Old Fabrics and A New Book

 What's better than new books about old fabric?  For me, not much!

This is the book I got this week:  Feedsacks:  A Colourful History of a Frugal Fabric" by Linzee Kull McCray.  I've been collecting feedsacks and the books about them for a long time, so it was great to see something new and fun.
Articles on the history of feedsacks are interspersed in the book with more than 800 color photos of sacks. I was able to find several of my feedsacks pictured.

In the foreground of this photo is the book.  The background is the back of my Buckeye Beauty quilt, an RSC quilt from a couple of years ago.  Blue raspberries!  What a weird and cool idea.

This lovely fabric got its own full page (on the left).  The colors are very true, almost exact.

Sack manufacturers often made the same print in different colorways.  My sack, in the foreground, is mostly purple.  The one in the book is mostly green.

I've been thinking of feedsacks lately because of one particular project I'm making for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  My house blocks are made from 1930s reproduction fabrics, vintage fabrics, and feedsacks. 

Here's orange house #1.  The light fabric with the orange fish is a feedsack scrap.

The main fabric, orange plaid with daisies, was an unfinished skirt when I found it at a flea market.

House #2 is entirely reproduction fabric.

The window fabric is a cat print.  I think lots of people in this "town" like cats.

For the third block, I went Halloween.  The leaf print on the outside is a feedsack scrap.

More cats!  This time black cats and pumpkins are in the windows.

Obviously, there are WAY more feedsacks in that pile above than I would need for several quilts.  I pulled these out because I have a project in mind.
Every year, my quilt guild has a booth at the local quilt show, where we sell items.  I am not good at making items for sale (that is an understatement).  But I do know how to cut fabric.  So sometimes I cut up feedsacks to sell in packets.
I have a question for you.  If you were interested in buying feedsack scraps, what size would you want?  Do you think quilters would like charm squares, or bigger pieces?  I don't want to sell full sacks, because they tend to cost more than most people would like to pay.  Also, when I cut them up I can cut pieces for my own use too.  Any ideas would be very helpful.

Still on the sack theme, I made a new grocery bag from fabric I bought at a flea market.  The red handles on the bag were on the free table at our last guild meeting, and came in very handy.

I just love these giraffes!  I'm a sucker for novelty prints.

No quilts finished this week, but my Little Buddy posed on a pile of them.

He wanted me to include this photo he took of his favorite T. Rex.  Roar!

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, or Gal-entines Day, or just a nice Friday.  We have been eating too many cupcakes and too much candy.  Dieting is coming.

Good luck with all your projects this week, quilting and otherwise.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Angela at So Scrappy
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Cynthia at Oh Scrap

First of the Year

Happy 2019, everyone!

We're having some very unusual weather for January in Wisconsin, but I don't think anybody is complaining.  It's going up to the 40s today, and the snow is melting away.  Hard to believe I can hang my little finished quilt outside.

It was summer when I got the flimsy done.  My Little Buddy is posing on it, wearing his favorite choo choo shirt.

I got the free pattern at a local quilt show in 2016.  It's called Cabin Steps.  Click HERE for the free PDF.  I made a small quilt in this pattern (and blogged about it HERE), and then this larger one.  I did change my block a little, making it 9 in. square instead of 12.  The print pieces are cut 2 in. x 3.5 in.

It was so much fun to use all these little novelty print scraps.
As soon as I get the label sewn on, it can go to a new home with a child who needs it.

It's Rainbow Scrap Challenge time!  January is red, red, red.  So far all I've done on this project is drag out the strips and scraps.  I can't wait to get on to sewing stars.

Speaking of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, I am finally quilting my Buckeye Beauty blocks from 2017.  I made them from a combination of 1930s reproduction prints and real feedsacks, and the border and backing are also feedsacks.  Wait til you see the weird back.  Maybe I'll be done in a week or two.  I'm leaving the RSC 2017 button up on my blog until I get both of the 2017 quilts done.

Pop-up Project!
Just like everybody else in America (or maybe the world?) I'm trying to get more organized.  I have goals for finishing my UFOs, or at least some of them.  But every now and then you have to do something new and/or spontaneous.  (Hey, I am not a robot!)
So here's my pop-up project--a cloth grocery bag.

I made it from a remnant I bought second hand.  The fabric is sturdy, like duck or denim.  I think next time I might like longer handles.

Here's what it looked like when I took it to the food co-op today.  It held up very well to the 15 pounds of beans and rice in the bottom of the bag.  (They had a sale, and I'm stocking up.)
I can't show you the rest of my cloth grocery bags, because they are so beat up and embarrassing.  I think I might make some more new ones.  It's good to have a quick project to finish.

I'm wishing you joy this week, whatever you are working on.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches


Come join the linky parties!
Linking up with
Angela at soscrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts
Cynthia at Oh Scrap