Updates and Ornaments

I've really fallen behind so I'm trying to squeeze in one more post before the end of the year. 

First, a couple updates on quilts; second, pics of my handmade ornaments from years ago :)

I laid out all the Y2K blocks I've made so far. I'm still enjoying this project! So quick and easy :)

Sometime in late spring, I started making 12" strips of 1" x 2" paper-pieced flying geese thinking I would sew them together end to end. Well, it only took two to make me realize that wasn't going to happen! 

So I combined the geese with 1" squares and finished them off with a leftover strip of floral repro fabric as the border with hsts in the corners. 

Now onto Christmas ornaments . . . 

These are my favorites. I made them in the late 60s early 70s and most likely found the directions in McCall's Needlework & Crafts, Woman's Day, Family Circle or Better Homes and Gardens. 

Christmas card cutouts with vintage ribbons and trims.

Gold cord glued round and round . . .

Clothespin dolls perhaps during the bicentennial?

We loved gathering and decorating milkweed pods and sea shells.

Made from powder puffs, felt, trims, buttons and cotton balls.
 

Spray-painted wooden spools decorated with sequins and trims. The egg is the only one left of 12 that I made for our very first (tabletop) Christmas tree which actually fell over! I had spent hours blowing out the eggs and adding glitter.  

And paint-by-number. 

Well, I better get busy decorating the tree! All of these will be on it along with others that I didn't photograph. So many heartwarming memories that make me smile :)

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!  

 

Copyright 2023 Barbara Schaffer

Making a Y2K Quilt and Mini

Two weeks ago I won the bid at Dana Auctions for 61 envelopes from 1999 for a Y2K fabric swap. What fun!

From what I gather, there was an online swap to collect 2000 different fabrics for a millennium quilt. Did any of you participate in that? The ultimate goal was to swap an envelope containing 25 3-inch squares with others on the list to get one from every state and some countries. 

Well, envelope by envelope I've been sewing squares together with the sender's label in the center. The finished block is 12-1/2". This one is from FL.

 

This from KS . . .

 

This from MS . . . 

And this from OH . . . I love mindless sewing!

So far I've made 12.

Also included in the "lot" were six different millennium fabrics each a yard or more and some lightweight decorator fabrics I'll show you another time. 

Did you ever make a millennium quilt? I made two:

Fabric Diary using that "blue and white 2000" fabric for the sashing. Each 36-patch focused on fabrics from my sewing journey through the years beginning when I was in high school (upper left). . . 

. . .  to the new millennium in the lower right (above.)

This is the back with lots of orphan blocks. 

And my Journal Quilt: Year 2000 when I wrote an entry every day . . .

. . . and added a fabric swatch to complement each one.

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Last month, I was in the mood to make a mini.

  Penguin Party
2023
Carol Y's triangle scraps

 

Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. Our son and granddaughter will be spending it with us :)

Copyright 2023 Barbara Schaffer

Out and About: Foliage, Cemetery, Quilts

I'm a little late in posting these pics but the colors and views were too beautiful not to share! I also went to an antiques shop to check out the quilts for sale.

For more than 20 years we've passed this cemetery traveling from NJ to the Adirondacks and never stopped to take in the view. Well, we finally did. The tallest monument at the highest point is for a young man named Freedom Dudley who died in 1871 at the age of 29. 

Onto quilts . . . 

There's an antiques shop in Lake Placid that I go to every so often just to see what quilts they have for sale. Here are a few:

 

A sweet simple 9-patch with a price tag of $125.

I like this block, don't you? I'm going to give it a try. . .  

That's all for now.

I'll have a couple little quilts to show you soon. 

Would you believe it's snowing??

Copyright 2023 Barbara Schaffer

Crazy 37-40, Savery, Sunrise

Another 4 Call Me Crazy blocks are done! Yay! I basted my Savery Stars and I'm also sharing pics of a beautiful sunrise:)

They're stacking up! Forty so far :)

 

Block 37. A pretty purple pinwheel :)

Block 38. Wish that green was a bit more vibrant. Oh, well!

Block 39. Love that narrow strip--it's deep purple w/white. 

Block 40. I used the reverse of that turquoise fabric. I really don't have much of an assortment of that color in my stash. 

Here they are together. I love it when there's yellow. It just pops!

Savery Stars top is finished, basted, and ready for hand quilting. But I'm seriously considering machine quilting along the sashing strips. 

I never tire of sunrises and sunsets. This sunrise changed in a matter of minutes. It looks like the mountain is on fire.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Copyright 2023 Barbara Schaffer

Autumn and Stars

It's beginning to look like fall around here plus I have a Savery Stars update. 

I love this tri-color mum! And pretty soon my Kolanchoe plants will be coming in for the long winter. 

A highlight of my many walks is taking a picture of these Chinese Lanterns growing near the road in a neighbor's yard.  

The leaves are beginning to turn. How beautiful is this tree??

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Savery Stars update:

Remember the fabric I purchased replicating inkings from the past? Well, after I reduced the template a little the center hexie worked out perfectly for each star :)

Dawn's coordinating Queen Victoria fabric :)

I actually appliqued 3 stars by machine and 6 by hand. 

I trimmed the reverse of each star to reduce the bulk before appliqueing. 

And here's the finished block. I prepped it for hand applique by machine basting it to the background--quick and easy!

I'm working on the sashing so stay tuned . . . 

Another lovely sunset :)

Enjoy your week!

 

Copyright 2023, Barbara Schaffer