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Monday, January 10, 2022

Stay In And Sew.


Another Monday.  Another week ahead!

And another weekend behind.

I've been kitting up and sewing blocks and I love how various aspects of my Scrap User's System come into play. -

See that box of squares?  I'm pulling from this box for the centers of my Churn Dash blocks. Already trimmed to size and stored in plastic shoe boxes, I am pulling from these ready-cut squares in different sizes all of the time for this job or that one.  

It's the VARIETY in these boxes that makes these pieces so fun to play with.


Remember these scrappy gift boxes from last week?

There is nothing like an icy cold "not going anywhere" kind of weekend to dig in and sort -

And I don't want to just add to the stash.  I'd rather start right away in sewing these sweet pieces - many from the 80s and 90s - into a quilt honoring the stash of the original quilter.

For those who don't remember, you can find my original post HERE.

It's easy to be overwhelmed with this, as in where do I start?

I simply put on a podcast, pulled a bag, and began.


When I had pulled enough of the useable stash to make a go of it (About a shoe box worth) I pressed pieces and started cutting.

Churn Dash blocks are EASY.  And fun. And yes, they are also called Monkey Wrench, or Hole in the Barn Door.  

Many traditional blocks have several names they are known by.

No matter what you call it - it's a favorite.

16 block kits ready to stitch at the machine.  (Minus the center squares that haven't been chosen from my squares box yet.)

All triangles have been cut from strip sets with neutral and color already right-sides together using my Essential Triangle Tool.


15 for the cause!

I don't want to simply add more scraps to the stash.  But sewing them right up into blocks works for me.

Combining these newly saved pieces with some of my own stash has me keeping this sweet quilter and her daughter who sent me the scraps, on my heart.  The scraps live on.

There are many narrow strips that are also finding their way into my string bins for future projects.

There are SO MANY SAVED pieces. Even small cut off triangles and other things -

Those are going in the crumb bins for future possible paper-piecing projects.

My plan is to grab a few bags a day and sort through them.

It's too big of a job to do all at once.  But I now have 3 big boxes condensed down into 2. 

This little Churn Dash project is my "Cabin Studio" stitching.

At the QPO Studio?  There are those Juniper Green and Orange blocks to deal with.  Piecing on those has been in between everything else, but I hope to get back into them this week.


Sunday night was good for my Crazie Mazie finish!  (More photos HERE.)

And I hope to get finished photos later today.  This was about 9pm last night.  Ivy was on my legs - like a brick.

Yesterday turned rainy with a high of 50.  With the snow melted away, I now live on a mountain of mud!

This is pretty typical of winter here in SW Virginia, and supposedly there are more snow flurries coming toward the weekend.

Bring it on!  As long as I don't have to be out driving in it, I'm good.

Today - dentist appointment to see how that abscess is behaving.  I've finished 10 days of strong antibiotics.  But does something need to be done?  We'll see.

My weekend was just a happy restful mix of puttering.  It's good for the soul.  It was filled with evening TV watching, good meals, long naps and just "being."

Must. Do. More. Of. This.

The morning sun is streaming brightly through my sliding glass door (Which is covered with muddy dog paw and nose marks.  Must clean!) and there is a beautiful day ahead to step out into.

How was your weekend?  Are you making progress on something wonderful?


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

If you find yourself wallowing, MOVE ON before it sucks you under!
We all go through things, but the objective is to GO THROUGH, not take up residency.
Leave your baggage behind, and GO FORWARD, even if it is just baby steps.
I love the simplicity of this simple 36-patch quilt. It has all the comforting feels.

And those plaids have me thinking of the "untouched for a long time" shirt stash - ummmmmmm *squirrel???"

Have a lovely Monday folks!


 

17 comments:

  1. After turning my ankle I have slowed down on my RT mystery! Getting clue 4 finished today hopefully, already done 5 then facing clues 6 and 7! I have really enjoyed your mysteries and a big Thank You for taking your time to help us learn new techniques. I look forward to your daily post also! I’m still planning a drive Thur visit and hope to see you in early spring!

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  2. I am sure that it is an honor to use scraps from someone who admired your scrappy quilts.

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  3. I've had a lot of "SQUIRREL" moments in the last couple of weeks! Love what you are doing with the churn dash blocks.

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  4. All's well, several light bulbs. Am I the only one who speaks to the photos of the fur persons? Oh, Zoey, you're so cute; Hi, Lola... Lookit those eyes... it's just a photo, the real animal might respond but geeze, Cats!!! LOL... and then how about people w/two grocery carts full for the holiday (whichever one)... There is going to be food people! and the store will only be closed one day (if that) the stores just overwhelmed with folks buying food... I recall when we had larger family dinners I bought the biggest turkey I could find... but only one bag of potatoes! n veggies -- we never ate more than average, so the leftovers were fun and challenging and yummy, but it just bollixes my mind... so, ok, so you buy pearl onions once a year, but 3 bags??? sigh... maybe there's a correlation here and the amount of fabric, but i'm missing it... Love to all y'all and working the scrap saver's system... boy howdy, I do need to work on sorting and bagging! Lot's of green at the moment! <3 <3 <3 Have a happy week. Cats in warm, sunny Carlsbad CA

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  5. I FMQ on a temperamental midarm, so I am sometimes hesitant to start a new project on it. Friday it was living up to its reputation. Saturday I found the sweet spot of needle alignment to get it to stop shredding thread and I am now about half done quilting the first of 2 quilts I had hoped to have finished before Christmas. At least they are getting done now and not languishing longer. FMQ is fun when the machine works but really frustrating when it doesn't.

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  6. Fun Churn Dash blocks. I have an old Quilty friend's Stash that I am donating a bit at a time to our Guild on the free table. The newbie Quilters sure go for the big pieces. I want to kit some up for the Summer Yard/Treasure sale. Yep, I have been stitching up something Beautiful. The Mystery is very Mysterious this year!! Waiting for the Reveal and for Spring to take a picture of it with my Rhododendrons!
    Happy Monday! My Mommas, would be 100th Bithday, if she were here!

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  7. What a great idea to go through the new scraps and use them right away. You are brilliant in the way you work. I am inspired. Still sitting in my rocker this morning, but inspired. LOL

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  8. I’ve been working on the decluttering challenge with “Just Get It Done Quilts”. The sewing room is the only space I haven’t been through. I’ve been dreading it. It stays pretty neat…can’t work in clutter..but there’s more stuff than I need. I’ve already carted off a couple of boxes of stuff!🥳🥳. Only books I kept were a couple that I still want to make and yours. I’ve come to the conclusion I love scrappy quilts! Other stuff bores me. I’ve also started the yearly UFO challenge. Since I only have 2 WIP’s, no UFO’s, I decided to tackle my precuts this year. Either make them into a quilt, get them into my scrap system, or give them away! I laid out my first charm pack quilt last night. It should web together in about half an hour. I will use my split nine patch as a LE in between rows. I have also promised myself to get at least 10 of those blocks done each week. I figure I need around 360, so I should be able to get them done, get it put together and have time to get it quilted by the end of the year. I may get super adventurous and quilt it myself, but since it’s over king size and it won’t fit on my quilt frame, it would have to be done on the domestic machine…😵. Still tossing that around. I hope everyone else has plans in place for the new year and you’re enjoying working at them. I usually get a good start, and fizzle out by summer. Trying to get a lot done before then this year. But as today starts, I’m off to sit on a forklift outside and freeze my behind off helping the hubby add onto his workshop.🥶🥶

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  9. I am making progress on something wonderful......I will start clue 7 today. I get squirrely all the time. sometimes I feel like I have the attention span of a 2 year old...lololol but I always get things done. Love the little churn dash blocks.

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  10. I can imagine it's a challenge to find time for every thing... just like everyone else. But life is lived; minute by minute, moment by moment, day by day.
    Thank you for all you do.

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  11. Churn Dash is one of my favorites. Love the yellow and red one, it popped right out at me. I haven't started RT yet, am in the middle of a important "must do first" project that has nothing to do with quilting. Can't wait to get done and start on that mystery. It won't be a mystery quilt by the time I get to it.

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  12. Your Churn Dash blocks are adorable! Great way to put those legacy scraps to immediate use and let them shine.

    I've been making some 5" Little Monkey blocks from your free patterns tab as one of my Leader/Ender projects. They're entirely from recycled shirts and are using up a bunch of small odds and ends. I love how cute they are! That block is a classic for a reason!!

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  13. In between quilting, and the mask making marathons of last year, I also make memory teddy bears. December was a blur, and the piles of 'stuff' in my sewing room/basement were like mountains. I made myself take time off this month to sort/purge/reorganize - and it's been a major challenge. My energy tank needs a top up, so I am moving very slowly. Doesn't help that up here in Southern Saskatchewan we've been in a deep freeze - days of -33C, 'feels like -45C'! Through all this sorting, I've discovered and condensed EIGHT banana boxes of scraps and strings, PLUS drawer storage towers of already sorted by size goodies! The sorting and purging of those boxes will be a year long WIP, but I think I will borrow this tip - pull and cut parts for specific projects and kit them up. I've already given 8 bags to our local SCRAPS rescue organization for their fundraising projects, and there will likely be more. I am almost ashamed to admit I have a 440 sq ft sewing 'room'... and it is so underutilized. Hoping to change that soon, it always gets worse before it gets better, right? I can just envision how much more productive I will be when everything has a place. My son gave me a tip, so I printed it out and taped it to a door so I can see it from everywhere - "Don't Put it Down, Put it Away"! Oh, and I have a box that any RT potentials are going into, so I can sit and work on that eventually - happy sewing everyone

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    1. I like that tip. I am bad for not putting back. Need to work on that this year. Here, in BC, we had about 18" fresh snow last week, with -obnoxious temps. Now +1 and rain expected on top of the 2+ feet of accumulation! Have to worry about possible flooding into my sewing room -- again. Would much rather be sewing. Also working on the Just Get It Done declutter and organization. Stay safe everyone.

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  14. I'm working on my mystery quilt.Originally my plan was to just cut the clues and sew it up later in the year when it's less busy and the nights are long( I'm in Australia),but,fate has intervened and my husband and I have contracted covid,at the same time.too convenient.(we are both double jabbed) So ,here I am sewing pretty things and humming to myself until I can get back to my neglected patchwork store and see my lovely friends again

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  15. I didn't heed my own advice on Saturday when we got a sheeting of ice, I wanted to put something in mailbox but didn't make it but a few feet and down I went on the ice. No broken bones only my gluteus maximus was bruised . Stayed in and rested. Today I was kinda scared to go out but pushed myself to not be afraid.

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  16. I am plugging away on RT but not accomplishing much. I am very distracted by the Winter Blues quilt that I started last year. Mine is all scrappy so it is not really blue. I just sewed a mountain of blocks and now I am trying to get them arranged in a usable order. This project needs my attention right now! I may have enough blocks to make 2 quilts. That's what happens when the blocks are easy for the leader/ender! Always in stitches....

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