Crazy 21-24, Iris, Antique Quilt

Crazy blocks are moving right along . . . 

Block 21 was easy--I like easy :)

Block 22 went together pretty fast. I thought the pieced star might give me trouble. I like the fussy cut floral spray, don't you?

Block 23 was a success, too!

Block 24--this one was really difficult because the strips in the center section didn't line up with the squares in the top row. Everything was off by a fraction and I'm not doing it over. Sigh . . .

Here is this group of four . . .

. . . and here's 1-24. I think I'm going to set them 6 across by 9 down but that may change as I go along. 

Our iris garden is really beautiful this year and we've had some pretty visitors :)

This antique top (c. 1920s) doesn't fit its name--Garden of Eden. In my mind I envision floral fabrics and something "pretty." My kids gave it to me years ago and just the other day I pulled it out of storage to take another look. 

 

Lots of geometrics and plaids and one block with a floral print :)

The lighting is really bad here but I finally started sewing strips together. And I still rearrange blocks as I go along. So what else is new???

That's all for now . . . 

Copyright 2023 Barbara Schaffer

Selvages II is done ++

A couple months ago I posted photos of a little quilt I called Selvages I and now another, Selvages II, is done. Thank you Nancy in MI for sending me a large envelope of selvages in 2021!

Here's a detail of the center. Three small columns of selvages stitched by overlapping one on top of the other. I had two long strips of MarcusFabrics that I put above and below.

It's quilted in the ditch all around with three cables at the top and bottom connected by a single line of stitching on the sides.

The back is a fat quarter from the thrift shop. The piece is 17-1/2" x 19."

On June 2nd there was a beautiful sunset . . . 

 . . . but on the 7th you could barely see the mountains. The haze from the wildfires in Canada had infiltrated the area. We didn't see the sun until two days ago.

There is a woodpecker that stops at our feeder almost every day in addition to a red-winged blackbird and his mate. So fun to watch!

Wild Columbines at the top of our driveway.

Buttercups, too!

Still waiting for warmer weather :)

Enjoy your week!

 

Copyright 2023, Barbara Schaffer

Crazy Blocks 17-20, hike, garden

Can you believe 20 weeks have already flown by since the start of making Call Me Crazy blocks??

All along I've been trying to match the fabrics in Gay's block of the week--large scale, small scale, bright, dark, medium, etc.--and found myself immersed in cutting small pieces to try and be exact. Why don't I just use the scraps I already have???

So that's what I've been doing--digging into my scraps and Carol Y's (yes I still have some of hers) and substituting colors if need be. 

When I combine the two I get repro and retro :) One of Carol's is on the lower right. It adds some pizzazz don't you think?

In this block, Dawn's blue-on-blue is in the square-in-a-square upper left and tan leaf in the middle row. Carol's purple, green in the bottom row, bright red and dark brown were all bits and pieces. Barbara B's brown-white is in the middle row with blue leafy print in the lower right and all the rest were from my scrap stash. Now that's better :)

Here's what these 4 look like together :) Next time I'll try and lay ALL of them out on the floor to get a better sense of the overall look. 

Yesterday Connie and I went in search of Lady Slippers and saw this very pretty double :)

And tried to get a good photo of Starflower which is never easy. It's still a pretty little flower no matter what. 

The Community Garden is looking good! Everyone's plot is planted with either starters or seeds. 

Connie and I have decided to go a non-veggie route this year and planted a cut flower garden. We have Dahlias, Cosmos, Stock, Snapdragon and Zinnia starters. And Calendula, Marigold, Zinnia, and Poppy seeds which are already sprouting. Can't wait to see it all blooming!

See you next time :)

Copyright 2023 Barbara Schaffer