It's a Flimsy! Vintage Thingamajigs

Vintage Thingamajigs

It's a flimsy!

60 x 78

 Six inch blocks with twenty-nine pieces. 

 I started making the blocks last year after I was inspired by some vintage blocks on Flickr.  I am not sure of the name of the block so I started calling them Vintage Thingamajigs. 

The way I decided to make them may be an Ohio Star variation. 

I thought I used all the same red solid background but as I put them together and ironed the rows I could see that not all reds are created equal.  And that's okay.  Most of the fabrics were 30s reproductions with some old shirts thrown in for fun. 

So far I haven't found a suitable backing in my stash. 

I'm going to hand quilt with big stitches with perle cotton - probably black - in the red spaces. 

Vintage Thingamajigs Monthly Update

 Inspired by a picture of some vintage blocks on Flickr  I've been working on my version of these blocks since July 1. It's been a 20 minute project - I work on it 20 minutes each day. That includes cutting, trimming, winding bobbins and not just sewing.  I rarely cut all the pieces for a quilt but instead cut some, sew some, cut some more, sew some more...

These are six inch blocks and when I started out I wasn't sure what size quilt I would make.  

This month I made 25 blocks which brought my total up to 128. Hmmmm...

I grabbed some scraps on the cutting board and made two more blocks. Now I have 130 blocks and think I have enough. I have no more pieces cut. I have a 5 inch piece of red left. My shoe box is overflowing with blocks and no more will fit in.  And a quilt set 10 x 13 will be a nice size at 60 x 78.  So now I will be sewing blocks together one of these days. 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Vintage Thingamajigs Monthly Update

 I've been calling these blocks Vintage Thingamajigs for lack of a better name. They are inspired by blocks in a picture at Flickr.  My version appears like it might be an Ohio Star variation and has 29 pieces in each six inch block. 

I made 15 blocks this month. 

 I've been working on them for 20 minutes each day since July 1. If I miss a day of 20 minute work for some reason like a broken sewing machine then I make sure to make up those days by sewing longer on other days.  I thought it would be fun to see how long it takes to make a quilt by working on these blocks for just 20 minutes each day.  The 20 minutes includes cutting pieces, cutting dog ears, winding bobbins, seam ripping, etc and not just sewing. 

The shoe box now has 103 blocks. I'm trying to decide if I should make it 10 x 12 blocks (60 x 72) or 12 x 14 blocks (72 x 84).  I'm thinking a twin sized quilt is probably the better way to go. Then that means I need 65 more blocks and will be sewing on this for several more months.  And that's okay. It's slowly moving forward and I'm not bored with it and it has become my routine now to work on it first thing each day. 

I sew a few blocks at a time in stages and am in the middle of 10 blocks to start out December so December may see more blocks than usual made. 

Vintage Thingamajigs Monthly Update

I work on these blocks for 20 minutes every day.  I added 25 blocks to the pile in October.  I now have a total of 88 blocks.  Each six inch block has 29 pieces. They were inspired by some vintage blocks I saw on Flickr.   Yes, I can see a couple of blocks with pieces turned the wrong way.  And so it goes. 

Vintage Thingamajigs Monthly Update

Vintage Thingamajigs

This month I've added 17 more 6 inch blocks to my pile of what now consists of 63 blocks. 

I've been working on them each day for 20 minutes since July 1. It's just a fun way to see how long it will take me sewing only 20 minutes a day to make this quilt.  The 20 minutes includes cutting pieces and trimming dog ears. It's not all just piecing time. 

 I'm aiming for a twin size quilt so I think that means I need about 154 blocks. 

You may or may not know that I'm inspired by vintage/antique quilts. The blocks that inspired these I saw on Flickr and I'm calling them Vintage Thingamajigs. I'm thinking I may set these on point but not sure yet. Now I need to figure out how many that setting would take.  I don't want to make too many blocks!

This, That and The Other Thing- Machine Piecing

 I don't just work on one quilt at a time from start to finish. I like to work on a variety of quilts and things at one time in short bursts of time throughout the day.  That includes gardening tasks, household chores, reading, genealogy research, scrapbooking and internet surfing not just quilting.  Normally I make separate blog posts as I finish some blocks, a flimsy, a quilt and don't show everything from a week all in one post.   

Above are the four Vintage Thingamajigs I finished last week. This is the only project where I actually keep track of the sewing time of 20 minutes each day because our Stashbuster Yahoo Group issued the challenge to start a project July 1 and sew on it for 20 minutes a day.  I chose the above blocks based on vintage blocks I saw online.   Now you may say four blocks isn't that many for a week of sewing 20 minutes a day- 140 minutes.  But when you consider that each six inch block contains 29 pieces and those pieces need to be cut, matched up, sewn into units, ironed then I'll take four blocks.  I now have 18 blocks out of a target of 224 which means I also have more than enough for one row of fourteen blocks and the target is 16 rows. 

But I also have a lot of working parts for this week's 20 minute sewing sessions. My process is also to cut some, then sew some units, cut some then sew some blocks.  I don't really like cutting. 

And speaking of cutting...when I cut the hourglass pieces with the Easy Angle Companion for the Vintage Thingamajigs I also cut the ends into HSTs with the Easy Angle so I don't waste that little bit at the beginning and end of the strip.   Last week  (also in short sewing sessions of 20 - 25 minutes) I used some of those little HSTs (1 inch finished) and combined them with other scraps from the 1.5 and 2.5 inch scrap bins to make 19 four inch blocks which brings my total to 33.  I'm calling this quilt Gallimaufry (stew or hash made from anything on hand) and it is inspired by a vintage quilt c. 1890. 

Also last week I made my fifth block for Garden Mosaic  (I'm calling mine Fractured Rainbows). Only 11 more to go!!  

 But I have all 2048 HSTs made and those pieces sewn into various parts - a "webbed" block, and some four patches.   The part that took the longest time in making this was sorting through scraps to cut since my 2 inch scrap bin was small and not very full.  

 And then since I had gotten into the habit of making a few HSTs for Fractured Rainbows each day I dug out my Ocean Waves UFO and figured out what I needed to bring that to flimsy stage. I have 12 blocks and I think I'll need 25 sixteen inch blocks.   I had 30s reproduction 2.5 inch scraps set aside to use for these so I dug in and made HSTs for 5 blocks which are now webbed into quarter sections for the big blocks.  I like to make the quarter sections and mix and match them to make the entire block. That's basically hoping that all of the same fabrics don't end up in a block. 

An Ocean Wave block. 

Moving it Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Weekly Update - Vintage Thingamajigs

Vintage Thingamajigs

Since July 1 I've been working on these blocks for 20 minutes each day.  It was a challenge issued by Stashbusters Yahoo Group - pick a project and work on it for 20 minutes each day.  I'm making these Ohio Star variation six inch blocks inspired by vintage blocks.   This week I added six blocks which brings my total to 14. My target goal is 244 blocks. 

Until next Monday...

The Spawn

Spawn: the seed, germ or source of something - Merriam-Webster. 

Yesterday I talked about how I work on quilting projects in short time periods. I also mentioned I may work on several different projects all in one day. 

Now I'll tell you how one project here may be the spawn of several others. 

I don't like cutting. So I intersperse it with sewing. I also may cut for several projects at one time because that is what makes sense to me.   

Let me give you an example. I need hourglass pieces for the project I was working on yesterday (I call Vintage Thingamajigs).   So I use the Easy Angle Companion ruler to cut those. BUT I don't want to waste that little piece in the front of the hourglass piece. That's a perfectly good HST!!!  There's a perfectly good 1.5 inch HST at the beginning and end of the hourglass (or hourglasses) that I can use in a UFO (Gallimaufry)! And I don't need to cut up the whole 1.5 inch strip because I have another UFO (30s strings) that can use some. 

So one 1.5 inch strip of fabric can be cut and used in 3 projects. 

The hourglass pieces go into the Vintage Thingamajigs. 

The little HST pieces go into a basket and then when I feel like it I pair them up with some neutral scraps to make HSTs...

...that eventually get paired up with some 2.5 inch scraps and other 1.5 inch squares from the 1.5 inch scrap bin that is NOT 30s fabrics to make these little four patch units I started last December - another quilt based on a vintage one.  I'm calling my quilt Gallimaufry. 

 And what happened to the rest of the 1.5 inch strip??  They were thrown into the 1.5 inch 30s scraps I already had on hand. 

I've been making these little 5 inch string blocks for years. 

Maybe this will be the year I finish this UFO. 

Time will tell!

Gallimaufry and Thingamajigs

Gallimaufry

It's no secret that I'm inspired by a lot of vintage scrappy quilts.  I tried a few 4 inch blocks after I was inspired by a quilt for sale at Rocky Mountain Quilts.   I love all of the secondary patterns that can be seen in the quilt.  I'm not interested in buying - just interested in making my own. And so I think I have the little blocks figured out and now will continue to make more.  Nann at With Strings Attached suggested a few weeks ago that Gallimaufry would be a good name for some of my scrappy concoctions because that's what came to mind when she saw some of them.  Nann is a librarian so she knows all those fancy words but I didn't know if she was giving me a compliment, making fun of my quilts or just thought I could use a little learnin'. I had to look up the word so I could remember it longer.  Thanks, Nann. That's a good name for this quilt wannabe. 

Thingamajigs

I made a couple more of these Thingamajigs inspired by vintage blocks I saw on Flickr.  After screwing around trying to figure out how to make the block I decided they were just an Ohio Star variation. But now that I look back at the photo I'm not so sure these blocks are connecting quite the same as those in the picture. But that's okay. I'm going to continue on like this. 

The plan is to use my 1.5 inch scraps to make these blocks.  After I use a scrap for each block plus make Rainbow Scrap Challenge rail fence and Whatchamacallit blocks  if there is any left of the piece  I'm going to put it in the Spider Web quilt box so I can continue on with that quilt. 

And that's how really scrappy quilts are usually made around here - one scrap goes into many quilts.