It's A Finish! Orphan Bertha's Crackers

It's a finish!

Orphan Bertha's Crackers

40 x 56

Someone sent me these 8 inch (finished) Cracker blocks a long time ago. I've gotten them out several times to put into a quilt; however, the block sizes, seam allowances, colors, fabrics were alll over the place and I just couldn't put the blocks together so they played nicely with each other. Normally I think Cracker Blocks should go together with all colored corners touching. I even thought of putting them into a few rows for a row quilt alternating with other blocks. Nothing ever satisfied me so the blocks always went back into the orphanage. 

Last December I was working on getting a lot of orphan blocks into tops and finally decided to deal with these blocks. I trimmed the ones that needed it to 8.5 inches trying to keep the seam allowances along the points at 1/4 inch. Some blocks had seam allowances over that, some under and some were just right. When I put the blocks together with the colored points all touching it was very obvious and really bothered me that seam allowances were not all right. Then I tried laying them out on the diagonal and the seam allowance discrepancies was not so noticeable.  Then there was the problem of colors and fabrics being all over the place. Some blocks even had two different colors in them. 

It worked it out so that warm and cool colors could alternate in the diagonal rows and Orphan Bertha was born.

I quilted it on my sewing machine - both sides of the block vertical and horizontal seams and then through the blocks on the diagonals.  

Orphan Bertha got a wild and crazy pieced backing. The top fabric is a multicolor polka dot.  The binding is scrappy and came out of the leftover binding box.

When all was said and done and I was getting Bertha ready for a bath I noticed a small stain on that polka dot backing fabric.  I rubbed in some Grandma's Secret Spot remover, waited a few minutes and then rubbed it with a little water to try and remove stain.  After stain was removed I looked at the front and noticed almost every color of fabric from yellow to purple bleeding. Oh, for Pete's Sake, Bertha, you are such a problem child!  So I boiled some water and immediately put her to soak in a Dawn Bubble Bath.  She came out looking her Sunday Best. 

And sew on...

I just added a page at the top of my blog with pics of orphan block quilts finished within the last year or so if you are interested. 

Now it is ready for donation to Wrap-A-Smile.  There has recently been an urgent call for quilts because there are more upcoming Rotaplast missions than prevously anticipated. That's a good thing.

"Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities. Working with local professionals, Rotarians, and other organizations, Rotaplast sends multidisciplinary medical teams to provide free reconstructive surgery, ancillary treatment, and training for the comprehensive care of these children." Wrap-A-Smile provides each child undergoing surgery with a quilt. 

I have donated quilts to Wrap-A-Smile since 2013 (I think) and every once in awhile it is fun to spot a quilt I made with a child. I just added a page at the top of my blog with pics of kids around the world I have spotted with a quilt I've made. 

If you are interested in donating quilts to Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) please read the WAS Guidelines and WAS Shipping Info.  Or you can email me and I'll be happy to answer your questions. 

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

A few weeks ago I started tomato seeds under lights in a corner of my sewing space. 

They are all heirloom tomatoes. The Rainbow's End mix contains Brandywine, Marvel Stripe and Green Zebra seeds. The Summer Feast blend contains Black Krim, Persimmon and Costoluto. I like how they dye the seeds of the varieties in the mixes different colors so you know exactly what to expect. I planted a few seeds of each variety except for the Green Zebra. I planted more seeds of the Jersey Devil because that is a big meaty paste tomato I really like for canning and freezing; sauces and salsas.  I'm trying Peron for the first time this year. The "Peron" or "Peron Sprayless" tomato is a 1950s heirloom variety developed in Argentina known for its disease resistance and high yields, earning it the nickname "Sprayless".  We shall see if that is true!

The seedlings were outgrowing their seed starting tray so yesterday I moved them into bigger pots. 

The "bigger pots" are big plastic cups with holes punched in bottom for drainage. As you can tell I've been using same cups for years. After I plant my seedlings into the garden I wash the cups in Dawn with a few drops of bleach.   I now have 27 tomatoes in plastic cups. That's too many for me especially now that hubby can't swallow and eat real food. I'll be giving some plants away to a few folks but most folks I know prefer that I give them the ripe tomatoes instead. And I'm okay with that too!