Rekindling the fire

 After wrestling my last quilt through my domestic machine, binding it, and giving it away, I kinda lost my mojo. 

Bonnie Hunter's 2018 Leader & Ender "Jewel Box Stars" with sashing and cornerstones

The quilting is pretty minimal - just in the ditch around all the sashing and

 diagonally through the stars - but I couldn't handle anything more on my machine.

I haven't turned on my sewing machine in three weeks!  But then Facebook notified me about an event that might interest me (I find the algorithms and the tracking of my information unsettling, but this time it was helpful) - a Free Materials Swap sponsored by a fiber-lovers group in a nearby town.  

Free fiber???  And a chance to clean out some of the things I have that I probably will never use??  Yesterday I packed two large tote bags with novelty fabric and some flannels and some yarn that was languishing in my stash, took the top off my Jeep, and set off for parts unknown under a bright blue late spring sky.

What a lovely way to spend the afternoon!  I brought back one tote bag full of goodies with NO GUILT since I had given away twice that much AND I didn't spend a dime!

First, I got some fabric.  My goal was to seek out neutrals in particular, scraps that caught my eye in general (yes, my scrap bin is still full, but I feel like I've seen and used all of those fabrics recently).  Check out my haul!

Then, I snatched up some yarn: a sweater quantity of this rich purple bulky yarn (mystery fiber content, but definitely wool, possibly with some mohair mixed in):

700 grams!!

And a couple singletons that I just couldn't pass up:

Madeleine Tosh Lace!!

Not sure what this is, but it is so soft and orange is my favorite color.  If I had to guess, I'd say it is llama.

Can you tell that I'm an autumn?  These are my colors all wrapped up together!!

I'm proud of myself for my restraint because there was SO MUCH great stuff there.  One of the organizers kept saying, "Err on the side of GREED, we don't want leftovers!"😂

On top of that, going through my stash for things to get rid of also prompted me to add more destash fabric and yarn to my ETSY shop.

Something about reorganizing puts me in the mood to CREATE, so I plan to sew tonight once my meetings are over.

Oh, and the cherry on top - one of the organizers owns a studio nearby where they rent longarm time.  I've been looking for an opportunity to try quilting my own quilts on a longarm since I have SO MANY TOPS that need quilting and I much prefer hand quilting over my feeble efforts to machine quilt on my domestic machine.  I'm going to start with this 70" square Star Sampler quilt top that I made as a class sample years ago.  A friend is getting married this summer, and I am hoping to give this to her as a snuggle quilt.

Kinda looks dingy in this lighting, but the background is a soft gray Kona solid

I am linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Mixing and matching

After shipping off a bunch of orphan blocks and making progress cutting up and stitching up my scraps, I feel like I'm on a roll!  I'm loving the way the Modified Rail Fence is looking (I need a name, maybe Barbed Wire Fence?)

And the making the little 4-patches in a square is eating through the 2" squares that I am cutting from my scraps.

And while clearing out some orphan blocks, I came across the extra border blocks I had from when I did Sew Many Strips.  I loved that border, and I've been cutting 1.5" strips, so I thought, "hey, maybe I can use this as a border for one of my current projects..."  I auditioned it with my 4-patches in a square, and I like it!

I mailed off the completed X-Pop quilt to the baby who was born just about a month ago.  Simple, straight-line quilting and a batik backing.  I'm sorry to see this one go...but I think I say that about all the baby quilts I make.  I hope the recipient family likes it and uses it.  

There are two more babies on the way this summer - what to make next???  Maybe something like these bright, fun, bear paw blocks I made for my April Bee Blocks?

My quilty guilt - quilt blocks for charity quilts

 OK, I have to get something off of my chest.  Back in November 2012, I was inspired to make quilts for those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.  I asked if folks who read my blog wanted to help, and boy oh boy, what a response! Hundreds and hundreds of quilt blocks poured in from around the globe for months and we ended up donating more than 50 quilts.  And then I ran out of steam.  I eventually forgave myself for giving up - we all have our limits - but the problem was that I still had donated quilt blocks left.  What to do with those?  People donated them with the understanding that they would be made into quilts to give to those in need.  I tucked them away while I pondered what to do with them...

And then I came across them again while looking for the Block Lotto blocks that I gave away in the Quilty Orphan Adoption event last week.  I feel so guilty that they never became quilts to comfort those who were going through rough times.

But then I thought of all of you who threw your name in the hat for the Block Lotto blocks and all the charity sewing you do, and thought, hey, maybe I should offer the blocks to some of you doing charity work so that YOU can sew them into quilts to give to those in need.  That way, they'll be used in the spirit in which they were given.  Are you game?  

If you want a set or two (or three, or more) of blocks to make quilts for charity in the US, let me know below.  I'm trying to do some clearing out this week before school starts back again on Monday, so let me know in a comment 1) which set(s) of blocks you are interested in - don't be shy, if you are interested in all of them, just say so, I want them to go to someone! and 2) which charity you would be sewing for.  (if you are a no-reply blogger, please include an email address so I can contact you).  If more than one person is interested in a set, I'll let Random Number Generator decide who gets each set on Friday morning with the goal of all sets hopefully being mailed out by Saturday at the latest.  I am happy to mail multiple sets to each interested person.  Maybe then I can absolve myself of the lingering guilt over these unused blocks!

(Please know that with very few exceptions, I did not make these blocks so I cannot attest to their workmanship or fiber content.  I can tell you that they have been in a smoke-free, dog-friendly home these past nine years.  Please also know that I am not going to press the blocks before mailing - that is A LOT of pressing!  And I'm only willing to mail to the US as this will add up to quite a bit of postage as it is.)

Set A: Eighteen 12.5" solid sampler blocks

Set B: Thirteen 12.5" Black and White Sampler Blocks

Set C: Ten 12.5" Autumn Sampler Blocks

Set D: Thirteen 10" x 11.5" Pastel Stack & Whack Style Star Blocks

Set E: Six 13" Scrappy Orange, Blue and White Blocks (actually found these in a box of scraps I received this year)

Set F: Six 12.5" Green & White (& Pink) Star Sampler Blocks (not donated, but made by me as I was playing with ideas for a class I taught at my shop years ago)

Set G: Eight 12.5" Sampler Blocks that all include the same multicolor leafy print (not donated, but blocks I won as part of a challenge my guild had many years ago)

Set H: Nineteen 6.5" x 8" Green, Yellow & Beige Delectable Mountains Blocks

Set I: Sixteen Identical 8" Two-Fabric 16-Patch Blocks

Set J: Ten 9.5" Scrappy Nine-Patches

Set K: Forty 4.5" Scrappy Blocks (22 of the Green & Cream, 18 of the ones with black corners)

Set L: Fourteen 12.5" Scrappy Nine-Patches

Set M: The Motherlode!!  One Hundred & Two 12.5" Disappearing Nine-Patches (NOT all the same size or cut the same - this was the block I chose for the Hurricane Sandy Quilts I made and these are the leftover blocks after making dozens of quilts from these blocks)

Let's cover some folks with some quilty love, shall we?

It's been five years...quilt blocks up for adoption

 Edited 3/23: The Random Number Generator chose #1, so I have emailed the first commenter for a mailing address.

I used to participate in the now-defunct Block Lotto, and loved making new blocks every month.  I even won once or twice!  Five years ago I won some blue and purple Birds In The Air blocks, but never got around to putting them together.  Probably because blues and purples just don't inspire me (I'm an autumn).  Anyway, it is time to let them go.  

These are just up on my design wall, not sewn together

These are the nine blocks I made - the rest came from other quilters

Leave a comment if you are interested in adopting these 50 6-inch blocks.  If more than one person expresses an interest by noon EST on Monday, March 22, then I will choose a winner by Random Number Generator.  I will ship to US and Canada.  Please include your email address if you are a no-reply blogger.  

I am linking up with Cynthia's Quilty Orphan Adoption Event.

Just five more days...

 Just five more days until spring break...I can make it!  I am tuckered out and in desperate need of a break!  I didn't sew nearly as much as I had hoped this week, but I did manage to finish my March Bee Blocks 

as I made some progress with the scrap pile.  Of course, the bag doesn't look any less full, but I've cut quite a few more block components for my various projects.  I think I'll pin pieces together so when I have a few minutes here and there this week I can get some blocks sewn up.  I'm the type who usually just cuts the pieces for one block, then sews them together, rinse, repeat, not the type to cut out a whole quilt and then sew it all together, so having a bunch of pieces cut already is novel to me.  If I sew up everything I have cut out already, that's quite a few more blocks to add.  We'll see!

In other crafting news, I belong to a Buy Nothing Facebook group, and look at what I scored this weekend!  I tied a quilt some years back with buttons, and have been itching to do that again, so I was keen to get more buttons, but some of these buttons really make me want to knit up a garment to feature them.

Some of my favorites:

I love big buttons on hand knits

I can see this holding a cape closed at the throat

I'm ready to knit up a cabled cardigan just to use these beauties!

Can you say baby sweater??

And who is this cute little critter?  Reminds me of a Sandra Boynton character...

So retro! I see another cardigan in my future.

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.

Sew the Scrap out of March!

 Um, what happened to February?  How did I not post even once during that long, dreary month??  I certainly did some sewing - look what I finished last night?

I think I'm going to call it X-Pop

I love it!  It still needs quilting and binding, but at 36" square, that won't take long.  The baby recipient is due to make his/her/their entrance into the world any day now.

Anyway, I'm joining up with Tea & Brie for her National Quilt Month Scrap Challenge, Sew the Scrap out of March!

I dumped out my bag of scraps...

Size 7.5 foot for scale (and handknit socks!)

My goal this month is to make this pile disappear!  More than sew the scrap out of March, I want to CUT it!  The plan is to cut the scraps to the appropriate size for some of my current projects:

Scrappy Trips for the long strips

                                           

My Barbed Rail Fence is growing - uses shorter & skinnier strips and all those corner cut-offs

No name yet for my 2020 Scrap Buster Challenge Quilt, but these blocks can be cut from chunky scraps

I just added this project to my current scrappy projects in an attempt to use some of the tan/beige/tea colored scraps I have.  I LOVE the look so far.

For the 2" squares

In addition to cutting scraps for particular projects, I will also cut my precut scrap sizes to add to those bins.  My scraps are so much tidier when they are cut to size than when they are crammed in that bag!  And I love just pulling out some precut scraps and sewing - immediate gratification!

I'm linking up with Oh, Scrap and Monday Making.

Black and White

 I just found out a co-worker is expecting their first baby.  You know what that means, right?  Yup, dropped everything else and started a baby quilt!  Inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest, I got my first nine blocks sewn up today.  Blocks are 6.5" unfinished.  I don't think I'm going to add a border, so this will likely end up around 36" square.

Working on this also made it easy to complete a black block for my scrappy bear claw quilt.

In other sewing news, I also sewed two buttons on today.  I've been putting it off forever (literally for years with the pajama top) and it only took about seven minutes.  Why do I hate mending so much?

Yesterday and I finished knitting my first mitten and made sure to cast on the second right away.

And since it has been so cold, I curled up on the couch to continue hand quilting this Starburst quilt so the quilt could warm me while I worked.  I have yellow, pink and blue finished with purple, green, red and orange left to go.

It looks like we are about to get more snow, but since we are a boarding school, there's no chance of a snow day.  Oh well, I'm just not ready for this crafty weekend to end!

I'm linking up with Oh Scrap and Monday Making.