WIP Thursday

I never did get around to sewing anything yesterday. Paperwork, a few errands and the next thing I knew it was time to fix supper---almost. By then I was out of the notion. I looked at quilt magazines last night instead.



I had intended to take my Brother machine in for servicing but when it came right down to it, I didn't feel much like leaving the house. Maybe tomorrow. I set up the older model Singer that I got from Lois' mom estate. Though it is a mechanical machine it has a nice stitch on it. I did have to pull out the manual to remind myself how to thread it though. Had I needed to wind bobbins, I would need a refresher on that part too.

So, I am sewing 6 1/2 inch strips together. Thus far I have changed my mind about the inclusion of one fabric and then later the color sequencing too. Read: more unsewing perhaps than sewing??

This is a case of using what you have on hand. In this case I had only one strip of a lighter olive-y green and needed more but found something in my stash that will work. Not my first choice but it shoujld work. It is a hodge podge anyway. IIWII. Some is Linda C's that she put in the bin for anyone to use, some is from Theramae's estate and other yardage that Ellen sent from Wrap Them In Love headquarters, possibly from her mother's estate. The point is, it is being put to use in something I hope someone will enjoy.

This is where I am headed with it----I am not sure if I ever knew what this is called but it is one I made some time ago. Staggered Bricks? I think Joy and I named it "Basketweave" for our records but it was just something we saw in one of her quilt stuff---House of White Birches or Quilt magazine maybe???? Really the colors went with the border fabrics better than the picture shows.



I have cut the strips 6 1/2 inches and then will do 3 1/2 inch sub cuts when I have all 10 strips joined. ED NOTE: vertical seams, not horizontal. It helps if you sew the thing in pairs and when you join them to the next pair, start you seam on the OTHER end. The feed dogs will help keep the sets from bowing. To sew the body of the quilt, you fold the top color brick in half to find the midway mark and that's where you start your strips. No intersections to match. Trim off the jagged edge on the top and bottom when you are done. Border it, if you want.



One of my readers commented "How many quilts do you finish in a year and what do you do with them all?" I could not answer her personally since she is set to "no-reply blogger". One part I can answer pretty easily---the "where do they go part". We donate our quilts under the auspices of Wrap Them In Love based in Mt. Vernon, WA though Ellen does allow us to donated them locally if we know of a need. Last year they went to the Salvation Army and to WTIL headquarters for distribution around the globe. I have been at this since the fall of 1999 and the group, since 2000. The last time I totalled it up we had donated about 1300 quilts since that time. We have fewer members now and making donation quilts is not a mandatory activity for membership. Everyone does not make tops but help in other ways, such as finishing binding and helping to pin the tops.



The answer to my yearly quilt counts are more complex. To be truthful I don't really count them unless it is on my lists for the various challenges I am doing. That stuff is in the blog in the left sidebar. I will say, that I used to make more donation quilts than have the last two years but I am finally doing some things for myself for a change. There have also been some years where I have quilted more of them than I have generated myself. More than a few of those if I were to bother to add things up.



I can also give you a count from the tops hanging in my closet.

• I have 16 tops in my closet waiting to be pinned---both personal and donation projects.
  
• 2 more waiting to be spray basted
  
• 2 donation tops that are pinned, one mine and one I volunteered to do for a group member.

LOL, draw your own conclusions. We won't get into a count of how many kits are cut waiting for me or all the embroidery projects I have going either. Suffice it to say, I keep busy with this. Not bragging, just stating fact. I have a husband who helps with the laundry, vacuuming and unloading the dishwasher and I do not work outside the home. It also helps that these are usually in the 40 x 60 range as opposed to those 60 x 90 QOVs I just did that are huge in comparison.



Moving on-----

It is hotter than a pistol outside, still no rain on the horizon. The yard is turning brown and crunchy again. The kudzu is flowering so DJ knows that it a sign that the growth will slow and he won't have to keep trimming it back weekly. The trees between our house and the neighbors are losing their leaves already. Other bushes just look plain stressed with drooping leaves. I hope Irene behaves herself as she passes the eastern seaboard. Weird week from them with Tuesday earthquake and a hurricane coming in at a Cat. 3, all in the same week. Some claim to have felt the quake clear down here but not me, or my quilting buddies.



Other sad news, an Anniston police officer was shot in the head by a fleeing individual. There was a big manhunt from several different law enforcement agencies and they have made an arrest. Unfortunately the officer is essentially brain dead and on life support so his organs can be donated. Senseless, just plain senseless. Remember Justin Sollohub and his family in your prayers if you would.



And sew it goes--till next time.