Crocheting and Quilting...

Quote for the Day:

"Knowledge is realizing that the street is one-way, 

wisdom is looking both directions anyway."

~author unknown

My daughter said that my granddaughter wanted some mittens and an ear warmer for Christmas...mittens because she's only had gloves until now, and an ear warmer so her hair wouldn't get messed up by a hat.  Since Sera is 8, life is all about "Frozen", the Disney movie....which, by the way, I haven't seen, yet....but I'm sure I'll get the chance when we go to visit soon!  
Armed with this knowledge...mittens...ear warmer..."Frozen"...I went to work on making those items for her for Christmas.  We will be celebrating our Christmas when we go visit, so that gave me a few extra days after Christmas to finish them up.  I put the finishing touches on them today. This is my first experience at making either one, so I'm kinda happy with the way they turned out!  

I purchased the blue yarn, but the white with silver yarn and the eyelash yarn were gifted to me by two of the ladies in my fibers arts group.  I think those two yarns really added a "frozen" element to them!  I hope that Sera like them and that they fit!   

Last week I showed a quilt block I had made with vintage embroidered linens and 1930's repros fabric.  I've had fun making more of those blocks while on Christmas vacation, and now there are 16!!

Here's a close-up of some of the blocks....

I think this next one is my favorite one so far because I decided to leave the crocheted edging on it...

Loretta

A New Project...

Background:  I collect vintage hand-embroidered linens...dresser scarves, doilies, pillowcases, etc.  I don't just "collect" them, I actually USE THEM in my home on a daily basis!!!  

However, sometimes items will get stained or develop holes in them, and I can't bring myself to just toss them out.  So what's a girl to do???  For a couple of years now I've been thinking of how I can preserve the embroidery in a quilt.  I came across this blog post this past summer and decided that I wanted to do something similar...

(henhousehomemade.blogspot.com)

I like the way she cut out the usable parts of the embroidery and added 1930's reproduction fabrics (these kinds of embellished linens are usually from the 1920-1940 era).  This past summer I started collecting 30's repros with this kind of quilt in mind.

However...I LOVE LOVE LOVE star blocks...especially when the stars look like they are floating rather than touching each other.  I've been doing some research and finally found a free pattern here that has floating stars.  

Yesterday I made a test block out of some scraps to see if I liked the way it looked and if it would go together fairly easily without too much aggravation, hair-pulling-out, etc.  I am pleased to announce that it met all of my criteria!  :)

My test block...I'm thinking I might turn it into a pillow for our sofa...

Well...I couldn't stop there.  Nooooooooo...I had to go on and make a block out of one of my vintage pillowcase embroideries...

I know I'm going to have fun making this quilt because I just LOVE those 30's reproduction fabrics.  By the way, because some of these linens are thin, I am applying a lightweight iron-on interfacing to them to strengthen them in the quilt.


Now I want to share a new quilting notion with you that I purchased at my LQS, Classic Quilt Shop.   In the past I have hated HST's (half-square triangles) because of having to mark the backs of each little piece and then TRYING DESPERATELY to sew straight, etc.  Just a pain in the you-know-what to me.  They always came out wonky.  :(

I found this notion at the quilt store and used it yesterday to make my blocks and IT WORKS!!!

It is a piece of plastic cling that you put on the bed of your machine and it gives you lines to match up your points to...then you just guide your fabric under the needle while keeping your corners lined up on the lines!!!  Easy-peasy!!!   It also has a 1/4" guide line so when you are sewing a scant 1/4" seam, you just line up your fabric to that one!!!  Since it is a cling it is easily applied and removed as often as you need!

Here it is on my machine with a leader/ender under the needle.   Ten dollars well spent!!!

Loretta

Ummm...Loretta...You There????

Quote for the Day:

"Life seems but a quick succession of busy nothings."
~Jane Austen

Oh, Lordy....what to say?  I never intended to drop off the face of the earth like this.  I so admire people who blog everyday...or at least frequently.  Many times I feel I have nothing to add to the blogosphere.  But, also, many times life gets hectic and time gets away from me.  I spend so much time going from appointment to appointment that when I'm not traipsing about, I just want to "veg".  

Remember two weeks ago when I told you about the epidural injection that wasn't?  Well, this past Thursday I had another, different kind of injection.  This one was a medial nerve block of L2, L3, L4, and L5 right medial nerves and was actually FOUR different injections...one into each of the lumbar levels mentioned.  This is supposed to relieve my lower right back pain, but will not do anything for the nerve pain down my legs.  So far, the injections seem to have helped.  The injections were done yesterday and as of today I've had no pain in my right lower back.  Time will tell how successful the injections were, (they aren't meant to be permanent) but I'm hoping the pain stays away for a while!

Now on to funner things!  :)

The construction company has finished their parts of the new garage, workshop, and carport.  We are waiting for the gutter company to come apply gutters to the garage and workshop and for the garage door company to come install electric garage doors to the garage.  At some point, we will also be having an electrician come in and install electricity to the garage (so those wonderful automatic garage doors will work!)  

Here are the pictures as they look now, sans the gutters and garage doors...

 

 

This picture shows the garage, carport and house.  You can see how closely the garage and carport match the house colors!  :)

In my "spare" time, I've been looking for a pattern that I can use to make my 1930's repros/vintage embroidered linen quilt.  I LOVE star quilts, so have been looking to find a pattern that I like and that will work with what I want to do.  The center of the star needs to be big enough that a crazy-pieced block using the vintage linen can be used.  I don't want the stars to touch each other, either.  I think.  

I think I've decided on a pattern and layout, so I made a practice star.

Does the pink fabric look familiar to you, Kristin???  ;)

I don't like the usual way of making flying geese (for the star points) where you sew squares on the diagonal and cut and toss the corner.  So I made this block using a "new to me" method of making flying geese called the "No Waste" method.  Let me just say that this new way is Da Bomb!!!

This will be the method I will be using to make ALL of the star points for my upcoming quilt!!! There is NO wasted fabric!!!  I only had to "sliver-trim" the flying geese blocks...and when I say "sliver-trim" I mean SLIVER-TRIM!!! There were only very slight shavings to get them the correct size!!!

The block is 12.5" unfinished.  Can't wait to get started on the real thing!!!  :)

Loretta

SEX and Other Things...

Like Mrs. Bobbins in the cartoon, I decided to have SEX today (Stash Enhancing eXperience) for a WHIMM (Work Hidden In My Mind).  

I fell in serious love with this quilt at the quilt show because of the soft tones of the feed sacks...

I love love love the 1930's reproduction fabrics that are out these days, but have never bought more than a stray piece of them.  

As you may remember, I collect vintage linens with embroidery on them, but sometimes they have (or develop) holes or stains.   I've been putting those aside with plans to make them into a quilt, somehow.  

I saw this blog post from HenHouse where she made some quilt blocks using vintage embroidered linens and 30's repros together...

(source)  

I don't think that I have THAT many embroidered linens to make enough blocks for a whole quilt, so I decided to combine the idea of the two quilts somehow.  I haven't come to a definite conclusion, but I'm thinking of adding strips of 30's repros to the embroidered linen pieces to make them, say 8.5" or 9.5" unfinished.  Then take the 30's repros and making some pinwheel or other pattern block and alternating the two blocks.  

Which leads me to my SEX today.  After my hair appointment in Fairmont, I went to the LQS there and picked up some white Moda muslin and some 30's repros FQ's (fat quarters, for the non-quilters who read the blog!).

I will add them to the few 30's repros that I already have...

Hopefully, this project won't be a PIG (Project In Grocery sack) for long.  I'm looking forward to making this beautiful quilt, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to have a couple good, stiff drinks to be able to cut into the embroidered linens and to cut through the embroidery to get them small enough to put into these blocks.  Cutting into the vintage linens will be like cutting into a damaged quilt...I'm afraid I will hear it shriek like lobsters do going into the boiling water.  :(    You do know that quilts cry when you cut them, right?  They do.

This quilt will be for ME!  :)  I don't make many for myself...I usually give them away.  But this one will be specifically for me.  And Andy.  Maybe.  :)


Now, here's an update on the construction progress of our buildings....
Basically, nothing more has transpired with my garage, but Andy's workshop is pretty close to being done.  

It still needs a window installed in the back wall, and the trim and gutters installed, but other than that, it's pretty much DONE.

Of course, give a guy a toy and he can't WAIT to play with it...

Andy had to try the doors to see if everything worked and I caught this picture just as he was raising the roll-up door!  Yep...the door works!  :)

Loretta