Acquisition

The word acquisition means to obtain or acquire.  When I look at this word, I see many other words.  I see accurate.  I also almost see the word quilts.  My brain wants to turn that second letter “i” to the letter “l”.

These blocks that I have recently acquired, once sewn together in their hodge-podge vintage selves, I will probably name “The Acquisition Quilt”  A fun play of a word that describes simply that I acquired them.

Many many 6 inch blocks.  Just look at those calicos.  I wonder how old these fabrics are?

And as an afterthought, I decided to check these pieces for accuracy.  Bingo, on the line, trimmed just fine!  I wonder if the previous owner of these was a Bonnie Hunter follower?  She preaches on the line cutting.  Helped me tremendously by just a simple little gesture.

I received oodles of blocks, above are 6 inch.  Not pictured are gobs of 4 inch and some 4.5 and still yet more 3 and 3.5.  I did not picture these.  They will reveal themselves soon enough.

And then the amazing 3.5 inch unfinished blocks of the friendship star pattern done in what I think is reproduction fabrics.  I say reproductions, because the fabric is not thick as if they were genuine feedsack.

Look at the hand stitching and scant seam allowance used.  Wowsa!

And lastly there are 39 sailboat blocks.  These will be a challenge as they are not square.  Easy enough to just sew them together, however to balance them I would need to acquire just the right white fabric which may become impossible.  Perhaps these will become part of a medallion or row quilt.  These are vintage, I can tell by the quality and feel.  The person who made these was quite the quilter.  Some of the pieces hand stitched, and some machine stitched.

See the back.  Look at the fine, even, perfectly spaced stitches.  I can tell this person had done lots of hand quilting and had perfected her 8 stitches per inch.

So I have more UFOs.  My UFO is quite a pile now.  If I were to have a life altering event that prevented me from ever buying another piece of fabric.  I would be set for quite a while.  I have planned much.

On a more machined note, my longarm machine was shipped to me.  Not sure (because I purchased used) if the bobbin housing that connects to the shaft was previously broken or broke in shipment.  For those of you familiar with bobbin guts, some machines that have the front load bobbin have two black eared tension  knobs that you move to remove the hook, wing and race in the bobbin area.  The potted metal that was used for the whole assembly of the bobbin is what broke.  It was actually cracked in two places and then when I removed it from the machine, was able to snap it into another two pieces.  Odd, perhaps a titanic like defect of alloy used.  Because this deals with a potential timing issue, I am not sure what my next step will be.  I will be talking with the original engineer of this machine next week and find out what my options are.  I am hoping I can just purchased a whole knew assembly with shaft and gears that will just slide into the machine and await some oil.  But I am excited…… and feeling better.

Summertime Fabric Swap Complete

A small group of us gals in the Missouri Star Quilt Co forums got together and swapped orange, red and yellow fabrics,  The results came in the mail today.  This was a very successful swap.  The colors selected are beautiful together and will make a marvelous quilt one day.  I can’t wait to start cutting and stitching on this beautiful fabric.  Perhaps soon.  So did the group do well?  You decide.

I am currently in a similar swap like this that closes Aug 1st and deals with 10 inch squares of ugly fabric.  If you are interested in joining, read my previous blog post and learn how to join.

I look at these colors and it definitely communicates summertime to me.  Reminds me of heat/ flames and the hot sun.

I contributed the 4 on the right.  All of these were fabrics given to me by a work mate.  Nothing spoken for as far as projects, but workable.  Nothing like taking fabric from your stash and making a layer cake of so many different prints.

Two Thumbs up!

Fabric to the second power

Or another way to say fabric to the second power is fabric cubed or fabric squared.  Simple quilts with just squares and no angles can be quite striking.  I have acquired a twin size quilt top.  These look to be velveteen, velour,  or corduroy, I didn’t ask because I think their texture is neat and it will become yet another utilitarian quilt, to be used and abused until it cannot take our abuse anymore. Now I am dreaming of FMQ on a longarm waiting paitently, excitedly.  I think this top deserves a quilt motif like the one in this Angela Walters video.  Or how about this paisley feathers video.  I know I will be able to do the paisley one on my DSM at anytime because I have already practiced feathers on two large quilts, which really refines your technique and embeds it within so you do not forget said technique when you do it at a later time.

I have also acquired some sail boats which will make another small project sometime.  There is something about someone elses’ UFO that really appeals to me.  Finding something, someone else worked hard on, but for whatever reason was unable to finish.  I find the idea of completion kind of romantic in that it was that objects destiny to be completed.  (Yet I have all my UFOs romantically waiting in their storage.  Delusions of Quilting Grandeur)

And I also acquired some rail fence with 9 patch goodness.  These are so hodge-podge I have no clue as to what do to with them.  Perhaps something for the kitchen.  Any of you have ideas please share them in the comments section.

Still no sewing on the home front.  I am having somewhat of an health issue (which I have had all my life, but for whatever reason is rearing its ugly head way too frequently now) makes me so tired that I save my energy for work and family and sometimes family gets cheated.  All hobbies are closed down temporarily.  But that does not mean this girl is stopping her quilting dreams.  Better said in this song.

I look forward to hearing from you!  Thank you for following/reading my blog!  Don’t forget to visit my other blog.  You can read all my recipes here.

No Sheet

No progress in the sewing dept.  But I did fix my camera so I am going to repost with new photos so you can get a more accurate look of the vintage sheet postage stamp quilt I am making.

So I have done absolutely no sewing.  Things going on are preventing me from visiting my sewing table.  However, I have found a long arm machine that I am going to purchase.  I will then have to get a table for it, I don’t have room for a frame.  I have located one of those very reasonably priced as well.  My whole setup will only cost less than $1000.  And I will post that once it happens.  🙂

Something about red eye settings and any of my cameras past and present does not like (perhaps this is my eyes seeing it differently than it is).  The oranges, reds, and yellows all go askew and are greatly contrasting and grainy as compared to now.

Also, for those of you interested don’t forget I am hosting an ugly fabric swap.  I would be delighted if you join.  The more, the merrier!  Visit the details here.  And please visit my other blog, the cookbookproject.  I have recently posted a recipe for delicious  homemade biscuits.

Off to catch up the dishes and the laundry!

 

Lanyard Tie

Having a large lot of silk ties, a while back I had made a silk lanyard for keys for my son. He drapes the lanyard out of his pocket while the attached keys on the ring fall to the bottom of his pocket.  He used this for a couple of years and wore it till it was threadbare.  Here is his replacement.  I snipped off the bottom of the tie where it starts to widen.  I then stitched a decorative stitch on the edges.  I encapsulated a key ring at the base and made sure I bulked up but not too much.  I did this a while back but did not have time to blog about it.

Sheet Quilt Progress

Slow and steady wins the race, right?  I have made great strides in this sheet quilt.  The center postage stamp design is completed.  I have added a pink border.  In my previous post I elected white as my border, but after looking in my stash, I had no white.  The off white I have, has a funny sheen to it like polished broadcloth and inappropriate for this quilt.  I did find yardage in my stash of this lovely pink.  You can read how I acquired that fabric here.  I do have more postage stamp on point borders to go around this pink section, but those are still being worked on and not ready for reveal.  This interfacing grid is amazing and things stay so square!

So here are a few pictures of this quilts progress.  Notice how grainy my photos are.  I have messed with my camera and the hues are funny.  Got that fixed and now I have a grainy-ness.  I hope this does not mean I need to purchase a new camera.

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Going backwards in time with this slide show.  From sheet fat quarters, to squares, to layout, to stitched together, to the present.  Oh and always remember your gift is the present.

 

🙂

 

Free your ugly fabric from it’s prison!

There is a saying, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Those of us that sew, have fabric that has accumulated over the years.  We buy said fabric when it is on sale.  That fabric waits for us to use in our projects.  Some of this fabric waits and waits.  And after time lapses you go through your stash and touch that same piece of fabric over and over, nothing seems to go with it or match it.  The relationship you have formed with that piece of cloth changes from excitement from a great buy, to wondering why you have allowed it to take up valuable real estate in your stash.  We keep hanging onto that piece of cloth and become frustrated because we cannot sew with it.  So, what does one do?

I have created a group that will be having an ugly fabric swap.  The idea of this is one of adventure.  Like I said beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  What I may deem is ugly, could pleasantly surprise it’s new owner.  Those of you interested in joining this swap can click on this link.  You will have to have an account to be able to join.  Doesn’t this sound fun?  The picture I have associated with this groups ugliness, I do not deem ugly, but unuseable.  Will you be getting this fabric?  No….it is something that came up when I searched for ugly fabric.  I actually think it is cute.

This swap will be for 10 inch squares.  Just think of the ugly quilt you could make with all those squares!  All it will cost you is postage.  You will be freeing that fabric from it’s prison!

Here are the rules:  note please refer to the rules for changes within the link above

This is for fun, and you may get skull fabric, or ladies with fruit shaped butts (I don’t think the fabric selected for the picture is necessarily ugly, just inappropriate for my sewing needs.)

The dont’s : no holiday fabric, which includes Christmas, thanksgiving, Easter, st Patrick’s. No flannels. No selvage included in your 10 inch square cut.

At midnight on August 1st this group will close and a head count will be tallied. The headcount will determine how many baggies you will make. So, if 22 people join the group, each person is responsible for stuffing 22 baggies with 2 ten inch squares inside each baggie. Which equals 44 squares, you will only send 21 baggies and keep one for yourself. The fabrics in your baggies have to be two different fabrics. I understand if this is successful with a large number of participants, you may not have two pieces of fabric large enough for all those baggies. Go to that stash and find more you do not like, just make sure each baggie has 2 different fabrics inside.

By signing up for this fun group you will be responsible for making the Aug 15th deadline. Once I receive all envelopes, I will sort baggies to new envelopes and return back to you. Please include proper postage for your return envelope. The best way to achieve your return envelope is to make an envelope out to yourself and visit the post office and prepay the envelope. Or you can send me the money for postage and I will take care of it getting back to you. The priority mailing envelopes are free at the post office and come in 2 sizes. Size/price will be determined by number of participants. If you can fit all your baggies into the envelope, chances are the return envelope used will be the same size so plan accordingly.

I am the moderator of this group and can change things up, because I may have forgotten something important. So check back and read this the rules in the forum link stated above,  to make sure the communication lines are open. By moderating this group I have a responsibility to get the envelopes back to you and will do so in a timely manner. After I receive the last package I have seven business days to get them back to the post office so you can see what surprises await you.

Please put your nickname/name on or in the baggies. Please include allergen information regarding smoking and pets. Who knows maybe your “ugly” fabric may be a hit with the group and the forum members can contact you about acquiring more of your “ugly” fabric.

I hope I have not forgotten anything. If you have questions I will do my best to answer them timely. Let’s have some ugly fabric fun!

 

A little Anniversary

No, this is not a marriage anniversary, this is more a milestone.  One year ago I created this WordPress blog, and still loving this process.  A recap….

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Thank you readers and followers.  Your comments suggestions are inspiring and helpful.  The WordPress “family” of quilters/crafters is an amazing place!

Duck….Duck….Sock?!

While doing my evening pinterest interaction last weekend, I wondered aloud what one does with mis-matched socks.  So I typed that into the search on pinterest and pleasantly came across many critters sewn out of non-mated socks.

After looking at my children’s socks, I decided not to use theirs.  Children are hard on socks and they look rather…er….dinghy.  Is is lack of a great laundry maiden?  I don’t think so, they can get grime into the smallest of crevices.  So I went to my sock drawer knowing all of mine have mates, but as an adult, I wear my socks until they wear out, and these would not make the cutest sock stuffies.  So, I moved onto goodwill.  Goodwill had lots of socks mated and in great condition (better than the ones here….go figure).  And so using the methods called out in Sockology by  Brenna Maloney I was able to create some ducks, and some not so duck looking ducks.

This is her second book and I think I read in the book there is a third coming.  Here are the ducks on the front cover of her book.  Very ducky looking with all their color vastness.

Below are my first and second ducks and both were done within an hour or so.  The first one which is pale green looks like a duck on the top end, but on the southbound end, the tail got lost in the stitching.  Kind of a handicapped duck who lost his tail in an accident.  So the next sock stuffie I created, I nailed the tail but did not make the beak long enough so it looks more like a wren.  I like the unusual-ness you can create with weirdly colored socks.  This will be a big hit during playtime at my house with the imagination of stories created by young’ins.