Vintage Calico Scrap QAYG

 Some months ago when I moved our sewing room out of the third floor church room to my sunroom, I brought some red calico prints with me, figuring I would use them for a donated quilt. Finally got aroundtuit. Yay!

Most of these fabrics were donated from church members who are in their mid 80's, so they have been stored (carefully) for decades. One had a date on the selvedge, 1994. Wow! I used it all up. And the blue was donated by my sister's ex-boyfriend, who got it at an estate sale. Backing came from him too. The batting I used was cut off from quilts that were quilted on the longarm, by our illustrious quilter. Those were more or less free too. All in all, this was nearly a freebie! It took a week from start to finish, and measures 63x80" I did it quilt as you go, with only four parts. The center was 36x39" and I quilted that as one piece. Then I made the drops and attached them after they were quilted. This is so much easier and faster than wrangling the whole thing at once. I used the qayg method described here.

Today Tuesday quilter Patsy came to pick up the quilt above and brought her latest qayg in progress to share with me. I LOVE it. I've always wanted to make one of these scrappy beauties, and man, have I got the scrap strips to do it. Each block is individually quilted and joined later to the other quilted blocks, which means it can be done in free moments whenever one has time. Eventually it is finished, and only needs binding. What fun is that! Her blocks are about 10 or 11" square, so this is 40x50" but what if the blocks were 15" square? 4x5 (20 blocks) would make a 60x75" quilt. O my. See you later, gotta sew!

Batik Beauties

 Our Thursday charity quilting group began in earnest last week, but then three of the six of us had to go on vacation, so today the remaining three of us picked up where we left off last week. You can imagine that organizing a weekly sew-in is a challenge, and yet we usually have what I think of as a quorum, so projects actually do get made and turned over to our fabulous quilter, on a timely basis. Our first of the year joint effort is made from batiks which I got when Joann's had a 75% off sale. Fat quarters for 75 cents each. Whamo!

 We used 6.5" squares, sewn into half square triangles and trimmed down to 5.5" and sewed them into three simple blocks. When they are all sewn, we will have the fun moving them around to a satisfactory arrangement. No matter what we do, it will look fabulous because the fabric does all the work for us. 

 While we have six members, not all of us are sewing at the same time. We have cutters, trimmers, and pressers, as well as someone putting the blocks on the wall or getting them from the cutting table to the sewing machines and back to the pressers, all the while laughing and talking and just having a great time.

 Here's a long view of the sewing room,

and now we have three, yes three Janome 6500P machines, so no one has to deal with a different machine each week. My sister works at Chattanooga Sewing Machine Co. and this week a 6500P was brought in as a trade-in and I was Melody On The Spot and took advantage.

 Here it is on one of our little tables, but soon to be placed in a custom Sew Ezi table, which I ordered and will arrive on Saturday. Woowoo! 

  I love the one I got for machine #2 and it is portable and doesn't jiggle when I sew 100 mph.

 Tony is our welcome committee and thinks it is his place to bark-announce the arrival of each car in the driveway. Then he fake-cries for pets when the door is answered. Everyone is trying to teach him to sit and not jump on their legs, to no avail. Bad doggie. 

New for 2020

This charity quilt-as-you-go is finished, today as a matter of fact, and what it lacks in artistic flair, it more than makes up for in reducing the scrap pile. No new fabric (or batting!) was used in the making of this quilt. Since it was sewing lots of little strips, it filled the free time I had in between making Christmas cookies and complaining that it didn't seem like Christmas at all this year. Shirt sleeves and sandals and lots of rain. However, nothing to shovel either, so it ain't all bad.

When I wasn't sewing or complaining, I spent my holidays watching MURDER on Amazon and Netflix. I recently decided to subscribe to Acorn TV and it is all British murder, all the time. Lots of mystery thrillers with lavish mansions or darling little villages and gardens. 

While watching I knit. 

This is the new raglan sleeve version of my all time fave Diamond Patchwork Jacket. Yarns used were Noro Silk Garden, Poems Worsted, Lion Brand Amazing, and Boreal. I changed the pattern slightly at the neckline (a great improvement, imho) and the sides have slits up to the edges of the first diamond. While it is multicolored it remains tasteful instead of garish. 

My dear friend Vista modeled for me and I accidentally cut off her head. Here she is with it back on. Sorry Vista.

It measures 28" long from the base of the back neck and is 26" from side seam to side seam or 52" around. Nice and roomy. It is available for $150, shipping included. Email me. SOLD