Groovy, baby

I found this little lap-sized quilt on Etsy & quickly snapped it up. It's from the 1960s, one of the decades in which not many quilts were made. The pattern is a simple rail fence. But the fabrics! Besides being bright, most of the prints have a woven texture. I think it is lots of fun & very groovy!

Spring on the Gulf Coast

The Spring season down here is essentially early Summer. Our pleasant Spring weather normally occurs in late Winter, but this year the balmy days with low humidity were taken by damp & chilly ones. The days are warming now, the humidity is on the rise & our flora & fauna are doing their things. Live oaks, a deciduous evergreen tree, are making their annual mess, dumping their leaves as the new ones come on. The azeleas are out, reminding us what fuchsia really means. And the wisteria, non-descript vines most of the year are now dripping with lavender flower clusters.

The third Saturday of the month is Shug's & my Crafturday -- he goes to his woodturning group & I go to my HMQG meeting. But this past Saturday, with a 100% chance of rain, my carpool's enthusiasm was dampened, so we ended up staying home. I was just as glad because it indeed rained -- 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) at our house! Not so nice to be out & about, but perfect to spend time at the sewing machine. I made some more bow ties -- I love these little blocks! I'm not sure how I will assemble them, but I'm beginning to think about a bow tie medallion. I put together 90 little 9-patches from leftover strips cut for one of last year's quilts; I think these can be fashioned into something to help brighten the day of someone on a very rough path. And I made a couple of bottles of nail polish! What? Fabric ones, of course, gifts for 2 friends. Made from this pattern.

Shug went to his meeting though & his latest piece won Best of Show! Yay, Shug!
You are always *my* Best of Show. xxx

What a difference a year makes!

At this time last year, I had finished 4 quilts, was well into numbers 5 & 6. This year, I am sewing, sewing, sewing but didn't have much to show for it -- until today: I finished my Arkansas Crossroads scrappy top. Just the top, mind you, but still.

It isn't Great Art, just scrap-tacular fun. I began pulling scraps, cutting squares last fall. These scraps represent more than 20 years of making! Scraps from a skirt from the 80s beside Madrona Road bits, calicos & country plaids with Stitch In Color, dots, cats, owls, candy, fruit, vegetables, Elvis, Jayhawks, etc, etc, etc. Even the background fabrics are scrappy. When I began cutting the squares, I noticed the abundance of blues so decided I wanted a light blue for the background. I had some left over from the last year's interlocking rings, but not enough. I was thinking I would buy something, when I said, NO, this is a *scrap* quilt! So there are 4 different solids & one old blender-y blue. It is all a bit crazy. I've gone on record as not being a fan of people who count things in their quilts -- stitches, spools of thread, number of pieces -- but I could not resist: there are 1,240 2.5 inch squares here! :-o

 
Since I am looking down the barrel of Summer in Texas, I am thinking of doing a batting-less, summer weight quilt -- maybe tied, maybe big stitch. I am open to thoughts & suggestions.

Please forgive these poor photos. I can't get any outside because the weather here is awful! I try not to complain about it when so many are shoveling their 10th foot of snow in sub-zero temperatures. But -- normally, February & March are beautiful here; we pay for 9 months of summer by having 2 months of gorgeousness! But this year has been gray & rainy & gray & chilly & gray & yucky for weeks & weeks & weeks!

An embarassment of riches

Recently, I did a fabric pull for a secret, surprise quilt I am thinking about. The recipient-to-be is fond of country colors & antique-style prints -- not my usual thing, but of course, I have those fabrics in my stash. What I did not realize was how much of those fabrics I have in my stash! There is enough of these rich patterns & colors for several quilts! So several quilts I am planning.

These traditional fabrics brought to mind traditional patchwork -- I am envisioning giant spools, tiny bow ties, little 4-pointed stars, pinwheels, maybe some checkerboards with 9- or 16- or 25-patches, a log cabin & then, because I am a contrary sort, maybe something modern with these not-at-all-modern fabrics -- maybe something improv with lots of negative space?

My eyes are probably bigger than my sewing machine -- but, come on, I have 11 -- sewing machines that is, not eyes! Silly!