Here's how it came to be . . . .
I've had this great piece of fabric sitting on my shelf forever. I can't even remember where I bought it but it features Old New York street scenes, the Statue of Liberty, GW Bridge, Empire State Building, etc., etc. I've known all along that I would use it on the back of a quilt.
So I pulled some red, black, and blue stars from my Stars In A Time Warp pile. Remember I made lots of extras? I fussed a little with the layout and added a black/gray print for the edge triangles.
I sewed the rows together . . .
. . . and before I knew it In A Flash! was done :) It's 33" x 42."
Our Phlox are so pretty this year and are the tallest they've ever been--some reaching nearly 6'!
I hope you're finding some time to sew on these hot (and humid!) summer days :)
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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer
After a year of procrastinating thinking I was going to machine quilt Summer Scraps I decided to have someone else do it for me.
Barbie Vanderfleet-Martin did a beautiful job with a subtle quilting design which blends right in. It's 46" x 46."
I made the top last year when I was determined to empty my scrap bins. All those 1" squares were individually cut and sewed together.
I didn't have to buy any fabrics for the back as I already had these on my shelf.
It's finished!
I always look forward to making the next Westering Women block. This is #6. Hill and Hollow.
Blocks 1-6 :)
I added two more rows to my tumbler quilt. I envision it to be square with a plain 6" cable-quilted border.
I'm either piecing the Morris Hexies by hand or machine. This is #8. Greenwood.
#9. Red Lion
#10. Thames Path
#10. Thames Path rotated.
#11. Merton Mill
Here they are. I've cut the next round of bird and flower prints and sketched out a plan for the corners. But first I need to make room on my design wall for all the pieces and that means moving EVERYTHING down, lol!
Happy Summer Quilting!
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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer
Last Saturday we spent a day at 'the lake" where my grandparents used to live in Northern NJ. The new owner of their little cottage found some pics I had posted on my blog and extended an invitation to visit anytime. Every summer we get together with the person whose camp is next door so we arranged to meet.
But before we left home I was busy chasing squirrels from our bird feeders. Squirrel #1 is pretty defiant as he "sits and swings and eats."
Squirrel #2 is relentless!
When we made the trip last year I remembered seeing a couple of barn quilts along the way. But we passed by the first one without even realizing it so here is the second one.
Interesting "printed fabric" don't you think?
We arrived at the lake an hour later and even saw a bear on the way in! I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to take a pic.
It was an overcast day but this vintage postcard from the 50s shows you what the lake looks like on a clear day. The Appalachian Trail runs along the ridge of the mountains in the distance.
Such wonderful memories when we visit. Here is my son in 1965 when he caught his first fish :)
And this is the shoreline where I used to fish for sunnies and perch. I was always the one to put the worm on the hook for my brother, lol!
Meet Zack, our friend's champion dog :)
All in all we had a wonderful day! Thanks for coming along with me down Memory Lane.
Next week I'll have some quilt updates :)
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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer
Twenty-one years ago I made a log cabin quilt for my daughter and named it Connections: To the earth, to the sky, to the rivers, to life! Believe it or not I only had one photo of it in my file.
But it was such a beautiful day in the Adirondacks yesterday that I decided to do a photo shoot :)
I recruited my DH to hold it up for a pic of the front . . .
. . . and for one of the back. Silly grand-dog decided to get in the picture!
The fabrics tell the story of her travels throughout the southwest while working on her master's degree. It begins in the lower left and ends in the upper right.
Row 1. It seemed appropriate to replace the conventional red square with that of hot chili pepper fabric. These brightly-colored fabrics represent her visit to Mexico.
Row 2. All water-related fabrics (from muddy to clear blue) represent the Rio Grande River from its beginning in CO to its end in TX.
Row 3. Celestial prints tell of sleeping outdoors every night.
Row 4. Western themes and Native American prints are reminders of AZ, NM and TX. I am represented by the glitzy scissor fabric :)
Row 5. Fabrics with fruits, vegetables, and pasta represent her daily diet.
Row 6. As she learned about farming, herbs, flowers, and straw bale houses, fabrics with corn, flowers, straw, etc. were sewn together in this row.
Row 7. But she longed for the Adirondack Mountains of NY so I included fabrics which focused on fishing, pine cones, mushrooms, and even found a piece with 'Adirondack' written on it.
Row 8. The upper right corner is a reminder of Grateful Dead concerts :)
Click on this photo to see 'all things Adirondack' including a log cabin, moose, bear, owl, eagle, etc.
And there's that river fabric on the right which I recently used in The Platte River block of Westering Women :)
Have a great week!
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Copyright 2016, Barbara Schaffer
