Repairs and Handwork

I have mentioned several times here in recent weeks (months?!) that we are remodeling our master bedroom. Funny how redoing one room ends up affecting three other rooms plus a bathroom, but suffice it to say, our entire upstairs has been rather a chaotic mess for awhile now.

Here are a few pics taken throughout the process which depict the upheaval.

Top of the stair; look to the left.

Top of the stairs; look to the right.

Top of the stairs; immediate right.

So, while digging for space in my sewing room, (moving old shelves out - see pic above; better shelves from bedroom in) I came across two quilts given to me for repairs. One I have had for probably 20 years; the other for perhaps 6-8 years. Yeah, I'd sorta' forgotten about them. It made sense for me to just stop rearranging things for awhile and fix these quilts so I could GET THEM OUT OF MY SPACE! I will free up valuable space if I just fix these and pass them back to the owners.

First, I worked on the larger item - a scrap quilt that was so very well-loved. It was worn and threadbare in many places. Longtime family friend Shirley had asked me to do what I could with it and gave me an old flannel shirt to use for patching. The binding was so threadbare that I cut the original binding off and adding a new one from my binding scraps. Then I began cutting squares and rectangles out of that flannel shirt and hand-stitched patches over places that were most worn. These two bits below are examples of what I patched.

I have returned this to Shirley who reminded me of the history of this quilt. Her mother had made it from scraps and it was a particular favorite of her son Tim (Timmy to me, as I babysat him when he was little). Making this even more special is the fact that several months ago, Timmy was killed in a freak accident at age 47. Far too young. Returning this to his mother all these years late, might have been a comforting salve for Shirley. She did seem thrilled to have it back.

The second repair quilt was much smaller and given to me maybe 20 years ago to repair. As I worked, I realized that my daughter Erin made it when she was about 12 for her little cousin Will. Back then, all the cousins were into those I-Spy and Where's Waldo books that came out in the 90s. We shared books and studied those pictures for hours! Will was especially taken with them, so Erin made this I-Spy quilt for him using squares of novelty fabric. I'd totally forgotten that Erin made it; seeing this block jogged my memory. (A reminder of why we should label our quilts, ladies!!!)

Some of the seams had come undone, and my sister had handed it over to me for fixing. I just popped it into a storage tub and forgot about it. A mere, brief stitching session while watching the Tour de France and it is ready now for delivery back to Sandy and Will ... and Will's 2 little ones, who will be the next generation to enjoy "I Spy."

So I've done a bit of hand stitching and I have rid my sewing room of things that I needn't have had in there in the first place. 

Linking with Kathy's Quilts and her weekly party, Slow Sunday Stitching. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Happy, Squishy Mail

I have been terribly remiss in publicly reporting that a couple of weeks ago, I received a very squishy package in the mail. Mail delivery is especially happy when it's fabric. And it came all the way from Ontario, Canada.

At the end of July, Kathy conducted a sweet little give-away to celebrate 5 years of her weekly feature, Slow Sunday Stitching. Two winners were selected, and yours truly was one of them. Sweet! The prize was her leftovers of a project she did using Deb Strain's Let's Bee Happy collection. Take a look at the goodies.

Kathy included a pretty card with a personal note.

Now, what will I make with this pretty stuff? The panel has 6 different picture designs. Pillows? Wall hangings? Table Toppers? Something small, unless I buy fabric. I would like to use just what is shown here, and that will require some thinking. Fun!

Thank you, Kathy!! I love it!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Making Hexies - A Few at a Time

I try to have several hexies always ready to be stitched, that way whenever the mood strikes me to do some hand stitching, I have something ready to go. These two orange flowers are the last two of my prepped hexies, so I must get busy prepping some more. I stitched these orange beauties yesterday while we were on the road to see our younger DD in Athens. The trip takes about an hour and a half one way, so I had plenty of time to finish them off.

I need to start considering what I will do with all my little flowers. Here's a picture taken several weeks ago of a few of my hexies, and there are certainly more now.

You may remember this little quilt from sewing friend Becky. With this, she illustrates that the hexie project doesn't have to be big or involved. This is just as sweet and simple as can be and would be an easy way to use some of the flowers I have been making. I have, of course, looked at a bazillion possibilities on Pinterest and have found oodles of things I love. One thing that makes it tricky for me, in my opinion, is that my hexies are so random and scrappy, whereas most of the projects that appealed to me were more planned  - like similar colors, for example. I have a few hexies that are batik, some that are bright, some that are reproduction, some that are pastel - I'm all over the place.

And here's what I will do: just keep on making hexies until I decide I have enough of them to do something fun. I have no expectation, so I won't be disappointed, right?

I am linking to today's Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts. She hosts this party weekly to celebrate the benefits of hand stitching. It is something I enjoy, and love to see what other quilters are working on.

Have a great week!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Sunday Stitching

Yes, I have been sitting around today watching a baseball game that lasted nearly 4 hours - but I did at least stitch while I watched. I also folded laundry and fixed lunch. So how's that for a slow Sunday?

Here's the little hexie I stitched. The two pink fabrics are from the scrap stash, so it's a free project which is always a nice bonus.

Last night I stitched one, too, made of batik fabric. I believe this one was a sample I picked up at a quilt show. Another freebie, right?

So I will add these to the rest of the random hexie flowers I am accumulating. Someday I will figure out a use for them. For now, I'm satisfied to just have a few of them ready to stitch when I'm in the mood.

I will link with Kathy's Quilts and her weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party. Looks like she's celebrating Canada Day today.

Happy Quilting, Friends!