Tuesday, April 1, 2025

April Aims

Dandy Boho Stars
6 inch
33 out of goal of 225

I usually set a theme for each month to help me move UFOs forward. This month is "Free Range" meaning there really are no specific goals - just whatever suits my fancy.  I set "Free Range" for April because, depending upon weather, it is a month where a lot of time is spent in the gardens and very little time is spent in the sewing space. 

However, I am going to have a little quilting marathon. Hopefully I will finish up a lot of smaller quilts this month. Word went out last week that Wrap-A-Smile is in urgent need for more quilts for upcoming Rotaplast missions.    So, the last couple of days I pieced a few backings and pin basted a few quilts. 

On breaks from quilting this month I want to work on my Dandy Boho Stars UFO - the traditional block Dandy in a Boho color scheme of grays, browns, sky blue, electric orange and saturated purples.  I've made several quilts using a 12 inch block but this is the first time I'm making six inch blocks. I started making blocks last year - a surprise gift (someday) for someone I love who loves Boho. I have a lot of scrap chunks in those Boho colors tied up in a couple of boxes but I never seem to getting around to cutting and making blocks so I thought I would give it a try this month even if it is to cut and kit up pieces for blocks. 

Rolling Stone or Broken Wheel
9 inch blocks
I have 29 blocks towards a goal of 63.

Again, I have some scrap chunks in reds, aquas and purples tied up for this quilt. In between quilting this month I also hope to make or cut pieces for more blocks. 


Hummingbird (aka Periwinkle) Blocks
8.5 inch 
I have 21 toward a goal of 63.

Since I don't have a quilt ready for hand quilting in the evenings I will work on a few applique projects I have in the works. 

Minnie's Hummingbird appeared in the July/August 2011 issue of Quiltmaker. It was made by Minnie Jacoby Schultz c. 1930.

I loved this vintage quilt and in 2019 I made a couple of blocks following instructions in the magazine. Well, they turned out a little wonky and I decided I did not like making them so I figured I didn't need my version of that vintage quilt. 

Then a couple of years ago I came across an appliqued version of the block at Susie's Scraps and gave it a try. The block is easy to make with that method and so once again someday I might have my version of the vintage Hummingbird quilt.  (Note: I am using 3.5 inch squares and not 4 like in the tutorial. I am also using 9 inch background squares and not 10.5 like in the tutorial.)

This month I also want to clean up/empty out this box of 2.5 inch width scrap bits and pieces. The little bits just keep accumulating and now is the time to do something or somethings with this box of bits.  Since I took this pic a few days ago I have sorted through pieces and have been cutting some different lengths. 

So if I'm in my little sewing space this month I guess these are a few of the things I hope to work on. It's always good to have a few goals, I think even if I'm free ranging.

And sew on...

***
REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

I finished a book! Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis. I've read a few of her other books - Echoes of Old Books , The Keeper of Happy Endings and The Last of the Moon Girls and I thought they were all pretty good but I thought Every Precious and Fragile Thing was boring and seemed to ramble on. The story was okay but it could have been a much shorter book.  I read on my Kindle in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. Usually the books I read keep me awake when I should be sleeping; however, this book had me snoozing after a few pages so it took me awhile to finish. 

Speaking of snoozing...I watched the Amazon Prime movie Holland with Nicole Kidman that is billed as a thriller. It wasn't.  The reason I watched is because one of my brothers was an extra in the film (an optometrist in the bar at an optometrist convention) but his scene evidently hit the cutting room floor. Holland was filmed in Nashville, TN  in 2023 and my brother lives near there. He's retired and thought he might have a bit of fun "starring" in a film with Nicole Kidman. He didn't know until he watched the movie when it came out a few days ago that his scene was cut.  

Sunday, March 30, 2025

A Framed Squares (aka Happy Block) Flimsy!

Framed Squares
I usually call them Happy Blocks.
It's a flimsy!
42 x 54

Last year I blogged about a baggie I received with a partial block set - 22 six inch (finished) blocks plus a few parts for more blocks. I made more blocks from scraps in similar colorway to those blocks received so that I had a complete block set of 63 for a child's comfort quilt.  I put all blocks in a baggie and then into the SAR (some assembly required) bin. 

And now the top is complete; bag is empty. 

And sew on...


  WITB (What's in the Box, Bin, Bag) is the theme in my sewing space for the month of March. I've been trying to see how many bags, bins and boxes I can empty to move a few UFOs forward. 

I've also been working with yellow scraps this month because that is the March Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color. 

And I don't always follow the challenges issued by the Scrapbuster group but this month the challenge is 1.5 inch scraps. I have been trying to empty a couple of boxes of those this month.

And now that the Happy Blocks are in a top I'm left holding the (empty) bag! 

I'm keeping score of what bags and boxes emptied this month:

Boxes:
1- Coins
2 - Legos
3 - 1.5 inch width scraps

Bags:
1 - Kaleidoscope
2  - solid 1.5 inch strips for 51 Waffles
3 - 1.5 inch strips for 9 Legos
4 - Windmill blocks
5 - Happy Block parts
6 - Posies
7 - 1.5 inch strips for 78 Rail Fence blocks
8 - Four Patch parts
9 - 1.5 inch strips for 92 strip sets for Boo Boo Patches
10 - 1.5 inch width strips cut into rectangles and squares
11 - Tumblers
12 - Four Patch parts
13 - Sawtooth Stars 
14 - Sawtooth Stars
15 - Switch Plates
16 - Happy Blocks

***
REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

I've been enjoying my Ephemerals that are popping up everywhere.  There's something new to see every day. Oh, joy! 

Species or Botanical Crocus are the first flowers to bloom here in Spring. 
These have been growing for many years in the lawn near the clothesline outside the back door. There are so many little patches of them now so the area looks like a sea of purple. 

These are Giant Crocus (believe it or not) and they start popping up in the cottage garden a few weeks after the Species Crocus start blooming.  The Faeries planted them next to their little gazing ball and under a rose bush. 


The Siberian Squill also forms a sea of blue in the cottage garden and now I even see it popping up here and there in the lawn. 


There's also little patches of Iris Reticulata starting to pop up here and there along the paths in the cottage garden.

Iris Reticulata in blue. 

A few more Giant Crocus along the cottage garden pathway.

I cleared this area last year along the pathway down to the woods. I cleared the opposite side of the pathway a few years ago. I planted a lot of different ephemerals last Fall in this area and the yellow Species Crocus are the first to pop up. I don't remember what all I planted so I'm looking foward to what appears next if the squirrels haven't dug everything up and moved it somewhere else. 

Here's a close up of those yellow Species Crocus dotting that area. 



Saturday, March 29, 2025

A Switch Plate Flimsy

It's a flimsy!
Switch Plates
60 x 82

I've been trying for a couple of days to get a photo of this top but it has either been raining or very windy. This was about the best I could get before the top turned into a kite and flew away. 

So I took some close up photos indoors.

I started making blocks as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge project back in 2022 I think. I made blocks from 1.5 or 3.5 inch scraps long enough for four 1.5 x 3.5 inch strips (the plate) and I used 1.5 x 3.5 neutral scraps for the center switch. 

Last year (2024) I had enough blocks for a top - 320. I put the blocks in a bag and put the bag in the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. 

I dug out the bag this month because emptying bags as well as moving UFOs with 1.5 inch scraps forward have been my focus for this month as well as using yellow scraps.

When I started to assemble the top I decided to stagger blocks in columns so made a few more Switch Plates so I could cut some in half to use at the top or bottom of every column. 

Sometimes I think they look more like windows than switch plates.

And sew on...


***

 WITB (What's in the Box, Bin, Bag) is the theme in my sewing space for the month of March. I've been trying to see how many bags, bins and boxes I can empty to move a few UFOs forward. 

I've also been working with yellow scraps this month because that is the March Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color. 

And I don't always follow the challenges issued by the Scrapbuster group but this month the challenge is 1.5 inch scraps. I have been trying to empty a couple of boxes of those this month.

And now that the Switch Plates are in a top I'm left holding the (empty) bag! 

I'm keeping score of what bags and boxes emptied this month:

Boxes:
1- Coins
2 - Legos
3 - 1.5 inch width scraps

Bags:
1 - Kaleidoscope
2  - solid 1.5 inch strips for 51 Waffles
3 - 1.5 inch strips for 9 Legos
4 - Windmill blocks
5 - Happy Block parts
6 - Posies
7 - 1.5 inch strips for 78 Rail Fence blocks
8 - Four Patch parts
9 - 1.5 inch strips for 92 strip sets for Boo Boo Patches
10 - 1.5 inch width strips cut into rectangles and squares
11 - Tumblers
12 - Four Patch parts
13 - Sawtooth Stars 
14 - Sawtooth Stars
15 - Switch Plates

***
REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

I received a box of treasure (scraps) from Donna yesterday. Oh joy! They are already sorted and ready to be made into something(s). 

Friday, March 28, 2025

A Finish! Grandma's Apron Strings

Grandma's Apron Strings
(Wheel of Fortune)
75 x 87
It's a big stitch hand quilted finish!

The block pattern is found in the book History Repeated by Betsy Chutchian and Carol Staehle. 

I used kitchen themed fabrics. I used to make sets of potholders, embroidered dish towels and crocheted dish cloth as Christmas gifts and liked to use kitchen themed fabrics for the potholders. I usually bought 1/2 yard of those fabrics and a potholder didn't take up much so I thought I might as well make a quilt of them with a few leftovers. 

The blocks are a bit fiddly to make and finish at 8 3/4 inches.  The blocks are a bit fiddly so I must have set them aside until 2017 when I started making more. 


Also in 2017 I decided to do chicken scratch embroidery on gingham for the sashing.  It is inspired by chicken scratch embroidery I used to see on old aprons. That old blog post shows a few I have in my little collection of aprons I used to use as my kitchen curtains. 


The silly (stupid?) thing is that I just ran off and made blocks out of whatever kitchen themed fabrics I had and did not give any thought to colors or values. So when it came time to put it all together I kind of kicked myself because I never thought of that during the whle process. I made the best of things and moved forward...the quilt is for me, reminds me of my paternal grandmother, I like the kitchen themed fabrics, the whole thing was a little self challenge,  I won't be putting it on a wall, I won't let the quilt police near it. I decided on kind of alternating dark and light blocks and ended up making a few more blocks just to make a layout like that all work out. You know I usually sew blocks together randomly but this time I had to arrange them on my design floor. 





There are seed packets on back. I bought this a long time ago when Hancock Fabrics went out of business and have been saving it as a backing for this quilt. 

Unfortunately I didn't have enough to match up the seam on back. But like I said...it's for me and I don't mind. I probably won't spend much time staring at the seam. 

And sew on...

 ***

REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

Veg Garden:

I planted a bundle of Patterson onion plants from Dixondale Farms a week or so ago. Several years ago I went from planting onion sets purchased locally to planting onion plants. I've been getting better results and longer storing onions so I'm glad I made that decision.  (All that white stuff you see are heavy plastic water softener salt bags.) I put them on pathways between rows. I read a long time ago that
raccoons have sensitive paws making them uncomfortable to walk on surfaces that feel slippery or unnatural like plastic bags.  I think the raccoons around here have mutated and are no longer uncomfortable but I still put them down in pathways to help smother weeds.   I did make the mistake one time of also putting down cat food bags (we have a lot of barn cats) but the raccoons thought there was food in those bags so dug them all up to have a look-see. So I don't use cat food bags in the garden anymore. 
One thing about planting onions...the birds like to pull them up and leave them laying there so I have to go out every day and replant a few.  The big flocks of Grackles have made an appearance. When they fly overhead the sky is dark and they cast a big shadow passing by. They seem to fly in unison then stop and rest and chatter away in the trees. Then when they all fly off to gather seeds at the same time there is a loud swooping noise.  I tried to take a pic of them in all the trees butthey chose to fly off right then. 

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Another Sawtooth Star Flimsy

It's a flimsy!
Sawtooth Stars
(aka Orphan Curtis)
40 x 60


The block centers are all 5.5 inch (unfinished) orphan blocks.  Most of those blocks I have received from others over the years. Last year I emptied out a box of 3 inch width scraps and made numerous tops. I had just a few scraps leftover long enough for Sawtooth Star points so kitted those up in a large baggie with the orphan blocks to be made later using the consistent background fabric. 


This year I've been making the Stars and finished the last of them this week and went ahead and assembled this top. 

And sew on...


 WITB (What's in the Box, Bin, Bag) is the theme in my sewing space for the month of March. I've been trying to see how many bags, bins and boxes I can empty to move a few UFOs forward.
 

I've also been working with yellow scraps this month because that is the March Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color. 

And I don't always follow the challenges issued by the Scrapbuster group but this month the challenge is 1.5 inch scraps. I have been trying to empty a couple of boxes of those this month.

And now that the Sawtooth Stars are in a top I'm left holding the (empty) bag! 

I'm keeping score of what bags and boxes emptied this month:

Boxes:
1- Coins
2 - Legos
3 - 1.5 inch width scraps

Bags:
1 - Kaleidoscope
2  - solid 1.5 inch strips for 51 Waffles
3 - 1.5 inch strips for 9 Legos
4 - Windmill blocks
5 - Happy Block parts
6 - Posies
7 - 1.5 inch strips for 78 Rail Fence blocks
8 - Four Patch parts
9 - 1.5 inch strips for 92 strip sets for Boo Boo Patches
10 - 1.5 inch width strips cut into rectangles and squares
11 - Tumblers
12 - Four Patch parts
13 - Sawtooth Stars 
14 - Sawtooth Stars

***
REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

Looking inside a milk jug that was winter sown with seeds. 

All sorts of things are starting to sprout! 

Looking inside a wintersown pot covered with shower cap with holes poked in it. 


A lot of my new starts will go into a new Perky Goth/Moonlight Garden - in memory of my granddaughter Kayla who unexpectedly passed away a few years ago. She was a perky goth - usually wore pink and black. So a lot of the plants in this garden will be black and pink. It is also a moonlight garden so there will be (I hope) lots of white flowers that bloom in the evening. 

My son, Kayla's father, helped me clear the area last year that was overgrown with honeysuckle, wild grapes, wild raspberries and green briar.   This mound is dirt that was shoved over into a pile when we put in an above ground pool many many years ago. It is no longer in use now that kids and grandkids have left home and hubby can no longer maintain. 

Looking up toward the mound from the bottom of the area.  I wove a trellis of fabric selvage between two small trees and planted some Beaujolis Sweet Peas that are dark purple - almost black. So far I've also planted some black and some white poppies, black pansies and violas, pink and white cornflowers and almost black alyssum. 

And it appears the faeries are starting to move in.




Tuesday, March 25, 2025

A Sawtooth Star Flimsy

It's a flimsy!
Sawtooth Stars
50 x 70


I made the 35 ten inch blocks last year when I was working on emptying a box of 3 inch width scraps. I used orange, purple and green scraps from that box for the star points and background. Thinking outside that box (😉) I used some 5.5 inch squares for the star centers.  After I completed making all of the blocks I put all blocks in a big bag and put big bag in SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. 

It's not easy to take pics in wind and when the sun is shining on only half the top. 

And sew on...

 WITB (What's in the Box, Bin, Bag) is the theme in my sewing space for the month of March. I've been trying to see how many bags, bins and boxes I can empty to move a few UFOs forward.

I've also been working with yellow scraps this month because that is the March Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color. 

And I don't always follow the challenges issued by the Scrapbuster group but this month the challenge is 1.5 inch scraps. I have been trying to empty a couple of boxes of those this month.

And now that the Sawtooth Stars are in a top I'm left holding the (empty) bag! 

I'm keeping score of what bags and boxes emptied this month:

Boxes:
1- Coins
2 - Legos
3 - 1.5 inch width scraps

Bags:
1 - Kaleidoscope
2  - solid 1.5 inch strips for 51 Waffles
3 - 1.5 inch strips for 9 Legos
4 - Windmill blocks
5 - Happy Block parts
6 - Posies
7 - 1.5 inch strips for 78 Rail Fence blocks
8 - Four Patch parts
9 - 1.5 inch strips for 92 strip sets for Boo Boo Patches
10 - 1.5 inch width strips cut into rectangles and squares
11 - Tumblers
12 - Four Patch parts
13 - Sawtooth Stars 

***
REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

Sundial (or wild) Lupine Seed Packet

You may or may not remember that a couple of months ago I started winter sowing seeds in milk jugs and pots with shower caps. Mostly I sowed native wildflowers that need some cold stratification. 


I'm starting to see some sprouts in some of the pots and jugs. 

Sundial Lupine is the sole host plant for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly. 

"The Karner blue butterfly experienced drastic declines in the 1970s and 1980s. It is now believed to be extirpated in Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Maine and New Hampshire, and in the Canadian province Ontario. It is listed as endangered by the U.S. government. 
"The main threat to the species has been habitat loss and degradation. Because the larvae feed only on wild lupine, habitats are also lost to succession, the lupine being eventually shaded out by pines, oak and shrubby vegetation."

Maybe if I build their field of dreams they will come.