Valerean

While sorting through an old project bin last month I found three patchwork blocks and matching backing fabric that I never finished making into a runner. I decided that should be the finish UFO would be the next square I tick off on my art quilter's bingo card. I had enough of the backing fabric to make my own binding, so I did that, too. It turned out imperfect but pretty (still having trouble putting the binding on with the sewing machine.) I do like the colors very much. Before I put it out on the kitchen wall for which it was intended, I added feather stitching all along the inside edges. Now I can check off one more space on the Art Quilter's Bingo card. :)

My first quilting project for 2024 is going to be finishing this UFO, a crazy double wedding ring quilt I started but had to set aside when I went through vision problems some years ago. I purchased the vintage quilt top long ago because it is without a doubt the craziest double wedding ring quilt patchwork I've ever seen. It needs to be repaired in a few spots before I finish the hand quilting I started. Since I won't be able to quilt by hand much longer I thought it was high time I finished it. Wish me luck. :)

In between my summer projects I will be working on finishing the recycled linen quilt I set aside last year. First thought after taking it out of storage: Crap, forgot how big it is. Pretty sure I have enough perle thread to complete it. :)

The first project for April is making a pair of throw pillows for my home office sofa out of these two Dresden Plate patchwork blocks from my gifted UFOs bin. To preserve the fragile hand stitching and old feedsack fabrics, I handwashed them before I pressed them. Most of the little stains on them didn't come out, and they don't lay completely flat, but they're clean. To make them more matched I removed the six striped diamond pieces from one of them, which I'll use for another project. For the backing fabric I'm using a big piece of synthetic white fabric with a slight crepey texture that came in one of my Fabscrap white scrap packs. With a little strategic tucking I can flatten the blocks as I applique them to the white fabic. Here's how they turned out. I made them bed-size so I can use them on the bed in the guest room once spring turns to summer.

My camera doesn't like to photograph blue or purple quilts in the sewing room, so these colors aren't true, but I did finish the little crazy patchwork quilt I made from some blocks my mom gave me that I found in the gifted UFOs bin. After I hand quilted it, I decided to slay two dragons by using up some extra-wide premade purple binding I had on hand, and machine-stitching both sides of the binding rather than one by machine and one by hand, as I usually do. I've never tried to do that, but I need to start using the sewing machine more as my hands are slowing down. I was nervous, and I made some mistakes, but I did okay with it. I can finish a project a little faster this way, too. I considered adding some embroidery to the quilt, but the colors are so crazy it just would have added visual confusion. So in the end I just quilting-stitched everything. This is a better pic of the colors of the quilt. I'm going to leave it on display through Mother's...

I've finally finished sorting through and laundering the fabric and UFOs in my gifted bin. Aside from the green velvet wrap, the purple patchwork block sets, and the two unrepairable repair jobs, this is everything. Lots of scraps and fat quarters, with a few larger pieces. I have a better handle now on why I put all these in one bin, too. Most of it is print fabric, and/or in red, dark or crayon colors that I don't often use now for quilts or textile art. I've gravitated more toward lighter colors and hand-dyed fabrics. That doesn't make the fabric unusable, of course, and it's good for me to work outside my comfort zone. There are some pieces that are quite pretty, too. I still can't figure out who gave me the ancient Egyptian print, though. Mom, was this from you? Ha.

Since it's in my favorite color, I assume the green beaded velvet shawl I found in my gifted UFOs bin came from Mom. When you live in a subtropical humid climate there's not a lot of reasons to have anything made of velvet, so it wasn't something I'd buy for myself. It's also made of polyester, which is a material I avoid. Still, it's a pretty thing, so I decided to wash it and see if it would hold together -- only one problem. Both ends were fringed with plastic bead dangles, which made it unwise to toss in the washing machine, even on delicate. Also, some of the beads were missing. I do love beads, but these promised to have me handwashing the shawl for the rest of my days in my bathtub. So I did the sensible thing for me and cut off all the beads, which I will recycle into something else. The beadless shawl washed up beautifully, and now will be a wrap/lap blanket for me during cold winter days and nights.

While sorting the scrap fabric from the gifted UFOs bin for laundering I found these two old Dresden plate blocks. They appear to be made mostly of feedsacks, and were a bit dingy. Because of their age I couldn't toss them in the washer. Hand washing old fabrics takes a little time and trouble, but it's worth it to me. I set them in the handwashing bin to soak with some mild detergent and a splash of vinegar, and then hung them to air-dry. This was mostly to see if the blocks would hold together after a wash, which they did, so I'm going to make them into spring throw pillows for the sofa in my home office.

I considered making another bag with these wild crazy patchwork blocks, but they want to be a quilt. I put some different fabrics from the UFOs bin with them to see what might work as sashing for the blocks. Black and dark green were just too dark for me. This blue batik tempted me, but batik fabric is difficult to hand stitch, so I nixed that. In the end I chose two calico cottons from the bin, both a medium blue (my camera didn't want to show their true color, so I fiddled with the color adjustment on the computer). According to the tags they hail from 1998, when quilting cottons were $2.99 a yard. So that was what I used to make the quilt last month. :)

The remaining fabric in my UFOs bin really has me scratching my head. Most are prints that appear to be about twenty years old. Also, a lovely green burnout velvet beaded shawl. I think Mom gave that to me for a birthday. Some cute sailboat paper-pieced blocks. Again with red fabric I try to avoid, and bright yellow -- not my favorite color. I was glad to finally find some solids. I generally don't use crayon colors, but I'm sure I can make these into bag handles or liners. I'm going to keep this bin out in the sewing room, too. It's high time I used this fabric.

In my gifted UFOs bin I found two bags of fabric from Keepsake Quilting, all Asian novelty prints. They're about 20 years old, but still in like new condition. I think both were a birthday present from someone. I'm not a huge fan of novelty prints, but they certainly are colorful. I looked through my patterns, and I might have enough to use them to make this quilt.

Here are two repair projects I never attempted. This artsy contained crazy quilt top is very old and delicate, with about 25% of the silk, satin and crepe patches shattered or on the verge. I remembering thinking "Well, maybe I can fix it" which, of course, was idiotic of me. It's too old to launder, but I will keep the top and harvest what I can from it for other repair projects. The back of the top is almost as interesting as the front. This gold and red Lone Star is very cheerful and graphic, but also badly deteriorated, making it unsuitable for washing. Since it's only about one-quarter of a quilt (I'll bet there were four of these stars on the original piece) really not worth fixing. Also, imagine trying to cover the shattered diamonds with new fabric. I'll never be that good at repairs.

I'm still spring cleaning, and in the process found a bin of old unfinished quilt projects and scrap fabric, most of which I believe were gifted to me by well-meaning family members and friends. That would explain how I got this quilt top, which is beautifully pieced but not something I would purchase for myself (still had a ten dollar price tag on it, too. Maybe Jill did this to me.) Everything smells a bit, too, so I'll have to launder the lot. Under the top I found what I assume is the backing fabric, in a lovely shade of dark rose pink. Another warning sign; I almost never buy red or pink fabric. Also, I wouldn't have chosen that color to back this quilt. Just out of curiosity I washed the backing fabric with a color grabber sheet (twice), with this result each time. It bleeds like I do. I will probably keep the top -- at least until I remember or find out who gave it to me -- but do something else with the backing fabric that does not require launderin...

During my spring cleaning efforts I unearthed a bin of blocks, fabric and a quilt top, all of which had been gifted to me over the years (more on this in some future posts.) It included these nine crazy patchwork blocks, which I think my mom got me at one of the quilt shows we attended together. It had to be about 20 years ago, so my memory is fuzzy. Since there were only nine I decided to make these into a bag. After sewing two panels of four blocks together, I got out my petite very velvet threads and embroidered the center white floral patches. I also quilted the other patches with violet holographic Sulky. I used another dark green print fabric from the bin to make the handles and lining for the bag. I've had a little needlepoint rose applique that I've been saving for years for the right project, and this bag seemed to be it. The last block made a nice pocket for the inside of the bag. Thanks, Mom.