Quilty Orphan Adoption

The 2019 Quilty Orphan Adoption event is in full swing over at quiltingismorefunthanhousework. I think this might be my third year participating. Since I am routinely gifted by the thrift gods of wonderful fabric remnants and partially completed quilt blocks, I want to share the love. 

Here are some more details:

1.  I am going to ask that any "orphan" linked up must be given away for free.  (If you are wanting to destash for money, there are other venues to do that on.)  I think it is fair that if you need to, you can ask that shipping costs be paid.  Just be sure and put that information clearly in your post.  And know that both parties enter into the deal at their own risk.  I hold no responsibility.

2. Have clear pictures and descriptions on what you are putting up for adoption.

3. Define the criteria for how you will decide who will adopt the item.  Is it a random number giveaway, do you only want it to go to charity, or is there some other criteria that needs to be met?

4.  Be sure and identify where you are located and where you are willing to ship to.

5. Define how long you are keeping the adoption open and when you expect to award the adoption.

6. Remember to link back to my blog so your readers can see what else is being offered.  And feel free to grab a button!

I have two orphan sets to put up for adoption, free to U.S. residents only.  First to comment with their choice of orphan set AND one fact (About Me), wins. You MUST leave your email address in the comment, as I cannot reply to comments on my blog.  Adoption closes on Sunday, March 24th. (Sorry for the short notice). I will email adopters for mailing information. 

Orphan Set #1 - Giveaway closed, awarded to Sharon Sauser. 

This is a pretty set of fat quarters, 10 prints in all, I believe is Art Gallery fabric collection. 

Orphan Set #2 - giveaway closed, awarded to Joyce Carter. 

This is a cute colorway that could make a mini or supplement a larger quilt. Different sized precuts. (Gray quilt in image not included).

The funny thing about giving is that you receive back in abundance. Funny how that works - and away we go!

Qwilt Qwazy Queens and the Doodle Quilt

Welcome to My Day of the Qwilt Qwazy Queens blog hop hosted by Marian at seamstobesew.  She describes the event as:

This year, the theme is, choose your own Qwazy… Have you made a project that just turned out plain crazy? Perhaps your currently making your crazy project. It can be a quilt, a wallhanging, even a pair of potholders. Perhaps it’s a project that you created that didn’t turn out quite right… Let’s have some fun and see what you’ve done.

While I have done the patchwork crazy block before here, I wanted to expand on my initial project for this hop. Loved the shiny fabric look, perfect for a wall hanging. I made a few more blocks for this hop but I just wasn't feeling it. My project didn't "spark joy," a prerequisite to proceeding forward.  

Around the turn of the New Year, I bought a box of fabric and quilting magazines from an online auction site. The publication date of the magazines ranged from 1977 to 1982. It appears during that time frame, Crazy Quilts were all the rage. I bumped into more than one article on Crazy Quilts and here are some snippets. 

Now THAT is a look I could live with! The Doodle Quilt is crazy block squares bordered and sashed in cream. Yaaas! I have that cream-colored precut in abundance. I pulled all the bright pretty colored fabric from my remnants to be cut into 2-1/2" squares that played well together. I had some yellow flying geese that came through mystery quilter and added that to the mix. 

Sharp-eyed quilters will see that yes, only two diagonal lines are quilted in that lead-off image. I have a balky Brother machine that seems to be good for only piecing. It may be time to upgrade.

Time to visit those other QQQs strutting their stuff on this hop. 

March 15, 2019
Melva Loves Scraps
Words & Stitches
Websterquilt
Seams To Be Sew

March 18, 2019
Quiltscapes
Days Filled With Joy
Life In the Scrapatch
Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes

March 19, 2019
Bumbleberry Stitches
Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Ms. P. Designs USA
Quilt Schmilt
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

March 20, 2019
MooseStashQuilting
Thrift Shop Commando
Karrin’s Crazy World
Songbird Designs

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I continue to participate in the Instagram #IGQuiltfest as tamaschen. One of the advantages of being on that platform is one of the longarmers in the fest offered a special of $100 to quilt a king-sized quilt (includes postage back). I jumped on that offer. I have been looking for a longarmer to complete my vintage fan quilt. I do not want to quilt this on my domestic machine. I am so excited to finally get this quilted. The flimsy came from my mom's cedar chest discovered during her move to assisted living. We place it at 75 years or older. 

On a whim, I decided to visit Drytown where a flea market was being held. At my first stop, I asked if she had any fabric, what did you know? she was a quilter who wanted to destash. She brought out two large tubs and a remnants in a small tub. Even when I picked through what she had, it didn't look like I made a dent. Here are my bags o' goodness purchased for a total of $20. 

The fabric is all current, at least within the last 10 years. Some of it was so bright, it made me grit my teeth. That stuff was sent to the Great Thrift Shop Beyond.

Included in the lot was a large piece of wide-backed denim print yardage, *woohoo*  I supplemented it with a pineapple print I have been saving for the fan quilt backing. The longarmer will have enough buffer loading it onto her machine. 
Another $2.50 bag of fabric landed from thrift, with the martini glass print being the one that attracted me the most. This lot is older with one of the panels dated 1994. 

Because I have been obtaining newer zoomier fabric, I bagged up all of my small remnants and have thrifted them back. I have really tried to do a leaders and enders project but I never get around the cutting it up and forget to lead off and end with those 2-1/2" squares. Best I stick to larger pieces of fabric. 

This "doodle" quilt will be my car quilt. You know, the one quilt you have in the car just in case you need to transport one of your fur babies. Appropriately enough, the backing is dogs, yardage from one of my recent thrift shop finds. 

Do you have a car/van/SUV quilt?

Committing to Hand Quilting

I have tossed around the idea of hand quilting one of my creations and I have chosen the plaid hexagon to do that. I bought the thread just for that project, so now I'm committed. *grins*

One of my fav hospice thrift shops finally dropped a bag of vintage fabric. It didn't surprise me since I bought the Franklin sewing machine from the same location the week before. The cutest from the $4.50 bag of fabric are shown in my lead-off image. 

Thrift shops are getting so popular, you almost have to be there when the racks of items are rolled on to the floor. That was the case with this bag. Trendy, cute clothing is snapped up quick. 

A scrap quilter's dream, all of the fabrics are usable for me. The sewing machine print selvage is dated 1993 and there was a receipt for fabric dated from 1995. Lots of red prints, a color I needed to plump up my stash. 

My current project is for the Quilt Qwazy Queens blog hop. I was making great progress until I decided to quilt without the walking foot. Let's just say, it did not turn out well. I am ASRing (angry seam ripping), three rows of diagonal quilting. I've got the weekend to redeem myself as I would like to show a finished product. 

Here is the upcoming schedule of the hop:

March 15, 2019
Melva Loves Scraps
Words & Stitches
Websterquilt
Seams To Be Sew

March 18, 2019
Quiltscapes
Days Filled With Joy
Life In the Scrapatch
Rainbows. Bunnies. Cupcakes

March 19, 2019
Bumbleberry Stitches
Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Ms. P. Designs USA
Quilt Schmilt
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

March 20, 2019
MooseStashQuilting
Thrift Shop Commando
Karrin’s Crazy World
Songbird Designs

See you round the qwazies!

Officially permanent and a Franklin joined my troop

I have been on pins and needles these past few months not knowing whether I could continue working as a legal analyst in my current department. A permanent position was offered and I am delighted to continue working there. Being a public servant provides stability and I enjoy the work. Having secured this career path, I can continue my college coursework for a paralegal certificate. 

The California State Fair has posted its Fiber Crafts 2019 Guide. After looking over the categories, I may be able to enter one of my quilts under Division 165 - Other Fiber Art, or Division 199 - Modern Quilts. I am tending toward an entry in Modern Quilts hoping to place in the ribbon category. 

I had told myself that I wasn't going to buy any more vintage machines, but this one I just couldn't pass by priced at $45, it was half off day. It is heaviest of all machines I have purchased so far, I couldn't lift or even drag it. It is time to get a sturdy sewing cabinet  for these heavier machines. 

On the flip side of my sewing machine purchases, I haven't sent any to the repair shop yet and incurred that cost. The Franklin has all of its feet, two bobbins and what looks to be a replacement pedal. The wiring on the attached light looks a little suspicious. The machine is mounted on a wood base that slides out of the case. 

My other finds for that day included high loft batting ($3), two new dress shirts, one white/one black and a graphic Wonder Woman t-shirt.  

Quilt Qwazy Queens blog hop begins on March 15th, my day to post my crazy quilt creation is March 20th. 

If you are on Instagram, be sure to visit me at tamaschen posting daily for the #IGQuiltFest. 

Sometimes progress is slow and go

On my UFO Challenge list, February prompt No. 10 qualifies - the Art with Fabric quilt. This has been in unfinished mode since last year. I have been chipping away at it, shooting for matchstick quilting or very close to it. I have called it the "monster" behind its back, so heavy and bulky. Lawd, how I wish this was a finish like right now. 

Next to composition quilt is the plaid hexagon in pin basted stage.

My basket of goodness, WIPs, wanna be WIPs and a few fabric pulls.

The prompt for the linkup group is 6, my magnolia needlepoint. I am about a third of the way through that project. 

So we move into March with the blog linkup prompt being 4 (black/cream/pink quilt), and the FB challenge prompt as 8, a Mariner's quilt. Thinking I will punt on both prompts. Half on my To-Do list are wanna be, they wanna be quilts but I don't have a solid concept of color and design. I also would like to get back to my No. 1 - basket block quilt began at the end of 2018 and put aside to keep up with the challenges. I have also promised my daughter a quilt but I am stuck on how it should be designed. We've picked out a block but it intimidates me just a bit on its construction. 

I have also committed to the Quilt Qwazy Queens blog hop with my post scheduled to go live on March 15. I've got that project to git to gitting if I want to fulfill my commitment. 

The #IGQuiltfest on Instagram began today with introductions as the Day 1 prompt. I will be posting as tamaschen. 

Because Google+ went by the wayside - I had a lot of followers through that platform, I have reactivated my Twitter account with the handle @CommandoShop. I will be pushing my blog posts there also. 

Linking up with wendysquiltsandmore

and www.patchworktimes.com