Midweek: January wrap up with a finish

 

I took advantage of the sunshine Monday and had a good long walk at Lyons Woods Forest Preserve.  It was great to get back on the trail.

Yellow:  willow.  Green:  Japanese roses.  Red:  dogwood.

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With a fifth Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this seems to be a bonus week, doesn't it?  January seemed to pass quickly, though.  

I had a productive month in the studio with EIGHT finishes.  

January OMG:  wonky log cabin, made out of neckties, for the MQG Mini Swap.  I sent it off mid-month.

I posted photos of these earlier.  The quilts at top right, lower center, and lower right are all wheelchair sized. The mug rugs (counted as one finish) are for an ongoing P.E.O. project.

And, ta da!  The batik double four-patch is finished!  I quilted it with the serpentine along the block edges horizontally and vertically, as well as the diagonals.  

  

The back uses some of the delicious batiks from Barb M's estate.

And that leads me to the stash report.

Fabric OUT, January:  125 yards. That includes fabric given away as well as sewn up.

Fabric IN, January:  294 yards -- 204 from the estate sale and 90 from a destash.   $430 -- average $1.46 per yard.

I have big plans for February with two commissions and other projects with specific due dates.  Come back on Friday for the details.

Linking up with Midweek Makers Wednesday Wait Loss OMG January

Weekly update: a gift and lots of blocks

 

Late last week Barb-the-quilter called to say that our mutual friend Fran gave her two boxes packed with fabric. Might I be interested?

What do you think I said?

90 yards by weight.  Mostly FQs, many 1990s-era.  (I know because I once had many of them.)    I am going to pass a lot of this along.

I finished all the double four patch blocks and assembled rows.  They're hung in columns because the design wall is wider than it is tall.

I ended up with extra blocks.  I'm already envisioning a low-volume blend of magenta and blue with a few pops of green.

 

I began sewing the batik scraps into a version of  Wanda's cobblestones.  Mine are 5.5" unfinished.  

Linking up with Sew and Tell  Oh Scrap! Design Wall Monday 

Friday check in: estate sale part V, mug rugs, and the four-patches

 The fifth installment of Barb M's estate sale was Tuesday afternoon.  (See here, here, here, and here for the previous sales.)  A quick recap:  Barb passed away in 2018 and left a LOT of sewing stuff -- machines, thread, notions, patterns, kits, and FABRIC.  Barb's husband and family finally needed closure but couldn't deal with it all.  

Enter Paula who enlisted a group of her friends.  Since September they've had monthly sales, the first in Paula's garage and the others in a hotel meeting room.  It took until December to get everything out of the house.  They wash ALL the fabric at laundromats (they quickly realized that they risked burning out their home machines) and keep it in a storage unit.  

Each sale has benefited a different charity -- ovarian cancer research, Alzheimer's research, St. Jude, Make-a-Wish -- $7500 for for those four sales.  This month the beneficiary is  P.E.O.  I'm a P.E.O. so of course I had to go despite the crummy weather (rain and fog).

Paula (green), Lisa (the P.E.O.), and me with the other crew members.

Barb bought fabric by the bolt. The crew tears 2-yard pieces and then 1-yard pieces because long lengths get very tangled in the washer and dryer.  (They've got too much to process to fiddle with safety-pinning edges together.) 

2-yard pieces $5, 1-yard pieces 3 for $5, "squares" (FQ, half-yard) 10 for $5.  I passed on the many kits ($5 and $10).

Here's my haul.  I paid an average of $2.11/yd.

Paula predicts at least two more sales.  All of this has given a new meaning to my stash:  I'm building my legacy!  LOL.

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I assure you that I am sewing up some of said stash.

Speaking of P.E.O., I have another batch of mug rugs in the works.  These are ready for trimming and binding.  

I have to make a few more double four-patch blocks for this project.  Some of Barb's batiks are in the mix.

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday Can I Get a Whoop Whoop

Weekly update: cold weather, a birthday, in the mail almost, WIP + reading

 It's been cold everywhere in the U.S. this week.  I took a very brief walk from the parking lot to the lakefront to take a few photos.  (I was on my way home from the grocery store and not bundled up (face mask) to walk any farther.)  

When the cold settles in I am grateful for central heat and a garage for the car.  

I had an ophthamologist appointment on Monday. Hooray! Cataract surgery is scheduled for February.

Stevens turned 84 on Thursday.  He was pleasantly surprised when I told him that my FB post about his birthday had 111 likes and 87 comments.  

He's doing much better physically and was eager to get out to Rotary on Thursday morning.  

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I finished the Modern Quilt Guild mini quilt and will mail it to my assigned swap partner tomorrow.   

The swap instructions said 24" but this turned out to be 27" to get the design to work out.  

The concept is by Janice Gunner published in QNM, April 2002.  Someone in a blog post or on a FB group posted a photo of a project using the idea.  Deb began a project with the concept several years ago and I asked about it.  I have a near-complete run of QNM so it was easy to look it up.

Neckties aren't hard to work with once they are stabilized.  In fact, silk is tough stuff (think parachutes).  I quilted it with regular Aurifil using the serpentine stitch.  

Now that the necktie stash has been exposed I want to work with them again soon.  Not immediately, but not years and years from now.  

Work in progress, upstairs using the Singer 301 :  I have 103 out of 168 double four patch blocks.  Here are some of them. 

Work in progress, downstairs using the Janome: quilting the horizontal zipper quilt.  

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In 1981 Billie, Natalie, Mary Alice, and Helen were recruited to work for a clandestine operation called The Museum.  It  specialized in assassinating people who were or had been a danger to society. (Former Nazis, for example.)  Forty years later someone in The Museum has a contract on the quartet, accusing them of betrayal. The women reunite to clear their names and get revenge. It's a fun and fast-paced caper/thriller.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!  Sew and Tell  Design Wall Monday 

Weekly update: the challenge, a flimsy,. something new + reading

 

I was able to walk in the state park on Thursday, between storms.  Here along the Lake Michigan shoreline we only got 3" of snow , though areas just a few miles west got a lot more. I was among the frozen chosen who made it to church this morning. Today was beautifully sunny but very, very cold with the high of zero.

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I'm making good progress on the MQG challenge mini quilt.  

Neckties are made on the bias so they have to be stabilized before the fabric can be sewn into anything.  I scrounged what I could from a box of interfacing left over from garment sewing but that wasn't enough. I ordered a bolt of featherweight fusible from Joann's that arrived late Saturday afternoon.  

When I 'processed' ties (disassemble, wash, iron) I folded them neatly, but once in the storage box the tidy little rolls magically unroll and tangle up.   I also discovered that at some point I just tossed the washed ties in the box.  Thus I've done a considerable amount of untangling and pressing.   The immediate project requires a lot of dark blue so I pulled out many of those. 

While I was at it I pulled out the mostly-reds.   There may be more necktie projects in the near future.

Meanwhile, here's a new flimsy!  

Last summer I made a batch of zipper blocks.   As I wrote in this post I oriented the contrast one way in some and the other way in the others.   I made a quilt from the "one way" blocks and put the "other way" blocks in a box.  It turned out there were 19 other way blocks. I made 41 more and set them horizontally, The blocks finish at 6 x 9 so this is 54 x 60.  

Speaking of boxes, I put all the blocks and units and instructions for Indigo Way in a box.  I will probably make two quilts, one with Block A and one with Block B.  I've reintegrated the greens and the light blues into the stash and want to get the neutrals and dark blues put back this coming week.

I've started some double four patch blocks as the upstairs (living room ) sewing.  

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I finished two books this week and recommend them both.  

What a treat! Molly Gray is back. She's now the Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel where she and her team ensure that every room is cleaned to a State of Perfection. Best-selling mystery novelist J. D. Grimthorpe is a guest. Also staying at the Regency Grand are Grimthorpe's groupies, a bunch of fanatical women who hang onto every word that the man writes or speaks. But then, just as he is about to make a major pronouncement, he drops dead. It turns out that Molly and her beloved Gran had a long-ago encounter with the odious celebrity. But who would kill him? Molly and Police Detective Stark find out.

I suggest reading Molly's first book, The Maid, to better understand Molly's way of understanding the world.  

& & & & & &

So often costume collections and exhibitions showcase clothing worn by famous women (First Ladies, movie stars, socialites) or made by well-known designers (Chanel, Dior, Worth). One of the reasons is that those clothes were worn for special occasions or by women who had extensive wardrobes. Those clothes were carefully preserved.

Instead, the Smith College collection is devoted to what women in the 19th and 20th centuries wore (and wore and wore) every day. Chapters differentiate what women wore at home and in public; accessories (underwear, hats), uniforms (waitresses, maids, nurses, military), rites of passage (mourning, maternity, quinceneara), and suits. Photographs show the full-0n garments and closeups. Advertisements and other commentary add context to the entries.

It's a wonderful history. I'd love to tour the collection.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!  Sew and Tell   Design Wall Monday  Thanks for the Sew and Tell shout out, Melva!

Midweek: too busy? another finish and OMG start

 

 The 25 B blocks for Indigo Way are finished.   

I put the A's and B's on the design wall.  I really like busy designs but my initial impression is that this is TOO busy.  

The pattern calls for 20 half blocks for the setting triangles.  I've made four. 

I've told myself firmly not to rush this -- let the blocks sit for a while.  An entire quilt of just A's and/or just B's would look pretty good.   

Meanwhile,  here is the **fourth** finish for 2024.   I made the flimsy in December with leftovers from Grassy Creek, the 2021 mystery.  It's wheelchair sized.  

My One Monthly Goal for January is to plan (at least) and make (hopefully) a 24" x 24" quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild annual mini swap.  The entry form asks for preferences to guide the swap partner.  I suggested upcycling.  My assigned partner (whom I do not know) said she likes improv.  I'm going to do both with my entry and use necktie silk.  

It's been a long time since I opened the silk bins. These are 98% neckties that have been disassembled, washed, and pressed. After years in the bins they're quite wrinkled.  This is a 25-year accumulation.  I've made one vest, one skirt, one jacket, fifteen little gift bags, one quilt, and many hexagon rosettes.   (The other 2% are silk scarves which I cannot resist at estate sales and thrift shops. These are not colors or patterns that I'd wear.  I have a drawer of silk scarves that I do wear.)  

I have a design concept.  You'll have to wait for the reveal.

Linking up with Midweek Makers  Wednesday Wait Loss

P.S.  Remember the Dress for Success days in the 1980's when women wore floppy silk ties?   They pricey to buy but easy to make, which is what I did. 

Weekly update: starting with finishes + OMG

 

I was able to go on two good walks this week -- and Stevens came along on one of them.  (I said, "Your Facebook fans want to see your smile!" )   Center right:  a rose hip caught the afternoon sunlight like a little jewel.

We had a little snow on Friday evening which has since melted.  Another storm is coming through midweek. 

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Our quilt guild meets by Zoom in January and February.  We don't have to worry about storm cancellations and we can schedule speakers who live far away.  What a treat we had this week -- Jenny Doan from Missouri Star.  It was wonderful to hear her story (I haven't read her book) and she took a lot of questions from the group.  

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In the studio, upstairs version (sewing on Sweetness, the Singer 301): 

Indigo Way units.    I used Deb Tucker's V-block ruler for the 108 isosceles triangles.   I thought that one green and one blue square would make one hourglass unit but in fact they make two -- so I have twice as many hourglasses as the pattern calls for.   Of course I'll be able to use the extras eventually.

I made all the Indigo Way A blocks.    Bonnie revealed the entire quilt on Friday.  I'll try to get started on the B blocks this week.

# # # # #   In the studio, downstairs version (sewing on the Janome, which is big enough for quilting): **three** finishes!   I made all the flimsies in December.     

These are wheel-chair sized.

This was my New Year's Eve project.  It didn't have any time to gather dust before it became a finished quilt.  

I used two batiks on the back of the batik quilt.  I had a little over a yard of gray/yellow and inserted two strips for the citrus/gray quilt.   (The scrappy strips quilt has an all-the-same backing.)

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And now, finally:  it's time to declare my January One Monthly Goal.  I need to plan the mini quilt for the MQG annual challenge.  It's due in February.   Just 24", but as you know that can be more involved than a bed-sized quilt.

Linking up with Sew and Tell    Oh Scrap!  Design Wall Monday  OMG at Stories from the Sewing Room