Last of the Red Hot Projects?

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's the last red Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I have enjoyed making these 16 patch blocks.  I often make them in just two fabrics, using the quick and easy tutorial by Cynthia of Oh Scrap fame (Click HERE), but this year I'm making each square in each block a different fabric.  More variety, more fun!

For some reason that I can't remember, I started making 5 of these each month, so here's the other one.  I'm throwing in new prints, old prints, anything red.

Even the cell phone bag I made for my Mom is red!  (Click HERE for the YouTube tutorial I used.)

The lining is a red and cream print.  I adjusted the directions to use a Velcro closure instead of a snap, and even though I had to do a little ripping, it all worked out.

When I was hunting around the internet for a good cell phone bag tutorial, I found an easy one for these cell phone stands.  The directions were very straightforward and quick to make.  (Click HERE.)  The title says "beanbag" but there are no beans in these, just poly stuffing in the top and rice in the base.  I sent the one in the center to my Mom and kept the blue one to use in the kitchen and the sewing themed one in (where else?) the sewing room.

Lined up like this, they look like hats to me.  Wouldn't they be fun in red with a pompom on top for Christmas?

Speaking of hats, I've started knitting winter hats for kids again.  PBS used to have a yearly drive, so I got used to knitting hats and mittens while traveling in summer and fall.  It keeps my hands busy while waiting in airports or riding in a car.  I got these three done while visiting my Mom.  The handy Moda bag was a prize I won a few years ago as part of the Hands 2 Help quilt drive (thanks, Sarah!).

 At the beginning of this month, I made the red blocks for this baby quilt, and I've been using the rest of them as leaders and enders while doing other sewing.  The block is a Buckeye Beauty variation in a six inch size.  I snapped this photo of the layout, something I do often so I can refer to it if blocks get moved or turned around (looking at you, Snicklefritz!).

Yet more red, and one of the reasons more quilting is not getting done!  One of today's goals is to make these cherries into jam.  Wonder if there will be enough left for a pie?

And then there's the pickle relish, shown here with "some assembly required".  I always buy the "misfit" pickles, since I'm just chopping them up anyway and they don't need to be pretty.  Neither do the peppers, which suffered some hail damage in a storm this week.

This is lots to do, I'd better get on it!

One last red photo, of Buddy and Snicklefritz, two of my favorite guys.

Have a lovely week, doing the things you love to do!  Happy quilting!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

 

Blocks, Bags, and Books

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  I'm glad you stopped by.

Today's red blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are my Uneven Nine Patches, aka Puss in the Corner.  Instead of a cat, this block has dinosaurs and books in the corners which is even more fun.  I'm not sure what sort of snake is in the middle, but it looks friendly.

There are twelve of these blocks:  six with dark centers and six with light centers.  When I set them into quilts at the end of the year I will alternate between light and dark, which makes a sort of 4 patch where they come together.

Here's the second set.  The blocks finish at 8.5 in. and are made from 4 charm squares each.  (Click HERE if you'd like more info on how they're made.)

I just LOVE this love fabric, cut from a fat quarter I bought at a quilt show.  I paired it with a Valentine teddy bears print from the 1980s.  All cottons are welcome!

I tried something new this week.  I made a Cross Body Cell Phone Bag from a You Tube tutorial.  (Isn't You Tube amazing?  There are lessons and tutorials on almost anything you can think of!  And also some things you'd never want to know about!)  Click HERE for the link to the one I used, which is on The Sewing Room channel.
 

Here's what it looks like inside.  My phone fits snugly in any of the openings, but I like the one in the back best.  It's easiest to get the phone out quickly, plus the pockets in the front serve as padding.

I used a Velcro closure instead of a snap, which I like, but I needed to add the Velcro before I sewed the side seams in order to easily sew it on the machine.  Next time I'll know better.  And there is going to be a next time later today!  I'm making one for my mom so she can have her cell phone handy when she's gardening.

That's all the sewing I got done this week.  It was the good kind of busy around here.

My grand kids, Mr. H and Miss E, were here on Tuesday while their mom was in town taking a test for her job as a second grade school teacher.  We went to the park in the morning.  My dear old dog was overjoyed, but very tired at the end of the day.  By the way, that red thing on Little Guy's leg is a cast.  He broke his leg playing on the trampoline in his back yard a couple of weeks ago.  He's doing well with it, but it's a challenge.

My little guys could hardly wait to go to the library.  Buddy was so excited to find books on fishing, his favorite pastime.  

Little Guy's favorite is Thomas the tank engine.  We have read these books over and over, but he never gets tired of them.  He also loves the Pigeon books by Mo Willems, especially The Pigeon Needs A Bath.

I checked out this book (Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in Wales) at my mom's library while staying with her, and really loved it.  There are some good patterns in here.  My library doesn't have it, so I'll order it from Barnes and Noble.  Bonus--I'll get to keep it!

The kids picked these flowers in the yard, and I have been enjoying them for days.

What's ahead for you this week?  I hope you have time for the things you love to do.  Like quilting!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy
 

 

 

Rainbowland

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  I hope you're having good weather, we sure are!

I named this little quilt "Rainbowland" after the Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus song.  The houses were part of this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I just couldn't wait for the end of the year to put them together.

The only color I needed that we haven't made for the RSC so far is yellow, so it was not too much trouble to add the yellow houses.  I'm making mine from charm squares.  As you can see, the skies are blue, just like in the song.

I put this minion print in the middle of this orange row as a sort of statement.  That little guy is Unique, and so are all of us.  In Rainbowland, everybody is accepted and respected for who they are:  cats, panda bears, elephants, monkeys, singing chickens, and even monsters.  Everybody.

You may have heard of the teacher whose principal refused to allow her first grade students to sing the Rainbowland song at a school concert.  When she objected publicly (and mildly, I thought) on Twitter, she was fired.  (Click HERE for the story.)  Her school is in the next county over.  I am appalled at the recent political idea that inclusion is bad or wrong or harmful in some way.  Sometimes this comes out in my quilting.

There are 3 rainbows in my quilt:  the rows of houses, the border (made from the pieces I call Little Bricks, 2.5 in. x 3.5 in. cut), and the binding.  I might be hitting the theme a bit too hard.

The back is this fabric that looks like splattered paint.  I used the poly batting, which makes the quilt soft and warm.  It will be donated to a child.

In other news, Happy blocks!  It has been fun tracking down light fabrics for the centers.

The kids in this print remind me of my wonderful grandchildren at different stages in their lives.

Four more!  I had lots of light squares with red prints.  Strawberries, plus Dr. Seuss characters, and...

my favorite Read print!  As a retired school librarian, I had to include this one!

Last week I was out of town visiting my mom, who is recovering from a bad fall.  It's been tough for her, but her positive attitude and can-do spirit are carrying her through.  Above is her lovely patio, just after a rain.

When running an errand for my mom, she encouraged me to visit a local quilt shop.  So I did!  The name is The Savage Quilter, in Oklahoma City.  The pattern should be fun to make, and is by Cluck Cluck Sew.

Isn't this a neat way to package a fat quarter?  There were literally hundreds, all ready to go.  A bunch of them wanted to come with me, so I said okay!  It's a well-stocked shop with a friendly and knowledgeable staff, and I definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area.

 

While I was gone, my dear Hubby and the little grandsons made sure the black raspberries got picked every day.  Above is what I picked this morning.  I think raspberry season is the best time of the year.

I hope things are going well for you today.  Have a good week, and keep quilting!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

No Blog on July 8

Happy Independence Day, America!

 

 

Hello!  I will be out of town this coming weekend, so there will be no Treadlestitches blog post for July 8.  Thanks so much for reading this blog! 

 

Treadlestitches will return July 15th for more of the usual quilty nonsense.

Have fun and stay safe!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Strawberry Red

 Welcome to Treadlestitches, and welcome to July! 

The color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month is red, which is absolutely the perfect color for July.  It's strawberry season here in Wisconsin!  It took me about an hour and a half to pick this these berries at a local farm last weekend.  They were made into two batches of strawberry jam plus a little left over to eat.

Time in the sewing room was mostly spent cutting, but I got a little piecing done too.  There were some red scraps in the big pile I've been cutting up, so I could add some new-to-me fabrics to the old favorites for this Bricks project.  Somehow I never seem to have enough red.
 

The panda print came from a scrap bag I got from a vendor at a quilt show.  I got the dragonfly fabric from a rummage sale.

Does this happen to you?  Often when I'm cutting up scraps I start thinking about new projects to make with them!  (Even though I already have a few (cough, cough) projects in progress already!)  These Buckeye Beauty blocks will be a (you guessed it!) baby quilt, this one with a nautical theme.

What about a summer theme, and a block I've always wanted to try?  The very boring name for this block is Mosaic #3.  It was first published in the Ladies Art Company catalog, but has been used in quilts since the 1800s.  Quilt author Judy Gauthier has a clever way to make it in her book Quilts for Scrap Lovers.  You know I LOVE clever ways to make blocks, so I tried it out and it worked perfectly!  The background fabric was a scrap from the big pile, and made me think about sipping iced tea and eating watermelon.  I already had the green bug print squares.  

I think this pattern will work well in my happy novelty scraps, and also in my 1800s reproduction prints.

Speaking of happy novelties, these happy blocks are ready to sew.  I'm using charm squares with light backgrounds in the centers and red prints as the frames.  These squares are so cute I just couldn't cut them up.  Now I don't have to!

The weather this year has been all over the place, but it seems to finally be settling down into hot, appropriate for summer.  We've been indoors a lot this week because of the smoke from the Canadian wild fires, but yesterday skies were clearer so we ventured outside.  Little Guy had fun playing in the water with elephants and hippos and all sorts of other toy animals.  I mostly sat in the shade with the aforementioned iced tea.

Buddy is excited about helping pick berries!  Our little strawberry patch is worth all the work of weeding it, and more.  This is one day's haul.  Sadly, the season is short, and will probably be over a week from now, so we have to enjoy it while we can.
 

Here's another way to enjoy it:  Strawberry Sherbet.  It's an easy recipe with ingredients we usually have on hand.

Strawberry Sherbet

2 cups washed, hulled and pureed strawberries

2 cups Low Fat Milk (I use 2%)

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients, and process in an ice cream maker.  (I use a manual Donvier ice cream maker, fast and easy).

Makes about 1 quart.

Note:  When it's done, I freeze the sherbet in individual serving-sized plastic containers.  At dessert time, I put the sherbet in a microwave safe bowl and zap it for 20 seconds to soften it up.

Happy 4th of July to fellow Americans this week!  The antique quilt above is from the Ken Burns collection, which was on display at Quilt Expo last year.  
 

Have a good week, everyone!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap