Sandwiched Mat

I accomplished my October goal - it's a sandwiched quilt.  

The backing is leftover blocks, just as the front had been.  The middle diamond came from my recent baby quilt. The kite squares were rejects from Bouncing Boxes.  I didn't have enough of the dark grey to make the background, so I dug around for my unloved fabric.  Light colors didn't work, but oddly enough this red did.  None of the other reds.  Not even a dark green.  How odd.  

It's loud - more than the front.  But since it's the backing I'm not too concerned with the volume.

I sandwiched it with batting  from an old comforter my sister gave me.  The project is a lot of recycling and upcycling!  Initially I folded the batting into three layers for some padding for my knees.  However, it was hard to pin and I feared it would be simply too puffy.  I removed a layer, which pinned together easier.  I'll start quilting as soon as I straighten out my sewing machines.  I plan to quilt this heavily since it's supposed to be mostly flat.  We'll see what inspires me.

I had hoped to have it quilted by Halloween but got sidetracked with sewing machines!

Once it's quilted I'll attach the rubber shelf lining (in a way yet to be determined). 

Singers and Guinea Pigs

I once heard that guinea pigs are like potato chips - you can't have just one.  It appears that old Singer sewing machines are the same.  I had a single one for years and years.  And today?  I'm embarrassed to say there are six currently residing in the house.  Sewing machines, that is.  Not a guinea pig to be seen.  I need to start reducing the Singers and fostering guinea pigs again.

My experience in buying a Singer feels similar to adopting a guinea pig.  It doesn't matter if it's in bad shape (like Mabel) or has a bad attitude (like Willow and the Newbies).  Once I see it and have introductions, it needs to come home with me.  I'll give it love and affection while it's here.  (Including when it causes me to pull my hair out.  <sigh>)

Some Art and a Spillway

We went to The Clark a week ago.  The trip was primarily to see the Munch exhibit which was interesting.  There was a lithograph of The Scream, dark prints and oddly colored landscapes.  We wandered through the other exhibit halls as well (in which I snapped a few photos).  

I knew Sarah Bernhardt was an actress, but had no idea she sculpted, too.  This is a self portrait of herself as a sphinx.  It's an inkwell.  Such an unusual piece.  I loved the details.

 

October OMG - Yoga Mat Sandwich

Ooh, look!  A finished flimsy!  A little funky, a little art deco.

This will be one side of my new yoga mat quilt.  My October goal is to finish the back and at least get this sandwiched (I'm still debating how much batting I want in it).

I had a bunch of orphaned blocks from three different quilts.  The striped ones were from a baby quilt - I thought they were too busy in the pattern I tried to make.  So I set them aside.  The others are from other baby quilts in the last couple of years.  

It has some odd piecing.  I designed it as I stitched; I would have cut the pieces for the large black spots differently.  It's slightly over 24 inches wide and around 72 inches long.  I'll probably cut it a little shorter before I bind it.  It depends on how much it shrinks when I quilt it.

I have more leftover blocks (plus a pile of stuff on the floor) that I have defied to become something useful.  I'm hoping to incorporate them all into the back.  That's this week's project!

New Projects

I have wanted to make myself a quilted yoga mat for quite some time.  I've also been accumulating a bunch of orphaned blocks that were either extras or unsatisfactory cast offs from other projects.  Let's see what happens when I combine the two!

The pieces are all thrown up on the wall while I decide just what I want this yoga mat to look like.  Then I'll still need to work out how much batting I want to put in it, and how it will all go together.

I'm also researching how to make a floppy sun hat.  I met a woman last spring that had an awesome scrappy sun hat that was was assembled similar to a rope coil bowl, except there was no rope.  It was simply strips of fabric.  I regret that I failed to take a photo of it; I can only go by my vague memory of how it looked.  

And of course there are some new throw/baby quilts on the horizon.  Whew!

Sharing with:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Wendy's Quilts and More - Peacock Party

I Like Thursday: September's Summary

Ooh - what a September!  I have lots to share with Lee Anna and friends at I Like Thursday.

Kicked off the month by catching up with old friends and co-workers.  I started my first programming job with these guys.  Two of them were new hires with me.  The third guys I jokingly call my work husband - we've been working together for more than 30 years.  Nuts!

My tall friend moved to Japan years ago - I haven't seen him since 2003.  He was in the states for a few weeks, so we took this opportunity to all get together.  I'm so glad we made this work.

Rounded Bowl Cozies

A request for bowl cozies piqued my interest because it was for a rectangle container rather than a round bowl.  The timing was good, too - having finished my latest quilt I change gears to work my clean-up projects.  It was a good time to jump into this.

I dug up my original bowl cozy pattern (from a tutorial here).  Then I adjusted it by rounding the corners and moving the darts to accommodate a 5x7" bowl.

These cozies ended up a bit flatter than I imagined, but even my original bowl cozies aren't that deep.  I started with an 11" square, then rounded two corners with 4" and 2" curved rulers.  No bulky sharp corners to turn out!

Scenes From Cape Cod

Cape Cod Chick Weekend was a couple of weeks ago.  We stayed in a new place near Thumpertown beach, just a little south of Campground beach in Eastham.  We arrived to hot humid weather.  Then stormy weather blew through on Sunday and Tuesday.

We walked to the beach on Sunday to watch the weather as it rolled across the bay.  I wanted to walk on the beach before the tide came in.  I thought the dark clouds looked amazing from down on the beach as they moved across Brewster and Orleans.