Just a game

Three things to be happy about:
(1) sunny weather
(2) old-school music
(3) a new ballpoint pen

There's a game that I play sometimes, and it's called "where'd I put it??"

I hate playing that stupid game!

I'm working on the South of Baltimore UFO that I've wanted to finish up for some time.  I made scrap yardage for the flowers in different colors...

pink...

blue...

loads of yellow...

and green for the leaves...

... but I can't find the blocks I already made!

One thought was to start over from scratch; if I find the blocks, okay.  And if I don't - oh well!  But would that be considered a UFO, or a new project??

Meanwhile, to avoid frustration I put that UFO gently aside and pieced two quilt backs.  I'll go ahead and pick up the scrap crystals UFO, that's what was next on my list anyway.  Sounds like a plan!

Sew forth and sew on til later

It's shaping up!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) friendly doormats
(2) turtlenecks
(3) wet snow for snowballs

The weather here in the District has been cold cold, but we haven't had any snow yet - they keep promising "maybe" though.  When I went out to start my car it took a few seconds longer to turn over, I hope I won't have problems because of the frigid temperatures!

While the electrician was here yesterday he isolated the problems and took care of all the faulty wiring, and I'm back up and running.  There's also an old breaker box that was in the basement when I bought the house that's being used as a junction; he thinks maybe there had been a fire at some point and the wires were re-wrapped or something.  He suggested that I get those wires replaced when I get the chance... no immediate danger but it's something that wouldn't hurt to get done - after 38 years!

I'm still working on the mini design boards that I'll take to my bee meeting on Saturday, I got a few done yesterday while the electrician was here.   Fortunately he only had to zap the power on the main level, I was doing my hot-gluing upstairs.

These boards work up quickly and are easy to make, and the fabric trim around the edges can make them really cute!  There are a few more pieces of trim to stitch, I can do that today or tomorrow and they'll be ready to roll out.

At our guild meeting on last Saturday, Pat gifted me with lots and lots of scraps!  As you know, I like "other people's" scraps because they're more interesting than my own.  Don't you just love digging into bags full of scraps?  It's like Forrest Gump's box o choklits - you never know what you're gonna get!

There was lots of good stuff stuffed in those bags!  A great mish-mash of scrappy goodness - I'm loving it!

 

Some strips that I already know how I'll use; I wonder what Pat was working on?  I think I recognize that bright striped piece!

Some good-sized trimmings that I can use for scrap yardage - hmmm, I need scrap yardage to make more of those "South of Baltimore" blocks, I really need to finish up that project.  Maybe this year for sure?


I love digging through scraps, and if I could just stay focused and finish up my short-term projects, I could play with my scraps with a clear conscience!  For sure I'll make some more of those tiny little colorful houses that I made with Rosa's scraps, they don't need much fabric.

Well that's it for now, have a great Thursday - sew forth and sew on!

My Festivus list!

Three things to be happy about:
(1) straight teeth
(2) overalls
(3) a foosball match

In a nutshell, the "Festivus" celebration was born on the Jerry Seinfeld show, where George Costanza's father wanted a celebration "for the rest of us."  He'd get a Festivus pole and gather the family around and berate them for their failures during the year.  The poorest performer would have to carry the festivus pole of shame.

Well, I love Christmas and I don't celebrate Festivus, but I thought it would be a fun name for this post.  Throughout the year I started things that for one reason or another I didn't finish; I don't mean UFO's, that's a whole different category!

So, this is my Festivus list, or "things that I dropped like a hot tater."

First up - Inspired by Toefeather, I wanted to make a 4-inch block every day for a year, then I'd have 365 blocks to make into a quilt.  Clever girl!

Seemed easy to do and it really is, but that daily block became a group of weekly blocks, then there were no blocks at all, doh!   After I made 35 blocks I discovered I wasn't sure I liked how they all looked together and I dropped that idea!  I'll make one more then set them in a quilt with sashing in between.

Another one - a slashed 9-patch block using African fabrics. 

Sounded like a good idea and the single blocks looked great... but when I placed several of them together on my design wall - yuck!  Not my idea of an attractive quilt.  If you stared at it too long it'd probably knock you down!

I could take the ones I did and set them with some kind of sashing (w-i-d-e sashing!) I suppose, but I'll not be making any more of these rascals!

Here's a good one - South of Baltimore!  I was using scrap yardage to make the flowers and leaves.

This actually should be considered a UFO because I can finish it by simply making two more blocks and setting them in a gigantic four-patch.  The blocks are 16" square so they'd make a nice wall hanging.  At this point I can't remember why I dropped this one - UFO!

And last but not least - my stash report!  Where did that go? Well, I found it tedious to try and figure out how much fabric I was using every week.  I stopped my wild fabric buying several months ago, I don't even look at the emails from Hancocks of Paducah or Thousands of Bolts or eQuilter (why haven't I dropped off those mailing lists??) and I think I've bought less than two dozen yards this year, so maybe the list did have some effect!  How much fabric did I use this year?  I have no idea but I know I used some, so that's a good thing!  So that's my story and I'm sticking with it!

If you had a quilting Festivus list, what would be on it??  I'd love to hear your hidden secrets!  Have a great Friday - sew forth and sew on til later!

South of Baltimore again

Yesterday I washed the Afri-scraps I picked up, to get the sizing (or whatever) out; and I even basted the smaller pieces together so they wouldn't get lost beneath the agitator.  Surprisingly, it worked out pretty good!  So now I'm good to go with my scraps.

I made another South of Baltimore block that I'll show you, but first I want to share some shots from one of my favorite movies - Karate Kid!  Little Dre had graduated from "jacket on-jacket off" and was in another training session just as I was finishing the block last night. 

Here he was kicking the bell hanging above him...

Balancing exercise...

ahhh, the limberness of youth!

the teacher...

the opponent...

and the winner!

And now my new South of Baltimore block...

I have no idea what kind of flower that is, or if it even has a name. 

I used the same layout as the first block because I found it an easy one.  The yellow is from "regular" fabric because I discovered the scrap yardage wasn't dark enough to show well against the light background.  On a dark background I'd definitely use scrap yardage because it wouldn't matter if there were lighter areas.

So that's two blocks; I might make just two more and put them together in a wall hanging set two by two.  I think I'd want the last two to be set differently though, just for variety.

Well, sew forth and sew on for now; have a great Friday!

South of Baltimore

I'm glad everybody enjoyed sharing our cookout yesterday, I wish you all could have been there with us.  Kathy, I'll be sure to sit next to you when crab-eatin' time comes  LOL.  Debbra, save the date for next year!

Lately it seems everywhere I turn I either see Baltimore album blocks or I hear someone mention Baltimore album blocks.  Since I've been playing on the 15 minute blog,  I wondered to myself, "what would scrap yardage look like in a Baltimore album block?" 

So... I drafted a Baltimore album-type block using lids from three different sized containers to draw the flowers; I thought I'd try flowers, just to see if I liked doing it.

This isn't from any special pattern, it's off the top of my head.

Then I pulled some red and green and yellow scraps and sewed together a few pieces to use for the flowers and leaves

 

I decided to use a brown rather than green fabric for the stems, for no particular reason ...



phooey, it's off-center.  oh well



I ironed fusible web onto a large piece of brown fabric and cut 1/4" strips, then fused them down on a 15-1/2" background square.

Now ... before we go any further ... I know this is not the "traditional" way to do a Baltimore album block so don't y'all get mad at me!  :O*( 

I traced the pattern pieces onto fusible web, then I pressed the fusible to the back of my scrap yardage.  I cut out the pieces and stitched them onto my background square using a raw-edge applique.

Ta-daa!  A "South of Baltimore" album block! 

This won't win any contests but I actually like the way it turned out; I'm going to try out a few more designs! 

Now that I look at it, maybe 15" is a bit large?  I wonder if I used a 12" background and made the pieces smaller...

Sew forth and sew on til later...