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

Dear Diary

Welcome to Treadlestitches, and to a new month!  I can't believe January is already over.

I stopped keeping a diary in junior high because it was the surest way to be ridiculed endlessly by my brothers and sisters, who always managed to find it and read it out loud. (AAK!)  Now, I really have no embarrassing secrets, and my only crush is my Dear Hubby, so diaries are okay again.  I'm making this one out of fabric.

Above are my diary quilt blocks for January.  Each separate block represents a week (mostly), and each strip is a day.  For each day, I choose something to represent that day.

I won't bore you with everything that happened all month long.  I will say that most Sundays are yellow, partly because it's sun-day (Dad joke), and partly because that's the day I talk to my mom on the phone for at least an hour, which is a bright spot in the week.  If I finish a quilt, I include a piece of it for that day (like the dark blue in the center of the block above).  I'm also using lots of my books/library fabrics for Tuesdays, when my Little Buddy and I go to the library.

As I say, each small block is meant to represent a week, with 7 strips, one for each day.  I intended 4 small blocks for each month. The biggest question about this was what to do when the month has more than 28 days.  In that case, I split the last strips into two days each.  Above, the last 3 strips are made up of 2 rectangles, for Sunday/Monday, Tuesday/Wednesday, and Thursday/Friday.

I still have no idea how I'm going to set the blocks.

You might have noticed all the children's prints and novelty fabrics in my diary quilt.  That's because I get to spend my days with this guy, my Little Buddy, seen here helping make his favorite blueberry pancakes.

We make snowman faces in them sometimes.

He also "helped" me pack up some quilts our local group is donating to Jack's Basket.  Here he is pointing out polar bears in the print on this cute quilt.  Bella the dog is nearby, in case we need to have our faces licked.  (Yuck!)  Thank goodness they're going to wash the quilts before sending them out to the babies.

These are the quilts I was packing up.  Aren't they amazing?  There are 12 of them in this batch.  That brings us up to a grand total of 34 quilts sent to Jack's Basket since last summer from our small group of around 50 active members.  I go into more detail on our group's blog, if you're interested click HERE.

Quilting is happening!  Zigzag #1 is about half done.  Mrs. Pfaff will be whirring away later today.

Orange is the new color for February for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and I couldn't be happier.  The pile of 1930s repros and vintage prints above will eventually be house blocks.

For some reason, I've been in the mood to cut scraps this week.

This little stack (really orange, not yellow, bad lighting) is six blocks worth of Text Me A Quilt.

The shoofly blocks are cut too, ready to sew.

And I finally decided on a layout for the Roscoe Star blocks, so the last blocks are cut to sew as leaders and enders.
You could say I've got my work cut out for me.
(I can just about hear my Dad saying that.  Gotta love Dad jokes.)
Have a wonderful week, and a great start to February.  If it includes sewing, so much the better!
Cheers,
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

Snakes In A Tree

The Snakes in the Grass quilt is finished, and has been renamed Snakes in a Tree.  Don't worry, people-like-me-who-are-freaked-out-by-snakes!  It's not real snakes, just snakes printed on fabric and made into a child's quilt.
Here's a photo from July, when I pieced it:

The pattern is HERE, a great tutorial for a fun, easy scrap quilt.  Only 5 seams in each block, no kidding!  A big thank you to Cyndy from Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Mrs. Pfaff and I got the quilting and binding done this week.  It's ready to go to a child who needs it.

My Little Buddy posed with it outside.  Unfortunately, he now thinks it's his, like all the other quilts in the house.  (He especially loves the little bit of Minions fabric pieced in one block.  I need to make a quilt with that fabric just for him.  Yep, it's going on the list.)

Little Buddy's really been noticing all the little figures in prints lately.  He loves to lay the quilts on the floor and "see".  He wants Grandma to come and see, too.

He would love these Fly Away Home blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The color for August is orange, one of my favorites.

I've even got orange Minions!

Bugs, too!  I can't wait to start putting this top together.

I should have some more time soon, after I get the canning and freezing done for the year.  These green beans are cleaned, snapped, blanched, and headed for the freezer.  I use canning jars (the ones that are also good for freezing).  They are reusable, so no extra cost and no plastic to throw away.  Plus they don't slide around in the freezer like freezer bags do.

This is a picture from a fun day.  My husband and I went to the flea market in Elkhorn, Wisconsin a week ago Sunday.  This was my favorite booth.  No, I didn't buy anything, but a girl can look, can't she?  Lots of inspiration here for future quilts.
I'm wishing lots of inspiration for you this week, and every week!
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
Linking up with  Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict,
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts

Crossing the Finished Line

Finally, FINALLY, I have finishes to show!  According to my notes, I have not finished a quilt since June.  It feels good to accomplish something at last.

This little quilt came to me as squares cut from striped fabric, in a zip lock bag from the sale at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts in June.  The border was in the bag too.  I set it like a rail fence.  (You can read about the piecing HERE if you care to.)Mrs. Pfaff is back in working order, and together we got the simple quilting done.

The back is from my stash, and says "baby girl" with drawings of toys and bunnies.  The binding came from the sale, too, but wasn't in the same bag.
The quilt will go to a baby girl that needs it.

Guess what these are.  Mittens for cats?  Drumstick warmers?

Skillet handle pot holders!  A friend of my daughter is getting married, and requested these.  I made them up with scraps of bright prints and 100% cotton batting.  I used the Youtube tutorial HERE to get on the right track, although there are lots of other directions and all seem to be about the same.  Now I need to make some for me.

At last, the Ohio Star is quilted and bound, and on the bed.  I had a problem with it that I'll tell you about sometime.

Here's what I decided on for the border quilting.  It's a simple 4 strand cable, with gentle curves.  As you can see, I put the binding on by machine.  I'm saving my hand stitching for other projects.

Last but not least, orange!  I'm making blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in the color for August.

Mary Ann's basket blocks in orange reproduction fabrics are on the design wall.  I actually made 10 of them this time.

Orange is not such a common color in repro fabrics.  I dragged in everything I could find, including cheddar and brown.

Stripes are fun in repros, especially when they go all different ways.
We are getting close to the end of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2018!  I'm actually starting to plan how to put all these blocks together.

And now for something completely different.

My oldest grandson got new shoes.  These are something to do with Lebron James.  If you look closely, you can see--these shoes are quilted!  No joke, the upper is a knit fabric quilted with a sort of diagonal crosshatch.  The fabric is intentionally tucked irregularly and sewn.
I think these are just about the ugliest shoes I've ever seen, but don't tell my Big Buddy.  He thinks they're amazing.
Have an amazing week, everybody, whether things get finished or not.
Cheers for reading,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches
 Linking up with
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
So Scrappy
Oh Scrap

In the Making

My favorite music this week should be Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.  Much is started, nothing is finished (yet).  It's all in the making.
Above is the Ohio Star reproduction quilt.  Mrs. Pfaff and I have been busy quilting, but progress is slow.  At least each of the two pieces is quilted as much as it can be before joining, and is joined together on the top.

This is the back, waiting for the hand stitching.  When I get that done, I'll quilt the area near the join on both sections, and then the borders.  There is hope for finishing this UFO yet.

I'm also piecing an I Spy quilt made of 5 in. squares.  I hope to get the top done today, but I won't get it quilted until the Ohio Star is done.  (It's a promise I made myself--don't set aside the Ohio Star to do other quilts.  I want that quilt done!)

The I Spy has been lots of fun.  I have so many great novelty prints, and I can use lots of them in this quilt.  Stay tuned--I'll share the pattern on next week's blog.

I've been thinking about orange this week.  It's the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Quilt Challenge.  I absolutely LOVE orange.  I think this will be one of my favorite months.

My Little Buddy wanted to pick the orange cherry tomatoes, but I convinced him to wait.  This variety is red when ripe, but a very pretty orange when immature.

This is my roll of orange 2.5 in. strips for the Fly Away Home quilt.  I can hardly wait to cut into them.
But first, I have to deal with this:

25 pounds of peaches and a dozen ears of corn, fresh from the West Bend Farmer's Market.  The peaches need to rest a bit and "air-ripen" before I can them, but I'll blanch, cut, and freeze the corn today.
Sometimes I wonder why I go out and buy more work for myself.  On the other hand, there's peach pie, even in the winter.  And delicious Wisconsin corn. 

Here's another project--what to do with this gorgeous olive oil can?  I removed the top and washed it (after we used all the olive oil, of course).  I might put utensils in it or something.  Any ideas?

If I'm to make a dent in any of the projects I have planned, I had better get to work.  And my Little Buddy had better start taking reliable naps again.  (Sigh.)

Finishing quilts does make me do a little happy dance.  But there is really no hurry. I get a lot of joy just in the making.

Wishing you joy this week, in whatever you do.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Angela at Soscrappy
Myra at Busy Hands Quilts  
Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
Cynthia at Oh Scrap