Some of This; Some of That

Giving a modern quilt guild program about hexagons, and teaching has been taking up a lot of my time, but I never give that time begrudgingly. I always enjoy sharing what I know - and don't know - about quilting. Even after 35 years of quiltmaking, I can pick up an occasional tip or new bit of knowledge. 

So, when I found some personal sewing time over the weekend (last weekend) I used it to catch up on some obligation sewing. 

This is Elizabeth's block for the October Mid-Century Modern Bee. We're "Mid-Century" because all 13 of us in the bee are 50 years old and better. Catch that word? "Better." For sure! 

Elizabeth selected a variety of blocks for us to sew, all of them in greens and Kona snow, because she's making Santa's Village. My block contribution is called Memory Star.

12-1/2" X 12-1/2" unfinished, and my signature block

Four of our Central Florida MQG chapter members are sewing BOM blocks being offered by Bay Area MQG. This month's block is Woven, and I like it.

12-1/2" X 12-1/2" unfinished

Also over the weekend I made a plain white bedskirt for the guest room bed. I've been wanting one since we moved here 16 months ago, and never got around to it. Yes, I could have bought a bedskirt, but I've seen only single-layer fabric ones that usually don't fit the bed very well. Mine's sewn with an old flat sheet in the middle (between the box springs and mattress). The outside of the skirt is white Kona, and it's lined with washed, bleached muslin. It took a little math to figure out how long to make each side, and then how frequently and how deep to sew each box pleat, but so worth it. At the end of this month, a special guest is visiting me from Switzerland and the room is ready for her! (The guest room quilt is Friendship Medallion, a free pattern from an Australian online shop that is no longer in business.)

Have you noted, as I have, that selvages are looking prettier? Riley Blake in particular is being creative with their color windows. When was the last time you saw a phone like that?!

Speaking of selvages... yesterday I led a three-hour workshop: "Salvage Those Selvages!" I shared with 11 women how to sew selvages to make two different, simple blocks. 

 

Some of the quilters came up with their own versions, admittedly "happy accidents," that looked better than the original! This is the kind of quilting creativity I really appreciate.

After sewing selvages to each 9" background square, the block could be trimmed to 8-1/2" for sewing into a square pillow. In this picture, not all the combination of blocks belong to one another, but they do look good, don't they? 

Such a nice group of women they were too! I went into the class previously knowing only one person, and left several hours later certain I made new friends. Thank you, quilters!

Now for something really random.

I have these metal bottle caps. They're from Seagrams "Great Escape" flavored beers. You know, the low-alcohol, super-sweet drinks that come in flavors like Black Cherry Fizz, Mango, and Strawberry Daiquiri? I've been saving them for months, for one obvious reason - those palms. The caps are too darned cute to toss out! But I can't think of a single thing I might do with them. Suggestions?

I will have more caps as I slowly progress through the case of Seagrams! Linda