Here is the progress on my Rails & Frames upcycled shirt quilt. I mostly like it. I see one block of each type that I am taking out. Other than that, it is going well. It is 61” tall and 42” wide in the picture. Most of it is sewn together. The four blocks on the right section are not sewn to each other.
See Quiltville.com for webbing a quilt top after blocks are laid out. One of the most helpful tips I have ever learned.
I just love working with upcycled shirts. Here are pictorial updates on my progress. The “ugly fabric” top is finished. I will add a border before quilting.
I did change direction with my rail fence blocks. It just didn’t have any pizzazz for me the way it was (neither does the quilt above, but I hope the recipient will still love it). Here is the new layout of my 6” rail fence blocks. I have all the rail fence blocks I need, and am now working on the framed square blocks.
Lastly, but not leastly is my 2 + 4 = 6 pattern. As I deboned my recent crop of shirts, I cut out the large squares for the top quilt (14” square), I used up the cuff and collar bits for the rail fence blocks. Then I pulled yokes for the squares in the framed square blocks (4”). I cut the remnants into 2-1/2” squares for this...
Lastly, I am selling pumpkins from my home. They are made from sweaters. I have sold 120 so far this year. Over 80 last year. If you’re interested, I can mail them to you. Most of my orders this year have been mailed out (last year they were all picked up at my home). Here are some ways my customers have used them. I love seeing my pumpkins out in the wild. The stems are covered with jute, and a raffia-covered wire tendril is added to each of them. They are lightweight, so shipping is not much.
I have started two new quilt piecing projects. The thing you should be thinking is “WHY?” It’s not like I don’t already have lots of UFOs. But when one is deboning men’s shirts and has lots of small pieces to use up...
You might remember these 31 six-inch rail fence blocks that I made in south GA last week.
Since I’ve been home, I started pulling all the yokes from my shirts that were previously cut up. I am also cutting for a pattern I just found on Pinterest that uses 2-1/2” squares (6 for each block) that I’m going to use for leaders/enders for the foreseeable future.
I’m thinking of calling this quilt “The yoke’s on you.” Get it? A play on “the joke’s on you”? You don’t get it. Well, maybe you’re not a Parker.
Here’s my rail fence blocks after making some last night and tonight.
The orange has been toned down some, but there are a lot more fabrics to go yet. I don’t want to use this ultra-simple layout. Any suggestions for how to use square string blocks? I want to make it somewhat more interesting. This isn’t floating my boat.
My eldest daughter had a baby on 9/20. I am going over every afternoon to home school her two oldest. I was there five hours today. I need to cut back on that. In fact, yesterday we discussed me bringing them to my house so there wouldn’t be distractions from the 2 and 1-year olds, not to mention the newborn. But my daughter has a sinus infection and mastitis as of today. I felt like it was an emergency rescue to go over and give her some backup.
Here is the Pinterest picture of the quilt I’m using as a leader/ended...
Surprise, surprise...mine will be from upcycled shirts.
That’s all for now. Have a lovely sleep.
So much has happened this past week in our family that it seems like at least a month’s worth of events. I’ll just start a week ago. Timmy (6) and I drove 8 hours down to South Georgia on Tuesday to take care of my eldest’s three children while his wife had a C-section. The newborn (born Thursday) was immediately sent to an NICU in another hospital for breathing problems. He is still there, and is 4 days old. Just found out he will be there 3 more days at least. My second born had a baby boy yesterday as well. She is Timmy’s mom and lives a few minutes from us (at home, not here). She and baby are home recuperating.
We hit the ground running. I am glad we came a couple weeks ago to see the lay of the land here. I came armed with a detailed meal schedule and every single food ingredient I would need to make them. I even brought some of my own pots and pans (and my trusty Instant Pot). Forewarned is forearmed! The kids have loved the meals and are not picky eaters, thankfully.
Timmy got very sick Friday AM. He started vomiting early in the day and could not keep down one sip of water or one bite of food all day and through the early afternoon on Saturday. I thought it would blow over, but he started getting listless and really weak. He was up at least once an hour though the night screaming that his stomach hurt, and he was dry heaving. That is so unlike him. I decided he needed to be seen by a doctor. I called my DIL and asked her if she could get someone to come stay with her 3 boys. The woman who came suggested I go to the hospital where she works about 25 minutes away. He was given anti-nausea medication and slept most of the time there. I was so pleased with our caregivers. I worked as an RN when I was first married, and I am usually not pleased with medical personnel.
I will now make a long story short (maybe for the first time ever). Timmy and I are very close. I was an emotional wreck the whole time we were at the hospital. Then the doc there decided he needed to go to another hospital in case he needed surgery...by ambulance...without me...YIKES! He slept the whole way and never realized I wasn’t there. Long story short, he was given an anti-nausea med at the first hospital. His abdomen was very painful all over. By the time we reached hospital #2, he had no pain and was drinking Powerade shortly after our arrival. We stayed a couple hours to make sure he could keep fluids down, and he could. I was so grateful!! We are both exhausted (most likely from the all-nighter Saturday AM). We are still pooped.
Here are a couple of pics of him at the hospital. In order...first arriving, after being examined, and at second hospital.
Fall is my favorite season. I got down my two boxes from the attic and put up most of my decorations. I still have a few things to find. My decor is all over the house. I hope to consolidate it soon. Since all but one of my kids have moved out, I have empty bedroom closets to use. I am going to put seasonal things in one, kids toys in one, games for teens and up in one, and shower/reception things in another. That does not include my craft room in the basement or my sewing room upstairs (that doesn’t have a closet since my husband and I still use the master bedroom, and we each have a closet right before one enters the bathroom).
Anywho, here are my areas fit for public inspection. I have little signs, wreaths, and table vignettes other places, but these are my main decorating areas.
This is our foyer, what you see when you enter our home. The bottom right section is an opening under a drawer. It is hard to see in the picture since it is painted black.
Well, I was going to write a post about making a hot pad, potholder, or trivet from trimmed block slivers. But I see that I did that back in March. I keep forgetting to put labels on the posts. If you want to see the tutorial, search my blog for potholder.
When the recipient of my first set’s sister saw them, she asked me to make her some, too. I had just trimmed up a bunch of men’s shirt fabric blocks, so I used those to make some for her. They are still hanging up drying, so they are not complete, but here is a picture reenactment for you.
I have had a productive few days here as far as sewing. I finished and sold this modern quilt. Definitely not my go-to style, but I made it and sold it 5 minutes after the piecing was finished. I machine quilted it in another new-to-me style, and it turned out soooo well. A big shout-out to my quilting friend, BJ, who referred it to the new owner. I am meeting her to deliver it tomorrow. It’s 51” x 70”.
First picture. Washed, dried, and hanging on our half wall.
