HSTeria and Wednesday Wandering

I recently received a large bag of 2.5 inch unfinished HSTs and HST parts. Some were pressed but needed trimming. Some were sewn together on Thangles and other paper foundations. And some were just triangles that needed another half. 

So, with some of the dark/neutral HSTs I made some Depression Blocks. It's one of my favorites. These will finish at 8 inches and I think will go into a larger comfort quilt. 

I also made some 4 inch finished Broken Dishes blocks.  I have a box of all different sizes of Broken Dishes blocks. One of these days I will make a few quilts and empty that box. 

There were some dark/light HSTs that were two colors.  I decided to make them into columns of 40 HSTs for a finished length of 80 inches. When sewing them together like so the columns will form some diagonal light and dark stripes.  I think I need 30 columns of 40 HSTs. 

I decided to iron some blocks with HSTs too. I have several baskets and small boxes full of parts and small blocks that need ironing. If I need leader/enders I sew up bits and pieces given to me but since I know I am not going to use them right away I never get around to ironing them. I need to start ironing because the baskets and shoeboxes are getting in my way. 

Awhile ago someone gave me a gallon bag of batik 2 inch finished HSTS that needed ironing and dog ears trimmed.  I made 3 inch finished Broken Dishes blocks and some strips of 5 HSTs to add to a long term WIP.   Oh, and I did empty that bag!

And sew on...

***

A quick walk through the gardens. 

Money plant  (Lunaria, Honesty) reseeds itself everywhere. Soon I will harvest and remove the brown outside part of the seed pods to reveal silvery disks. I remember my maternal great grandmother had vases of Lunaria all over her house. I was fascinated by them. 

Lilies. I forget which kind these are. 

Asiatic Lilies

Oh so fragrant Orienpet or Tree Lilies. They grow taller each year and are a cross between an Oriental and Trumpet Lily.

Roses

Daylilies

More Roses.

More Roses being strangled by bindweed.

Daylily

Daylilies

Rose of Sharon

Milkweed. It has popped up everywhere this year!

And sow on...

***

We live in a very old and falling apart but paid for farmhouse. We don't have air conditioning and John's oxygen concentrator also puts out some heat. Since John has been sick so much the last couple of years I don't think he needs to also suffer from the heat too. I started researching portable room air conditioners and found one that would suit our needs and our house layout (it needs to vent to the outside via window) and square footage to cover. It was delivered while John was in the hospital and my son helped me get it set up. So now we do have a little heat relief (around 76 degrees) inside, thank goodness, in the living room/dining room area where John spends most of his time. Now I might have to set up my sewing machine on the dining room table. 

 

February Fodder

Fodder - n. raw material, as for artistic creation.

"Strings and Things" has been the February theme in my sewing space. Fodder is my "and things". 

Over the past year I've been emptying little baggies of this, that and the other thing. Some baggies have come from others and some are of my making. A lot of the baggies have had HST parts in them. As I sew them together I throw them into little boxes kept near the ironing board. I just never get around to ironing them. So this month I did some ironing and some trimming.  

These are 6 inch finished Broken Dishes blocks made of 3.5 inch unfinished HSTs.  Whenever I make Quarter Square Triangle or Flying Geese blocks I use the Easy Angle Companion ruler to cut parts. Since I don't like to waste the first and last cuts on a strip of fabric at the beginning and end of the strip of fabric I use the Easy Angle ruler to cut HSTs. 

If I have four HSTs the same I usually turn them into Broken Dishes blocks. I have a whole box of Broken Dishes in different sizes - quilt fodder. That's where these will go. 

More six inch Broken Dishes.

And even more six inch Broken Dishes. 

Someone sent me these HST parts - yellows matched up with what looks like crumb pieces? I made the HSTs and then turned them into Broken Dishes. Can't remember the size. 

Those Broken Dishes are now going into the grocery bag of orphan blocks and parts that have yellow and/or orange in them.  The bag is pretty full now so maybe it is time for an orphan block quilt. 

4 inch finished HSTs in lime green and orange.

 I made QSTs for a Bramble Bloom quilt and these were the HST parts cut from the beginning and end of strips used to make those QSTs. 

More HSTs left over from making Bramble Bloom QSTs. These are green and pink. 

I have many more not shown here. Most are in multiples of four. I was going to make Broken Dishes blocks from these but decided to wait on that. I might want to use them in some other way. 

For now they are going into the shoe box of orange, lime green, and pink 4.5 inch width scraps left over from making Bramble Blooms tops.   I also have a bag of scrap chunks in the same colors. 

Four Inch Broken Dishes

I think these are some of the Easy Angle cuts (combined with neutrals) that came from making Flying Geese for my Twilight Flock blocks. 

These will go into my box of various sizes of Broken Dishes blocks. 

This little pile of 3 inch HSTs came from cutting corners while making Pineapple Quilt blocks. 

Those HSTs will go into the box of red, white and blue orphan blocks and parts. I think it's time for another orphan block quilt. That box is full of goodies.

Little QSTs. Sometimes made from binding joins and other times from waste triangles. I trim off the dog ears but otherwise don't care if they are wonky. 

They are joining in with others in a box of wonky little QSTs. Someday I will make a quilt from them inspired by a vintage quilt. That lone star is the center for the medallion quilt. 

This month I also emptied a Banker Box sized box (held reams of printer paper) of quilt back trimmings. Anything wider than six inches got put with scrap chunks organied by color. Some multicolors or big prints I put in a separate box to use for quilt back inserts or scrappy bindings. 

I have a little flat now of those trimmings - 1.5, 2, 2.5,3,3.5,4,4.5,5 and 5.5 inch width strips. They will now join others of the same size. I have quilt blocks going for almost all those sizes. I also ended up with some strings (less than 1.5 inch or wonky) and have already used some of those in this month's string quilts. 

I've got more foddering to do. 

And sew on...

 

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. 

 

Piecing Potpourri

I do a lot of piecing but sometimes don't get around to ironing things for quite awhile. I keep a box at the end of my ironing board and throw things into it that need to be ironed or trimmed. Usually it is  leaders/enders or Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) blocks or other block pieces I've kitted up to sew when I just want to do a whole lot of chain piecing at one time on a whole lot of different things. I don't really like to iron. Well, the box was getting full so I was forced into it. So...here's what I ironed...

9 inch Snowball blocks made with 9 Snowballs. Blocks with light and dark corners will alternate in the quilt.  These are a RSC project.  I made a quilt like it a long time ago and after my daughter saw it she asked if she could have it. Oh, yes, indeed!

3 inch Bow Tie blocks

I've been making these from scraps for a long, long time. My goal is 900 blocks and I think now I ony need about 40 more so will probably make my goal in July. 

10 inch Cheerio blocks

This is another RSC project. I started it a couple of months ago. I've made blocks from scraps in the color of the month plus I went through my 4.5 inch squares and pulled out any sets of 4 identical squares to make blocks. I cut block parts and sew pieces together when I'm on a piecing binge.

4 Patch HSTs

made from 3 inch width scraps left over from making last month's Sawtooth Star top. I use an Easy Angle Companion ruler to cut the Flying Geese bodies and I use the Easy Angle ruler to cut HSTs from the two ends so they don't go to waste.   I have a bunch of other 3 inch scraps that I will use to make more blocks for a child's quilt. The blocks finish at 5 inches. Maybe I will alternate them wth squares. Who knows?

Four Patches

made with 2 inch scraps.

My theme is "black, white, and one other color" in each four patch.

Four Inch Broken Dishes

Made with HST parts that resulted from making Flying Geese. See explanation above of rulers I use when making Flying Geese. I think the Geese that went with these fabrics were made into Twilight Flight blocks a few months ago. 

HST parts were the result of making QSTs last month for my Bramble Blooms II medallion center piece. Not sure what these will be used for. Just sewing up scraps.

More HSTs that came to me in a bag of scraps.  I haven't sewn them all yet. Not sure what they will be used for. 

And finally...some strip sets for a Coins quilt made with 2 inch scraps. I think I should see how many strips I have now in my little box of Coins. 

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 25 -- Finished a book!  - Levi's Eyes by Aphrodite Jones.  It is a true crime story. Karl Karlsen murdered his wife and 17 years later murdered his son for insurance money. It took more than 20 years to bring him to justice for both crimes.  I don't understand how a person could be so evil. It gives me nightmares. 

July 26 - I love grapefruit juice and drink a glass almost every day.