Short, Bright and Skinny

Short, bright and skinny? No, I'm not describing myself except for maybe the bright part.  I'm talking about the strings I used up in this quilt top. 

It's 45 x 54.  I used some 5 inch b/w centers I've had laying around here from a swap long, long ago. 

Since this is wider than a width of fabric I'm thinking I will make one big happy block for the back and use some of my long strings around a big center. We'll see. 

My plain Jane Janome is in the shop for repair. I heard a clunk and that was it. No more sewing for me. And I was about 3/4 finished with free motion quilting my Fireworks quilt.   My husband helped me get my crazy Ken Kenmore out of the attic and I decided to give it a try while Jane is in the shop.  I haven't sewn on it since I made my daughter's wedding dress about 15 years ago and got frustrated with him and banished him to the attic.  I'm spoiled by Jane's 1/4 foot which doesn't fit on Ken so decided I would just sew on Wonky today where it doesn't make any difference if seams aren't perfect.  I finished up 8 blocks and then assembled the top.  And I'm kind of liking Ken again.  I might have to find space for him in the sewing room.  Right now he's hanging out in the spare bedroom.

This kind of quilt is a lot of fun.  It's a perfect pick-me-up for a cold, rainy winter day. Where else would Santa meet Spiderman? 

And, oh JOY...the spiders are after the chocolate while the monkeys and puppies look on and the reindeer hang upside down. 

When this gets finished it will either be a donation quilt or a car quilt. 

For Christmas  I'm making several "car quilts" to include with other items in some emergency/survival boxes for the car.   Other items to include in the boxes might be hand warmers, flashlight, small shovel, extra gloves,  whistle, jumper cables, salt/sand, multi-purpose tool...there's lots of websites out there with suggestions. 

Linking to:

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

WAIWO? Short Strings and Quilt Wrestling.

What am I working on?  Scraps. It's Scraptastic Tuesday! 

I've been sewing some of my short string scraps around some b/w 5 inch squares for some 9 inch wonky Happy Blocks. 

And I've been wrestling with my lozenges (aka suppositories) quilt - a scrappy catalog of 2.5 x 5 inch pieces of fabric (aka scraps) leftover from quilts I've made or quilt blocks I've made that are now hiding in boxes of UFOs. 

I have a dinky harp space on my DSM and a big quilt that needs to go through there. I'm only quilting a few straight lines, thank goodness, and it will all be over soon.  I think I will win the wrestling match...this time. 

Got Scraps?

It's Scraptastic Tuesday. Let's party! 

I Cleared Off My Desk and...

The scraps were piling  up so high on the desk where I have my sewing machine so that I could hardly see my little old Janome.  And there was certainly no room to do any machine quilting. So, it was time to sort and use some scraps. I didn't want to throw them in a box. I have too many of those scrap boxes right now. 

So, first up...I sorted out some short string scraps.  Then I used the pile of 5 inch b/w "charms" I swapped ages and ages ago and used them as the centers of my blocks with strings all around for some 9.5 inch blocks...because that's the size of one of my rulers I used to square them up.  More to come...I just sewed some up until I was tired of them.  They are kind of like the Happy Block quilts I've made in the past (central square, 2.5 inch sides).   I guess they are Happy Wonkies or Wonky Happies.  I probably have enough for a lap quilt. 

I used only bright string scraps and put the neutral ones in another pile for a different project I haven't gotten to yet.  (String hearts, maybe?) 

I swapped some patriotic chunky churn dashes several months ago and still had some patriotic and red/white/blue 2.5 inch strips on my desk so I cut them further into 2.5 squares, cut some white/cream 1.5 inch pieces and made a few Twinklers...an alternate six inch block to go with those patriotic chunky churn dashes.    I want to make at least three Quilts of Valor in 2016 for a couple of bros-in-laws and a nephew.   This will be one of them. 

Some blue tone on tone scraps were cut into 2.5 inch pieces and some waste triangles used for some little 4 inch butterfly blocks.  When I cut off waste triangles I just eyeball the 1/4 inch seam allowance so sometimes the wings are uneven.  

Some 2.5 inch scraps went toward four patches. I have a box of different four inch units/blocks that will make several donation quilts of some type or other in 2016. 

And speaking of waste triangles...I have a bunch of them left over from that butterfly garden quilt top  I made a few months ago.  There's a lot of them. I haven't sewn them all together yet but...

...I think I see a quilt using these in my future. Again, when I cut off the waste triangles I just eyeballed the seam allowances so these waste triangles do not measure all the same size and I'm not going to square them up.  I might leave some as HSTs, make some into pinwheels and/or broken dishes blocks.   I might add some fairies and more butterflies and mushrooms and other insects and fantasy creatures.  MIGHT, I say. MIGHT. We shall see what comes of this. 

When I have scraps...I improvise. Sometimes I improve my skills. Two improvs. 

And speaking of improv...why not check out some other improv quilters this month.

Ad Hoc Improv Quilting with:

Kaja at Sew Slowly

Ann at Fret Not Yourself