Fabricpalooza

Finding bags of fabric at my go-to hospice thrift shop is always such a kick! The bags were $3.50 each and I bought a couple of  vinyl records to bring my total to $10, spending my $10 credit earned for a freebie day! When I first saw the coordinated set of the Dr. Seuss fabric, I thought it was recent. Imagine my surprise when the selvage listed it as 1971! Wow, almost 50 years old. I suspect some of the other remnants are retro also. Lots of images in this post for the fabricholic.  

I may try to sell this fabric collection. Anyone have experience in the resell market for vintage fabric? 

Should have just enough fabric

to recover this chair pad

Some feedsack

Quilters Circle

Dinospectacular

Derpy jungle babies

I think the story behind this and other bagged fabric remnants in  second hand stores is the seamstress or quilter has either passed on or has gone into assisted living. The relatives then give away the fabric because no one sews. 

And then there are yard sales! This one had 5 bankers boxes of yardage. She would have sold me the whole lot but I only bought the low volumes and feedsacks replacing my stash $20 for the box.

Damn near picked the same colorway

as the album cover art!

Greenhouse update: I continue to add plants to the greenhouse. I try to keep it to only edible items but wanted a couple of sunflowers. I also planted butternut squash, cucumbers and peppers. 


I am pairing down my vintage sewing machines. As I became acquainted with styles and colors, I have opted to keep the unusual colored ones.  Those being the mint green Singer and the blue Morse, both of which are on display in my studio. A pink and white/red combo are on my thrift shop bucket list. 

Doing research now on upgrading my sewing machine. Seems to be as you progress in this hobby, you upgrade your machine. My next post will reveal what I have chosen. 

Four Thrift Shops Later and it's Time to Smell the Roses

Went thrifting in a different county and added to my vinyl record collection. I won't list those because I mainly look for 60s, disco, select 70s, some old time religion (Jimmy Swaggart, blame my Pentecostal roots), blues and jazz (both genres hard to find secondhand). 

Always on my hunt list is fabric. I passed by a bag of remnants at Goodwill. Priced at $4.50 it was affordable enough but none of it intrigued me. At my fourth and last stop, I found what I had hoped, not only fabric, but 81 nine patches at $1.99.

In that $1.99 bag was also more of the blue fabric, I'm guessing mystery quilter intended for the borders. That would have been a mistake. These blocks are already very pink and blue. I think a midnight blue or white to separate them might bring this all together. 

Mystery quilter also had three pages of detailed calculations, instructions and diagrams. I always wondered if I was a "fly by the seat of your pants" quilter, I'm sure of it now. I work out the quilt construction in my mind, working of course, with the physical layout. 

I want to practice my setting on point skills. That is a technique that you turn the block on its side. This would be a good project for that. One of my challenge quilts is the red basket blocks I purchased through an auction. My goal is to have it as next to perfect as possible. 

I am pretty much burned out on college. Attending for 8 years, online and evenings to complete an associate's degree. Well worth it, glad I finished. I have two classes I still want to take - Advanced Legal Writing and Modern Art. 

A milestone birthday is coming up. I will be 60 on the 25th of this month. It is time to smell the roses. I don't have to keep up with the competition any more in my career. If I advance another level in my job, wonderful. If not, it would be more than ok, because I value the people and place where I work. It would be hard to go to another department with all new people. 

As always, my interest lies in the fabric arts and fabric, there is just something about fabric! An upcoming hop on July 6 will be a fun one to visit, a year ago a few blogger/quilters linked up for the Piggy Back Savings Money for Quilting Challenge. 

We will reveal how much we saved and what quilting-related thing we intend to spend it on. 

June challenges

Quilting challenge prompt for June is my Americana quilt, a big project with specialty blocks. Pattern found in a 1977 Quilt World magazine. This is more likely a project when I'm retired and have more years of experience with patchwork piecing.  


My daughter's Spice it Up quilt is next up in the queue. I am struggling with how complex I want to make it and my skill comfort level. 

Thrifting update: Half off at hospice, meant spending very little for an 8x8 glass pyrex dish, flat and fitted floral print sheets (washed in piping hot water), an "I love vinyl" t-shirt. 

 

I told myself I wouldn't but for $13, this pale green Singer followed me home. Eventually, I would like to display all of my retro machines on a wire rolling rack. 


The lightbulb was burned out and it took some coaxing to be able to replace it. I had a black dressmaker Singer that I scavenged for parts and then thrifted back. One of those parts was a working lightbulb. This machine sounds like it wants to work and is in great shape. I have lubed and oiled it and will see if it will unfreeze. 

Wedding quilt for a June bride

What a wonderful way to kick off upcoming June with a finished quilt top and backing whose final destination is for a new bride. I used up the entirety of my low volume fabric creating this twin-sized quilt. 

I had grand plans of setting the four patch blocks on point but made the blocks with a 1-1/2" border and sashing and didn't like the look. I set the project aside for a couple of weeks. Then out came the seam ripper and I deconstructed what I had done.

Since I want my piecework to improve, I took care to match all of the seams in the blocks. There was a lot of redoing in my quest for excellence. 

I wanted to make this as big as possible with my fabric on hand. I saved all of the smaller precuts so I could make the big piano key border. This quilt used up all of my low volume and feedsack fabrics. 

I will update the post after I "quilt by check," so this will be ready to be gifted in a couple of months. 

Linking up with emsscrapbag.blogspot.com for Moving it Forward Monday.

Making an appearance also at myquiltinfatuation for Needle & Thread Thursday. 

What can be done with a bag of remnants?

Post title sung to "What Do You Get When You Fall In Love?"

I had seen this bag of remnants at thrift before but I passed on them because I had just donated a large bag of the same. Half off day this Memorial Day weekend meant the remnant bag was only $2.25, so I thought "why not?" 

I knew the work involved to process this material.

It had to be washed because no matter how clean the home, fabric picks of the occupant's scent. 

I ironed the material while still damp and then trimmed. It turns into a tangled mess when you don't use a mesh bag. I had too much fabric to use that technique this time. 

This aqua/orange companion fabric of different sizes and cuts can be worked into a sampler. There were a few pieces of feedsack prints and others, all keepers, no uglies.  

When I first started buying fabric secondhand in bags or lots, I would separate it all by colors. Now, when I see mystery quilter had purchased a fabric collection, I keep those pieces together. 

I hope to get some quilting done this weekend as I bought a new walking foot and some size 16 needles. Fingers crossed my next post will feature a bound quilt. I am also shooting for completion of my composition quilt for the county fair. We'll see, I have been highly unmotivated now heading into the summer months. 

On my creative plate now are the composition quilt (nearly quilted), the vintage fan quilt (needs to be bound), the nifty novelties quilt for a hop this August (needs to be bound), and the  magnolia needlepoint I began on challenge this February (1/2 complete, goal to finish by November to have framed). 

Visible Monday and pre-retirement ponderings

A blogger that I haven't linked up with in a long time is Patti at notdeadyetstyle.com. She hosts a Visible Monday where she encourages others to "Just compose a post that includes any outfit, accessory, piece of jewelry, hairstyle, cosmetic or other adornment that makes you feel more confident, alive and visible that day."

I pronounce that my outfit centers around a piece of jewelry, a pendant necklace by Marjorie Baer. It was one of those thrift shop finds that make you exclaim out loud, "I found it!" More for your benefit than for any others.

My mother also collected numerous pieces by Baer, mainly clip-on earrings. While I was growing up, I didn't really appreciate her modern sense of style. I was all into the romantic, frilly, fluffy, lacy type stuff. 

While the Mr. doesn't like camo, I love it. This is a pair of way-too-big-for-me pants, perfect for being out and about on the property. My usual footwear is hiking boots (camo ones too) but opted for these cute and comfortable Birkenstock quasi-gladiator sandals. 

I am sure some of Patti's linker-uppers are in my peer group. I turn 60 next month and it still boggles my mind. I don't feel 60, at least the majority of the time. I will be retired at the latest when I am 67, at the earliest when I am 63. 

What does one do all day when there is no job to go to? I have been honing my quilting craft but there are some days when I question whether that activity could carry me through. I could go back to college, but to what end? I stopped taking further job-related coursework because the expense didn't justify the means to an end. I have considered becoming a musician again (former French hornist and violinist), maybe even becoming a song writer. 

There is also so much need in the volunteer world. One could say I am cut out for being a thrift shop volunteer. Maybe I could be a neonatal baby cuddler.

Then the mantra will be, "So much time, so many possibilities."

Greenhouse update

All of that seedling generation the last two months meant I could finally plant them. I still have the center row and part of the back row to fill up. 

The garden beds outside of the greenhouse duplicate what is inside with the exception of rhubarb, zucchini and artichoke. Those plants all tend to need lots of room. 

My crafting has suffered because of my gardening and the Mr.'s insistence on housecleaning (say what?). I have also been stricken with some form of eczema on my hands and feet. Hoping my dermatology specialist appointment at the end of this month will shed more light on my condition. 

I just discovered a blog hop highlighting Christmas projects for those who have the time and energy for that.
creativeblondeblog.wordpress.com/2019/05/09/christmas-rapping-plus-giveaway/