Pieces of the Past Quilt

This quilt truly is comprised of tiny fabric pieces of the past. Both Wanda at exuberantcolor.blogspot.com (an esteemed online friend) and I place the border fabric as a late 1950s-1960s print. 

I bought the bag of remnants at a hospice thrift re-opening. I was in a few minutes past the opening time and headed straight for the craft section. I usually pass by the bagged small pieces of fabric but this group caught my eye. The smallest pieces of fabric I combined in crazy quilt fashion for the cornerstones. I saw this technique in a lot of fabric I purchased a few years ago. Mystery quilter had combined pink remnants, I included those pieces in more than one of my quilts. 

In the four patches, the fabric cut with pinking shears, originally measured 2.75" and I trimmed them down to 2.5" inches. Only one small remnant of each print, like a snapshot in time. Fabric is such a wonderful medium to work with because it rarely degrades over time if preserved correctly. By preserving correctly I mean these scraps have been squirreled away in some closet or drawer or basket for a long period of time. 

It occurred to me the construction of the cornerstone was a lot easier than the first time I attempted those accent pieces. Border fabric is sewn to the top of the block, then the cornerstone is sewn to the left side border. You repeat the process until all of the blocks are sewn together, then you add the final border and cornerstones to the far right side of the quilt. 

The following are images of each of the 4 patches and close-ups of the cornerstones. 

I haven't decided yet whether to keep this as a mini quilt or save it for main section of a bed-sized quilt. Update: I am going to quilt it as a mini. 

Linking up with wendysquiltsandmore.

Resellers update: eBay continues to offer 15K free listings to the end of July to store subscribers. After restocking my product, I am ready to tackle the next round that will put me over 400 listings. I also made the leap from Starter Store ($15 a mo.) to Basic Store ($22 a mo. billed at the yearly rate). That subscription also gives me access to Terapeak which compares solds on eBay. 

What has sold? Those Girl Scout and 4H items - sold and quickly. If you see either in thrift, along with Boy Scout stuff, buy it for resell. I won on bid a lot of G.S. items on an online auction I am awaiting arrival in the mail. 

Clothing/craft patterns are selling. CD and cassettes continue to sell. I have to throw away about half of the cassettes because the tape has aged and drags. At 6 for $1, it is worth my time. 

In my "death pile" to be listed, five craft books, 1 needlework kit, 10 cassettes (still testing them), 12 Christmas CDs and another 50 regular CDs. 

On the subject of patterns, this Pattern of the Day is a McCall's 2781 from 1971. Sometimes I find other items in the pattern packets and this one contained a handwritten note and a sketch of the dress. 

When I find sewing baskets at thrift, there have been pictures, notes, and assorted tchotchkes. It is a part of thrifting that enjoy, when I catch a glimmer of the previous owner. 

Gypsy Wife meets Jelly Roll

While I missed National Jelly Roll Day on September 21st of having a finished quilt, I had the germ of an idea for a quilt top. I had a couple of partial jelly rolls and completed quilt blocks in 12", 11", and 10".

This was the quilt that was beckoning me. I happened to have one extra day and I put my foot down and devoted the afternoon to sewing. This came together really fast. It is going to be a very pretty quilt. Mystery quilter should be proud of how I used her orphan blocks. 

In the Gypsy Wife quilt pattern, there are vertical strips of fabric, with the blocks offset from each other. 

My process on this was to sew together 6 strips from the jelly and then fit it to the 12" block. I made the 11" and 10" blocks 12". I really am rogue quilter and "wing it" when it comes to perfect measurements. I just take the strips and square them up after I sew them all together. As long as the blocks are squared up and the fabric squares up at the finish, I'm happy. 

I haven't checked my stash, but I may have to spring for some retail border fabric to complete this quilt top. 

Linking up with Kelly at www.myquiltinfatuation.com for:



Wendy at wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com for the~

Jennifer at www.inquiringquilter.com

Novelty Fabric Quilt

The best image of the top included my feet, with the back patio being the only shaded area. 

Sometimes you've got to take more than one run at a project. My first attempt included decidedly orange fabric. Marrying remnants  is hard enough, I had to break out the seam ripper.  

I also cut the fabric down to match the 8" blocks I had on hand. My favorites of the remnants included in this quilt are the Fifties-themed dancers, the blue/green atomic and the martini glasses. 

I am delighted to have found a longarmer whose services I can afford. This one I sent to her. I held out for quite awhile trying to quilt all of my own creations. That only frustrated me because I couldn't do the fancy designs I really wanted. It has freed me to concentrate on piecing.  I am trying to use my current stash. The only fabric I purchased retail for this one was the surfboard flannel in the backing.

I also made great progress on the OBW for the H.S. graduate. The VW Beetle novelty print was my go-to fabric to add length and width to the partially-completed quilt top (a steal at $1.50 thrift). I then had to hoof it down to another thrift shop where I had spotted a cat-themed fabric print for the backing. I didn't buy it when I first saw it because it is not my style but perfect for this cat-loving relative. I'm adding the denim print fabric as borders. 


If you are going to buy fabric, hide it adequately (see this post).

Hope you are having an enjoyable August. We are suffering through another spate of 100 degree weather. 

Linking up with Kelly at www.myquiltinfatuation.com for Needle and Thread Thursday and Wendy at wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com for the ~

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