That Basket of Scraps - January One Monthly Goal

A prior commitment kept me from sorting my scrap basket until last Saturday.  I wasn't sure I'd meet my One Monthly Goal.  But the basket is empty and now resides with the other laundry baskets.  These are photos of what I found inside.

Purple is one of my least-favorite colors, but I love this print!  I have four strips about 30" long and 2½" wide.

That fabric with the blue background with yellow flowers, above,--maybe it should go in the yellow box.

How did I come to have so many pink scraps!!!

Below are the boxes I sorted the scraps into.  Not the best permanent option but I'll try it until I can decide whether a system like this works for me.  And they were free; it's always nice not to spend money on something that might not work.  I really am a scrap quilter but I put scraps back with their larger "parent" pieces of fabric until they're too small to be of much use.  I don't naturally gravitate to scrap boxes but maybe I can figure out a way for this system to work for me.  The previous non-system definitely wasn't working.  (I also have a stack of plastic shoe boxes with tiny scraps and I haven't touched them since I sorted them over a year ago.)

Odds and ends from the basket:  a cut-off piece of farm/feed sack images from yardage; four pinwheel quilt blocks, two of each; a large quilt label; and an embroidery pattern for a chair back.  Whatever to do with them.

I bought a bag of retro-style prints, vintage 1940s and 1950s, for a dollar or two at a quilt show.  Pieces for quilt blocks are already cut and some of the larger pieces already have outlines traced for cutting.  In pen.  I used alcohol and Dawn dish soap to try to get the marks out but neither worked.  I'm not sure what else to try.  Goop or Fels Naphtha, maybe.

I'm not currently interested in making a quilt with these vintage-style pieces but I can't throw them out, either.  I try to imagine how to re-cut them to make a simple block.  Maybe small Dresden Plates?   Or maybe you have an idea or suggestion?

Below are three shirts I'd already cut apart that were in the basket.  I put them with other shirts to be pressed.

And now I have an empty basket.  Hooray!

Sadly, I'm not finished with sorting scraps.  This stack has been sitting beside my cutting mat for too long.

And these have been sitting behind the cutting mat for even longer. 

The pieces below have been in the plastic bag I purchased the bag I bought at a small quilt show for a dollar.  There are lots of half-square triangles and squares, all about 3" or 3½"  These are mostly jewel tones in golds, blues, reds, purples, and greens.  I should figure out a quilt for these.

These are not the only scraps I have to manage....  As you can guess, scrap management is not my strength.  I'm probably better at creating scraps and making smaller scraps.  I keep thinking about the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I don't want to make a rainbow quilt but if I chose one block pattern for each color and rotated through, I would eventually end up with enough blocks for several quilts, right?

Emptying that basket and sorting its contents was my One Monthly Goal for January.  I'm pleased to have met the goal. 

I'm linking this post to January One Monthly Goal Finish at Elm Street Quilts.  Thank you for hosting, Patty.

I'm also linking to Oh, Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework.  Thank you, Cynthia.

--Nancy.

A Basket of Scraps - One Monthly Goal for January

This basket measures 12" x 16" by 9" deep (not including handles).  I borrowed it from the group of six we currently use as laundry baskets.  (At our old house the baskets held less-attractive items on open shelves in the kitchen.)  Now this one is full of scraps.  

A few years ago it held a layer or two of fabric at the bottom, pieces I'd cut to make a scrappy High Five, my first grandson's baby quilt.  And then, as things will happen, a few more pieces were added, and a few more, and on and on, and now the basket's full.  It weighs between 12 and 15 pounds.  All the pieces were neatly folded when I put them in the basket but they've probably shifted and will need pressed.   

I like a neat environment but it's hard because I'm a saver.  Oh, that might come in handy in the future.  Or, I'm saving that because I have something in particular in mind for it at some future time that never seems to come.  So I have fabric and other sewing-related items in displacement.  Sometimes that kind of disorganization prevents creative progress.  I know I saved that, now where did I put it?!

To be honest, this is not the only collection of scraps I have.  It's just that I'm focusing on this particular one this month.

So, I hope--no, I intend!--to sort out this basket this month as my One Monthly Goal.  It's a small step but one more in my effort to organize.  The basket could go back with the laundry and the fabric could go with its larger pieces; be cut into smaller, usable pieces or for specific blocks; or passed on.  I know there are several quilt blocks in pink and black, made by someone else and discarded, probably some pieces of embroidery, maybe some old fabric....  And who knows what else!  Maybe I'll take photos along the way to remind myself what not to do again!

I'm linking this post to January One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.  (And what is it about publicly declaring a goal that makes us follow through with it?  Accountability, maybe....

I'm also linking to Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework. Thank you, Cynthia.

--Nancy.

Between the Old Year and the New

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day always seems busy to me.  It's a catch-up time for unfinished things, especially ones that need to be finished before January comes.  And then there's planning and preparing for the coming year, particularly as regards quilting, family history research, and blogging for both.

Burgoyne Surrounded is not one of those essential things, but the top is finished as far as the extra blocks.

It is now four blocks by five blocks and measures 75" x 94", which seems seems huge.  My husband and I sleep in a queen-size bed and my thought for this quilt is to add an applique border on the long side to make it closer to 82" x 94" so I can lay it horizontally across the bed.  Neither of us likes the weight of a quilt handing over the end of the bed, and I love having extra on the side so I can pull it up and wrap it around me.  So it might work

I'm envisioning the border across the top appliqued with oak leaves and acorns, which means I'm almost right back where I started two months ago when I decided against a border all the way around the smaller version of the quilt.  I think that must have felt too daunting to me at the time.

I have lots of  leftover 1½" squares and strips to be cut.  I don't know if I'll make another Burgoyne Surrounded quilt or not yet, but they'll become something.

For years now I've made my own purse-size calendar book.  Many years ago I bought one that worked perfectly but when the new year came, they weren't making that style any more.  So I made my own.  Closed, it measures ~4½" x 7". 

A couple of years ago I bought a ream of paper and took it to a binder who has a guillotine paper-cutter and a machine to punch holes in the edge.  Old school, I know, but I go with the idea that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  I'm also a person of habit and love consistency in some everyday things.  When the last week of the year rolls around and I don't have my calendar book finished, as happened this year, I feel rushed and focus my attention on just it.  Yes, it takes time to make it but I love it.  And now it's ready for 2023.

Christmas passed almost without my catching and enjoying it.

One of our favorite Christmas activities is going to Merry Tuba Christmas.  Thank goodness it was inside this year!  I love this experience for so many reasons.  The feeling of being inside a whale with the blubbery music all around fills me with wonder.  One of the other reasons I love it is because the audience is invited to sing along to some of the carols.  It reminds me of when I was a child and we sang from small booklets of carols.  Except with Merry Tuba Christmas, for someone who can hardly carry a tune, it's a great pleasure to know that the tubas are so much louder and cover any mistakes I make.

We baked Spritz cookies--so festive and delicious--

and made Buckeyes.  Yum!  From experience I now know that buckeyes are best with real butter (as opposed to vegan butter).

And the last event of the Christmas season came today when we visited the Nativity in the city.  It is a life-size or larger display of the Annunciation, of Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem, of shepherds in the fields with their sheep, the Wise Men, Herod, and Mary and Joseph with the Baby.  My photos do not do justice to the atmosphere of the environment when in person among these displays.

This display has been set up every year since 1931 by State Auto Insurance.  For many years it was in front of the building, elevated in a narrow space between the sidewalk and the building.  It was okay but a few years ago they created a small park where they arrange the figures in groupings to create scenes.  It is amazing to me that a secular insurance company can create an environment that feels so special and spiritual, holy even.  There is a sense of hushed reverence and awe while in that little park.  

The weather now, in the 60s, feels like spring.  But on the Friday before Christmas we had snow and the temperature was -5 degrees with a "feels like" temperature of -32 degrees.  No doubt the 26 mph winds helped it feel so cold.  I think that's similar to what many experienced around the U.S., except, of course, the Buffalo area was worse.  I love the snow, not so much the negative temperatures.

This is the last post of 2022.  I would breathe a sigh of relief that the year is over but I'm not letting myself do that yet.  The way this year has gone, anything could happen in three more hours!  It ain't over till it's over, as they say.

Happy New Year to you!

--Nancy.

A New Start for April ScrapHappy Day

The 15th of the month is ScrapHappy Day, hosted by Kate and Gun.  The idea is this:  nothing but scraps for whatever we're working on.  Find links at the end of this post to visit others using scraps.

I had some small pieces of black and tan plaids left over from these blocks and some blues/greens/teals/aquas left over from this quilt.  At some point I get tired of seeing the stacks and began thinking about using them.  But what to do with them?  How to use them?  What to make?  I had a few ideas but dithered.  Then I realized I have enough scraps (with more in the making) for more than one quilt, especially if they're small, so I just began  These are my ideas.

Square-in-square blocks, 4" finished.  Many, many together.  I thought to make this size because if the plaids are cut smaller they would hardly look like plaids, and because of the sizes of scraps I have.  I love the seeing greens, teals, and blues together, but I'm not sure this would be a great quilt.  Boring, maybe?

Economy blocks.  These may be more interesting but the scraps I have won't go very far in making these blocks.  I haven't sewn any of these yet.  Perhaps a few amongst the square-in-square blocks?

Simple alternating 2" finished blocks.  I think this could be simple or more complex depending on the placement of the colors.  I was thinking about the neutral color/fabric for these blocks.  Which do you see as the neutral?  The blues/greens or the plaids?

I've noticed that when I look at these plaids in person they are definitely black and tan, but when I see photos of them at a distance they blend to greys.

Part of me asks, "Can't you find something more interesting to do with these fabrics than squares?"  One of my holdups is always the question whether the pattern choice I've made is the best use of the fabric I have.  Sometimes I'm sure it is, other times not.  And these plaids are so busy!  Can you imagine these small pieces of fabric (none bigger than about 5" or strips longer and wider than about 2" x 12") creating a different block?

I need to start a new quilt like I need a hole in the head.  I already have too many quilts in progress and not enough time or motivation to finish them quickly.  I've found that I can talk myself out of almost anything (except chocolate) so it's possible that I won't get far with these before deciding against turning them into a quilt.  Maybe they're just scrap play.

Before you go, please go look at the very scrappy baby quilt I just finished.  I love it!

If you're inclined, visit these other scrap-users to see what they're up to. 
Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda, Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Bekki, Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette, Ann, Nancy, Dawn 2, Noreen, Bear, Carol, Preeti and Edith.

Thanks for visiting.
--Nancy.

Four-Patch Blocks for ScrapHappy Day

My leader/ender project, when I remember to stitch them and have pinned enough ahead, are these 1½" squares, stitched into 4-patch blocks.

They're all cut from leftover bits of fabric after cutting larger blocks.

Two blocks sewn together, light and bright, all in autumn-like colors - rich reds, oranges, golds, a variety of greens, teals/blues, browns, etc..

What will these leader/ender four-patch blocks become?  They could become quadruple 4-patch blocks,

or nine-patch blocks.

Four-patches set alternately with another fabric.

or four-patches on-point with the bright color vertical.

Or they could become 4- or 9-patch blocks set in the middle of four triangles.

Then again, maybe they could be used in larger blocks, like this star block,

or even in a Burgoyne Surrounded.  And I know there are plenty of other blocks that use 4- or 9-patch blocks. 

I know I need to make many, many more before I'll enough for anything but a little quilt.  Sometimes it's great to just sit and mindlessly sew, without having to think about the placement as I do when making a more complicated block.  These work as leaders/enders or for that mindless sewing.  Some day I'll have enough to make a quilt!

The baby quilt from my ScrapHappy Day post in February is coming along really well. 

The blocks are sewn together, the circles are appliqued, it's layered, pin-basted, and I have several blocks quilted.  I'm still aiming for a mid-April finish, hopefully before the baby arrives.  There's lots of hand quilting in my future during the next month.

This post was written to participate in ScrapHappy Day, hosted by Kate and Gun.  Head over to either of their blogs to see their scrappy projects and find links to the other participants' posts showing their delightful use of scraps.

--Nancy.

Baby Quilt - March's One Monthly Goal

This is the baby quilt, in pieces, for my coming grandbaby, and this is how the blocks looked yesterday morning.  About half were sewn, the rest needed two seams to become blocks.

By bedtime last night, all the blocks had been sewn and pressed.  I didn't have enough of Edyta Sitar's Hops fabric for sashing, couldn't find it locally, and knew that ordering it would set me back at least a week.  So I used a red/pink/white striped sashing that had been a shirt.  In real life it's really close to, just a tad darker than the color of the Hops fabric.  I like it and am happy with it.

This morning I laid out the blocks.  I truly wish I could get a good photograph of these blocks:  they are full of light.  There are a few that I may replace--darker ones--(or not) or rearrange (probably).  As I look at the blocks now I see that I could have sewn four squares together and added the sashing and cornerstones around the outside of them.  It probably would have helped with color balance.  That's a lesson to use next time.

After the blocks are sewn I'll decide the size of the circles to be appliqued to the center of each four blocks.  It's hard to tell which size will be best because the unsewn top is not the real size, but if I had to decide right now I would use the smaller circles which have 3" diameters or the medium which is 3½" in diameter. 

There's plenty of pinning, sewing, and pressing before I try out circles with real fabric, though.

I searched for flannel at the local quilt shop and found the perfect fabric--in a bib, with none of it on a bolt.  So I came home and searched online (for a long time) before I found this, from Michael Miller at fabric.com.  (What an efficient and speedy company!)  To give you an idea of size of the images, the bunny in the buggy with the girl is about 3" wide. It's hard to tell about fabric when looking online.  For some reason I didn't realize that the orientation of the images was vertical.  I bought enough and extra for the back but I envisioned cutting the length into two pieces, sewing them together, and having the seam go horizontally across the quilt instead of the length of the quilt.  I'll probably have to match the motifs for the quilt back for continuity, which I would have had to do anyway.

I like this fabric a lot but I continue to question the wisdom of using flannel.  I want the softness of flannel but my experience has been that it often balls, which would be horrible after spending time quilting it.  The ladies at the Celebrate Hand Quilting Facebook page tell me that quality flannel won't ball and several said that's all they use for the back of their quilts.  I'll know more after I wash and dry it.  If worse comes to worst, I'll buy regular cotton at the quilt shop.  What is your experience and opinion using flannel for quilts?

I'm all set with batting and thread.  I bought Quilters Dream Cotton Select batting at the recommendation of others.  The batting I've used in the past is no longer available, at least not where I used to buy it.  When this one is recommended by others, how bad can it be?

All this to say that my One Monthly Goal for March is to
> sew those 30 blocks, above, into a quilt top
> decide whether or not to applique circles and if so,
> prepare and applique them to the top. 
It would be great if I could have this layered and basted, ready to quilt sooner (which could happen) but that's not part of my goal this month.

I'm linking this to One Monthly Goal March link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.  I really appreciate having this motivation to work a little faster than I otherwise might.

--Nancy.