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 😀) 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

Spiral Braided Rag Rug

I've wanted to make another spiral braid rag rug since finishing my last one! I learned to make a Braided Rag Rug in a two-part workshop with Ilka White who lives near Melbourne, Australia. It was definitely worth two late evenings (until 11 pm my time) at the computer to learn from her. She's a superior instructor! One of the best I've ever learned from. 

Braiding a rug another one of those things, like kawandi, that I've found somewhat addictive. The reason I didn't start a rug sooner is that I was waiting (during pandemic days) to go to Goodwill to shop for old clothes or home dec items that could be made into a rug. But then, I began to do a little closet cleaning. I'm repurposing our own clothes! 

I spent an afternoon cutting strips from:

• two of hub's shirts (those bright yellow strips!);
• my own fleece pajamas, and three knit shirts; 
• and leftover fabrics from making seven articles of clothing

I've happily realized it's an advantage to be a sewist! Small, unusable pieces left from cutting out tops, shorts, and even home dec weight purses/bags, can be entirely used-up in a rug! So much strip-cutting helped reduce my stuffed-full bin of "what's left from making clothes." 

In this pictures, I've just start a braid with two strips clamped onto a clipboard.

Since the first rug I made was round, I wanted to make this one oval. The crochet hook is used for pulling the weaver strand through a loop.

Ilka taught us how to increase the number of braids being used. At this point I was braiding with eight strands. When making my round rug, at one point I was braiding with 14 strands. 

It's just so intriguing to watch the spiral pattern emerge! 

For now, I'm taking a pause with it because I want to see what other things I can strip-cut to make the rug larger than the 25" X 33" it is at this point.

For something to do on late Sunday morning, we golf-carted to Starbucks. It was a gorgeous day. All the bedding flowers are looking really pretty, though we could sure use some rain. 

Book Recommendation

Why the Sky is Blue by Susan Meissner is a book about something I have never considered. What does a mother of two do when she discovers she's pregnant as a result of a physical attack of which she has no memory? That's the situation Claire Holland finds herself in. With emotional support from her pastor and his wife, Claire and her husband Dan make an extremely difficult decision - not to terminate the pregnancy, because Claire's history of miscarriages and risky pregnancies will certainly come into play in the days ahead. When the moment comes for the final decision, the heartbreak of the situation makes continuing to go on almost unbearable. Yet, love prevails, and shines through when it's most needed. 

Linda's score 4.0/5.0

Did you catch the lunar eclipse/blood moon early Wednesday morning? Apparently it wasn't as visible here as it was in Western skies, but my little Canon point-and-shoot caught the gist of it at 5:57 am.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone! Linda

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Kawandi #7

In the past week I started, and finished my seventh kawandi (the Indian word for quilt), since learning how to make them last December in a virtual workshop with Sujata Shah @therootconnection. Sujata's workshop is Stories in Stitches: Siddi Quilt.

My supplies are scrap fabrics; Quilter's Dream Request Cotton batting; Aurifil #12-weight thread in the off-white color 2021; and Bohin Crewel needles size 7. I love my Warm Crochet brand scissors too (won in an Instagram giveaway). 

This 17" X 24" kawandi was inspired by one I saw on Instagram, made by @quilterbeth using only stripes and solids, both of which I have in plenty.

These outdoor pictures really show the texture that hand-stitching gives to the piece. 

back of kawandi

I took this picture on the lanai table to show off the fact that my African violet is blooming again! It previously bloomed in February. 

The piece is now on the kitchen table where it looks good with our colorful Fiestaware. 

If you're intrigued by kawandi, I suggest following the Instagram hashtag kawandi - #kawandi That way you won't miss seeing what others are creating. 

In between times, all I have been doing is prep work for hand projects. It's surprising how much time it takes to choose and cut fabrics for EPP (English paper-pieced) Prudence blocks. 

These little rubber-banded bundles are each a cut and glue-basted EPP set to make one Prudence block. They'll keep me busy for a while. 

See my little Zappy Dot in the picture? That's a needle holder is where I rest my needle in between uses. Because it's magnetized, I can put it on my Zappy Dots bracelet (magnetic dots are interchangeable). Handy, right?

Book Recommendation

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez centers on Antonia Vega who has just retired from a career as a college English professor. Her husband has suddenly died, and she's feeling lost (in a new afterlife). Yet, she must support the people who need her: three sisters, and an undocumented, pregnant, immigrant teen. Because Antonia is a Puerto Rican immigrant herself, not only is her ability to communicate and translate needed, but her understanding of different cultures is valuable. Torn between her sisters' needs and those of immigrants, she must determine how to live in her new life. 

Lots of Spanish is spoken in this audiobook, some of which isn't repeated in English, so the listener is left to work it out in context. The story included lots of references to famous literature, and much of the book is spent focusing on personal character insights.  Linda's Score 3.5/5.0

After going to the Saturday Farmer's Market, we stopped at the grocery store: Publix. This is the new COVID-19 customer policy. While I'm completely in favor of it, isn't it impossible to enforce? How many non-vaccinated people will wear a mask? 

One of the "necessary" Publix purchases was this ice cream. As you can see, it's Publix's "limited edition," so I had to jump on that right away! This flavor has been highly recommended, though I can't yet attest to how good it is. 

Signage from El Arroyo in Austin, Texas, says what I think about ice cream.

I can't end this post without commenting about the topic I shared in my May 12 blog post: Fabric Stash is a Lesson in Economics.

climbing cotton prices

 

Sadly, as anticipated, it happened.

Sometime last week, my favorite shop for buying Painter's Palette Solids at a fabulous price ($5.96 a yard), raised the price to $7.96 a yard.

A $2 a yard jump!

😞

I saw this coming. Well, hubs saw it coming, and explained to me (which I shared with you in the blog post) why the price of bulk cotton would increase, and end in all of us - the consumers - paying higher prices for quilting cotton.

It doesn't feel very good to be right.

The only good news is that this shouldn't affect the price of cotton batting. The reason is that batting is made with "stripper cotton," a different, inferior type of cotton that hasn't seen price fluctuations.

"I told you so," isn't a nice thing to say, but I really hope you stocked up on your quilting cotton fabrics before prices went up. I won't be buying quilting cotton fabric for a long time, unless there's a big sale!

Linda

Regular Doings Again

Because I've begun to return to nearly all of my regular activities, I haven't been accomplishing much in the sewing room. Mostly I've been project-hopping, with nothing being accomplished.

For an 11th birthday gift to a grandson who lives in Texas, I made this pencil pouch following a free pattern by Noodlehead.

Though it isn't visible in the picture, on top of the print lining is a layer of clear vinyl. I like adding it to ensure the fabric doesn't get grungy from pencil lead, or crayons.

The pouch was loaded with several sharpened #2 pencils and a little cash. It was gratifying to be on a FaceTime call with the birthday boy and see the big grin on his face as we watched him open it. 

Issue #40 is the latest issue of Make Modern magazine, a digital publication 

from Australia. The cover quilt was made by my Canadian friend, Leanne, who blogs at DevotedQuilter.

A "Gallery" of 17 colourwash quilts are shared in this issue, and mine was one of them!

While there's no compensation for being include in Make Modern, it's fun to have one's quilt publicly shared.

Here's the link to my July 2020 post about making Scrap Snap. It's a quilt that's already been given to my brother and sister-in-law.

Instructions to make Scrap Snap blocks can be found at Kari's blog: QuiltsfortheMaking. My block arrangement is completely different than any layout Kari suggests.

You probably remember that in March, for National Quilting Month, I won an Instagram giveaway of 100 fat quarters of Superior Solids by Benartex. Well. Last week I won two more Instagram giveaways! First, from NotYourMamasQuiltStore in Plano, Texas I won a Quilter's Dream 60" X 60" select loft cotton batt.  Then, I won - along with Charlotte @kirkenoll who's also a member of the South Florida MQG - an on-demand workshop from Carolina Oneto of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I chose this workshop. Whoo-hoo! Feelin' lucky!

Book Recommendation

At the start of Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner I was totally enthralled with the story of Audrey and Violet, two young women in Hollywood, working in the secretarial pool at MGM studios. Indirectly involved in the production of Gone With the Wind, I was fascinated with an inside look into the making of the movie. I've seen GWTW at least a dozen times, so every time a scene or costume or lines was talked about, I knew exactly what was being referenced. So the front part of the story kept my attention, especially when Scarlett's green velvet hat with gold fringe disappears from the movie set.

As the story continues, following Audrey's separation from her father, and her quest to become a movie star; and Violet's life as a wife and mother, the friendly relationship between the two women becomes (to me) a little tiresome and overfraught with emotional analysis. Still, if you are a fan of GWTW, then I highly recommend this book.

  

Linda's score: 4.2/5.0

Saturday morning was the Central Florida MQG meeting, with lots of great show and tell. Visit our blog to see some great-looking pandemic-made quilts. Then, Saturday afternoon was the South Florida MQG meeting via Zoom. Both chapters are asking for member input for QuiltCon Charity Quilt Challenge ideas, so I've been playing with EQ8. The 2022 theme is "Angles."

I'm still attending church virtually, and Pastor Mike's Sunday sermon was exceptional! He tackled some of the relevant stuff - mask-wearers/not mask-wearers - which is one of the reasons I appreciate his messages. He talks about topical concerns. 

Pastor Mike mentioned that Lutheran Church of Hope has some "mask-optional" worship services explaining that if you want to wear a mask because you have a health condition, or you're not vaccinated, or you want to set an example for your children, you can wear a mask without being judged. You can wear a mask "until Jesus comes, if you want!" 😂

He also showed some NASCAR clips (his oldest son, Jonathan is a NASCAR television producer), so if you have even a little interest, here's the YouTube link to the May 16 service: Ready, Set, Go!

I've been back to line dancing again, twice a week for several weeks now. No mask required as everyone (12-16 people) has been vaccinated. Though I'm experiencing a few muscular aches from dancing in an hour and 50 minute class, it's great to be doing it again. 

On Monday I returned to ukulele club - Peace, Love and Ukulele - for the first time since March 2, 2020.

Thankfully, I haven't forgotten all the chords I learned, and I was reminded that playing my ukulele makes me happy... as does singing, though that was challenging while wearing a mask (required for this group). We're anticipating that by June 1, masks will no longer be requested in our recreation centers. 

FOLLOWING MY BLOG BY EMAIL

By July, Google Blogger will discontinue its email auto-delivery of blog posts by Feedburner. This will affect all of the blogs you follow by email!

If you previously registered to receive email notifications of my blog posts, or would like to register to receive email notification of my blog posts, please register by completing the NEW Follow It form I have installed on the right-hand menu of my home page. 

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Thanks to 111 of you who have registered to receive my blog posts by email! Linda