My Color Kit

Have you ever seen one of these? A friend passed it on to me a few years ago.

Basically it's an embroidery kit. It's made of a canvas like fabric. Skeins of embroidery floss are stored inside. The outside folds up like a little book.

It's kinda rough and funky, but of course that is why I like it ...

I Love Happy Hour

Here's my favorite show and tell quilt from our Kaw Valley Quilters' Guild this morning.

Ruby Shultz of Shawnee surprised us all. She held up this little quilt and declared, "After a few glasses of wine, I made this!"

How times change! Are our quilting ancestors who labored over their temperance quilts rolling over in their graves?

Thanks to Ruby for sharing her quilt and her wisdom! She gave this quilt to a friend but confided that she made another to keep.

Happy Accident

ser·en·dip·i·ty

ˌserənˈdipədē/

noun

1. the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

   
   

   "a fortunate stroke of serendipity"

   
   

   synonyms:

   (happy) chance, (happy) accident, fluke; More

   
   

1. I looked up this word and found a new name for this little quilt. It's Happy Accident from now on.
   
   It's a combination of scraps from all walks of fabric-ness. I continue to entertain myself with the wonder of just putting little bits and pieces together. I do look for variety. I think this piece is improved by adding the little bits of the curtain that Christo used to cover walkways in Kansas City's Loose Park long ago. There's also a wacky kimono, some Marcia Derse, tie silk, vintage dress, old shirt, Hawaiian shirt ...
   
   I'm thinking long and skinny pieces might be easy to display. This measures ~8" x 48". It's traditionally bound.

Happy Valentine's Day

An old shirt and no scraps too small make up my Valentine's Day postcards this year. The background is an old shirt that belonged to a good friend. I throw my smallest colorful scraps into a basket by my sewing machine. I picked through them and arranged shapes into heart shapes. Here's an old poem I have always loved:

Old days,
Old ways,
Pass by.
Love stays.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Thrifty with thread

I got some sewing notions at an estate sale a few weeks ago. Some of the thread I found reminded me of spools Mom had when I was little. She saved every bit of thread, winding different threads onto spools and bobbins like this.









I found a few other bits of thread that takes this to a whole new level of thrift. Next is a rolled up bit of paper with thread wrapped around it, stored safely inside a plastic tube.

The next ones take the cake! Yes, that is a broken toothpick saving a bit of thread. Along with it is a tiny rolled scrap of fabric with thread wound around it. Some might find this disturbing but I find it very sweet! Ah, thrift!

Come See My Quilts

My quilts are on display now until the end of February at Do's Deluxe, 416 E. 9th Street in Lawrence. It's Marty Olson's hair salon - I like to say it's an art gallery that fronts as a salon ...

This Friday is Final Friday, Lawrence's monthly art walk in the downtown area. Stop by between 5-8 and we'll drink wine and talk quilts.

Some of you will recognize quilts that have been on this blog in the past but there are a few new ones. See if you find any familiar ones on the wall above.

We hung a few vintage tops on a clothesline in the back room ... drop by and see what you think of that. And if you're in Lawrence it's ok to stop by during the hours Marty is open Wednesday - Saturday.

Comfort

I just finished this comfort quilt for a young friend - one of my daughter's best friends. Her mom died a few months ago - way too quickly and way too young. I showed her daughter photos of Passage Quilts made by Sherri Lynn Wood and offered to make a quilt in that style for her.

A few day's later, I had a bag filled with some of her mom Peggy's clothes. The light blue is a soft bathrobe. There were many soft jersey t-shirts, a gold party dress, several beautiful silky dresses and even a sweater. I commenced with the cutting and stripping pieces together. I backed some of the silkier pieces with knit interfacing but found enough stability in the rest of the fabrics to piece them as they were. I included a few details - the robe pocket, belt loop, some labels ...

The quilt is backed with a soft gray flannel. It's 43" x 72", a size you can fold around your shoulders, take a nap with and lay at the foot of your bed. Machine quilting it was surprisingly easy. It is the softiest, cuddliest quilt I think I have ever made. Just perfect for it's purpose - comfort.