{Post 1,626} Black and White Crossing

That is not the name of this “pattern”, just a description of its layout. I made some blocks with black center lines this AM. The nice thing about using these strings is that they are such fast blocks, they can be sewn semi-mindlessly, and one gets something beautiful while using up what seems like worthless pieces of shirts. Lots of cuffs and collar strips going into these. I set up my work area for the first time so that a TV tray with an ironing blanket is on it to my left, my string bin and trash can are to the right. The only reason I need to get up is to cut out more foundations. Here is a small peek at my progress from this AM. The repetitive fabrics will be spread out once I get more blocks made. That orange plaid!!

These are 6-1/2” foundations. If I pull out a piece from my scrap box that is too small to use, I iron it and put it aside in piles of similar-sized scraps. That way when I get to the edge of a block, I use up the smaller pieces. I am also piecing the strips of colors and creams. Now I’m starting to use up some of the crumbs for yet another scrappy shirt quilt down the road. Crumbs and strings are NOT the same thing. Think of crumbs as chunks. 

I make slow progress on them ALL, but progress is progress. This is just a break in the path of my Moth in the Window quilt. The overload of scraps distracts me from my goal. Once my scrap box is down a bit, I will cut out the 15 shirts I have that are as-yet washed but uncut.  Then I will have more strings and crumbs. 

{Post 1,625} New Project(s)

I started to cut out some more Moth blocks tonight, but was struck with the large amount of shirt strings I have amassed. I have separated them into colors and lights as I have cut a few projects.

I decided to start not one, but TWO new projects from the strings to reduce my stash of them before they take over the sewing room. Both original designs, sort of...

The first one is a 1-1/2” strip of muslin through the center of a 6-1/2” foundation. That makes a design like this if set into 4-block “squares on point”. I am toying with the idea of setting all the muslin strips one direction, and another color or colors the other (I have a number of solid pastel shirts that I bought for another shirt project, and this would be a good way to use up some of them—solid black is also an idea I’m playing with).

This is the waste after trimming down one block:

The second design is also foundation-pieced strings (these do not always go straight...sometimes an angle adds interest and uses up those back yoke pieces). The dark strip finishes at 3” wide, and the light ones at 4-1/4”. I am thinking this would be an excellent baby quilt...even gender neutral. We have a friend expecting in a few months. The adding machine paper pictured is the foundation for the dark strings, and old telephone books cut down were the source of the squares and the 4-1/4” blocks as well. No wasted chunks of paper either!

I removed all the papers from all the backs tonight, so I am completely caught up.

Today has been a dentist visit (hi, Debbie) and much cleaning. Also thrown in was spending the afternoon with my grandson, of course.

{Post 1,624} Cheating A Little

I stayed up after midnight for the second night in a row (I’ll pay for this soon). I made three more Moth in the Window blocks. I was just going to cut them out, but then I just could not wait to see how they would look stitched up.

I just love the top right one. I am purposely making some of the moths darker than the backgrounds now that I have nearly half of the quilt finished.  Adds more variety.

I am soooooo excited about the next 24 hours. My husband and I are driving to a nearby town (just an hour away), going to check into a hotel, go out for a fabulous supper, go to a Piano Guys concert, sleep in said hotel, then go out for breakfast in the AM before we come home. All. By. Ourselves!!!! And it is a cost-free trip for us!! To top it all off, we are both feeling much better (yet not 100%) today.

{Post 1,623} Moths x 6

Here are the moth blocks I made today. I am going to make this for the guest room bed we have upstairs. My grandson, Timmy, stays with us at least 5 nights a week. That is where he sleeps. I don’t have any quilts specifically for this bed. Whatever fits—and he is small. So I will make this one longer than the original pattern to fit on there for an adult.

{Post 1,622} Two Posts Today!

I worked on hand-piecing my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt top on the way to PA this past week. For some reason (sneezing and sniffling most likely—we were all ill while we were there with the same gunk), I didn’t even take it out of the tote bag on the way home. I didn’t even drive a minute, but I was too whipped to work on it. The other reason was that I was not sure how much more I had to do. It has been a while since I laid the whole top out and looked at how much needed pieced to finish the top out to the borders.

Well, wait no longer. I just did that. I think I have all the blossoms done. Some just need to be attached (4 whole blossoms and 3 half blossoms).  Not all the ones in the picture are sewn on. I will wait to put the half blocks at the bottom on until I get the rest of them attached to the mother ship and lay it on my bed.

If I don’t need to make any more blossoms, I only need 12 more green diamonds basted, 2 more green triangles, and 6 cream filler units (which means 60 more hexagons, but they go quickly). The end is in sight!!

{Post 1,621} Home, Sweet Home

We made a side trip to IKEA in relatively nearby Charlotte on our way home from PA. This tree was right beside where we parked our van in the parking lot. We left my daughter’s house last night and drove two hours and spent the night in a hotel. The reason was that they were getting icy precipitation during the night. By the time we got down to sea level from their house, the temp had gone up ten degrees.

I came home to this...and went without a jacket into the store.

I wish I knew what kind of tree this is. It had such delicate blossoms.

The reason we stopped at IKEA was to buy a Ingo table. I saw a tutorial for making a sewing machine table where the sewing machine sits flush with the table top. I kept looking back to see what kind of table they recommended. I told my husband that I couldn’t remember it. When I told him the name, he said, “it’s *clap* I-N-G-O, and Ingo is its name-o!!”  Ha ha ha ha ha...

My husband agreed to make me one. He sort of did that with the desk I use now. The desk used to be L-shaped. When he removed the piece that jutted out at a 90-degree angle, I kept wishing the machine was closer to the right end of the table. You see, that is where I have my Bible reading and prayer time in the AM, and the space to the left of the machine is very small. This table was intended to have the tray below used as a keyboard tray for a computer.  It was the perfect height for my sewing machine once my husband cut a hole to fit the machine snugly into it.

{Post 1,620} Visiting in PA

We are visiting my daughter and SIL in PA. We’ve been busy non-stop. It has been so enjoyable. They are getting an icy precipitation and live at the top of a mountain. We are thinking of packing up and leaving tonight instead of the AM as planned. We have done several projects with them. The biggest is painting their living room. We removed the mirrors in the first picture and painted over the “chair rail” below them all around the room. It is a dark wood with brassy trim! They live in a mobile home, and it is in need of several updates. Here is a picture of the progress from day 1 to 2 to 3 in a grid form. The change is amazing, and there is more to be done.