Old Italians

Old Italian Quilt Blocks

3 inch finished

I've had these in a little basket at the end of my ironing board for about six months. They needed to be ironed and trimmed and finally that has happened.  I just have never been in the mood for trimming little blocks. This morning I told myself I needed to empty out that basket and get rid of somethings at the end of my ironing board. 

These are made from 5 inch squares following the tutorial at My Soulful Journey. She calls the blocks "X Marks The Spot".   It is a stack and whack method.   Months ago when I made these blocks I was almost out of 5 inch squares but since then I have accumulated more.  I've been making them off and on for over a year as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project  and have never figured out what size quilt I'm making nor have I counted my blocks until today. 

I have 309 blocks. If I make a 60 x 81 quilt (layout 20 x 27) I need 540 blocks. So I guess I will be making 231 more blocks. That also means I need to find 231 more 5 inch squares. So maybe I will be making blocks for this quilt for another year. 

And sew on...

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Sep 28 - Finished a really good book! - The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. It is a fictional story that takes place in 1947 but woven with true characters and events that occurred during WWI that have had an effect on the 1947 fictional characters.  The novel is inspired by the true story of the Alice Network, a group of women spies who worked for the British during World War I in the area of Lille, France, gathering information about German troop movements and battle plans.The real life characters and events are documented in the addendum. Louise de Bettignies/Alice Dubois , a very brave and courageous woman, was one of those real life characters and the head of the WWI spy ring The Alice Network. 

Twilight Flock -- Now A Complete Block Set

Twilight Flock

6 inch blocks

Now there are 130 blocks and they are ready for assembly but not sure when that will happen. In the meantime they will join many other complete block sets in the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin. 

I started making blocks in January 2024 as a RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challege) project. I was inspired by a quilt called Twilight Flock in  From the Cover (Quilter's Newsletter Magazine Editors and Contributors).

Since black was the RSC color this month I decided to get out those small chunks of black and get these finished.  I just picked through my little pile of 2.5 inch width scraps for anything long enough for the three geese bodies. 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

***
CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Sept.  27 -  Internet quilting friends.  Over the years I've gotten to know many folks I've never met in person better than some folks I have actually met in person. One of those friends was Linda Ashworth. I say "was" because I think she has recently passed away.  I had not heard from her for awhile and had no response to my emails I have been sending since 7/19.  I knew she had been in and out of the hospital with heart problems and more recently kidney problems. Linda blogged at Koshka2 Quilts. She made many donation quilts for babies. Over the years she sent me photos of some babies on quilts she made,  sent me a video of her granddaughter singing in a Christmas pageant and told me of the fun she had making lavendar bags and stuffed fabric heart Christmas decorations with her granddaughter. Along time ago sent me a little handmade drawstring bag all the way from the UK. I keep some hand quilting supplies in it.( When she asked for my addy because she wanted to send me something I told her thank you for the thought but it would be too expensive to send me anything from the UK but she insisted). I know she had a son Christopher who died in a car accident in 1996. She told me the pain never goes away. (That subject came up with the unexpected loss of my granddaughter Kayla).  She liked the Twinkler quilt block and lived in a town with a ruined castle - Kenilworth Castle. She left many a lovely comment on my blog. Since I have not heard from her since July I figured she must be hospitalized once again and not doing well. I was worried about her. Not that I'm morbid or anything...I started looking to see if I could find an obituary for her. I think I have...Linda Ashworth obit.   I'll sure miss our litttle email "chats".  In 2022 she told me her sister Pat passed away and shortly after her sister's granddaughter gave birth to a son, Freddie.  My response and her reply -

> On Thu, 13 Oct 2022, 18:57 , <Cathy> wrote:

>> Thanks for the update, Linda! The service sounds like it was a fitting  tribute. And as the cycle goes...Pat joins the angels and an angel named  Freddie is born.

>> Take care of yourself, Linda!

>> Cathy

On 2022-10-13 3:51 pm, Linda Ashworth wrote:

> Thanks for your lovely reply, Cathy.

> Very apt because the last line of my Eulogy was "May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

> Linda x

So I hope flights of angels sung her to her rest and may she rest in peace. I am a better person for having known her! 

And Now The Box Is Empty!

At the end of last month  I posed the question WITB? 

(What's in the 11 x 13 x 8.5 inch box of 3 inch width scraps?)

Most of the squares and scraps in that box came from several different friends this year. I usually have a block in process for almost every size scrap I receive; however, I rarely end up with 3 inch width scraps of my own and when I did I usually cut them in half for 1.5 inch pieces because I have several blocks in process that use that size of scrap. 

I was able to make 9 comfort quilt tops from the scraps in the box and I also made half of the blocks for another. 

I've been kind of obsessed with getting all those scraps used up this month. 

And now I have succeeded in emptying the box but not all the scraps are used yet. They are; however, assigned to different projects or cut for the Parts Department. 

Above is what I will call WITB #11 - Sawtooth Stars with orphan block centers.   I have a little pile of 24 -- 5.5 inch orphan blocks plus some 3 inch scraps to use for star points. I will probably use the same background on all of the stars.   I've put all of the parts and the example Sawtooth Star in a project bag and will make the stars at some later date. 

There are still some 3 inch brown squares left and I just sorted my brown scraps and found some more 3 inch strips so I will make some Hollow Nine blocks...

...and use them as alternate blocks for my 7.5 inch (finished) Churn Dash blocks. I have a partial set of brown Churn Dash blocks left over from all the Churn Dash blocks/quilts I've made in the past years. 

I actually have a box with three different projects that use brown scraps so the Hollow Nines and 3 inch scraps are now in that project box. I may work on some of those blocks next month when the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month is brown. 

I can't believe there were so many brown scraps. I previously used brown and cream squares cut on the diagonals as the sides for Pavement Pattern (Square in Square) blocks and I used brown and cream squares to make Unchained Melody. 

I had several scraps with cherries. So I put those in my little box of fruity scraps. 

The multicolor black and the black and white scraps when into their respective scrap bags. 

For one of my quilts I was only able to make 25 out of 48 Sawtooth Stars out of the green, orange and purple scraps in the box. I put them in a project bag and since I made those 25 stars I have found more 3 inch scraps in the designated colors so added those to the bag. 

This is WITB quilt #12 - Four Patch blocks. I put the ones I made awhile ago in a project bag and as I've been making blocks and tops this month I have set aside any small pieces that will yield 2 squares. They are in the project bag with the Four Patches now. I just need to go through my neutral scraps and cut some squares to be used in the Four Patches. When I get all the Four Patches made I'll count them and see if there are enough for a quilt. If not then I may alternate Four Patches with 5.5 inch squares. Time will tell. 

I have some 3 inch squares left. I will put these in the bin that holds all my different sized squares. 

I have a variety of longer strips left. I'm just going to put them in the Parts Dept. and they may get used as fillers or something like that when I make orphan block quilts.  

Then I cut remaining scraps into rectangles and squares.  The squares went into the squares bag. The rectangles are 3 x 5.5, 3 x 5, 3 x 4.5 and 3 x 2.   I have a box of bags of rectangles in all those different sizes (plus many others). 

And then any pieces between 1 and 2 inches got sewn into strips. I have  box of strips in all different widths that accumulate until there's enough for a Coins quilt of some kind. 

And sew on...

CELEBRATE ! (my word of the year)

Sept. 26 - Scraps! Scrap Quilts! 

 

WITB #10 -- Pink and Blue Coins

It's a top!

Pink and Blue Coins

40  x 60

At the end of last month  I posed the question WITB? 

(What's in the 11 x 13 x 8.5 inch box of 3 inch width scraps?)

This is comfort quilt #10  that I've made from those scraps ! 

And I still have some scraps in that box!  

  I decided I had enough length on a lot of the pinks and blues to cut at least 3 rectangles - 3 x 4.5. I decided on 4.5 because I wanted not only to use the 3 inch width scraps but I also had a few pink 4.5 inch width scraps left from making the pink and gray Wonky Windmills this month. 

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Sept. 25 - Mailed 6 quilts to Wrap-A-Smile   AND I received some fun animal skin prints from Cheryl! 

 

WITB #9 - Quiet Time

It's a top!

Quiet Time

Low Volume

57 x 76

The other day I posed the question WITB? 

(What's in the 11 x 13 x 8.5 inch box of 3 inch width scraps?)

This is comfort quilt #9 that I've made from those scraps ! 

And I still have some scraps in that box!  

I was able to make all 48 Nine Patches from the pastel and white squares in the box of scraps. I was just going to make a Nine Patch quit but then it just seemed kind of boring.  I'm not really fond of pastels or white on whites and a lot of those squares in the Nine Patches are old florals.

I decided to turn the Nine Patches into Hot Cross Nine Patches - an old Block Lotto block we made in 2012.    To frame the Nine Patches I used an little pile of old white on white scraps   And for the insert strips I cut some of the 3 inch width pastel scraps into 1 inch strips and when those ran out I used a few pastel scraps from my little box of pastel scraps. 

Well, I don't know what I was thinking when I started down the Hot Cross Nine Patch path...I don't really like to make blocks that get cut apart and then put back together like these. I'd rather just make the finished block than cut them apart because sometimes I am not a precision piecer and sometimes I may cut a little wonky. I'll blame it on bad eyesight.   But now all is said and done and I've moved on to WITB quilt #10.   I only have a few more days left in the month to empty that box of 3 inch scraps!

And sew on...

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Sept. 22 - First day of Autumn!   This time of year when I walk around the gardens at sunrise it looks like there is a golden glow on everything. I wasn't able to capture it in a photo.

Sept. 23 - Finished a book! - Holmes, Marple and Poe by James Patterson and Brian Sitts.   Three private investigators with famous last names and mysterious pasts work together to solve crimes. It is the first of what is to be a series. The book was okay reading but nothing like Patterson's detective Alex Cross series. Not sure I'll be all that anxious to read the second book in the series when it is released. 

Sept. 24 - Echinacea or Coneflowers.   I added several new varieties to the garden this year. 

Also this year I learned about Aster Yellows. It is a phytoplasma spread to plants by leaf hoppers. The plant then produces some green alien looking flowers. Once a plant gets yellow asters there is no cure for it and plants should be pulled out of the garden. So far I haven't had the heart to do that on my two infected coneflowers -- a white swan and purple coneflower I grew from seeds and have had for a long time. But I guess it has to be done But I don't have the heart to pull up a plant I have had for a long time even if it is now deformed. They are in my native wildflower area and I'm not sure what mother nature would do with these. 

 

WITB #8 - HST Four Patch

It's a top!

HST Four Patch

50 x 70

The other day I posed the question WITB? 

(What's in the box of 3 inch width scraps?)

This is comfort quilt #8 ! 

And I still have some scraps in that box!  

Yes, there's a few oopsie blocks in the quilt. 

Not sure how many more quilt tops I'll be able to make from that box of 3 inch width scraps. I'll work on those scraps until month end and then show you what's left in that box if anything. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

****

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Sept. 21 - Roses!  I still have quite a few roses blooming. All of my roses are scented so every once in awhile I stop to smell them. 

 

WITB #7 - Unchained Melody

It's a top!

Unchained Melody 

(I like that song as sung by the Righteous Brothers)

55 x 70

The other day I posed the question WITB? 

(What's in the box of 3 inch width scraps?)

This is comfort quilt #7 ! 

And I still have some scraps in that box!  

For this one I used the cream, tan, brown 3 inch width partial strips and squares. 

I did a rough sketch of a quilt to use those scraps. 

Then I cut 616 (22 across and 28 down) 3 inch squares from the scraps in the box.   I also collected triangles in all colors of the rainbow from my box of crumb pieces. 

I sorted my squares into light, medium and dark. Then I made one row at a time keeping in mind that I wanted the rows to transition top to bottom from lighter to darker squares.  And the little triangles sewn to the corners of the squares I kept in rainbow order across the rows to form chains across the quilt. 

When I got to the darker squares I tried to keep the reddish/rust browns at the beginning of the rows and the darker squares toward the end of the rows. 

And sew on...

*****

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Sept.. 17 - A beautiful harvest moon which was also a supermoon. I didn't stay up late enough to see if I could see the partial eclipse of the moon. 

Sept. 18 - Finished a book! - Damage Control by Robert Dugoni. It's a mystery thriller.. A woman has quite a few problems going on in her life yet finds time to help a detective solve the mystery of the death of her brother. She also manages to resolve a few of her problems before the end of the book. 

Sept. 19 - Onions! In between fictional books I've been reading a little bit now and then of Herbal Antibiotics; What Big Pharma Doesn't Want You To Know by Mary Jones. In Chapter 6 - Top 45 Wondrous Herbs Onions and Garlic is listed as #1.  "The sulphur compounds in onions and garlic are a key ingredient in antibiotics. They destroy bad bacteria and kill off infections."  I remember reading elsewhere that during the Spanish Flu epidemic it was recommended to eat more onions to ward off the flu.   Not sure if any of that is true; however, I do eat a lot of onions and garlic every day and don't remember the last time I've had the flu or a cold. (I've never had a flu shot and only (regretfully) had the first two covid vaccinations and will not get anymore. I'm not totally against vaccines - just flu/covid for me)  Well, anyway...I do grow my own onions too. A few years ago I started growing them from plants (not sets) I purchase from Dixondale Farms.   Since hubby no longer is able to eat garden produce (he has a G-tube) I cut down on the number of onions I plant. I tried a long day onion sampler this year of Walla Walla, a white onion, Ringmaster, a yellow onion, and Redwing, a red onion. I ate a lot of them as green onions. I should have watered them a little more than I did to produce larger onions but I'm pleased with my harvest that should last me through the winter.   Oh, and one last thing about onions...did you know that white onions are usually sweeter and the best to eat raw? They have less sulphur content.     I keep a pot of canola oil on my stove and make myself some onion rings almost every other day. I love them! 

Sept. 20 - Quilts Beyond Borders!   The latest blog post shows some of my donated quilts and the places they are going -- Comfort Cases and Jeremiah's Hope.  (My quilts show "Cathy L" as the maker in the blog post).