Crazy 43-46, Swedish samples

 I'm making progress with Call Me Crazy blocks--only 8 more to go. 

Block 43. All the papers are still on the back so the top row doesn't lay flat. Looks kind of weird but that's the way it is for now.

Block 44. Boy, did I have a problem with those windmill points! 

Block 45.  I like it when there's an easy one thrown in!

Block 46. Now these points were perfect! Must have been a good day :)

The group of four :)

My daughter-in-law gave me a bagful of vintage textiles along with these linen decorator samples which I sewed into a small mat. 

I had this leftover scrap from our Sweden trip years ago and put it on the back. I did straight line quilting from this side because it was easier to mark. The binding fabric was from the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm. 

Here are some of the other items that were in the bag:

A lovely hand-stenciled piece. The wheels are turning with this one!

 Beautiful embroidery!

 Looks like this was a kit--you can still see the blue lines. 

Cute fabric! There were also two lovely hand-worked handkerchiefs, two curtain panels of elephant-themed fabric, white vintage pillowcases with trim and linen towels. Wow! I'm having so much fun!

My granddaughter made this pillow for me for Christmas. Her first time sewing anything! She even made buttonholes by hand to close the bottom opening. I'm so impressed!

I started a new project--what else is new??? Have you ever done any slow stitching? I'm into it :)

It's a little chilly here this morning--only 6 degrees--but nothing like what it is in the midwest. 

That's all for now . . .  

Copyright 2024, Barbara Schaffer

Quick Recap of 2023

It was an interesting quilt-making year. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked due to Lyme Disease which knocked out most of summer and September but here goes . . . 

Twin-size Framed Tumblers surprised me when I put it on the bed. It looked like two separate quilts--a topper on another one! The good thing is I used up a lot of strips and star blocks that never worked anywhere else.

I made Snowballs for Caroline, Dawn's daughter, when she sent me her mom's reproduction fabrics. The snowballs were from Dawn's antique quilt that I purchased at Dana's auction. You can read more here and here.  

I finally finished Barbara Brackman's Ladies' Aid NY Sampler. It was a fun one to make. I quilted folk art motifs in the blocks rather than an all-over design. 

Selvages I & II. Two quick minis made of selvage strips sent to me by Nancy M. in MI. 

Then there were triangles in Carol Y's scraps that I assembled to make Penguin Party. I must admit there is great satisfaction working on smaller quilts :)

Red Geese was the result of my intention to sew together strips of paper-pieced flying geese but--I gave up after making only two 12-inchers. Nothing more!

I didn't even show you this one. Two years ago I bought some fabric coordinates at my longarm quilter's garage sale and I finally did something with them. I added a leftover star from Stars in a Time Warp and fused a white flower in the center.  

The back. The piece is 24" x 24." It was really fun working with these fabrics!

Don't worry, I still have a list of UFOs that I will be working on this year.  

I'll leave you with this sunrise photo taken with my new iphone :)

 That's all for now . . .  

Copyright 2024 Barbara Schaffer

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.

_______

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