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