'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.  

.....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.  

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 ~ 

Hello September ~

 Well, Hello There! September.....I'm looking forward to a bit of time with no drama....please.  While we are weathering the Covid Storm and the Political Storm,  Hurricane Storm Laura threw us a curve ball.   It's the first time in my memory that hurricane force winds nearly blew us away here in  North Louisiana.  She wasn't pretty.  What a mess we had to clean up inside and out.   After being without electricity for 32 hours, I won't be taking that luxury for granted any time soon.    When it was finally turned back on , we were jubilant.....went outside and hugged our neighbors who were also celebrating the oddity of electrical power.  

A few August finishes in spite of its tumultuous ending - 

One that was started a couple of years ago (or more), Jen Kingwell's Green Tea and Sweet Beans.  It's a little jewel, however tedious! Four applique blocks were stitched this week.  

I've used a lot of little scraps that have been hoarded just for this quilt.  

More to follow until completion. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying this wonderful September day. 

 

Who am I?

Many faces, I wear.  But who am I?  Really?   A vulture!

Yes, that was my name for the day a couple of weeks ago.  Why:  because I took away a quilter's fabric to save it from being dumped curbside.  Yes, I did it then and will do it again.  Because I know that when I take, I also give back.  Of the 24 yards + of fabric, I made 24 pillowcases for community service and the remaining yardage went toward quilt backings for the children in need.  Enough.....

The quilting group finally got to meet last Thursday and what a pleasure it was to be among kindred spirits.  But lo, as the meeting was closing, the group leader laid a fat quarter at my fingertips.  The sane part of me wanted to scream "NO"  since there were knowing eyes upon me.  But the vulture won out.  With no shame, I came home with more than I took with me. 

My happy ending is that there is now a zippered pouch made from that fat quarter ready to be given back....hopefully with a smile. 
\

PS:  The leftovers are mine.  

Starting.....Again ~

Why is it that when one thought gets finished, another just pops right in?  Oftentimes the pop-in rudely interrupts the not quite finished previous thought.  What the......?  Can't they wait their turn! 

The same is true  in the case of making pillow cases:  one can't get finished before another one just begs for a chance.   When I have a yard of fabric, 27" gets cut for the body of the pillow case.  So I need 9" from another yard for the cuff.   Now I have 27 inches left over from that second yard!   Can you see where this is going?  One pillowcase just leads to another and another and another.   It's as if one piece of fabric is grabbing onto the fabric just left behind. 

Imagine a trail of pillowcases marching  into the battered women's shelter or gleefully running into the arms of children in distress while being removed from unsafe conditions.   

What the....?   Another finished project just popped right in....scrappy triangles!  One leads to another and another and.............!  Can you see the red polka dots left over from a pillow case or two?  I have no shame  (nor do I apologize) when it comes to interjecting left over fabric where needed. 

A simple little project ~

On such a cold, rain filled day, something to keep away the blues ~

In keeping with my quest to reduce plastic and paper waste, this little  goodie bag just fit my need to demonstrate the art of gift wrapping without waste.   This fabric gift bag for your Valentine's Day sweetheart is large enough to hold candy kisses, a tube of  the reddest red lip gloss or even diamond earrings.  Look -  no paper or plastic waste - using scraps of fabric instead.  The simplest things keep me smiling.   How fun to make these two goodie gift bags in under 20 minutes. 

Ready, Set....don't leave me behind ~

Have I been a drag on myself?   Or others?   It's time for me to re-group, re-focus with open eyes and clear head.  Time to get moving and get ready for upcoming events.    My prep work is done for the local guild gathering, the house is clean for holiday company, the yard work is done and the frost will help keep it that way!

It's been a while since my last quilting retreat so I'm excited to get away for a couple of nights and days to be with kindred spirits.   Most of the other participants are new to me so I'm really looking forward to connecting with other quilters in my area.  We'll be at Kings Place in Mer Rouge, Louisiana, just  so you'll know that I'm not venturing too far from home this time.

However, my next quilting adventure will be with Sherri Lynn Wood a little farther down the road.    Sherri Lynn is fabulous at taking an idea and with a scrap from here and a scrap from there,  making most intriguing quilts.  I'll be in the Lafayette area in south Louisiana for a few days in mid-December knee deep in Sherri Lynn's  Patchwork Doodles and Grid Busting Improv Curves workshops. 

Time passes so quickly when planning for fun things.  Before I know it, it will be the semi-annual Tangi House Retreat with friends after Christmas and into the New Year.  Here's  a finish of the little square quilt started when we were last together.  It's not yet quilted, but I'm wishfully thinking it will be soon enough. 

Quilting with buds.  How fun.



Even with all the quilt retreat planning and scheming, there's been some finishes around here.  These little Atkinson Design Cash and Carry pouches come together so quickly with minimum time and fabric.

Sew it goes.  Pass it forward. 

Oh, the value of value ~

I've been humbled in the past few weeks as the HuMaN and I  continue to downsize our stuff to become more and more the minimalist that our hearts crave.   Together we sorted through all those plastic records and album covers until we finally decided that we had finished with the sentiments and that the look of the barren closet shelf was most becoming.   It took a few hours as we shared where we were and what we were doing when that Jackson Browne or Sting or Beatles tune was a hit.   Oh, the value of sentiments?

Deliberation done, it was time to do some online research as to the "real" value.  This got me nowhere!    Surely Carole King's Tapestry was worth more than a buck or two.  It is a classic. Of course my album is worth more than that!!    Plugging along, I made a list to sum up what might  be expected from that very eager buyer I was destined to find.   

On that fateful day, with list and albums in hand off we went to the market place where reality smacked us in the forehead.  The man laughed when he saw the list and inflated values.   He did look  at our stuff and made an offer.  I scoffed.  I scorned.  I bickered.  He held steadfast.  We took his offer.  Looking back, we are thankful to have those records off the shelf. 

You see, the lesson learned was that sentimental value has nothing to do with material worth.    My sentiments naturally inflate the value because of my personal and emotional association but those sentiments cannot be brought into the picture when establishing a street value.

Hand painted by Marty Mason....a ceramic bookend pictured with a vintage book suitable for children.
Neither have  a significant street value but bring me beautiful memories of a day gone by. 

A fun day with family and dogs where everyone was important
enough to get in the picture.  

So that's your opinion...now, hear mine!  

How much is that birdie in the mirror?  

Cackle Cackle, Cluck Cluck 

So, having said all that.....I've been pricing donated stuff for the annual Council on Aging Christmas Bazaar coming up this weekend.  I first put like things in piles and considered the overall quality of material and construction  to come up with a  middle-of-the-road price, knowing that an average price  might be over-pricing or under-pricing.     My thoughts were that on sale day, there will be no time to explain that the construction or material of one tote bag over another is why one is priced substantially higher or lower.  Made sense to me!











Perhaps those who don't go along with my logic will gather and price all that stuff  next time.

Two heads together are often better than one.

I'm Fried 

Just Because ~

You've heard it and I've said it....."Just because you can doesn't mean you should!"  Not taking this to heart,  and having a roll of Tyvek on hand, I decided I could.   After a bit of painting and sewing,

the fruit of my labor - a painted on Tyvek  zippered pouch.  Loving the way it distressed when the pouch was turned inside out after completion.   Now filed under the tab of I-must-do-this-again.

Enjoy my ride and smile with me.

It's The Little-est Things ~

Simply the little-est things are so fun.  In my quest to downsize the city dump, I've made these little 10" square kitchen wipes with fabric scraps that you might also see in one of my quilts - backed with terry cloth - to use rather than paper towels.

They are the perfect size to wipe the counter and scrub the kitchen sink ~

or use to drain the just-washed bunch of grapes, celery stalks or juicy red tomato ~

or just use to wipe my fingers dry ~

Oh, I'm still using paper towels but not to the extent that I once did!  One little kitchen wipe at a time .....whittling down the size of the city dump.

Waxing Fabric ~

Oh! What Fun!  You've heard of waxing...no doubt, to remove unwanted hair!  But waxed fabric?  As much fun as the waxing is the making something out of that waxed fabric....that's where my fun week began and one thing led to another until  ~

demonstrating a waxed food wrap 

Wool and Canvas waxed tote ~ An Anna Graham design 

Poolside Tote - an Anna Graham design 

raffia place mat waxed then made into a duffle bag.

Open Wide Zippered Pouch ~ an Anna Graham design

Waxed canvas tote measures 16" x 16"....great carrier for all my stuff

Open wide zippered pouch 

Don't you just love those Anna Graham AKA Noodlehead pouch and tote designs...her open wide zippered pouch was my first.  I was hooked on her designs so purchased the waxed wool tote pattern and finally the poolside tote.  What a way to gather and go!