Frugal ~

My head is out of the clouds, for now and I am back to a somewhat normal routine. You know the one, sew, sew ,sew, maybe a little housework, squirrel, back to sew. Oh yea, I forgot about the important one on the minds of my family, 'what's for dinner' because fabric doesn't taste good. But it sure does look good.

Some may call it obsessed, I call it frugal. Okay, obsessed. I have not gotten tired of a single scrap of Liberty fabric. I have my HST's on top for the Liberty Stars quilt, bookmarks backed with used color catchers (I knew I kept them around for a reason), a passport pouch and the triple-zip pouch. I have a little pile of scraps for more little things. Luggage tag!

What is even nicer is that when I look at my collection I am constantly reminded of all the good times. I see the crafty people who lend me a zipper, the trips we have taken as a guild and laughed at each others shopping pile and not to be forgotten the talented quilters who share their tutorials. 

I am sure we could do it alone but what fun would that be? 

Liberty accessories ~

Getting ready for a trip abroad and I thought a few accessories might be in order ~

First I made a triple-zip pouch from a great tutorial by A Quilter's Table made in Liberty loveliness. I finished it using the alternate ending seen here. It is very roomy and perfect for keeping different currencies separated. Or so I think

My second project, which is ready to stitch, is the passport pouch. Also in Liberty, see a trend?

And I will be making a few bookmarks from the scraps as thank-you gifts thanks to a crafty fellow quilter from the guild.

I have lovingly been called crazy, brave and intrepid. All of which are true. You see I am taking a trip to an island in the middle of the Irish Sea. The owner of one of the places I will be staying said in an e-mail that the "daffodils are ready to bloom in the hedgerows and the lambing has started." Beautiful ~

My journey continues, through sewing, genealogy and a little self-discovery

My to do list ~

is always changing. I think I have firmed it up and serendipitous moments occur. So I take a happy little detour. 

Besides all the daily chores and getting children from A to B and back again, I had planned to make progress on projects that have been put on the back burner, so to speak. My 2014 was going to be no different that 2013. When on Tuesday, February 4th, I Google searched my husband's unusual last name and the country to see if there was any truth to the family having changed the spelling after coming to America and any other information I might find. Within the next 48 hours we found out that his name is from a tiny island, we have a relative still living there and more importantly relatives in the US and Australia. This is all possible because of one person who was curious enough to research her family. I love genealogy. And it is my pleasure to share the pictures and stories of my husband's branch of the family with the researcher who has written several biographies. One more little piece of the big puzzle.

Liberty of London loveliness

Just as exciting is that I will be taking a little trip. Now I have two more sewing projects on my to-do list. First is the triple zip pouch. I think this will be great for keeping track of the different currency I will be using. And, not pictured here, I will be making a passport pouch by Michelle Patterns. I will have to learn to insert a magnetic snap.

Bloomsbury and Stile collections

And not forgotten is my Liberty Stars quilt. The stars are done and I have filled the tray with the squares for half-square triangles. 270 to be exact. I need to start reading the patterns before I begin and pay close attention to the numbers of things!

These are all the little trimmings from the stars. Sewn together, chain stitched, ready to iron. 272, 1-3/4" squares to be arranged for the back of the quilt. I won't think about that now.

More adventures in sewing and travel on the horizon

caution...9 year old sewing ~

 

 

 

 

From the book , Sunday Morning Quilts, darling daughter #4 has decided to stitch up the quilt Scrapper's Delight. I thought that this would be a good first project because it is not so important to have a perfect seam allowance. We lay out the fabrics in the color order that appeals to her, iron each strip and on her cute Hello Kitty sewing machine she stitches away. Fatigue was setting in. We soon realized that the reason it was taking so long to reach the 12-1/2" square size was because of the widths of the strips. We began using wider fabric strips and were done in no time.

 Our goal is to make one a day while she is on Easter Break. 

WIP ~ Wednesday

our entry way table

Christmas tree skirt

 

My eleventh hour Christmas tree skirt and table runner of sorts. Oh the last minute projects that come up when a darling husband says "Can't you just....". Well yes I can but the housework must be put on hold ~

WIP ~

layout ~ using Modern Workshop Scraps

Little Leaves ~ completed

 Who runs out of thread?
Answer....me!

While stitching the panels of 'Little Leaves' no less. I need a stash of thread so this never happens again. But today, it is no longer a WIP but a FIW...just being weird. 

The scraps in the first picture are definitely a WIP. These are the leftover strips from the Modern Workshop quilt that I have trimmed down, arranged into 9 patch squares and 4 patch squares. It looks like a mess but hopefully it will be my FIF. The dog has nicely tiptoed around the layout, good dog, because typically he lays or walks right through.

Need to play around with my Juki because these quilts will be my practice 'canvases' for learning free-hand motion quilting.

 Wish me luck.

Finishing it Friday ~

leftover strips from Modern Workshop quilt

9 patch square

cutting

assembled

layout and ideas sketch
inspiration from Pleasant Home

strips cut for 4-square

piles to stitch

I feel like a clever little bunny. Rubbing two brain cells together I figured out a way I could use my never-ending scraps from my Tea with the Queen fat quarter set I purchased from Alewives so long ago. Yes, I am officially done with this set of fabric, after I complete this top or back, I am giving the rest away! But I thought I would share how I figured it out with the inspiration coming from Pleasant Home's blog. I looked to see if it was a pattern to be purchased and haven't found anything in my search. I do not want to step on any toes. The Modern Workshop Quilt was a free pattern. The strips that were leftover were 2.5 wide and the square attached to the white strip is 2.5 square.

So in brief ~

 For the 9 patch ~ using 5 of the strips, I cut down 4 strips so that the white strip now measures 2.5. I used a seam ripper to remove one print square from the 5th white strip and stitched it to one of the 4 print/white strips. Save the white...maybe it can be used. Then arrange 3 of the print/white strips so that you have a print that will wind up in the center. Then stitch the print/white/print to the 3 stitched print/white rectangle...so confusing. Please lay out before beginning and it will all make sense. For my purposes I set aside 60 strips for the 12- 9 patch squares.

Using the remaining strips for the 4 patch squares ~ This also required some mental math. I kept looking at my graph to figure out the best way to arrange and cut the remaining strips. So what I came up with is that half of the remaining strips I cut so that the white was 2.5 and the other were cut down to 4.5. The only fabric I am missing will the be 8-2.5 by 6.5 white pieces for the sides and 8- 4.5 by 6.5 for connecting the 9 patch squares. I am looking for my stash of white. I know it is here somewhere. 

So my finished Friday is that I finished figuring it all out. If this is a pattern for purchase please let me know.

I will be taking this project to the San Diego Modern Quilt sewing day...so Maybe Monday

Have a great cool weekend

It will be rather hot here in So Cal. It is the never-ending summer

in progress ~

Potholders for my kitchen ~

As I was making the bias tape for the potholders, I was remembering a tutorial on Polly Danger's blog. I was reading all about applying bias tape, I noticed the foot of her sewing machine. I started digging around in my attachments and reading through my instruction book. A wealth of information and tools just under my nose. Literally! I am going to try out the satin stitch foot and see how everything turns out.

Need to make or buy bias tape for these potholders. I just love barkcloth. I know the purple and the tropical don't go together. The potholders with the birds were a project from over a year ago that I want to finish. I will stitch them up and hold on to them. I know they will find a good home.

Using scraps from my Montana quilt or rather BFF from the quilting book Four-Patch Frolic I am throwing together an impromptu quilt. I had purchased fat quarters from a little fabric shop in Montana and still have plenty leftover. Perhaps this will become the backing for the BFF? Trying to arrange the squares in a random pattern is difficult for me. I keep seeing patterns. ugh

                                              

The kids are off having fun and I am puttering around the house doing a little of this and a little of that with no interruptions. And...it is amazing how the house stays clean. Only today and tomorrow and then they all come home. School starts next week, we have a short summer vacation from school and my darling husband and I commented that we have had so much fun this summer with family and friends. Hope you have too!