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...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

***

 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). 

A Finish! Grandma's Apron Strings

Grandma's Apron Strings

(Wheel of Fortune)

75 x 87

It's a big stitch hand quilted finish!

I started making these blocks called Wheel of Fortune back in 2015 so this is almost a vintage quilt! 

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. 

In August 2020 I finally assembled the top. 

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. 

This month I started hand quilting. 

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...

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

 ***

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. 

Another Sawtooth Star Flimsy

It's a flimsy!

Sawtooth Stars

(aka Orphan Curtis)

40 x 60

This one is similar to the one I blogged about yesterday - 10 inch Sawtooth Stars. 

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.

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. 

According to The Nature Conservancy:

"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.

WITB?

 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.

Rail Fence

5 inch blocks

Rail Fence

5 inch blocks

On a post at the beginning of the month I showed a couple of boxes of 1.5 inch width scraps I had sorted into bags.  One bag held strips greater than 2.5 inches.   I pulled out that bag and cut pieces into 5.5 inch lengths, sorted by color and sewed 5 strips of the same color together to make 78 Rail Fence blocks. 

BAG empty!

Four Patch

6 inch blocks

I emptied a little baggie of Four Patch parts in red, white and blue. I think these were left over from making Americana.

The resulting Four Patches are now in the red, white and blue orphanage. That box is overflowing so I might have to make a red, white and blue orphan block quilt soon. 

Another one of the bags in my 1.5 inch width scrap boxes held pieces longer than 5.5 inch and at least 14 inches long. I matched a colored with a neutral and cut 14 inch lengths. I didn't have enough neutrals so had to cut a few of those from scrap chunks.  I emptied my bag and made 92 strip sets. 

Those 92 strip sets are now going into the Boo Boo Patch project bag. Moving forward I will pull out the ones in the RSC color of the month, subcut and make into my Boo Boo (or 18) Patches. 

I currently have 168 Patches and when I use those strip sets to make 92 more blocks I will reach my goal of 260 -- 3x6 inch blocks. That will be enough for a 60 x 78 quilt (20 blocks by 13 blocks).

I emptied another baggie of 1.5 inch width strips that were less than 5.5 inches. 

I cut those into rectangles 1.5 x 2.5 and 1.5 inch squares. 

The 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles went into the Potato Chip baggie. 

The 1.5 inch squares (postage stamps) went into a bigger bag of 1.5 inch squares. 

I've been using those to make my Gum Wrapper Chain strips. This one has been stalled for a bit because I ran out of 1.5 inch squares. However, I recently received that big bag of 1.5 inch squares so I can work on this Postage Stamp quilt once again. 

And remember I had two boxes of bags of 1.5 inch width scraps at the beginning of the month? 

Well, now I only have one box because I emptied the men's size 13 shoe box. 

The box of what I have left for 1.5 inch width scraps - a baggie with some longer pastel strips I will put with my pastel scraps, a baggie of multiple width of fabric (WOF) strips of the same fabric, a baggie of neutral pieces all lengths to be sorted and cut, a baggie of black and whites I will put with my black/white UFO, a baggie of pieces left over after making Waffles, Rails and Boo Boo Strips that need to be sorted and cut for WIPs/UFOs.  

Oh, and I did put some 1.5 inch width pieces long enough for 4 HSTs into my Little Baskets (4 inch) project box.  I have 35 Basket Blocks and my goal is 110. 

I emptied another baggie that someone had given me with Tumbler pieces.  I sewed those together into 9 strips 3.5 x 40 inches long. I figured I could use that length of strips in a row/strippie quilt. 

Someone also gave me a baggie of 4 Patch parts so I made those 15 - 6 inch blocks and emptied that bag. 

I have a little bag of old calico bits and pieces so I put the Tumbler strips and Four Patches in with those- Fodder for a future quilt. 

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

And sew on...