Economy Block and Large-Scale Fabrics

Recenlty I decided to take out and use the stash of Asian-themed fabrics I'd set aside.  Many of them are large scale, so I wanted to feature them in a large-scale block.

I'm really happy with how the blocks have turned out.  I've used up almost all of my fabrics, and this will be a throw for Michael.

I'm doing hand work these days, so I haven't sewn the blocks together yet, but they're ready for me to get the itch to sew by machine.

I paper pieced this block, which may seem silly to some, but I like the precision of paper piecing, and I enjoy the process.  I used these Lori Holt foundation papers, which come in various sizes--I've previously used smaller scale paper foundations of the same Economy Block.  I recommend them, they're easy to use and the 12" foundations offer the option to make more or fewer rounds.  And you can't beat a 12" block for a quick-to-finish block for large scale fabrics.
 

More Thrift Store Finds

I consider thrift store shopping to be a recreational activity.  There are a handful of places I stop at regularly, and sometimes I leave empty handed, but sometimes I strike gold.  I like the adventure of thrift store shopping, but I also consider keeping things out of the landfill and reusing existing items vs. always buying new to be a good ecological practice.

I recently found this charming little vase.  It's unusual, I don't think I've seen anything like it.  It seems to be of mid-century vintage, my favorite, and I love that the vase features a book, and that the woman is reading.  I keep this vase in my sewing room/ office, and I like the contemplative spirit it projects.

One of my local thrifts always has fabric--many don't carry it for some reason.  I've bought a few remnants of various fabrics there, often because they're vintage, but I recently got this major score.

I bought a jumble of fabrics in a bag for $3.49.  I recognized that they looked like fat quarters in trendy colors, but I didn't know if any had been cut into or not.

They turned out to be a pristine fat quarter bundle of Riley Blake fabrics from a few seasons ago.  I checked online, and these typically retail for about $65, so I got an amazing deal.

 This may be one of my best thrift store fabric deals of all time, and I look forward to using these bright colors in some of the baby quilts I make for donation.

Vera Neumann

 

I love all things Vera, mid-century designs by Vera Neumann, the iconic American designer.  Some people collect her scarves, but I have a weakness for her napkins. If you love her too, check out this website with many images of her fresh and modern designs.

I was so happy to run across this bundle of Vera napkins recently at the Goodwill.  I love the big orange flowers.

 

 

I put them on my design wall with a set of brown Vera napkins I already had.  Wouldn't this be a nice quilted table cover or small quilt?  On second thought, I decided to just use the napkins as they were intended.  It doesn't look like any of the orange ones have ever been used, and I think they'll look nice with my blue and white dishes.

 

This pair of napkins in my collection, on the other hand, are fraying, and I only have two.  I think they'll be a nice table runner interspersed with some small pieced blocks.  These will go into my future projects list.

Garment Sewing

 

At about the time I was thinking about sewing a few summer basics for my wardrobe, I ran across Sonya Philip's lovely book, The Act of Sewing.    This book a good introduction to garment making and includes patterns for four simple garments: pants, top, skirt, and blouse.  It also includes some great information on adjustments one can make to these garments to make them fit better, as well as to add stylistic complexity: different kinds of hems, necklines, etc.

I decided to start with the pants, which are loose-fitting and cropped. With an elastic waist and two pattern pieces, they made up quickly.  I didn't realize how much ease is built into the sizing, and next time, I'll make one size smaller.  

The cropped top was made from a silk wrap-around skirt I'd been saving for a long time. 

I centered the existing button band (more or less) on the front when I cut out the pieces.  The top is loose, though I made a smaller size than I made for the pants.  I think I'll add some darts so it's a bit more fitted, and like with the pants, I'll make a smaller one next time.

 

All in all, I scratched my itch to sew something to wear.  I don't need more garments right now, but I will turn to this book again when I decide to sew something up for myself.

Thrift Store Fabric

 

 

When I visit my parents and my sister, my sister and I usually make a thrift store run.  These days, this is both entertainment, as well as how I've expanded my wardrobe for the warmer climate where we now live. On a recent trip I picked up and put down this bag of scraps at least three times.  I reasoned that I don't need more scraps, but there's something so fun about getting NEW scraps, scraps that you don't already have a ton of.  This was a bag of VARIETY for 95 cents.  Actually, it was half price, so it was even cheaper.

 

There was a nice mix of fabrics in this bag, it was clearly from a quilter.

 In the end, I got a pile of strips for my strip blocks, a nice pile of cotton pieces, and a good sized pile of flannel pieces, that will make up at least one, maybe two baby quilt tops.  Not bad for 48 cents.  The entertainment of sorting and pressing alone was worth the price.

Mother and Child Quilt (66 x 90)

One thing I've been doing since I retired is to sew up projects I had bundled supplies for in my stash.  Most of the fabric in this twin-sized quilt top has been around for awhile.  The central Mother and Child panels came to me from Debra, (I'm pretty sure, though she doesn't remember).  I found the earth toned squares in a long-gone thrift store in the early 2000s.  They had been roughly cut, some looked to be from a garment, so I trimmed them to a uniform size at some point.  The half square triangles were mostly made up of a charm pack of Hoffman Challenge fabrics from 2007.  The fabric has history.

 

I'm very pleased with how this long-delayed project has turned out.  It will go to Debra for quilting and donation.  I feel like I got this one out of my system (and out of my fabric drawers) and that it will go out to do its good in the world.  

Note: that's blue painter's tape on the sewing machine desk.  I used it to quilt a small quilt, and now it's waiting for the next project.

English Paper Piecing

 

 

 When I retired I had visions of myself relaxing with some hand stitching, so I treated myself to a kit for Tula Nova by Tula Pink, who designs English Paper Piecing patterns.  Tula Pink also designs fabric, and one can see many versions of her patterns using her fabrics on Instagram.  I however, decided to use this pattern as a way to feature my collection of Mexican themed fabrics that I've collected over the years.

 

Several rounds in, I'm enjoying this project.  The last time I did English Paper Piecing, I made my own papers and stitch basted the fabric.  Now, kits come with die-cut papers, and each piece is glue basted, so it goes much faster.  Getting a thin thread makes one's stitches almost invisible.  Check out the vintage juicer I use to hold my threads, it makes me smile every time I look at it.

EPP is not very complicated, and I got a lot of tips from Tula Pink's YouTube videos.  When I want to feel especially retired, I sit in my armchair and stitch a few seams.
 

Table Toppers

Table runners are great stash busters.  They use up not just scrap fabric, but also scraps of batting.

I used up some of my favorite scraps on this runner, and set them in my favorite scrappy block.

The one is the perfect size for my kitchen table.

I had some leftover blocks and a really nice piece of home dec fabric for this longer table runner.

I just alternated leftover blocks in a long row. 

I'd been saving an old seed catalogue with historical illustrations for the longest time, and it came in handy when I decopaged the top of this small side table.

It lives next to the chair where I read, knit, and watch movies with my eyes closed in the afternoons.

 Smokey the cat is a living and breathing table topper.  This is one of her favorite places to hang out.

In the Scrap Pile

 

 

I've been making more baby and children's quilts for donation.  I was cleaning up some scraps and started cutting odds and ends into 2 x 3.5" pieces, which make nice leaders and enders when you're sewing up other projects.  Just pair these pieces randomly and soon you have a nice pile that can be made into a quilt.

It's the perfect mindless sewing: very meditative.

This next quilt began as a test block.  The big 20" stars are made from 5" half-square triangles, and squares were culled from the scrap drawer.  A friend gave me several yards of the navy border fabric, which has come in handy for unifying scrappy quilts.

You can't get any simpler than strip piecing.  I culled  primary-colored fabrics from my stash, cut them into width-of-fabric strips, and sewed them together with the same navy border.  This one sewed up in a flash.

Some of these quilts will be quilted using flannel for the batting and/or backing, and some will be quilted to fleece remnants, which makes them extra-cuddly.

  

As an alternative to sitting at the sewing machine, I crocheted this baby blanket from bright yarn left over from another project.  

 This knitted baby blanket was the result of my effort to use up some dusty pink yarn that the same friend gave me who gave me the navy fabric.  It's not my favorite color to work with, but combining it with a darker color made a nice blanket I think.

My box of baby blankets is now stuffed to bursting and will be sent off soon to Pine Ridge.  I feel the seasons beginning to change here in my area, so they'll arrive in good time.

Fresh Ironing Board Covers

My ironing board cover was looking pretty terrible, so I recovered it.

I used this funny vintage fabric, a package of double fold bias tape,  and this YouTube tutorial.   It makes ironing much more pleasant. 

While I was at it, I also recovered the ironing pad I keep next to my sewing machine.

I covered it with another piece of vintage fabric by just folding it over to the back side and taping it down with blue painter's tape.

It's amazing the things that will give you a fresh lease on life.

Zippered Bags

A friend recently gave me a shopping bag full of home dec samples.  They turned out to be the perfect size for some small zippered bags.  I had a small stash of thrift store zippers, and armed with some on-line tutorials, I made up a few bags.

I used some of these on-line tutorials:  Jedi Craft Girl's My Favorite Zipper Pouch, The Sewing Loft's Zipper Tab Tutorial, and the Fat Quarter Shop's video tutorial on making a simple bag.

Since home dec fabrics are heavier than conventional fabrics, there's no need to add a batting or liner.  The two layers of fabric create a substantial bag and it was fun to mix and match the fabrics. 

Pillow Talk

I took the house blocks I'd recently made and sewed them into a pillow.  It feels good to be finished with these blocks.  

Continuing with the house theme, I sewed up another pillow with a piece of machine embroidery from Debra, and various home dec fabrics.

These make a nice group on one end of the day bed in my sewing room.

I got pillows for the other end of the day bed from this huipil--a traditional Mexican embroidered tunic--given to me by my friend Maria.  She loved this huipil and wore it until there were threadbare spots in the loose-weave cotton.

I did some very basic repairs on some of the holes, zig-zaging over the frayed edges and backing the fragile fabric with some white cotton.  Then I fussy cut some pillows from the fabric.

One of the small pillows is for Maria, as a thank you for sharing this beautiful embroidered fabric.

All of these pillows are backed with the banded portions of the fabric, and I have some pieces left over--maybe for some zippered bags.