Weekly update: a finish

It was chilly Friday afternoon for the Trail of Treats.  Local businesses and organizations, like Rotary, have tables at Shiloh Park. Kids and parents walk along. The end of the trail is the Park District's (indoor) Hallowe'en party.   On the right: with Zion Woman's Club friends and the canned goods we collected at the bunco party. These are going to the transitional living center operated by A Safe Place, the domestic violence shelter.

DH and I saw The Florida Project on Saturday afternoon.  The child actors are wonderful.  It would be interesting to know the reactions of real-life people like the characters in the film.

I finished the I Spy baby quilt.  The baby is due at the end of November.

Something new is in the works!  I'll post more when the OMG link up opens on November 1.

Monday link ups:

Monday Making
Design Wall Monday
Oh, Scrap!

Can this quilt be saved? You bet!

 This morning I dropped off a box of  "miscellaneous household" at the back door of the Zion Salvation Army store. I went in the front door to see if there was anything interesting and/or irresistible.

This fit the bill for just $9.99. The flowers-of-the-states are liquid embroidery (Artex or Cameo paints) with transfers by Aunt Martha (identified by someone on the Quilts-Vintage and Antique FB group). The blocks are set on point with plain setting squares.

They are oriented in different directions. They're not in alphabetical order.

The backing is a horrible slippery prequilted polyester bedspread.  Ick!  The edges were pulled over to the front and zigzagged. The blocks are hand-stitched in the ditch.

I plan to remove the back and, maybe, eventually I'll quilt it.

Colonial Patterns still sells the state flower set.




P.S. Linens are among the "fifteen things you should never buy at a thrift store," said a recent click-bait article from Country Living that appeared in my Facebook feed.  (You can read it here.)  Such unfounded pretension.   The leaded glassware and sterling silver mentioned don't show up at the thrift stores I go to. And as for linens?  I can wash them.

Fiesta, linens, and sewing lessons.

I went to an estate sale in Waukegan yesterday afternoon, by which time everything was 25% off. I was surprised these Fiesta pieces hadn't been snapped up, but I was happy to buy them for  my collection.

The creamer and sugar bowl on the figure 8 tray were new to me.  I already have the salt & pepper shakers, coincidentally in these colors, but all five pieces were sold as a unit.   The estate sale staff said this was the only Fiesta they'd found.

There was a box of cotton pillowcases with the Pullman stamp. They were all yellowed with fold marks. I chose the least yellow (from what I could tell).  Old sheeting has wonderful heft to it. Since these were made to be laundered a lot I will do just that.

Dishtowels (one unused) and hankies, too.

Note to self:  investigate why the handkerchief-making was a Philippine industry. (I've seen similar labels on other never-used hankies.)

 Here is Betty Jones's Grade 7 sewing sample.  I've taken pictures of all the entries.
(No date, no location, but I suspect it was the homeowner.  They said the house was built in 1953 and only one family has lived there.)

 She got an A-.   She would have gotten high marks for penmanship, too.

 "Overcastining"

 I'm holding up the sample so you can see the seam.

 "Feld" seam. (Actually, it's "felled." One word origin I found said 'fel' meant animal pelt.)

The felled seam up close.

The last entry.

There was a sewing machine at the sale--a 1960's Viking in a cabinet--so perhaps Betty put these 7th grade exercises to good use when she grew up.

OMG October: tote bags finished!

My October project for OMG was to set these twelve 7-1/2" (unfin.) blocks. They were my guild's 2016-17 BOM -- a skill-builder for paper foundation piecing.  Participants are to bring their blocks set (quilting not required) to qualify for a grand finale prize.

I realized that I didn't want to make a purple and lime quilt. Or wallhanging. Or placemats.  I could have made a dozen potholders, but in the end I decided to make tote bags.

I have had this pile of lime and purple on my cutting table for three weeks. I did buy more limes and purples. (Actually I wanted lime-and-purple but there wasn't much. I didn't shop very widely, though.)








Here they are!

Note that I made extra Road to Oklahoma blocks (upper left).  The center totes and the right hand totes have blocks on the back. (The log cabin, bottom center, has another log cabin block. The other three have different blocks.)

I began to run out of steam so I used the rest of the blocks as pockets.

I'm linking up with the Elm Street Quilts OMG finishes page here  and the Elm Street Quilts Bag It challenge here . . . and now I can clear off the cutting table!

Weekly update: not much to report

Monday has come around again. How does that happen so quickly?

Not much progress in my studio this week. I'm still working on the purple and lime tote bags. I assure you that the end is in sight!   I hope to post a photo mid-week.

The Zion Woman's Club annual bunco party was Friday evening. It was great fun!  My guests were library friends.  I donated two tote bags with books -- both this maple leaf bag and a non-quilted tote. (I went through the box of library-conference totes. I need to weed!)  I also donated Paths and Stiles.  Jessica really wanted the quilt and she was the successful bidder. 


I was a winner in the 50/50 raffle -- 50% went to the club. First place winner got $80 and second place winner was me with $25. I also won a couple of the put-and-take (bucket) raffle items that will likely turn up at some future fundraiser.

More friends. (You'll see Joanne again in this post.)

Maple leaf block used as pocket 

Years ago I made four paper-pieced Pine Burr blocks for a swap that didn't come to pass. I've used the blocks in tote bags. This is the last one.  I gave it, along with a copy of Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Woman Artists (by Donna Seaman), to Maggie. Her daughter Melissa had a surprise 90th birthday party Saturday evening at Dandelion Gallery in Waukegan.  It was a surprise indeed!   (Many P.E.O. and AAUW friends were among the guests.)

Maggie and friends Dan and Joanne

 Maggie's paintings

Maggie's brother, SIL Katy, and Genny. K & G went to grade school together.

AAUW friends and colleagues of Melissa's

Melissa and me. I take terrible selfies. 

Monday linkups:  Design Wall Monday

Monday Making

Weekly update: a flimsy, a center block, and totes

This embroidered piece has been on the wall in my studio for years. It's folded in thirds. I thought it was an odd kind of shelf liner. I learned this week (from a FB post by Diane Volk Harris) that it's the cover for a treadle sewing machine.

Here's the I Spy flimsy.  I had to buy fabric for the borders. The striped red and the bright-stars-on-blue are just right, I think. The novelties are cut 4.5 x 6.5 and the light blue strips are 2.5 x 4.5 so each block is 6.5 x 8.5.

I trimmed the cutaway HSTs to 1.5" so they're ready for another project.








I've signed up for a round robin with several  other NLCQG members.  It begins at the November meeting.  Here's my center block, a design by Piece O'Cake.

I've used eight of the twelve guild BOM paper-pieced blocks for tote bags.  Here are four tote outsides and one finished tote.

Monday linkups:
Main Crush Monday
Oh, Scrap!
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday

Quilt show

The Village Quilters held their biennial show this weekend. Irene and I went on Friday afternoon.I have friends who are in VQ and it was fun to see their quilts. I enjoy local shows because of the range of quilts on display. Most are made for use on beds or as home decor, not just for competition.  (I love the (inter)national prizewinners, too, but they're a different bird.)     Here are some snapshots.