Navajo Quilt--Finished!

At last! My mom's (or my dad's??) Navajo quilt project is finished--pieced, quilted, and bound. And very dramatic and graphic it is!

I've used my favorite Warm and Natural batting, and the backing is the matching red that was included with all the cut pieces. It seemed to me that quilting along the seam lines was the only real option-any other lines, especially curved lines, would only detract. So each seam line is machine quilted, and I have to say it has been borne out to me again that using polyester fabric in quilting is less than optimal! It just doesn't cooperate like 100% cotton fabric--it's ravelly and harder to work with.

After quilting I did decide to trim the width of the outer black border by about an inch--I think it seems more in proportion and sets the quilt off better.

Mom and Dad have been gone about two years now, and I think that I do still have another unfinished project or two from my parents. I suppose, though, that in a way the family is their biggest project, and unfinished at that! But turning out pretty well so far, and getting bigger all the time.

All in all, a beautiful quilt-- I think my parents would approve.

Miniatures Monday--Thrift Store Yarn Project #4: More Tiny Sweaters!

As my portable project for our recent road trip, I brought along a my current thrift store yarn knitting project--practice variations on my tiny sweaters. It was a fun and successful project, and now I can see how my ideas need to be refined!

I've been thinking about how my pattern might be adapted to be more detailed, so I tried adding the snowflake pattern from my tiny mitten project to the front of the red sweater. I think it definitely works, but as Red Sweater Version One shows, the motif needs to me moved up just a bit from the imaginary person's tummy to his chest! Hope to find a few more small motifs to try.

All three sweaters were made with the same pattern and the same #1 needles, and it's interesting to see how the seemingly small difference in the yarn weight changes the size of the finished item--this could definitely be a problem in an item meant to actually worn! The bodies range from 1-1/2" wide and 2" high to 2-1/4" high by 2" wide. Apparently the blue yarn is just a little heavier than the red.

The deep pink cardigan is also a variation on the same basic pattern, divided down the front with a knit-on ribbing added. I think the ribbing seems a little wide, even though it's only tow rows. Hmmm--we'll see. I do think I have some very tiny buttons that will be just the thing!

I suppose this whole project is about research, since I'm not sure how I'll use the tiny sweaters except as Christmas ornaments, but I'm having fun and accumulating information. Maybe I'll work toward small doll sweaters! I'll have to get out Grandma Barbie, my own 1961 doll. . .

Thrift Thursday--Avocado and Asparagus!

I just love these two dishes, and I have to say I think the combination of their color and shape is fabulous!

Let me also say that I did not previously have an avocado-shaped OR an asparagus-themed dish, so it was quite the find when I found them both on the same thrift-store outing! I'm displaying them nested together--I love the contrast. The interior color and shading of the avocado and the texture and color of its rind just make me happy!

The aparagus dish is 10-1/2" by 4", and the avocado dish is 7" long, and I think I paid $1.75 for them together.

I often wonder, when I see like-themed items at the thrift store, if they came from the same person. More likely, it's just the random fortuity of it all!

I've been quilting like mad on my Navajo quilt whenever opportunity arises, but my work has picked up at last and there's slightly less scope for projects. And the yard always calls! But there will always be time to sew. . .

Old-Fashioned Wilted Spinach Salad

We have had an uncharacteristically wet spring here, which has resulted in an uncharacteristically nice spinach crop in our small vegetable garden-- it's very encouraging, since we often have less-than-spectacular results!

I have thus been thinking of ways to serve the spinach, and remembering my Grandma Genevieve's summer wilted spinach salad. Since I don't have her actual recipe, I consulted my collection of old recipe books, some of which were hers, and checked recipes on line--after trying a couple of versions, here is the one that seems to me to be quite similar. So, any other ideas or memories?

Wilted Spinach Salad
serves 4 to 6

l lb. fresh spinach, washed and patted dry
1/2 cup sliced green opnion
Dash freshly ground pepper
5 slices bacon, diced
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar (I think more)
1/2 tsp salt
1 hard-cooked egg, coarsely chopped--optional

Tear spinach into bowl. Add onions, sprinkle with pepper. Chill until serving time.

At serving time, fry bacon until crisp. Add vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Gradually add spinach, tossing until leaves are coated and wilted slightly. Sprinkle with egg.

Miniatures Monday--Tiny Sunbonnet Sue Quilt!

Hanging on the quilt rack in my miniature quilting studio is this tiny Sunbonnet Sue quilt, which is about 5" by 6". It looks so real for such a tiny scale-- it's actually made with a photocopier technique!

Gail, an acquaintance, made several tops using fabric a photograph, and a photocopier (couldn't say exactly how!) and taught a class on finishing the tiny quilts. I love how she got the lines and color so crisp! We backed them with a very small-scale print, hand quilted, then bound them by hand. I seem to remember that we used white cotton flannel for the batting--it seems to be just the right weight. It's perfect hanging in the little sewing room!

Dollar Store Souvenir Magnet!

I have to admit that I love to bring home place-name magnets as souvenirs. Here's my latest addition to the fridge, dollar store style!

We did several days of travel and one day in Calgary, and managed to take in three fabric stores, a thrift store, and a wonderful dollar store, Dollar Giant--which it seems actually charges $1.25 Canadian.

At Dollar Giant, I found my ketchup and my dill pickle potato chips, my Canadian chocolate bars, and this pair of Canadian flag car stickers--they're self-stick, and it looks like they're aluminum. Back at home, I peeled off the backing and stuck them to the front of one of those lame freebie advertising magnets which I've been saving for craft purposes (sorry, Action Plumbing!), and trimmed around them with scissors. That's it! I can think of my travels while cooking and cleaning.

Back Soon

I'm going on a road trip, so I'll be away for the next little while--

#3 son finds he needs to go to Canada, so I'm along for the drive! I'll meet him in his state, and we'll head to Calgary, Alberta. And, of course, we'll be looking for thrift stores and fabric stores along the way!

Care agreed with me that my Horror Quilt photos didn't do it justice. . .er, enough injustice. Anyway, it stopped raining for a minute and now I have better (or worse) ones posted!

Unfinished Project of Horror, Part 2

So, here's how it started--I had been having fun thinking about Stack-and-Whack quilt blocks, as I have mentioned, and was thinking in the back of my mind about how one might make Stack-and-Whack star blocks. I even made a few sketches and attempts, but didn't get too far, so when I was thrilled when I saw the project in a magazine!

I even had some fabric in mind-- prints from our epic series of Bright Color Quilts, which seemed to be never-ending. I'm afraid between us this is quilt #6 (plus maybe #7) from those original prints--Ibu seriously overbought, then I added, and I was becoming sick of them.
(PS, all those scraps have gone back to Ibu's house and I wash my hands of them--and she has plans for another one or two small quilts, at least!)

I'm afraid the whole project went awry from the beginning and I just couldn't tell at first. I scaled up the pattern from 9" squares to 12" squares, to use some pieces I already had cut--I see know that smaller would have been more pleasing. I'm not sure why I thought 25 blocks would be a good number--it's seriously overboard, but I suppose I thought I should just include all of the prints and be rid of them.

It started out fun to see the random combination of patterns as I sewed my way through the stack, but some of the blocks came out seriously un-cute and almost disturbing, and I had to put them away and think over the problem. I got them out a few times and put them right back in horror, asked Care what she thought, and put them away again. (She was horrified and recommended ditching them immediately.) She did, however, put her finger right on the problem--it's the print she ruthlessly called 'the vomit print'. This is seriously demoralizing, as I myself actually chose and bought that one.

So I suppose it was the combination of the random factor with the prints I chose that was the fatal error.

As you can see above, some of the blocks are perfectly acceptable. And some give me the willies. And the common factor of all the creepy ones is, indeed, the vomit print. It has contaminated all it touched. Which print is it? I'm sure you can tell.

(Wait, wait--these block seriously remind me of those '3-D Magic Eye' pictures!)

And its combination with the other major 'what was I thinking' print, those wavy stripes (or the seasick fabric) is seriously unfortunate. Should have known. Some of the seasick blocks almost work, though--they're only slightly bilious.


AND the daisy print--what was I thinking?

I am now back again at the (fatal?) point of thinking I can make it work if I just keep tweaking it, so I'm taking the blocks when I go to see Lol and Katie, two people of taste and discrimination, and beg their additional input and assistance. Maybe between us we can lay out at least one decent small quilt among all the blocks--if we don't get too queasy.

I'll dig out that article and post the name and issue.

Thrift Thursday-Blue -Enamel Colander with Lemons!

Last week I found this great blue enamel colander at the thrift store for $1.00. It's pleasingly worn and looks like it has had an interesting life--I think it will go on contributing at my house!

I picked up the excellent artificial lemons at another thrift store a while back (I think I spent $3.00 for them all) and they've been displayed in a big glass vase, but for now they are looking good in the colander. I love the yellow with the blue, and it's great with my fruit theme!

Unfinished Project of Horror, Part 1

I've been so proud of myself for paring down my Unfinished Projects, and I think I said I have only a couple of quilt tops to go. In delving a little further, I have to admit that I have been burying something in my mind--a project that puzzled and horrified me so that I haven't brought myself to think of it for a while.

I have considered just inflicting it on some other innocent and unsuspecting sewer by donating it to the thrift store. I even had it in the donation pile twice, but my Mom taught me to be a responsible person--I'll have to deal with it myself.

This brings up one of the Great Questions of Creativity: at what point do you cut your losses and give up on a project that is Just Not Working? I suppose the natural human tendency is to keep going, confident that we can make it work with a little more effort. My experience is that this is generally true--with a big reward and some good learning experience added in.

In this case, I'm just not sure. I'll go and try to make myself take some photos.

Miniatures Monday--Sewing Chair and Tote Bag!

In my tiny quilting studio room box are this comfy sewing chair, cushioned by its 'pieced' pillow, and a quilt block tote--very handy for transporting the miniature quilter's sewing project!

The spool turned chair came in the delightful box when I won it, complete with the pillow, which is a printed motif from yardage. Fun to search out prints in a dollhouse appropriate scale!

I had a lot of fun a while back, working out traditional quilt blocks in a 1" to 1' scale. The little tote bag is made from a sashed 1" Nine Patch block, is lined, and has ribbon handles. Inside is another miniature quilting book--the cover is cut from a craft book offer and glued to a piece of poster board for dimension--and another pieced block, layered up and ready to quilt

Some people like to have scale-appropriate dolls who live in their miniature scenes. Personally, I don't want anyone else living in my tiny spaces--they're just for me! Maybe I'll just sit down and finish that block. . .

Navajo Quilt, Part 3--Borders Complete!

I've decided I like the way the black border finishes off the design of the Navajo quilt, and it's attached all around. Since it's 10" wider and 10" longer with the borders, it won't completely fit on my fence anymore, so this is only a partial portrait!

Now I'm still wondering if the black border isn't just a little too wide, but I think I won't decide whether to trim it down a little just yet--I could even do that after I start quilting. Definitely a black binding--anything else would be distracting for sure.

I have the red for the back, and Warm and Natural batting. Guess I'd better sweep and mop the kitchen floor, so I can tape it out for pin-basting!

Top Ten #2--Names for the Baby Chicks!

Here, courtesy of #1 daughter Lol, is another Top Ten from our family newsletter, the G.G. Recently, #3 daughter Ibu and family brought home 10 baby chicks with an eye to establishing a little flock for egg production, and Lol, as the official family Word Chick, compiled a suggested list for their names. And so to

TOP TEN NAMES FOR THE BABY CHICKENS!

10. Colonel

9. Benedict

8. Patty

7.Nugget

6. Divan

5. J. Cluck*

4. Q. Cluck*

3. Over Easy

2. Tastes Just Like

1. Dwight Yoakam

*in our family we have two Clarks, designated J. Clark and Q. Clark

We're open to further suggestions. . . how about Sunny?

Thrift Thursday--Book Spice Shakers!

I can't be the only person who finds out-of-town excursions incomplete without a trip to the local thrift store! Everyone highlights their Disneyland vacation with a thrift store outing, right?

Recently we headed out to visit the kids in the next state, and I'm happy to say they live right through the block from an excellent thrift store! On our ritual foray into the shop, I found this delightful little wooden shelf with five ceramic spice shakers--I suppose at one point there must have been seven, which would have just filled the little shelf. Cinnamon and ginger, maybe? Since books and small things are two of my favorite themes, I snapped them up for $5.00!

I'm thinking these are from the early-to-middle 1950's, since chickens similar to these were a popular kitchen theme of the time, and they originally had corks in the bottoms. The shelf is 8-1/2" wide and 3-1/2" high, and each little book is 1-1/8" wide, 1-3/4" deep, and 3" tall, with five holes in each top for shaking. Which seems a little odd, since one would think measuring would be more practical for spices. At any rate, they will display very nicely with some of my other little books!

Navajo Quilt, Part 2

Still thinking about borders for my unfinished Navajo quilt, I've pulled out the chart that was with the stack of cut squares. A red border was charted in, half the width of the squares themselves.

Since there seems to be plenty of red backing fabric, I went ahead and added the border, and I think it adds-it definitely confines and frames the whole thing. Next decision--a black border as well? I think I'll pick up some black yardage and audition it by laying the corner of the quilt top on the corner of the yardage, trying different border widths, and then we'll see.