  

It's fun to have a project my sister and I can work on together.   This scrap infatuation we both have is so enjoyable and creative.  We don't agree on much socially, politically or spiritually, so having this connection is great glue to hold our relationship together.   I need her in my life.  She is about the only family I have left and she is just too important.

Where to Start Now?

 

I've spent this morning reading thru some of the old posts and I was drawn into the memories of days past.  I want to read them all!  There are pictures here that have been lost on old computers and now I've found them again.  There are stories near forgotten of holidays, children and grandchildren and a tall son gone and back again...of blizzards and fires and cats and friends.   I deleted many posts that dealt with my old Etsy business and my working with Cheryl True in her shops, as they were mostly marketing and those days are over for me.

This blog has been buried among  my pile of "man I'm burned out" things, like my quilting was for so long.      So, now where to begin with a new blog??? All that went on in between I will never be able to document...but maybe as we go along some things will sneak in beside the new. 

 I think I have been using Facebook for all my pictures etc., but FB so public that now I very seldom post anything personal there.  So reviving this blog should be fun for me.  I don't even care if no one ever reads it.

So I guess I begin where I am...which is in my basement sewing room in Omaha where I seem to be stockpiling scraps to make quilts for charity. 

 My Omaha Charities are The Least of my Brethren and Project Linus.  I am trying to NOT buy new fabric but rely on what is given, what I have amassed and what I can find at the thrift store.   My charity in Texas is The Rainbow Rooms of the TX department of Family Services and perhaps the city of Mercedes if that can be set up in a trusted and organized way.

 I also will be making a stack of fun quilts for myself, creating a stash of quilts from which anyone asking for a quilt can choose.  Gone are the days I make one for someone and have them not appreciate or even care about it.  Thanks to my friend Pam, for the idea of just making what I like and making them available to those that ASK  instead of trying to figure out what someone might like.

I have gotten to the point that I no longer purchase patterns, but try to figure out a pattern on my own.  The creative juices are flowing.  I have a pattern " Fireworks and Pinwheels" that I totally created myself and am in the process of writing and publishing a pattern for.   I will be teaching it both in TX and Omaha (next spring).  

The small quilt pictured here  is an example of mixing a few ideas together for a quilt.  No written pattern, just ideas.  A mixture of "crumb" blocks and a square in a square type block,  I was going to give it to Project Linus, but I am now planning to keep it at least for a while as I want to recreate it and may need an example.   This one is a great way to use crumb blocks!

Fast Forward Eight + Years!

 The last few days I've been pondering the fact that I'm now over 70 (71) and both my husband and I are retired.  Life is so different.  Winters in Mercedes TX and Summers in Omaha...  Good, but different.

Gone are the days of hurry, and work and chaos and children and trying to wedge in a bit of "me time".  Now, it s all me time and we try to wedge ourselves into the lives of our kids and grandkids and try to figure out what to do with the other 23 hours a day.  

We are truly into the golden years and I truly have mixed emotions about it.  Being able to totally control our time is both awesome and daunting. 

I now spend most of my time with my sewing machine, in my sewing room surrounded by mountains of scraps and smaller pieces of fabric that have been given to me or that are still left over from my once massive stash.  Yes, I still buy new, but not to the extent of the past.  Im in love with thrift shopping and 100% cotton sheets have become a staple in my stash.  A wonderful source of fun prints and solids that can be used to back or enhance. 

I have two sewing rooms.  One in Omaha in the basement of my house of 3 years.   It is an incredible space.  I have the entire basement to use.  I have the old dining room table from our Walnut IA home set up for cutting and measuring.  Its perfect!  When I want a friend or two to come over, plenty of space for them to set up shop to work along with me.  In TX I have a smaller space (our home is smaller too), but it is also incredible.  A small garden shed that I've taken over 75% of .  Just large enough for my machine on a table and a few totes of fabric.  I cant have friends there, but our "park" has a whole floor of a building we can use to sew in as a group.  Easy to pack up and go there!

My life has changed....no more bed and breakfast. No more cats to trap  No kids to shuttle around. no job to keep.   Just me and some fabric...

I came across this old blog and decided it needs resurrection.   If only for a place for me to vent and express feelings and of course share from my sewing room.  Mostly to share from my sewing room, with a little real life tossed into the scrap bag.  Let's see what I can create!