A Scrappy Quilter

Beauty Pageant

Put Your Foot Down

Monday, October 21, 2024

Another Successful Retreat

Retreat weekend is over and

it is now time to unpack and review!

One item that got finished up at the very

beginning of retreat,

is the flannel teddy bear.

This poor bear has been hanging

around my sewing room for quite a few years.

I managed to cut out more pieces for his head,

so it is all together and now it actually looks like a bear!

A little bit of finishing, stitching on some eyes,

clipping the extended seams all

around to make him fuzz nicely,

and it should be ready for gifting.

Then I finished up the curved nine patch.

This UFO had been languishing in my

sewing room for some time.

I was avoiding it since I didn't want to make additional blocks,

but I didn't know how to finish it up!

The center was stitched up at the last retreat,

and this weekend gave me a good chance to organize,

and randomize some postage stamp squares into a complete border.

The colour family postage stamp blocks

around the outside were quite large.

They were divided into smaller units to

decrease the impact of the colour blocks.

I had to add a few rows here and there

to make the corners line up,

but I am quite pleased with the result!

This quilt doesn't have a designated home yet but I'm hopeful

whoever receives it will enjoy the bountiful colours

and curves of the nine patches.

Remember all those twosies

left over from the Stash Buster Challenge?

I spent a very enjoyable evening stitching

them all up into another Irish chain quilt.

This could be the last one, but it is doubtful.

I really enjoyed stitching this up.

Another retreat attendee displayed

a spectacular Irish chain quilt

completely from solids.

That may be the next quilt on the sewing table!

Last stop for the weekend,

was a bucket of Halloween Fabrics.

The pieces went together quite rapidly,

using the quick cut and piecing method I learned years ago.

The searchable name for this block is

shaded four patch. The quick method makes it fun to do.

On the last day of fun and games with my quilting friends,

I put together enough to see the pattern develop.

Look at the adorable Halloween characters

peeking out that appeared when I placed

them together on the design wall.

Stay Safe and Sew On!

Linking up with:

Design Wall Monday

Sr. Salon Pit Stop

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Riding the Rails

Very exciting! I had the good fortune of winning

a draw at my most recent Guild meeting.

I just have to do a little book review because

the book I won is so very interesting.

The book is "Hobo Quilts "

written by Debra G. Henninger.

The reason this book is so appealing is that my father was

young during the age of riding the rails.

Boxcar Willie and other

famous or infamous hobos were part of his childhood.

This book has patterns and stories of quilts

based on the language of the hobos.

This book show modern quilts that are

made using realistic findings and evidence of signs used for

communication between travelling people during 1880s-1940s.

Signs means drawings or graffiti left by the people

on their way through towns or farmland.

According to Dr. Google,

the term Hobo emerged in the American

West around 1890, though its origins are hazy.

Some say it was an abbreviation

of Homeward Bound or homeless boy.

Author Bill Bryson wrote in his 1998 book

“Made in America” that it may have

come from “Ho, beau!”, a railroad greeting.

Many times they were retired or returning military,

or laid off, unemployed men.

Rarely if ever were women seen

travelling around or going door to door.

One of my favorite blocks is the pot.

During the Great Depression

my father recalls his mother, who herself was an orphan,

always having a pot on the back of the stove.

This pot got all the leftovers and off cuts

from every dinner and would stew until late afternoon.

Around 4:00, knocks would start on the door.

She would go to the door and ladle out

stew to the men standing on her porch.

A most particular note is that

each visitor to the doorstep

would extend his own pot to receive the stew.

Does this sound familiar?

I believe this custom eventually

made way for the term "panhandler".

Many Halloweens growing up,

we would dress up as hobos.

A bit of charcoal from the wood furnace,

to make a beards on our faces, a scruffy hat,

some baggy clothes,

and finally a stick with a

checkered sack on it usually

made out of an old pillowcase.

Certainly not politically correct now as a costume,

but then it was quick easy and identifiable.

Have a great Halloween if you and yours

observe it!

Stay safe and sew on!

Linking up with :

Sr Salon Pit Stop

Beauty Pagent

Light 'em Up! Color Everywhere!

Mother Nature gave us some spectacular views last week.

So I just have to show a few picture of our evening skies!

This dome of color formed directly overhead.

These were very similar to the display I

remember from a cold October night

beside a huge oak tree in my Michigan back yard!

Due North over the big city.

We do get a lot of light pollution from the city of Edmonton.

The pictures that have the pinks and

pale greens are taken with a night exposure of 6 seconds

on a basic smartphone.

The display of that night however was so

strong and so vibrant that the pictures below

were taken with minimal exposure

time and just normal shots with a phone a phone

The shots through the trees makes

me understand how people could think of

extra-terrestrials in a less enlightened time.

Can you imagine waking up and seeing

glowing green lights through the trees?

Many of us Northerners can remember growing up,

And getting called out to the backyard

wearing our pajamas to look up at the Flaming Skies.

Just back week did remind me of the Vivid displays

I saw in Michigan in the fall.

It isn't just the leaves that come alive

when the weather gets cold.

Scientifically, temperature

has nothing to do with the northern lights displays.

Those are just some times I remember

watching the Northern Lights.

So is that in mind let's talk a little bit about other colors.

Has anyone noticed the delightful colors

that are available on modern sewing machines?

I saw one last week on a quilting show

that was teal and greens.

It was absolutely wonderful to see,

and was a name brand machine.

That trend seems to translate itself right into sewing tools.

I can see pink rotary cutter, a yellow rotary cutter

(classic Olfa colour) and a pink and blue ergonomic cutter,

without moving from my chair.

Yes that also indicates I need to tidy up my sewing area!

It is truly a rainbow in the work room!

Scissors of course have come in a multitude

of colors almost forever.

I have blue ones, black ones and even one pair

of iridescent mini scissors!

These little ones were left behind at a sew day!

I have to pick up them up this morning.

Their usual home is on a hook on the side

of my Elna quilting Queen.

Have a great week sewing and enjoy

the rainbows in your sewing room!

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Big News!

A new resident has joined the work room as

I am now the proud owner of a Bernina 820.

This machine was a donation to a local quilting club.

They were selling it to raise funds for additional quilting materials.

I had mentioned, at our monthly meeting,

that my bigger machine I used for quilting lost its timing.

It was getting quite costly to repair.

Now it is a parts donor machine at the repair shop.

Anyway, I haven't been intimidated

by anything in a long time,

but this machine has a lot of

bells and whistles that I have yet to learn.

Here is my first block made with my new quilting partner.

I found the tension a little tight.

I was getting a tiniest bit of rippling in the seams.

I'll just rethread again and that may take care of the problem

It certainly sews fast.

I'm not even up to half speed yet!

I would like to get a bit more comfortable before I try to quilt.

There are two, pinned Legacy quilt tops on the to do pile.

I would like to get them quilted it up this month.

The box that came with this new machine is pretty incredible .

It's more like a wagon for sewing machines.

It has a lovely pull handle and

can carry two small children in a pinch.

Retreat supplies will fit nicely.

Next up on my sewing schedule,

aside from doing more UFOs, is a

project just found during with an estate clear out.

I was gifted a big bin of fabric and it turned

out to be mostly Halloween!

There was a pattern in the box that looked interesting

but I knew there was an easier way to put the pattern together.

I called my incredibly organized BB.

She remembered where we did it and managed

to pull out the pattern! It really pays to have an organized friend!

It is called "a shaded four patch".

You end up with a square sitting next to a bigger triangle.

It's just wonderful and should work

very well with those Halloween fabrics.

I also have a very lovely Halloween panel

that I can put on the reverse of the quilt.

I'll end up with a two-sided Halloween quilt.

I can't see it being given as a wedding quilt so I

think I will actually be able to keep this one.

One of my quilting buddies youngest members

is now engaged so we do all feel a wedding

quilt coming on.

Stay safe and sew on.

Linking up with:

Design Wall Friday