Unplugged

Hello again!  We're back from a family reunion in Michigan.  This is hubby and me in front of our cabin.

We were right on the lake, which the grandkids loved.  The water was icy, as is usual for Lake Michigan, but the kids had fun anyway.

Check out this cool thing I found in a gift shop!  It's called Wet-it, is made in Sweden, and is used to clean or mop up spills.  Aren't these chicks a hoot?  I might need to make a quilt like this.  Click HERE to go to the web site for these cloth/paper hybrids.

Before we left, I got the last of the June blocks done for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  These are my aqua/teal wagon trail blocks made from 1800s reproduction fabrics.

As I guess you can tell, I don't have a lot of aqua in these prints.  In fact, some of them are downright green or blue.

Due to their scarcity in my stash, I went with whatever would sort-of work.

Yes, this block is definitely green, except for the wavy aqua stripe.  Good enough for me!

On the trip, we unplugged a little from regular life.  Back at home, my poor Pfaff is unplugged for real with a thread snarl I can't get to.  So she's going into the shop next week.  Until she comes back, I can't get any machine quilting done.

Oh, well!  Guess I'll just keep piecing on the treadle til Mrs. Pfaff comes back.  The little quilt above was made with pieces I bought at the big sale two weeks ago.

Squares had been cut from this fabric, and stuffed in a bag with lots of other great fabrics.  The price?  Eight dollars!

The coordinating fabric for the border was also in the bag.  I just stitched the squares together as if they were rail fence blocks and added the border.  This will make a nice baby quilt for charity when I get it quilted.

This framed 4 patch is all pieced, waiting for Mrs. Pfaff.  The blocks were made from 3.5 in. squares I was trying to use up, and framed with 2.5 in. strips.  The blocks measure 10 in. finished.  With the 3 in. finished yellow border, the quilt is 36 in. x 46 in.

Dinosaurs had to be included in this quilt!  Also, chickens, hearts, cows, fish, sports, and lots of dots.

I have the backs chosen and cut for both of these quilts, so when Mrs. Pfaff returns from the repair shop/clinic, we will be ready to go.
I have so many quilts that need to be quilted that I almost hate to pile up more.  The backlog is enormous!  But I know I'll finish these small quilts right away as soon as Mrs. Pfaff gets a clean bill of health.
This would probably be a good time to look through all my projects and set some tops together.  I can get some scrap cutting done, too.
Are you plugged in this week, or unplugged?  Either way, I hope you're enjoying the summer.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and So Scrappy (on Saturday) and to Oh Scrap on Sunday.  Come and join the scrappy goodness!

The Scrappy Life

I will say it again--I love scraps!  Look at the loot I scavenged at the annual rummage sale at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts.  Yards and yards of fabric for borders and backing, and piles of scraps.  There is also a wool quilt batt, not pictured.  I am absolutely gleeful.  I brought it all home from the sale, and my little grandson and I played with it for about an hour.

He has good reasons to love scraps.  Scraps turn into quilts!  This is the newest one, celebrating his love for trains.  (Sorry for the dark photo.  It was a rainy day.)

We've got lots of wonderful sunlight today.  The quilt is made of 12 large 4 patch blocks.  Easy peasy.

Do you hear the song in your head?  (They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight...)  The Thomas the Tank Engine theme song gets in my head and won't get out!  We watch "the Choo-choo show" just about every day.  The Thomas themed squares came from the last sale I went to, at the It's A Stitch Quilt Show.  There wasn't any more fabric, just the 5 in. squares.

I found the border fabric at the local chain store, and substituted it in two blocks.  Not great, but my little buddy doesn't mind.

Here's the back, with the last of the dots fabric and a big strip of the Thomas fabric.  Only scraps are left.

In other news, aqua!  My second Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt is Fly Away Home, and I got these blocks done.  I had more turquoise/aqua/blue-green than I thought.

I'm looking forward to setting this quilt together.  I can't seem to stop making blocks, it's like eating candy.  Also, there is a big placement error in the photo above.  I'm glad they aren't sewn together just yet!

Here's my little guy, playing with his choo-choo on his new quilt.  He's moving so fast, it's hard to take a good photo.
He keeps me hopping, too!
What keeps you hopping?  Hope it's quilting!
Wishing you a wonderful week.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Linking up with Soscrappy, Busy Hands Quilts, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 
Join the party!

Oh Scraps!

Have you seen this book yet?  Of course I'm talking about  Oh, Scrap, by Lissa Alexander.  I just can't get over how much I love it.  I mean, it's scraps!  Colorful, clever projects made of scraps!  So of course I want to make quilts from some (all!) of the patterns in the book.

The first quilt in the book is a plus quilt, which is great fun.  Each block is made of one color and a light background, with a blue square in the center.  All nine squares in the block are different.  I actually followed the directions, which is rare for me, and here is what the top looked like on my flannel wall.

But then this jungle fabric called me from the closet shelf.  So instead of just adding a blue binding, I added a border of hippos, tigers, zebras, alligators, and their friends, and bound with green.

Here's the final result, ready to give away to a child.  Scrap busting fun with a purpose.

And of course the back is a rainbow of paw prints.

Speaking of rainbows, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for June is aqua or teal, which can be a challenge for reproduction 1800s fabrics.  I'm making two repro quilts this year, so when sorting through the fabrics I dragged out anything aqua, teal, turquoise, aquamarine, or greenish-blue.

I ended up with 6 of the Mary's Basket blocks, shown here with my 1890s Minnesota A treadle.

Several of the fabrics are sort of "aqua-ish", but I like them.

This one has Lewis and Clark fabric in the center.

This one's center is from the Dargate book collection, bought years ago from reproductionfabrics.com.

In other news, I cut the rhubarb, made a pie, and canned a few jars for winter.

And look what came in the mail! 

I won these fat quarters for participating in the Hands2Help charity quilt drive!  Classic blue and white, couldn't be better.  The little card is a thank you from Little Lambs Foundation, where my baby quilts went.
Thanks to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for starting and continuing this great work, and for rounding up all sorts of nice prizes for us. 
I'm wishing sunshine and happy surprises in the mail for you this week.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
I'm linking up today with So Scrappy, Busy Hands Quilts, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.