Scrappy Finish

Remember when I talked about cleaning up my scrap bins? I threw all the strings into a pile, and since I did the bins by color, the strings were by color. Then I made these:

I had one in each color of the rainbow. Yellow and blue were the largest ones. I wanted to crochet a rug in rainbow order. So I did.

 This is a pattern if you will, from Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. It is crocheted wit a really large hook. She also does one that it knitted on really large needles. The strings need to be three quarters of an inch wide, up to one and a quarter inch wide.

 It is fast and easy to make, this one took me about 5 evenings to crochet. All the details of how to do it are on Amanda Jean's blog.

 I love the colors and how bright they look. This is the best use of strings, I think. Not a smidge is wasted and who doesn't need a throw rug somewhere in their house?

 Some of the fabric strings in this I have had languishing for over 15 years! I am so glad these last bits of some of my earliest quilts have found a home at last.

If you have lots of strings, consider making a rug. The ease and quickness of construction is very rewarding. Have a great weekend. Linking up with Finish It Friday.

...So Eight Years Later...a Finish

I started this quilt about 8 years ago. The first two grandsons were toddlers and I thought it would be great to have a fun quilt we could spread out for picnics or on the floor to play. I got it pieced pretty quickly but then I lost interest, got busy, moved on to other projects. I pulled it out a couple of years ago along with some other long time tops that needed quilting and finally now it is done.

 I chose all these fruit prints and seed packet prints. I thought it was so summery. I loved the bright colors and decited to surround it with black. Not sure why, but it does make it pop.

I think this is where I got stuck. I couldn't figure out a backing or how to quilt it, so I quit. But last week I decided it was time to just get it done! So there was one two yard piece of fabric in my stash that I could not figure out how to use:

V and I did some tie dye a few years ago and I dyed a piece of Kona white. I loved how it turned out, but never knew quite what to do with it. Until now. It looks amazing. The pictures don't really show how vibrant the colors are. It is such a happy fun fabric.

 Have you ever wondered what tie dyed fabric looks like as a binding? So cool, right?

       Now I'm not sure which side of this I like best. It's like having two quilts in one.

I was going to give this to one of the grand kids, but I think I'm going to hang onto it for awhile. And for now, it is on the back of granddaddy's chair and it looks quite at home there. See you soon.

Possible Stolen Quilt

Please, if you see this, share with anyone who you can share with. I made a quilt for my sister a number of years ago. When she passed away a year and a half ago, her husband told my other sister that he would let her have the quilt after he had passed away. He died last December. The executor of the estate has been unable to locate the quilt in the house. That quilt was never off their bed from the day they received it. I know he did not get rid of it, as it was so much my sister. She helped to design it and approved each and every fabric I used.  He also loved it. I am certain he would not have let go of it. I am posting photos of the quilt here. It had a label on it.  The label is hand written, but could have easily been cut off. This is a King size quilt, so quite large. If anyone sees it, I would love to know. It is very distinctive. Missing in the Alpine California area, near San Diego.

I would love to recover this quilt for the family. If you have any ideas for other avenues of recovery, please let me know. My family is heartbroken. Thank you.

What I've Been Doing Lately

I know I don't post much. I am doing lots of sewing, but it takes so much time to photograph stuff and then edit it and write a post. I mean to show everything here on my blog, but then, somehow, I just don't. So here is an update of some goings on lately.

 So there is the scrap bin cleaning project. I have now done all but one of my scrap bins. I cut all scraps to usable sizes and threw away the rest. I only kept a very few small scraps of special stuff in each color bin.

 Before I began, all the bins looked like this one with whites and creams in it. I am so happy to see the progress in this. So far I think it has been 3 weeks in the making. Almost done.

 An upshot of this project is all the strings that are 2 inches or less being cut to one inch size and made into balls of "yarn" for my crocheted rug project. I have made a couple of these from the   Crazy Mom Quilts tutorial. They are fast and fun and use lots of strips that would otherwise be trash. I did throw away a lot of s(crap) also, just straight into the trash.

In between all this cutting and winding I have done some sewing as well. Here is a look at some of that:

 These sweet popsicles are going to be a table runner. I got this pattern from the Fresh Figs site. I don't often buy patterns, but something about this just grabbed me.

 I used only fabric from my stash for these. There are 11 popsicles in all. Just need a backing and to quilt it now. Maybe on my next day off.

Then there is this. I got the pattern for this block from the Fat Quarter Shop blog for free. I found it to be a perfect show case for my Sarah Jane fabrics . Many, but not all are included here and the bigger chunks will be pieced into a back. Still need to make sashing and get it all together.

Then there are these. These are in house printed fabrics from Hawthorne threads. Their designs and digitally printed. I have never purchased this type of fabric before, but the designs were so sweet.

 I got them and they were all printed on two large pieces of fabric. I cut them apart and washed them according to directions. They are a high thread count fabric, and they are quite stiff, even after being washed.

I love the colors and the designs, but I am used to a much softer fabric. I am not sure how much I like these or what they will be used for. Have you ever had anything like these? What did you think of them? Do they soften with time?
Well, that's it for today. Talk to you soon.