Wednesday, June 2, 2021

All Vintage Fabric Things







Most of the items in this blog post have been saved-up since 2020, when I spent free time (I had lots of time on my hands then ๐Ÿ˜€) making these projects.

My work began with this box of vintage scraps, saved from my grandparent's Ohio farm that has since been sold.

The farmhouse is in terrible condition because it was neglected. 

During two working get-togethers at the farm, those of us nine grandchildren who could travel (I could not attend), spent time clearing-out, burning-up, and saving sentimental items. This is where lots of fabric scraps were found that were passed along to me (blogged about here). The bulk of it I passed along to a Texas friend, Monica, who is into vintage fabrics. 

Scraps I saved for myself, I attempted to do good things with. Initially, in June 2019, I made four Dresden Plate wallhangings for the girls - my sister, sister-in-law, and two cousins. 

Then, when I received a second, smaller box of fabrics, I tried to think of other things to do with them. 

Whatever I made with the fabrics, it was apparent they needed to be washed first. 

Soaking in a tub with OxiClean proved effective. The water turned brown. 

All the pieces were then well-rinsed and dried on a rack on our lanai. All the scraps were oddly-shaped, and obviously many had been used to make dresses and aprons. I repeated the washing and drying steps five times to wash everything. 

Then, I got to work. First I made six of these 7" X 11" zipper pouches. Both sides of each pouch have an identical design of vintage scrap strips. 

This is the YouTube video for "Scrappy Pouches Sewing Tutorial" by Just Jude Belfast. I love how they turned out.

Trying to think a bit more practically, especially for the guy cousins (several are single) I thought to make kitchen hot pads. I used Insul-brite for the interior. The pads sound crinkly. 

This "9-Patch Wonder Block Potholders Tutorial" is what I followed to make 7" X 7" hot pads. Front on the left; back on the right. They're really easy to sew!





I ended up making 11 of them, thinking that not only cousins but extended family would like one as a keepsake - or, to use!

Along the same lines, I thought to make mug rugs because they're gender-neutral and would be nice for extended family. I used this YouTube "Quilt as You Go Mug Rug Tutorial" to make them. Fifteen of the 16 mug rugs are 7" X 8". 

Similarly, bowl buddies are something everyone would like and use, so I made seven of them. 

Unfortunately, the 2012 link to the free "Buddy Bowl" pattern by SeamsHappy, is no longer available. 

Microwaveable Pellon Wrap-N-Zap is in between the layers. 


And lastly, after learning in a virtual workshop with Sujata Shah last December, how to make kawandi I made these over the course of several months. The round kawandi is 17" in diameter. Others are 14½" square; 16" X 22½", and 16" X 31." 

So, that's 44 items to distribute among eight of us cousins (two of whom are my siblings). 

I've just returned home from spending six days driving to/from and being in Ohio with relatives. I loved being with family again, especially after the isolation of 2020.

The new owner (as of last November) of our grandparent's farm, generously gave us until June 1 to get the farmhouse cleared-out. So, those of us who could meet-up spent Saturday and Sunday (over Memorial Day weekend) going through the farm house for the last time - sharing memories (and crying), and taking pictures. My next blog post is about saying good-bye to a special place, and giving away these vintage scrap-made gifts.

Book Recommendation
This was an exciting read! The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins is a modern-day gothic romantic tragedy that takes place in an Alabama gated community of mega-mansions. When Jane, a coffee-shop barista and dog-walker is nearly run over by a man, Eddie, in a sports car, pulling out of one of the mansions, her life takes a huge turn. 

Jane wants to keep her past in the past, so she focuses on her relationship with Eddie. As it blossoms, she learns about the death of Eddie's wife, Bea, and Bea's best friend Blanche. Jane is intrigued by Bea's rags-to-riches success, and tries to fit in to the life she thinks she's always wanted. When Blanche's body is found, and Bea's isn't Jane begins to question Eddie's actions, and and what she thinks she knows. Nothing is as it seems, and yet a fairy tale ending is possible. 
Linda's score: 4.5/5.0

Linda

20 comments:

  1. The vintage scraps are wonderful! The projects you made turned out great. That was a lot of work! I love vintage scraps. I have quite a few and they came in handy a few years ago when I took apart a vintage wedding ring quilt and sewing it all back together. Some of the pieces were cut so badly they had to be replace so my vintage stash came in handy. It had to be hard to sell the farm and clean out the property. Sounds like you had lots of help. I know when a couple of my brothers and my sister cleaned out my Mom and Dad's house it was a job and a half! It was also in Ohio.

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  2. Beautiful post Linda. You created gifts that will cherish memories for a lifetime.
    Rondi
    rondiquilts@yahoo.com

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    1. Oh, thank you! Every item I made was taken, so I sure hope they will keep memories for everyone. And I have vintage scraps left (we even found a few more over the weekend!) so I can make things "on demand," if needed.

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  3. What a great set of projects to use these special scraps to be gifted out to others!

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  4. This is a wonderful post. Wonderful fabric, wonderful projects, wonderful memory making xo

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  5. What wonderful (and useful) mementoes you have created out of those scraps - they give life and purpose to those very pretty fabrics. Great work!

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  6. Wow, I hadn't realized just how many projects you made from those boxes of vintage fabric! And all snapped up by the sibs and cousins as family treasures. I'm glad you had the opportunity to meet one last time at that old family farmhouse.

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  7. Lots of lovely projects! And such a great way to use those vintage fabrics, I really love your little kawandis.

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  8. You have made so many lovely things from those vintage scraps. I'm sure the fa ily will appreciate having a reminder of your Granny and her former projects. Just love those zipper pouches.

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  9. Scraps certainly are the best- so many options and all would be appreciated I’m sure!

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  10. Your projects are all so wonderful and very practical too. I'm sure your cousins will love to have something special to remind them of granny. Thanks for the book review. Sounds like another one to keep a look-out for.

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  11. It's SEW nice to see ALL of these special gifts in one post Linda! Looking forward to your farewell post for the farm house.

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  12. Love the story you are able to tell with these scraps. I think you more than put them to good use!

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  13. Wow! I didn't realize just how many things you've made from your grandmother's scraps. It's such a lovely thing to make items to share with the family. A few years ago when Emily and I were back in Indiana for a wedding we went to my grandmother's very old farm house and poked around. The house is abandoned and we didn't go inside. Many out buildings are gone. Hard to remember how it used to be and so sad to see it basically falling down. Many good times were spent there as a child.

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  14. You made good use of all this fabric scraps and the receiver sure have been glad to get all this items.

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  15. You've given me great inspiration for projects for some of my vintage family fabrics. What a heartfelt gift to your family members.

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    1. Hi Marsha! You're a "no-reply commenter" so I hope you see that I responded to your lovely comment. I'm glad I could give you some ideas about what to do with vintage fabrics. Another thing I'm considering making, since I have still more fabrics, is small stockings that can be hung on a Christmas tree. Knowing my family, am sure all these keepsakes will be appreciated.

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  16. I see I'm so far behind that I've read your posts out of order. Oh, well! Nice projects anyway. Makes me wish I'd picked something simpler than a whole quilt to make from my grandmother's scraps!

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  17. Sounds like a great book! So generous of you to ensure all of your cousins have something made from your grandmothers scraps!

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  18. I love looking at the pictures of all these amazing things you made with precious scraps. And definitely putting that book on my list...

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