Merry Christmas!

 The little hearts I've been making are the only gifts I've made this year. 

I've also been making little stitcheries for an international swap I'm involved in. I'll show you what I've made and what I've received next year. No handmade gifts for family members this year though! That was a gift from me to me. 😉 

In honor of the holiday...

This quilt began as a row-by-row round robin in my local quilt guild. I added the sampler blocks down the sides to widen the original product. It was finished in 2008. It spends the holidays on our living room couch. 

During a secret Santa gift exchange in the same guild I received this little embroidered pillow.

I absolutely love it. (It's not as yellow in real life.) 

And with that, let me wish all my friends and readers the happiest of Christmases or whatever you celebrate at this time of year. 😊

Scrap Happy in December

 When I'm cutting scraps into patches for future use there are inevitably tiny scraps that are too small for the piecing I do but are too big to be thrown away as far as I'm concerned. So they get tossed into one of three lunch-size paper bags.

Warm colors in one bag, neutrals in another, and cool colors in the third. 

Slow stitching has finally justified hanging onto these little bits. For the past couple of weeks I've been digging into these bags to create the foundations for some embellished hearts.

 Each of these hearts are about 4" high and 3.5" wide. I use an eight inch length of ribbon for the hanging loops. The scrap fabrics are sewn to a scrap piece of batting and another scrap of batting goes between the stitched front and the felt I use for the back of the hearts.

 

The laces, appliques, and buttons are all salvaged from one source or another. I'm using only ribbons from my stash and the embroidery threads I have on hand.

The only elements that are new would be the occasional charm. However, they were not purchased specifically for this project.

Scrap Happy Day is hosted by Kate in Australia and Gun in Sweden. We post things we've been able to make out of scrap or recycled materials on the 15th of each month in our respective time zones. Current participants span the globe. If you'd like to join in next year just leave a comment with Kate or Gun. In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday season!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, 
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

Just the Beginning

Last month I shared the palette I'd pulled for a new project.

 I made up a handful of blocks right away. The first was this Four Corners block (all of these blocks will finish at 12").

Then I tried it out in blues.

Next I pieced four quarters that can be arranged in a variety of configurations. Each variant has its' own name of course. I don't have the brain power at the moment to recall which is which. 

I know one design is called Crowns.

Another might be Lost Ships.

There's probably another name but it escapes me at the moment. 

Care to take a guess which arrangement I decided to go with? 

Ta daa:

I may still make up another version, perhaps in blues again. Or even more than one! 

The last block I made is a variation of Aunt Sukey's Choice.

I'm planning to do at least one more of this one also. It's fun to play around with color and value placements to see how different the block looks from one to another. 

There are no specific plans at this point for how many blocks to make or how they will be set or anything like that. For now I'm just going to have fun trying out block designs and/or making some of my more favorite blocks. Well, I say for now but in reality it will probably be the new year before I return to this particular project. 😊

Scrap Happy Day in November

 I needed something relative simple to sew recently. That led me to my collection of 3" wide strips. The strips are one of the things I cut from scraps and leftovers for blocks that go into my Parts Department. I use them to make 15" (finished) Scrappy Trips blocks. Once I got started I couldn't seem to stop!

I knew there were Scrappy Trips blocks in the Parts Dept. but I didn't think there were enough for a decent size quilt top. When I finally stopped and counted the new blocks and the old blocks I discovered I had enough to TWO quilt tops! 

My go-to size for a personal quilt is 60" x 80." That only requires twenty of these large blocks. But, it also leaves me at 75" in length. So I decided to add two more rows of scrap blocks to the first quilt top.

It was a bit of a struggle but I think I managed to keep the general pattern going. Doubtful anyone but a quilter would notice if I haven't succeeded. 😉

For the second top I opted for a much easier solution to adding that extra five inches:

A whole cloth strip at both the bottom and the top edges. 😁

Now there are no more Scrappy Trips blocks in the Parts Dept. and I put a neglected leftover piece of fabric to good use. 

Scrap Happy Day is open to anyone who wants to recycle or upcycle or otherwise make something new out of scrap materials. We post on the 15th of each month in our various time zones. If you'd like to participate you can leave a comment on Kate or Gun's blogs. They are at the top of the link list and always worth a visit. Enjoy!

Kate, Gun, Eva, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, 
Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, 
Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

Moving Forward and Going Back in Time

It's time for a new quilt project. Something not made from the Parts Department or mere scraps. 

I have been collecting historical reproduction prints of late. Prints and colors that put me in mind of the last part of the 19th century and maybe into the beginning of the 20th. 

The three piles in the foreground are the most likely candidates for what I have in mind. Of course, it remains to be seen what actually works and what doesn't. I do like flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to this sort of thing. 

The next consideration is what to do with these fabrics. Which block or blocks? What type of setting, which will determine how many blocks I will need. I like to work intuitively, but a certain degree of planning is useful. 

At the beginning of October I put one of my Footsquare Freestyle (F2F) quilts on my bed for rather obvious reasons (if you live in the northern hemisphere). 

Under its' influence I have decided to make an assortment of 12" blocks. It may or may not turn out to be a typical sampler quilt with each block different from its' neighbor, but it will probably be sashed in the traditional way. Unless I get a brighter idea when the blocks are made. 

I'm going to avoid declaring a goal for regular output of blocks for this new quilt or any kind of deadline. I may make one a month or I may get started and not be able to stop! 

On another note, the second round of the Great Big Little Stitchery Swap has begun. I've committed to making and swapping eight 4" squares, putting them in the mail by 31 December. I made eleven squares in the first round. I may be able to make and swap a few more before the end of December but I didn't want to put pressure on myself what with the holidays and all. Hmm, I don't think I've shown you the squares I received in the first round of the swap. That's something to add to my To Do list. 😉