'Tis The Season ~

 Any season is good for making a quilt, but especially when the air is cool outside.

I only have a few batik scraps left so decided to reduce them a little bit more by making an Ohio Star quilt...AKA Sawtooth Star by some.  It's a 4 block by 4 block construction simply because that's all the lighter batik background fabric there was in my stash.  It's a good community service size - 48" x 48".  Those stars made big are so easy and finished in no time by making the 2-at-a-time flying geese blocks for the star points.   It took another day to patchwork the backing for this star quilt, but now it's ready to be quilted to donate.

And....while dibbling around in batik, I found even smaller scraps and decided to make just one more bucket hat using the free download by Merchant and Mills.  I've really taken advantage of this free pattern....see my other bucket hats HERE.   So easy, so fun and ready to protect my head in cold weather or hot sun.  

'Tis the season to stay inside, relax and sew.

It's all about the base ~

 And the base of it all is that I do enjoy making zippered pouches, especially when I find an unfinished project that can be diverted into one or two or three. 

Once upon a time I was quite often asked to make presentations to quilt guilds in the area so I always kept a project in the back of my mind for a presentation.  So, that's where this story begins....now, where does it end.

In my ongoing pursuit to downsize, I found some swatches of pojagi stitching (how it's done) by machine and decided they would make the best zippered pouches.  There was just enough of the demonstration samples to make three one-of-a-kind zippered pouches.  

So went the first day of November!

They are for sale at $15 each if you are interested.   If not sold, I will donate to community service....and either way is good for me.  

Just Because ~

 I haven't posted any "just because" photos in such a long time but today is the day!  Why?  Just because I need a reminder that every day is special.  

Note to self: 

                    Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they 

                            were the big things.  Kurt Vonnegut

A watercolor note card....thread stitched and drawn.

Hope your day is wonderful too.

Even more 16-patch quilts

 There was just no good place to stop, once I got started.....making those patchwork 16-patch blocks.  And then there was three quilt tops, each different layout and sizes.   The first one blogged about  at Marty's Fiber Musings

Patchwork 16-patch #2:

I decided the on-point orientation deserved one of my favorite Malka Dubrawsky fabrics to finish.

Then, just this morning I finished the third 16-patch.  It's even more spontaneous and whimsical  with added filler blocks cut from my vintage linen table napkins.  No, I had no fear....either they worked, or they didn't!

This may satisfy my urge to 16-patch for awhile.....at least until I can accumulate more scraps.  So until next time, I remain.....

A happy quilter.  

A 16-Patch ~

 The temperature has cooled this week and has me energized.  A 16-patch quilt has been on my to-do list and now I can strike that one off.  It was a good time pulling from my left over fabric scraps to get 35 16-patches completed in just about no time.  That's when it seemed a need to be a bit larger and since there was plenty of fabric, I made more blocks to get a 48" x 64" quilt top.  Without any ado or over-thinking I lined  up all the blocks on the design wall and stitched in rows.  

The beauty is that there were a few blocks that perhaps the purest quiltmaker would have re-placed but I'm loving that green block against green block and the blocks without high contrast. While it was my goal to line up dark corner to light corner, that wasn't always accomplished as in 6th row, blocks 5 and 6.  But who's complaining.  Certainly not I.   My heart is jumping with pure joy at this little 16-patch quilt top.

 Marty 

Haiku Poetry No. 12

 

Body, soul and heart

weave, entwine, interact, touch

the wind blowing grass. 

                         Marty Mason

.....there's always a story ~

 Yes, a story is always in the making and now it's time to share this one.  Those of you who follow my slow down-sizing path know that I've been doing this for more than a year.  THIS being selling books and patterns and quilts and quilt tops and more.  I've tried selling locally and on FB, Instagram, Etsy and Ebay  and with hard work and tenacity have had goodly success. There's still a lot to be done!  

Anyway, I'm making this story longer than it perhaps should be.  There's one book I've tried to sell several times without success....probably because of the high cost of postage and this being heavy with glossy pages and cover.  I've even tried giving it away to our local library, but with the pandemic, they aren't taking books now for their annual fund-raising book sale.  "Quilts From The Indiana Amish" is an 88 page picture book with a story and it is a delight to gaze upon the quilt collection dating 1875-1940.  

....and the story continues.  While doing some research for another hand quilting project, I pulled out the Indiana Amish book and lo and behold, look what I found.  My eyes locked onto this quilt...."Railroad Crossing"  pictured on the left.    The more I looked, the more I liked and in a frenzy began pulling and sewing strings - forgetting about my original project which I'll come back to later.  

Yes, the  book "Quilts from the Indiana Amish" is still for sale as is the quilt top inspired from page 67.  My quilt top was finished yesterday and it measures 55" x 90" -  a generous twin size.  

If the book doesn't sell, I won't worry.  That just  means I'll have a chance to be inspired by another quilt made somewhere in Amish country by a dedicated quilt maker.  I'll also not despair it the quilt top doesn't sell.  I'll just pick it up one day and get it quilted. Oh, yes, there's always a story and my stories are usually inspired by a quilt.

Have a happy ~

.....and the good news continues ~

 Bucket hats and more:  

There's no stopping me now...and then there were six!  Bucket hats all made from thrift store linen and jersey and denim and more! 

and other good news....the one I called "Meadows' sold today.   The one made using a Kathy Doughty, Material Obsession, quilt pattern.    I'm delighted that it's on the way to St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Not bored.....no, not for a minute ~

 I'm simply not the kind of person to be bored.  When there's some free time, I'll grab a book or paper and paint or the camera.  But more times than not, I'll just grab some fabric then find a pattern (or not) and start cutting and sewing.   

The thrill of not knowing the outcome but forging ahead anyway doesn't give me the least bit of angst.  What?  It's only my time and a little bit of recycled fabric and thread.  Okay, add sewing machine needle and oil!  Anyway, I digress.  

This little bucket hat jewel started yesterday and was very quickly finished this morning right after breakfast and just before lunch.  That means it finished quite quickly thanks to a bit of tutoring by Crispina French who first turned me onto this free bucket hat pattern.

Pssst.....it's a free bucket hat pattern at Merchant & Mills.  Sign in and the free pattern will be emailed right to your gadget to print and stitch up.  

Filled w/Joy

 Flowers are in full bloom~ even if not in my garden ~ I stopped in my photo albums just to get a glimpse and a sniff this morning.  

and my buckets are filled to the brim ~ 

Happy Friday one and all:  

Wait~

  

Still going drawer by drawer, shelf by shelf, closet by closet, room by room.  

I stacked those zippers aside to pack up for my next haul to the thrift store.  But wait!

Stopping to break for fresh air, and while happily zipping through my instagram favorites one of which is Bookhou, I discovered that I most definitely had a use for those zippers......all 14 of them. 

My first one for the test drive and modifications if needed: 

 With just a  few scraps and a few zippers:   there you have it, little nothing pouches to donate to children in need.  Whether they hold nothing or something very special, matching zipper to fabric then stitching them up, sure gave me a feel good feeling.   

Five completed, 14 more lined up and soon to be on the move. 

Don't wait on me ~ 

Delighted: Thank You ~

 I'm delighted to tell you that some of them are selling!   I'm a prolific quilt maker and have absolutely, overwhelmingly, without a doubt, in tears and screaming out loud run out of space to store them.  Yes, it hurts to be able to never see one again, but what's hurting more right now is that until some are out of the house, there can be no more.

This one sold quickly ~   The one called "Improv Triangles" was so fun to make so I do hope it gives the recipient as much pleasure as it did me.  

It's hard work at best to get pictures, measure, describe, price then  find a place to market finished quilts.   Once a buyer is found, the paperwork has to be done, then transfer of money, then wholly Toledo, the packing and shipping.  I'm exhausted but must persevere.

I donated 13 quilts to CASA for children who may be hurting and sold 4 this week.  Now, doesn't that deserve a pat on my back?

But I can't stop now and have several more that I would love to see gone this week.  Here's one - patchwork blocks surrounded by calming neutrals in white, cream, gray ~

and another patchwork with dominant indigo.

Moving on, moving forward....moving quilts.  Find me and more at Marty Mason Facebook.

Improv Houses ~

 Houses - improv - what a hoot?  I've been in the Freddy Moran quilters' fan club for many a year and seem never to tire of her spontaneity.  What fascinates me most is her unlikely fabric selection for each of her house quilts, yet each house lives beautifully in its neighborhood.  

So, having a bit of time and a lot of scraps, I set about emulating a neighborhood in an improvisational style.  House by house and tree by tree, until construction was complete. It's perfectly sized at 50" x 60" or so. 

Houses surrounded by trees.....how refreshing is that?

Boro Inspired ~

 What fun!  Started in February, 2021, in the virtual QuiltCon workshop presented by Blair Stocker of Wise Craft Handmade - Boro Inspired! A patchwork quilt with lots of hand stitching.  

Derived from the Japanese boroboro, meaning something tattered or repaired, boro refers to the practice of reworking and repairing textiles (often clothes or bedding) through piecing, patching and stitching, in order to extend their use.

I cut into a thrift shop linen blouse.....a slither of a t-shirt.....a feed sack....an aqua linen skirt plus one of my cut apart acid green floral silk skirts to add just the right patches stitched down, adorned and quilted using multiple stitches to maintain stability for continued use of this quilt.  

This is a must-do-again way to design and finish a quilt:  inspired by Japanese patchwork.

Haiku Poetry No. 11 ~

 

''A tear was shed and

the river ran on and on

At Granny Matlock's on Little Buffalo River, Arkansas

the way mother did"

               Marty Mason 

May your day be filled.....with tears of joy. 

Haiku Poetry #10 ~

 

''A bird soaring high. 

Temporary,  a life is

light as a feather."  

                  Marty Mason

There's a feather at the end of my upward soaring arrow surrounded by stars

See Haiku Poetry 1-9 at Reflections Unfurling ~  

Sage Advice ~

 Many years ago the teenage daughter of  a close friend had broken up with her 'boy' friend and was really down in the dumps because she felt dumped.  Her mother's now darling, this and now darling that did nothing  to uplift the spirits of the downtrodden daughter.  

When the teen's father came home, he very quickly tired of the moaning and groaning and just said to his precious daughter, "Enough, Wendy - GET HAPPY."   And she did!

raw-edges 

I think of this story told to me oh so many years ago and must admit that I've told myself to GET HAPPY on many occasions.   How easy is it?  To get happy, one must think happy and look happy and live happy.  To get happy means I cannot dwell on the unhappy or the things outside my control.  It means that I must be more accepting of the choices others make for their lives.     It means I have a choice of either happiness or sadness regardless of your choice.     I'm happier when I choose  happiness and must admit that I'm not very empathetic to those who continue to choose other moods.   I'll listen for a while, but then my mind keeps coming back to that dad's sage advice - "GET HAPPY."