Fly Away Home

OMG, the top is done!  My twin-sized Fly Away Home blocks are all sewn together.  This was my goal for May.  The blocks were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in 2018.

Here it is, laid out on the floor.  I just couldn't seem to keep the cat and dog away from it this morning.

Both of them had to get into the act!
By the way, the pattern is by Kate Henderson, and is from her book Strip Savvy.  I made more blocks so it would fit on a twin bed, or just be a good cover for a child. 

The original quilt in Kate's book doesn't have a border, just a binding, and that's what I'm going to do as well.  I'll want a color that will stand out and define the quilt edge.  Maybe dark blue or red or purple.
I also need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it.

In other news, we went to a big flea market last Sunday.  This one marks the beginning of flea market season around here, and although rain was predicted, we decided to go for it.  Our luck was in, and it didn't rain at all.

I bought this bundle of fabric for $5.  Want to see what's inside?

Everything!  Bright stuff, old stuff, vintage stuff, even cut up old clothes.  Some will go to Goodwill, some to a friend, but most to my bins.

The same vendor had this bundle for $8.  With Kaffe Fassett fabric right on top!  So of course I bought it too.

There were some big pieces of good cottons here, plus vintage scraps, flannel, etc. 
Both of these bundles had fabrics dating from the 1880s to today.
How could I pass them up?

I didn't buy any quilts, but I did take this picture of an old quilt, now relegated to use as packing material.  Can you see all the tiny triangles?  An amazing amount of work.

I bought our first fresh asparagus of the year from one of the vendors.  I got enough for eight meals for the two of us.  Seven are blanched and in the freezer, and one was a lovely treat for dinner.

In other news, the garden is coming along.  Little Buddy helped me plant potatoes in the larger pots, and we got basil and tomatoes from the garden store.

It looks like a good year ahead for the raspberries, both red and black.  I can hardly wait.

Every time we go outside, Little Buddy wants to check on the rhubarb.  We'll probably cut it on Tuesday, when he's here next.  Rhubarb pies (and cakes) are on the way!

I've got lots of goals for this long weekend--setting up a raised garden bed, sorting through my antique quilts, cleaning out the linen closet, etc.  Actually reaching a goal, like this quilt top, gives me more energy for attacking other chores.  So thanks again, Patty at Elm Street Quilts, for the OMG!

This week, I'm wishing all Americans a Happy Memorial Day.   Remembering those who sacrificed for us is appropriate every day of the year, for everyone.

This is my great-great-great grandfather, Lewis Beck.  He fought for the Union in the Civil War.
Thank you, Grandpa Beck!
And thanks to all who served and serve.

Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with
Patty at Elm Street Quilts for the OMG
Angela at So Scrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Hands 2 Help 2019

It has been so much fun seeing what everyone has made for the 2019 Hands to Help Challenge, that I almost forgot to post myself! 
Little Buddy is posing with the six quilts "we" made for Jack's Basket. 
You can see them better below:

Two house quilts from some Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, to welcome a little one home.

Three simple quilts, made from charm squares (the two on the left) and flannel tumblers (on the right).

And lastly, a pink trip around the world, also made from charm squares.
Patterns (or recipes as I call them) are in my blog posts.

The last quilt on my list this year is this one:

More rainbow house blocks!  This quilt will go to Quilty Hugs.

As always, H2H has been a wonderful experience.  Sarah, I can't thank you enough for organizing it.  And thanks to all the other quilters for their inspiring work.  I'm taking notes!

Cheers to all,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking to Sarah at Hands 2 Help 2019 Final Link Up

Block by Block

Hello!  Thanks for stopping by!
This week is all about the blocks.  I've been making Sawtooth Square blocks (above) with crumb centers, in the colors of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  This month is orange.

I already had two RSC quilts in the works, but this one just came out of nowhere and added itself to the list.  (Does this ever happen to you?)  So now I'm working backwards, making the aqua blocks for April.  Next will be green, yellow, and red.  I'm hoping to catch up before too long.

When I took the photo of all six of the blocks, I could see all these eyes staring at me from this center.  I didn't realize I had done that.  It's a little creepy.

More orange blocks--my spiky stars made from 1800s reproduction fabrics.  Orange is not an easy color to find for reproduction quilts...

but I had a few prints that I really like.

The star points on the block above are the same fabric as the center of the first block.  Context really makes a difference, doesn't it?

As you can see, the spiky stars are quilted by the block.  I love doing this!  It is so fast and easy, and I can do outline quilting, which was very typical of quilts from this era (although those ladies outlined by hand, not by machine).

Aqua is another unusual color for reproduction quilts.  I got around to finishing these blocks from last month too.

This one is my favorite!  The center is a Lewis and Clark print I've been saving for a long time.

Lastly, I actually finished something--these 3 potholders, made from the last of my wild house blocks.  They are made just like a very small quilt, down to the all machine-sewn binding.

I did do something wacky here.  Instead of using batting scraps as per usual, I cut up an old cotton terry cloth towel and used that instead.  It worked great!
Here are the backs.

These were fun!  And now I can throw out my rattiest potholders, you know, the ones with the stains and rips, that have seen me through dinners and baking and pots boiling over.  It's a fresh start for the kitchen drawer.

Later today, we get to go to a dinosaur-themed birthday party.  Little Buddy is turning three! (Already?)  The weather today is gloomy, but we'll have fun today with family and friends.

I'm wishing all of us the joy of fresh starts and milestones on our journeys.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up today with
Angela at Soscrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Orange Scraps and a Splot

Welcome to the blog!  Isn't orange a gorgeous color?  It's the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, one of my favorite internet quilt-alongs.  I'm making some crumb blocks here...

and trying them out as centers for Sawtooth Square blocks.  What do you think?  I got this idea from Victoria Findlay Wolfe's book 15 Minutes of Play.

Speaking of great books, have you seen this one?  It's Quilting With a Modern Slant, by Rachel May.  It's not exactly new (2014), but it is absolutely packed with ideas, photos, and stuff to actually read!  I don't really consider myself a modern quilter (hello, tubs of reproduction fabric in my basement!) but I am loving this book.

When not reading this week, I made this.  It's homemade play dough!  It was fast and easy to make, very colorful, and nice and soft.  Plus cheap!  Click HERE for the recipe.

Here's my Little Buddy, playing with it for the first time.  It's been raining nearly all week, so we enjoyed having something different to do.

My finish for the week is my wild house quilt, quilted and bound and ready to mail away for the Hands 2 Help Challenge 2019.  It will go to Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo.  It started as a Rainbow Scrap quilt.

It's definitely a happy quilt!

My inspiration was this book:  The Big Orange Splot, by Daniel Pinkwater.  I'm a retired children's librarian, and I've always loved Pinkwater's wackiness.

The story starts with a neat street of houses that all look the same.  Then a seagull drops a jar of paint on Mr. Plumbean's house and makes a big orange splot.

Mr. Plumbean's answer to the problem--more paint!  He leaves the splot, and adds all sorts of wild colors and drawings.  As he says in the story, "My house is me, and I am it.  My house is where I like to be, and it looks like all my dreams."
One by one, his neighbors come over to ask him to put his house back the way it was.  And one by one, the neighbors go home and paint their own houses...

until the whole street looks like this.

I think of this quilt like Mr. Plumbean's neighborhood, with all the houses bright and different.

I hope the quilt will provide some comfort and distraction for someone enduring chemo.  Maybe it's kind of childlike, but I think a free spirited adult would enjoy it as well.

I'm wishing a childlike joy for us all this week.  Now I'm going to go scarf down the last chocolate cupcake!
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Angela at Soscrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

New Month, New Color, New Goal

Have you heard?  May is orange month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  My trusty Singer treadle and I are happily piecing stacks of orange triangles.

My orange scraps are pairing up with light scraps to make squares...

to eventually become two more zigzag rows.  There is some really fun stuff here!  I love novelty prints (can you tell?).

That's a start for this year's orange Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.

What about last year?

I'm reorganizing my sewing room, little by little, and as I do I'm sorting projects.  Elm Street Quilts OMG (One Monthly Goal) is really a great motivator for getting UFOs out of the bins and on toward the finish line.
One of my bins contains my remaining RSC blocks from last year, specifically these:

The pattern for these blocks is Fly Away Home, by Kate Henderson, from her book Strip Savvy.

(Great book, BTW.)

It's a two-block quilt, as you can see.  I've laid out the orange square blocks from last year, with some of the flying geese blocks, just to see what it will look like.  When I do this for real, I will mix up the colors.

OMG:  One Monthly Goal for May 2019
My goal this month is to turn these blocks into a top.
Simple, right?  I just have to decide on a layout, keep the cat off the blocks while I think about it, and then sew them up.  Oh, and add border(s), as needed.
This should keep me out of trouble this month.

Lastly, here's a little orange from last year's garden.  No flowers yet this year, but the raspberry vines are looking healthy as they leaf out.  Little Buddy has been helping Grandpa put out grass seed.

Have a lovely week, everybody.
Cheers for reading this,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Angela at Soscrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Patty at Elm Street Quilts (May OMG)
Cynthia at Oh Scrap