Friday, July 29, 2016

Pink and Scrappy

With just a day before the deadline of ScrapHappy Saturday with superscrappy.blogspot.com, I completed my summer haitus quilted wall hanging. The goal was to use up hot pink and mint green scraps. I am also linking up with crazymomquilts.blogspot.com for Finish It Up Friday.  I made enough squares for a quilt but I wanted to keep this project manageable. I have a fabric wall in my cubicle, easy enough to pin up this piece to brighten things up.

Since this is a project for my own enjoyment, I used appliques, one being a poodle patch I have kept from a childhood bathrobe pocket. I needed a break from Christmas in July projects that utilize darker holiday fabrics.

I stitched in the ditch with the walking foot using pink and mint green thread. The pale pink bee border showed up much better as a border than as a binding. The bees got lost in a baby quilt I bound it in that fabric. Since we are on the subject of Pink, I am linking up with Beverly at howsweetthesound for her:
Pattern of the Day features a pink suit from 1955.
Hospice thrift shop finds meant I spent way too much money but you have got to grab the items when they appear.
Just could - not - resist this Park House pin. It will reside on my wall hanging. It has a theme of white flower appliques throughout.
$15 for the souvenir plates, basket, book, doll and jar. Look for Steampunk Suzy to be transformed in the near future.
After I found the Knott's Berry Farm souvenir plate, I thought wouldn't it be nice to have a Disneyland one too? Hospice thrift about 30 miles away had just the right one.


Sometimes your wishes come true when you travel to the Great Thrift Shop Beyond.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Alice has gone Steampunk for the Mad Tea Party 2016

It has been a couple of years since I participated in the Mad Tea Party hosted by Vanessa over at http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/.  This hop is loosely based on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
This here is a story about a doll named Alice. She made a journey from the land of shopgoodwill.com but she got lost in transit. (sung to the Brady Bunch theme song). She showed up the day before the Mad Tea Party.
Effanbee had been waiting for Alice.

But Alice had fallen down the rabbit hole again and this time she went steampunk. Effanbee went to look for her friend Alice and she went steampunk too!


When they both returned to the Mad Tea Party, there was homemade strawberry rhubarb pie waiting for them.
Link to 2013 submission and my late submission 2012 edition.  Each year there are some amazing fantastical tea partiers.  Look in the comments section and the sidebar of the blog host to visit those participating.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Summer Sensations blog hop

Summer Dolly Quilt project

Front and back, measures 21" x 21"
In my quest to find summer blog hops, I stumbled onto a blog by Marian at seamstobesew.com hailing from Italy (first quilting blogger I have "met" from that country) who is hosting:

The rules for the hop are -

You must make something new. No old projects or previous projects. If you have a UFO that needs finishing that fits the bill, that’s fine, but please make something new.
Keep it small and fast to put together. In the summer time, most people want to be outdoors, but still like to get in a bit of sewing time. So make us something that you would use during the summer, whether it’s a picnic basket ruffle, cover, picnic items, baskets, placemats.


The schedule for Summer Sensations…



July 21
July 22
July 25
July 26



I chose to make a summer dolly quilt to fit in perfectly for the upcoming Mad Tea Party post (see badge on my sidebar). These remnants were in a bag of thrifted material I believe were combined for a banner. To be able to repurpose someone else's partially completed project is so rewarding.
Here I have organized the fabric. The strips were sewn together for the binding. I cut 4-1/2" by whatevers strips for the quilt. I decided not to OCD-it by fixing the sizing of the units from the fabric pieces that were previously sewn together. This was a quick and easy project I completed, including French binding, one late afternoon.

Sometimes less is more and a simple patchwork will do. I was inspired by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts with her a-simple-summer-quilt. Since this qualifies as a "finish" I am linking up with her Finish It Up Friday. I guess this type of project is also called a "mini" so I also linked up with Kelly at myquiltinfatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday.

Last weekend hospice thrifting meant snagging this $1.50 mystery bag of fabric remnants.


And what a nice surprise, some pieces that could easily be the major part of a quilt. I will finish those squares and give them a new life.




Part of this hop is a giveaway - the prize is a $25.00 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop
Each giveaway starts at midnight of the day it's featured and ends at 11:59 pm of the same day.
All giveaways are during the Easter Standard Time Zone.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posting a Pattern of the Day from 1954, a romper for this Summer Sensations blog hop!
Hoping you are having a Sensational Summer!

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Upcoming hops and events

I am part of the Pokémon Go crowd - well, not so involved that I stampede in Central Park to catch a Vaporeon (players of the game know what I am referring to), link to that video. I walk during my lunch hour and this game fits in perfectly with that activity.


I will be featuring a small sewing project on Friday's post, but in the meantime, if you are so inclined, here is the schedule of upcoming Summer Sensation hoppers:


July 21
July 22
July 25
July 26


In between that sewing, quilting crowd is the 2016 Mad Tea Party on Saturday, July 23rd, that I have linked up with after a two-year hiatus. The hostess has the most fantastical garden and fantasy-like creations - you won't want to miss her and all those that have linked up at afancifultwist.typepad.com.


Fashion linkups will resume when our weather is not so blasted hot. It is no fun layering on the clothes in this type of heat ~

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Got myself in a blogspat

In my enthusiasm to share my latest quilting project, seems I violated an unwritten blog hop rule of placing a linkback in a comment.  A blogger, who shall remain unnamed, emailed me that she was none too happy "but let it slide" until she saw I had done the same with others in the hop. My comments were deleted as inappropriate, taking away the other bloggers' moment in the sun.

Admittedly, this is not my first blogspat. A few years ago I accidentally linked up with a romance writer's group. Rather than embrace that I was someone outside of their circle, I was roundly "kicked out" of the hop.

One of the reasons I note "making mischief whenever I can" under my description. Seems I can't avoid getting myself into trouble.

Another unwritten blog hop rule for some are only linking to that hop and not combining hops.  You won't know you are in the wrong until you receive a strongly-worded email from a bloggess.

Thankfully, the fashion blogging group are not so, shall we say anal about the rules (or lack thereof).

Hope I haven't turned the entire quilt blogging community against  me, I don't want to have to go quilting rouge ...

Morale of the story, be careful of who, what and where you decide to link up with, blogspats are never any fun.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Christmas Quilt with Cardinal Cornerstones

What do quilters do when it is 100 degrees in the summer? They make quilt blocks (at least that is what I do) with the goal of making as many gift quilts as possible. This is the fun part - the piecework and constructing the quilt tops. This one will be a keeper and act as my template. Scheduled for a third quarter finish, #FALQ3TamiVonZalez.

I so loved the look of cornerstones in my last quilt, I wanted to do it again. I had just enough material for the bulb and wreath borders that came in a mystery bag of thrifted Christmas material I purchased earlier in the month.

I have been loosely following the Down Memory Lane pattern shown at the open book. The fabric to the right of the book are the beginnings of the outer borders.


This was the first layout testing the pattern. I had only completed 12 blocks at this stage (at the end of the 4th of July weekend). I purchased retail the cardinal remnant and brown/burgundy fabric for the sashing.
Thrifting over the 4th of July weekend produced this $6 thrifted lot with a Canada souvenir plate and some fabric remnants. 
My souvenir plate wall is coming along. I am buying plates of locations that have significance or where I have previously visited.
When I said I was using the fabric for quilting, one thrift store employee mentioned that a couple had come into the shop and the husband was complaining that his wife spent over $200 a month on retail fabric for her quilts and she was going to have to curtail that activity after her retirement. While I adore retail fabric, it is just not an option for me and the majority of my projects. I will supplement my stash with fabric on sale and retail material for quilt backings.

I have changed my comment settings, hoping it will be easier for those who stop by. 

Linking up with the following:
shecanquilt for Scraptastic Tuesday and 2016 Finish-A-Long and crazymomquilts for Finish It Up Friday.
Ending with touch of retro Christmas


As an aside, I have been nominated again this year as Best Local Sacramento blogger - please vote for me! #SacAList






Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Let's talk uglies

The uglies I am referring to are the fabrics that are, well, just plain ugly. I recently organized my fabric remnants by color and got rid of my uglies - sent to the Great Thrift Shop Beyond.

I am certain other quilters/fabric artists do this. I mean you can only hide so much of the uglies scrapping them out. Here is a perfect example of what I consider to be uglies offered through shopgoodwill.com. That poppy fabric I think is the best of the bunch, but the rest - uglies.




If you have any blog hops or challenges planned, please leave a comment with the info or email me at tvonzalez at gmail.com.

Ending the post with baby doll mugshots, tore up 1 and tore up 2. Both inmates at shopgoodwill.com. (Yes, I spend way too much time on that website.)