Some Saturday in April

I'll begin with a pic taken in my front yard.  It is iris season.  Despite the rain, the snails, and the mildew in the roses, the beauty out there grounds me.  On sunny days, I'm out there pulling a few weeds, tossing snails into the street, and grooming dead leaves from the plants.  I find it very therapeutic, and a nice complement to being inside, bent over my various quilting projects.

Today is a rainy day, so quilting, it is.

This past week, I had a bit of an epiphany.  Though I have literally dozens of UFOs waiting patiently for attention, I don't have the creative juices needed to give them the attention needed to move them forward.  Instead, I find that I need something repetitive and fairly mindless, to keep me occupied.  I've got so many unspoken thoughts flying through my brain, apparently there is no space for blatant creativity.

Instead, I have reverted to traditional piecework.  When I say "reverted," that might give negative connotations, which is the last thing on my mind.  I LOVE traditional patchwork!  But I don't usually have the time or the patience to create a quilt one block at a time, repeating the same pattern(s) over and over again.  And yet?  Like a jigsaw puzzle, this is the kind of activity I find that I am craving.  

When 2020 rolled around, had you told me I would be indulging in scrap patchwork, I would have laughed at you.  "I don't have time for that!"  And yet?  Now?  I have PLENTY of time for that.  I mean, what else is there to do?  I could clean house, but, really?  Is that the BEST use of my time?   If we are all potentially 14 days away from the ICU, would I rather be found with a cleaner house?  or a finished project?  Apparently the answer is another finished project...or a new UFO.  hahahaha!

This past week, as I flipped through various UFO's, I remembered my box of binding trims. Each time I make binding, I trim the triangles, stack them up, and toss them in this shoe bin.  It is to the point where the lid barely fits.  I decided that it was again time to start making them into half-square triangles.

 At this point, I usually piece them into 8 pointed stars, but this time?  I wanted to do something different.  Some of the half-square triangles yield 2.5" pieces, some only 2" pieces.  That just means that instead of one project, I guess I'm doing two?  Just keep sewing, and decide later!

 Last year, or was it the year before?  A friend asked me to dissect a quilt and find the quilt block it was comprised of.  Turns out it was a Delectable Mountains block.  I've had that pattern on my design wall since that time, wanting to make the block for myself.  oooh!  I like it!!

 Look at that!  Four blocks are even better than one!!

So, that's what I've been doing this week.  Relatively mindless piecing, repetition, working with a calming palette with a few splashes of color here and there.

And while I'm doing this?  Well, let's just say that the house is not cleaning itself.  Witness my sewing space, where I use the word "space" quite liberally.

And on that note, I hope that you are staying safe and staying healthy, and using your time to ground yourself, doing whatever it is that brings you peace and joy.  Take care!!!

Compromise

Guilt or Quilt?  That was the question.  I answered with a bit of both.  I started cleaning, but then got distracted.  It was a good distraction, a productive distraction.  It began with a box of scraps, sent by a dear friend.

 I set them to washing, and then picked up some selvages that were strewn across my sewing table.  Those shouldn't go to waste, and so, they did not.

This morning the fog descended.  I delivered coffee to the walnuts, helped walk the dogs, and now?  It's the perfect weather for hunkering down with my sewing machine. 

Goals are good!

A Little Finish

 In my hunt for the misplaced 12" quilt, and the quest to clean this mess of a "studio," I cleared off enough of a work surface to get distracted.  Oh look!  Room to quilt something!!

I reached into the bowels of the closet, and found this cute little star quilt.  It measures about 32" x 40", just the right size for a baby or a wheel chair.  I knew it wouldn't take long to quilt, so I set to work on Wednesday.  By the time I went to bed last night, I'd tied off the last stitch in the binding.

woohoo!  Mark one DONE!  And hang another pieced top in its place in the closet.  oh well.

The air is getting chilly, the leaves are finally changing, and there's talk of rain again in our future.  We are next on the well driller's list, so the big equipment should be driving onto our ranch right after Thanksgiving.  It's a huge investment, but without water?  The house and surrounding acreage are worthless.  The thought of it is enough to make a person want to hole up in the sewing room and sew until the sun goes down.

Goals are good!!  :)

Bits and Pieces

Well, well, well.  This week, I actually spent some quality time with my sewing machine.  The number one challenge was to test-sew a pattern for a friend.  I finally finished yesterday.  whew!  This is Charlotte's Hawaiian Bag, pattern to be available sometime soon.

 It is big, and roomy, and can carry a large quilt, or knitting, or anything you like.  The side-ties allow for lots of expansion.  There are also two inner pockets, for those things that tend to drop to the bottom.

A second project that I tackled was a box of scraps that my sister gave me a few Christmases ago.  They don't match anything in my stash, so I've kept them aside, waiting for just the right project.  That project appeared this week.  I decided to recover a chair.  I should have taken a "before" picture, with the original green vinyl seat.

I started by sorting fabrics.  These are what remain.  I may or may not have enough for the second chair.

 Here is a test, to see if the top is big enough to cover the seat.

 Here it is quilted, and stapled in place.  Joann's sells a chair foam pad, that is perfect for this sort of project.  I bought two, so that if/when I get to the other chair, I'll be able to finish it in a similar manner.

I had a bit of time yesterday afternoon, and didn't want to start anything big.  I've had this little piece bouncing around my Studio for quite a while, and finally figured out just what I wanted to do with it.

 I fussy cut a piece of seaweed and a starfish, from a couple of fabrics in my stash.

 I raw-edge stitched the seaweed in place.  It doesn't need to be perfect.  It's seaweed!  I also cut out some wool batting, to make the starfish a bit poofy.

 I used a sew-in interfacing as a stabilizer for the thread-sketching on the seaweed.  It sewed like a dream.  I used sulky 40wt rayon thread.

I was so pleased with the result, that I decided to stitch down the starfish as well.  This is the before, with the piece in place, on top of the wool.

 And here it is, hand-appliqued.  Some of the white background is peeking out, but I'm not worried about that.  I expect to add a lot of embellishment to this quilt, once it's quilted.  I don't think the white will be an issue at all.

And that's what happened in the Studio this week.  I hope your week has been equally or even more productive!

Distracted

I have all the time in the world this week, and haven't made the most of it.  Sure, I've done a bit here, and a bit there, but nothing important.

I decorated the yard with a gift from my sister.

 I added another creamer to my ever-expanding collection.  Best $2 I spent today.

 The aluminum bucket is the best $6 I spent today.  I plan to leave it by the kitchen sink, to fill with water that runs while I'm waiting for it to turn warm.  The potted avocado tree, which I'll have you know I've grown from a seed, will be a recipient of this water, along with other drought-stressed plants in the yard.

 And yes, I did do some sewing.  This top is now together.  It needs a border, but nothing says, "Use me!  Use me!"  It is now off the design wall, and hanging in the closet.  A UFO, for another day.

This afternoon's project?  I've been piecing together some scraps that my sister gave me for Christmas, 2014.  If I do it right, I'll soon have some quilted seat covers for some old $5 chairs from another sale a few years back.

The collecting/junking/hoarding gene.  I may have just a touch.  How about you?

A Wee Little Pretty

During the summer, when I was working on something or other, I made a little pretty.

I may have been trying to sew my way out of the mess of my studio.

One thing led to another, led to this:

 The first photo shows the true colors.  The second gives you a reference for size.

When I put it aside last night, I thought I was done.  This morning?  Not so sure.  It needs something.  Like maybe a sailboat?

And now I can call it Done.  I LOVE this little piece.  Every time I look at it, I smile.  It's the next best thing to having an ocean view.

Enjoy!

Pretty Pleased

Remember back in February?  When I made this quilt?

I hated the way it looked, once I'd trimmed off enough background to make it fit challenge requirements.  So, when it came back into my possession, I took out my rotary cutter, and turned it into this:

SO much better.  But then I was left with this:

That was a lot of quilting, hand applique and silk to even think about throwing it away.  Instead, I kept it on the design wall for several months.  And then...one day...inspiration struck.  I went to work.  Back in Laguna Beach, I did this:

I cut it into 6 pieces, and transformed that chopped off discard into six beautiful postcards.

They were stamped and mailed out today.  yep.  Pretty proud of that "save."  :)

In other news, my "Sing Praise" SAQA quilt (also made from pieces of this same iris adventure) sold yesterday in the online auction.

I hope it makes Franki smile as much as it does me.

yep.  I'm pretty pleased.  :)

Seriously

I really should clear off my design wall so that I have a proper space in which to design!  :)

Piecing

a string quilt is a messy business...

Gone Gleaning

I feel like I've been gone from Blogland for ages.  Blogging?  What's that?  Quilting?  ditto.  I've got nuts on the brain, and they seem to be all I have time for.

I showed you a picture in my last post, of the nuts on the ground.  There are 3 nuts in the photo.  Almost worse than where's Waldo.  With Waldo, he's usually visible.  With the nuts?  They're often under piles of leaves.

Gleaning is a tedious business.  But, with the price of nuts this year, and what we paid to produce them, I can't stand to leave them on the ground.  Over the past three weeks, I've gleaned about 1/3 of the property.  That number is depressing, until I convert it to acreage.  I've gleaned about 5 acres, for the most part, by myself.  I've picked up 700+ lbs of nuts.  Again, for the most part, by myself.  I have a crick in my neck and a hitch in my gitalong, but I also have some money in my pocket, so it balances out.

Quiltwise?  I've limited myself to projects that are short and sweet.  If it takes more than 30 minutes of focus, it hasn't been touched.  The following projects were all done in bits and spurts.  Some of the postcards required 6 interludes of attention before finishing.  I'd put down a layer then run off to more pressing chores, none of which, by the way, involved pressing.

I also finished piecing a second strip quilt.  The level inside the box finally receded.  I didn't even have to keep the light on in the Studio overnight.  :)

Tomorrow's goal?  To take the day away from the nuts and focus on finishing a quilt.  If I don't finish, I hope that I get very, very close.  Wednesday?  I'll be back to gleaning.  What a nut!

Unauthorized Multiplication

Have you ever noticed that if you open a box of scraps, sew for 2 days, and make an entire quilt top...when you look at the box, there are more scraps than there were when you began, even if you didn't add ANYTHING to the process except thread?

 It's baffling.

And makes me wonder what, exactly, that fabric does, when the lights go out.  ;)