Too Many Scraps!!!

 

When I finish a quilt, I always TRY to clean up any leftover fabric and batting from that quilt.  I go through and cut down the fabric scraps into strips of various sizes and store them according to size in my strip drawers.

I also save any larger, useable pieces of batting and then when I get enough, I sew them together.  Eventually, I have a piece big enough to use in a quilt.

I use my walking foot and a meandering, curvy zigzag stitch to join the batting pieces together using a 1.3 stitch length and a 6.0 stitch width...

This piece is about 50" X 50" at this point and I can either use it for a lap quilt or baby quilt, or continue to add to it till it is big enough for a larger quilt.

So Saturday, while Kathy's quilt was in the washer and dryer, I went to work cutting up the fabric into strips, and salvaging what pieces of batting I could.

However, when I went to put the 1.5" strips into their box, I dropped the box and it exploded onto the floor...fabric strips going every which way.  :(

The box was so full that I decided that I needed to use up some so that I could even get the lid back on the plastic shoe box that they are stored in.

I decided to pull out the "go to" project that I work on when I need to use up 1.5" strips...my Log Cabin blocks.

I ended up making about 25 blocks in all, but it hasn't seemed to even make a dent in the strip pile.  :(   I'll probably make some more and then just refold the rest of the strips and try to get them stuffed down in the box enough so I can get the lid back on it.


As a follow-up to my last post, I wanted to show you Kathy's quilt in its natural habitat...her bedroom.

  
She has a queen-sized bed but the quilt is only a twin-size.  So she has it laying over the top of bed as a coverlet.  Doesn't it look great with the other purple bedding?   I'm so happy that she loves it!  I wish her many, many years of sleeping under it and enjoying the love that her great aunt put into it.

Loretta

Another Customer Quilt Done!

Quote for the Day:

"Friendship is sewn with love and measured by kindness."

~author unknown

I have a quilt finish to share with you!  YIPPEE!  :)

I was asked by my neighbor (and friend) to hand quilt a top that her great aunt made back in the 1940-50's range.  We aren't exactly sure of the time period because it has both feedsacks and shirting fabric in it.  (There used to be a shirt factory in town and people could go and buy the "ends" or scraps that were left over, so when you find a quilt or quilt top from this area it is not uncommon to find it made with the leftover shirtings from that factory.)

I took Kathy shopping with me to find just the right backing fabric.  Since she loves purple, we picked out a very pretty purple 1930's feedsack reproduction fabric to compliment the age of the top.  I put the quilt into my frame on March 17 and finished up the binding yesterday, May 4!   That's a record for me, but truth be told, it was only a twin size!  :)

Yesterday, I washed the quilt and today I delivered it to her.  The problem, though, is that she wasn't home!  :(  But her husband was, so I left it with him.  He said he would be gone by the time Kathy got home, but he would drape it over the back of the couch so it would surprise her when she got home!  :)

I quilted it in diagonal lines and put a nice cable in the border, but unfortunately, the cable doesn't show up well because of the print.   I used Hobbs Tuscany 100% cotton batting.  It needles like "buttah" and gives such a nice, antique-looking crinkle to the quilt after washing.  :)

The next quilt to go into the frame will be another twin-sized quilt for another customer.  Then I have 3 quilts of my own that need to get done.   :)

Meanwhile, we've been burning brush and debris on our new property every evening, so that is keeping us/me busy!  It is looking sooooooooooo much better!  I'll do a follow-up post on that soon, too!

Loretta

Moving Right Along...

Quote for the Day:

"A word to the wise isn't necessary, it is the stupid ones who need all the advice."
-~Bill Cosby 

I've been moving right along with the hand-quilting on Kathy's quilt!   I can now see the far edge of the quilt!  :)   

 

This quilt is made from a combination of feedsack fabrics and shirting fabrics.  

I'm sure Kathy is anxiously awaiting its return to her!  I know I would be if I placed a beloved family quilt top into someone's hands to be quilted!  :)

And now, the gratuitous pet picture...

The other night, Ginger was in her bed with her face "squished" up against the side of the bed.  Since Boston's have a "squished nose", anyway, it looked really funny and I was actually able to get a picture of it.  Usually, once she sees you with the camera, she starts barking and stops doing whatever it was she was doing that you wanted to get a picture of!  LOL

Loretta  

 

 

New Quilt in the Frame...

Quote for the Day:

"My soul is fed by needle and thread."

~author unknown

After taking the pictures for the new sewing room "tour" post, I was able to get a quilt into the handquilting frame!  

This quilt is another commission quilt and belongs to my wonderful neighbor, Kathy!  Her aunt or great-aunt...I can't remember which...made this top but never got to finish it into a quilt.  

Do any quilters out there know the name of this block?
 
The fabrics are vintage shirtings and some feedsacks, so it looks like it is from about 1940-1950.  Kathy picked out a beautiful, purple, reproduction print for the backing that I just LOVE LOVE LOVE!  When the quilt is finished, I'll be sure to show a picture with the backing in it!  

This is a fun quilt to work on because I am doing simple oblique lines with a nice braid in the border.  I tried marking the quilt before I put it into the frame, like I normally do, but somehow my lines got skewed.  So instead I am marking it as I quilt it, that way I'm able to keep my lines straight and equidistance apart!    (For some reason, my spell-checker doesn't like the word "equidistance", but it really is a word!  Remember it from geometry class?  I knew that advanced math would come in handy one day!  LOL)

This quilt is fairly small compared to what I normally do, so I don't think it will take too long, since I need to make a wedding quilt for Erin & Dale who are getting married in September!  :)

This quilt is a pleasure to work on.  This is the first time I've used Hobb's Tuscany 100% Cotton Batting and my needle goes through it like "buttah"!!!  I think this is my new batting of choice now!  And it is one that my favorite LQS carries, so that is an extra perk!  :)

Loretta