A Quick Trip Through the Garden

It is just the easiest thing to get side-tracked over here. Let me just tell you, if I don't go off on a tangent every day or two, then something surely must be wrong. 

In all my sorting, purging, and organizing, I came across three fabrics clustered together in Aunt Margaret's belongings. They were small pieces - like fat quarters or less - and they were so pretty together. Instantly, I thought they'd make a super-cute Grandmother's Flower Garden flower.

Now, thinking it and actually accomplishing it were two entirely different stories, let me tell you. I had the idea straight away, but heavens! Finding the EPP templates for making it was a big mystery. Seems all this "organizing" hasn't done me a daggone bit of good - I can't find anything in all the new places I've put stuff! 

I eventually found the tub of EPP supplies that I was looking for and got down to business cutting out parts for one flower.

Stitching for just a bit each evening or while listening to an audiobook, I have whipped this up just as quick as can be.

And now I will add it into the tub with the growing stack of flowers made a year or two ago, when I was working on these with more focus. This flower becomes #57 of the little garden I've stitched up.

In the months since I last made any of these flowers, I haven't given them much thought. Now, though, I am considering options for finishing. An easy way would be to applique them onto plain blocks which I would sew together by machine. A more involved finish would include making several gazillion more hexies to join these flowers all together. Green is a commonly used color because it mimics a garden path. Any solid color would work so that the flowers are the focus. Click here to see one with green paths. This one with leaf clusters is also interesting.

I will have to think on this.

Finished with my little flower garden tangent, I return my focus to the sorting. My attitude is that it is drudgery, but I ought to change my mindset - this effort is akin to an archaeological dig - I am always surprised at the next find.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Bits and Pieces - Vintage Bark Cloth

I've gone through lots of boxes in recent weeks, and I truly thought I'd been through all these boxes before. Apparently, I'd only given them a cursory glances. With more focused exploring, I have come across a genuine vintage find that I somehow had overlooked.

I have been dreamy-eyed over bark cloth ever since first seeing it made into a zipper bag back in 2018. (here's the post) After understanding what it is and realizing how much a part of my parents' and grandparents' homes it was when I was a child made me very interested in finding some. These fabrics symbolize the warmth of hearth and home for me. Curtains, upholstery, pillows - all the simple comforts.

Bark cloth! It is hot-hot-hot in the collectors' world. Do an Ebay search of bark cloth and see the asking prices on various cuts of this stuff. I see it occasionally in antique malls and the prices are astronomical.

So buried in a box with random other quilting stuff was this gray bit of bark cloth - 2.5 yards and 36" wide. It looks pristine. Never used. I might even recognize it. Maybe this is leftover from a pillow on Grandma's sofa? Or curtains in the family room? Or upholstery on a small chair? Memories from so far back are fuzzy, but I do think I 'know' this fabric. 

You can bet, as I go through any old photos, I will be checking out all the couch cushions! I betcha' I will find this fabric. *wink*

So, this is not the most flamboyant of bark cloths ever produced; it's gray and tame and solidly Midwest farmer's wife style.

And I haven't a clue what I'll do with it. Honest! I could use it, but how? I could sell it, but do I really want to? For now it is back in the box, tucked away in the closet with a few other gems found in Grandma's boxes of sewing goodies.  

Stay tuned for more Bits and Pieces yet to be revealed. I plan to have several more. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Blue and White Ohio Stars

Early last month, my cousin Sam was finishing up dispersing the remaining bits of his parents' estate. Uncle Nick and Aunt Margaret (Maggie) were such fun, and we all loved spending time with them and Sam - which didn't happen nearly enough, as Uncle Nick's job required lots of traveling all around the US. They lived in far-off places: Alaska, New Mexico, Kansas, Tennessee, Maryland. Too far from family here in southern Ohio.

Over the years, Aunt Margaret took up quilting as a hobby and - yes, you guessed it - Sam handed off her quilting tubs to me. In the midst of all my purging, I took those tubs and sifted through - very selectively, I will say - for fabrics and UFOs I thought I would use and finish.

I am pleased to report that one of Maggie's UFOs has now been finished. In the depths of her tubs, I found a stack of hand-pieced Ohio Star blocks, all in blues with a white-on-white background. Stored right there, too, was her remaining yardage of background fabric and the remaining blues used in the stars. 

Having no idea what plan she had for completing this quilt, I decided to make setting blocks in the Stepping Stones pattern. This was her mother's (my grandma) go-to setting, so it made sense to connect the three generations with this common element. 

Finishing this was so enjoyable. It gave me hours of time to think about Aunt Maggie and all the great memories of her. As my mom's younger sister, there were plenty of stories told about her. From her love of kittens to barefoot antics on the farm to her being 'daddy's little girl,' she was the life of any party when she was home for a visit.

So far, all fabric used has been Aunt Maggie's, but for borders I am going to dive into my stash. I am sure I have some suitable options in my blue stash that will work for borders. I am thinking a narrow dark blue first, then a floral outer border. I will be auditioning options this next week.

It's pretty sweet to have finished this quilt. I have to think that Aunt Maggie would wholeheartedly approve of my choice of using the Stepping Stone blocks with her stars. It really makes such a pretty quilt.

I'm off today to visit with the Frankfort Girls! Our bi-weekly Friday morning session will be at Sharon O's house. I will stitch on Lake Effect - yes, I am still plugging away on it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Bits And Pieces From the Purge

I might create a little series of posts called Bits and Pieces. With the ongoing Purge and Organize Initiative, I have come across dozens of projects that need just the tiniest bit of time or attention to finish. Most come from Grandma's many boxes, but new sources of quilting items have come my way recently. 

I have a new collection of quilting items from my Aunt Margaret who passed in 2016. Her son my cousin Sam, after having sifted through items from his parents' estate, handed off his mom's quilting tubs to me. (More stuff!!) Plus, Jan of the Frankfort Girls has been purging. (Is it contagious??) I was selective in taking some of her stuff, too.

I know. Just say no, right? I could have done that, but there were good things to be had, and like I said, I was selective. I donated a several boxes of fabric to my Mennonite neighbors who do a tremendous amount of charitable work. Most recently they have been making comforters and quilts for North Carolina flooding victims. They were thrilled to get my fabric. I was glad to see my donation being used for this purpose.

But I digress...Getting back to my Bits and Pieces. Today I will share a couple of recent projects needing just the smallest amount of attention. Dealing with them clears space for more similarly simple finishes.

The cross-stitched portion of this pillow came out of my grandmother's things. Back in the 1980's, I sewed it into a pillow for Grandma which she kept on the back of her front room sofa. Alas, it came back to me. I removed the pillow form (to use elsewhere, no doubt) and stored the rest in my stuff. After recently coming across it in the POI (Purge and Organize Initiative),  I removed the dated '80s fabric and ruffle, and stitched up a fresh, new version. 

Another old thing I found needing the easiest of finishing touches - a whole-cloth flannel quilt that never had the binding attached. Twenty-some years ago, the quilt came back from the quilter with a zig-zag finish on the raw edges; heck, we just used it that way. Who needs binding on a quilt that was meant to be utilitarian from the get-go?

Utilitarian quilts can be bound with remnant bindings, so I pulled 3 remnants out of the binding box and properly finished this cozy, well-used quilt.

Now, let me show you a project that requires a little bit more than a quick-fix. In Aunt Margaret's stuff, I found 13 Ohio Stars, all blue and white, and all hand-pieced.

After laying them out on the bed, I decided how I could put them all together. I made one more star, out of the same stack of blue fabrics (shown below) and the background. Now I am making stepping stones blocks to place in between each star. Easy, but takes a little more time, and I am perfectly okay with that.

I will need 13-14 of these, and they could be done today. Last evening I made 4 pretty quickly, so I expect to be putting together a quilt top soon.

I am kinda' stoked to work on this and sew the quilt top. It will be so pretty, and since Aunt Margaret had a November birthday, I am thinking a lot about her - and missing her - as I work on these blocks.  

Oh, yes, there will be more little projects coming. I sometimes feel overwhelmed at the amount of things I am finding. Not enough hands to do them all. So many projects. I am at time stymied by the options.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Election Day and October Wrap-Up

Finally, election day is here and we will no longer be on the receiving end of ads, ads, ads. What a lot of money goes into these elections!

I'm not here to talk politics, as you well know. I am here to talk quilting, purging, remodeling and grand babies! Plus, I am a few days behind in offering up my October highlights. 

TOP ROW: As Guardians fans, we enjoyed a nice post-season run through the ALCS. We couldn't get past the Yankees though, but still it was a super-fun season. Another History Day has come and gone, and I once again demonstrated hand quilting, the red/white sampler shown next. The final pic is of some newly-made pillow cases for our newly remodeled guest room. The fabric for the pillow cases came from my stash; the quilt is one I made several years ago. This room was formerly my long arm room, so it has had a major transformation.

MIDDLE ROW: My one noteworthy finish was this Chelsea Garden flimsy. I just couldn't resist those florals when I saw it in the store.  The center photo is from our annual weekend with the kids at Hocking Hills. This is our first year with TWO granddaughters! And little Reagan looks somewhat mystified in that next photo. She is resting on a quilt that my sweet friend Sharon made for her! I cannot believe how perfect it is!

BOTTOM ROW: Late in October, we met up with some cousins for a day in Augusta, KY, just over the Ohio River from Adams County, where many generations of our family hail from. These are the cousins who also winter in FL with us. Trick or treating this year for Cate and her family involved Monsters Inc characters. Cate turned 2 on the 27th, and they were in Findlay for both the birthday and the Halloween fun. Final pic is of Reagan, our growing new babe. She is filling out and hitting all the proper benchmarks in growth and development. What fun to spend time with her.

So now that October is safely tucked away, let's think about the to-do list for November. I continue to purge, but it seems to be on a somewhat smaller scale now. I have tubs that need to be sifted through. Stuff I've held on to that I really ought to clear out. I have taken 2 big loads to Goodwill, and I suspect that I will take at least one more. But the smaller stuff will take diligence on my part, and I swear, diligence is hard to come by some days! *grin*

UFOs top the sewing list. I found a quilt that needs binding, so I would like to take care of that. I have 2 kits for the granddaughters that need finishing. I have started 2 teddy bears, also for the granddaughters, and those need to be finished. And I have a label that needs to be attached on yet another quilt.

 

The biggest UFO of all is Lake Effect, and believe it or not, I have worked on it a bit this past month. I finally took it to the ironing board to press and get an idea of where I am in the long, drawn-out process. I was pleased to discover that I was farther along than I thought. Good!

Besides UFOs, I need to address the issues (again!) with the long arm machine. I was quilting along just fine for a stretch and then, BOOM, thread breakage - AGAIN. *waaahh*

As far as new stuff goes, my 2024 goals included making something with my Winnemucca fabric (so named because that's the town in Nevada where I bought it). I really don't want to let this go on unfinished into yet another year, so I am concentrating on it for sure. Here's a link to when I bought it.

Hope we all have a productive November!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Welcome November!

 Goodness gracious!! I have no idea how we arrived in November already. Whoa! Slow down time!

I'm off to a morning with the Frankfort Girls! Maybe they will motivate me to get back into the swing of quilting. I sure need something to get me back on track. They are always reliable motivators, that's for sure.

In the coming days, I will share my October collage along with more from my ongoing efforts in the "Purge and Organize Initiative" which continues over here. I sure hope I see the end of this madness in the coming month. I'm ready to be done.

I'm gonna' just pledge right now to have an awesome November and get a few things accomplished in the quilting room. Hope you will, too!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Halloween Vibes!

There has not been a lick of decorating for Halloween around here this year - not that I ever do that much for Halloween - so I thought I'd just share a few theme-related items I've made over the years.

Made back in 2019, this round pumpkin table cloth was created from a similar picture I saw on Pinterest, if I recall. It was relatively simple, as you would expect. I had all the fabrics in the stash, so basically it was a free project. I really ought to use it...

In 2021, I made Harvest Pumpkins along with the Frankfort Girls. Each of us made the same pattern, yet everyone's quilt looked so very different. Here's mine. I purposefully made mine as low-Halloween as possible, choosing instead to go with a strong autumn influence.

 

This pumpkin quilt is now quilted and draped across the back of a chair in our family room. You can click here to see the pumpkin quilts from some of the other Frankfort Girls.

My Fall Leaves quilt remains unquilted, doggone it. I had really hoped to have it quilted by this fall; alas I missed the mark. Maybe by next fall? Hope so.

And perhaps the oldest fall quilt in my collection is Harvest Mix, a favorite Thimbleberries pattern. This particular picture is from a few years ago. I do have it currently thrown across the back of the recliner, but I sure don't have any pumpkins on the mantel! *hah*

So, you all go on and celebrate Halloween without me. I will try to get some seasonal decor out for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll be over here loading the truck with another haul bound for the Goodwill drop off. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Grandma's Orphan Blocks

One family trait that I definitely did not inherit was my grandmother's skill at organization. She was meticulous about keeping things in their proper place, never putting anything where it didn't belong. After all I explained in yesterday's post about my difficulty with organizing and cleaning, you know that this clean-freak tendency skipped right on past me.

When Grandma gave me all her sewing stuff way back in 2012, each box was clearly labeled and neatly ordered. And even though I have shared much of her stuff here on the blog, I don't think I ever shared the contents of what I would call her orphan block box. Gosh, what a treasure trove! 

Let's dive into these blocks!

The makings of a fan; I found a stack of these wedges prepared for making more.

Cake Stand

I believe this 2-block combination is called Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.

A basket.

Another basket - or is it a cake stand?

Lemoyne Star - maybe?

A setting block.

Star.

A setting block to go with the two below.

A traditionally made Lemoyne Star.

Bear's Paw - this is a really big block.

Perhaps a block for an Irish Chain?

A 6-pointed star.

A basket block.

A tiny basket.

Another Lemoyne Star.

 So what will I do with these? I know the obvious thing is to make a sampler quilt which would include all these blocks. I don't know about that. The chaotic nature of all these colors would not be especially pleasing to me. 

Another option is to find related fabrics and make more of these blocks to create a quilt that incorporated both Grandma's blocks and mine. I actually have 2 boxes of Grandma's scraps; perhaps I could find enough of her fabrics to make more blocks and proceed with a table topper or wall hanging at the least. I dare not hope for enough to make a small throw quilt, but until I dig around, I'll never know! 

Doing anything with these blocks will have to wait. I don't see myself doing anything this year; maybe it can be a goal for next year.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne