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Scrappy Double Wedding Ring Quilt

10/26/2022

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Picture
Closeup of quilt stitched in mid-20th century, United States.. by Downtowngal, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Deep down, I just hate wasting things.  I have all my scraps, even little pieces, organized by color, and it gives me pleasure to collate them into something beautiful.  And the so-called "scrappy quilt" is always a fun option! 

Quilters use the term "scrappy" in a variety of ways, sometimes to mean "made from scraps" or "made from a variety" or "made from random picks without planning color or organization". 
For me, the defining feature of a scrappy quilt is that I use-up scraps of fabric I already have, rather than select and acquire fabrics on purpose for a theme, color scheme, or design. 
My recent Acid Trip quilt having used up nearly all of my long strips of scrap, I just have smaller pieces left, and a desire to use what I can and throw out the "crumbs" -- anything less than 2 inch square.  (I don't have the patience for crumb quilting!)  Moreover, I really enjoyed foundation piecing to make Acid Trip, so I seek another pattern I can do the same way.  The Double Wedding Ring pattern (example above) appeals, because I can foundation piece my scraps onto the "melon slices" and go from there. 

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Starting a Hunter's Star Quilt

10/21/2022

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The Hunter's Star is a simple, oddly composed block, which creates stars at its intersections with other Hunter's Star blocks.  There are actually several ways to make this block.  Deb Tucker mentions several of them here, before talking about her method.  As I see it, the various ways can result in only two final block options, which I illustrate below.
Picture

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Poppy Scarf

10/13/2022

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Remember those halcyon pre-pandemic days, when a person could frivolously waste rubbing alcohol instead of using it to sanitize things?  Remember my scarf-dyeing and doodling project?  Well, it's time to get inspired by blank silk canvasses again! 

This project was done in three steps: draw, soak, and detail.  First I drew the flowers on a fold, then I soaked the whole scarf in alcohol to make the ink run and transfer from fold to fold (it didn't work very well), then I detailed the fuzzy outlines to make the whole, symmetrical picture. 
Picture

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Collecting Scraps & Getting Ideas

10/7/2022

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I've written before about the book Cut the Scraps!, by Joan Ford:
The book's premise is simple and smart: take your small scraps of quilting cotton, anything under a fat quarter, and cut them into a set of prescribed sizes: 2" squares, 3.5" squares, and 5" squares.  Sort these squares by value rather than by color, so you end up with a pile of lights, a pile of darks, and a pile of everything in the middle.  If you make a four-patch with four 2" squares, it makes a 3.5" square; if you make a nine-patch with nine 2" squares, it makes a 5" square.  Then the book has instructions for twenty different quilts which can be made from squares of those sizes.  I love the idea! 
(from my second Acid Trip post)
What I didn't mention was that I also "cut the scraps" in the same sizes.  Do I have enough scraps to make something?  I certainly have enough scraps to speculate!

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Noshi Motifs in Kimono

10/3/2022

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Picture
Today's post is a bit of a dive into the sea of Japanese history and symbology, in search of the story behind this motif on a kimono. 
This pattern is called "noshi".  But what is it? What are those yellow strips?  Why are they tied together? 

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Night Stars Quilt

9/17/2022

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Picture
As another friend is having a baby boy, I decided to make her a quilt with blue in it, to hopefully use up a bunch of my scraps and clear out my stash!  I don't remember what I googled, but I kept seeing an ad for a particular quilt pattern that caught my eye.  It was the Sunnyside pattern by Busy Hands Quilts.  What appealed to me was a non-traditional setting of sawtooth stars, a pattern I usually find staid.  Which brings me to my evolving tastes...

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Jacob's Ladder Quilt

9/12/2022

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The story of Jacob's Ladder is written in the book of Genesis.  Jacob, a grasping sort of character who conned his brother into giving him his inheritance, is fleeing his brother's rage and going to a far-off land to live with his uncle.  One night while he's on the run, Jacob puts his head on a rock for a pillow and tries to sleep.  In a dream, he looks up and sees "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.  And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!"  From the top of the ladder, God tells him that He will keep the promises He's already made to Jacob's father, and will fulfill them through Jacob and his sons.  (Not that Jacob deserves this grace, the cad!  It's more about God's character than Jacob's.)  When Jacob wakes up, he's stirred to make a monument to this special place where Heaven touched Earth, and he promises to serve God as long as God keeps His promise (and, oh--lets him return home safely without getting murdered).

Jacob's path back home isn't an easy one, but that's another day's story.  For today, we have the story of Jacob's ladder, a symbol of God's choice to make connections with creation, and to reach down into our reality and effect it. 

Jacob's Ladder is also the name of a string game, a wooden toy, and a quilt block.  Guess which one this post is about? 
Picture
Jacob's Ladder, painted by Jacob Chayat, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Picture
Jacob's Ladder toy, diagram from Scientific American, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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4-patch Baby Quilt!

8/31/2022

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During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, several of my friends got married.  Now they are producing little humans!  Time to make people quilts.  However, I have scant patience for stereotypical "baby" quilts... I don't like washed out pastels, toy or cloud motifs, flannel, or appliqués!  (If I were fonder of appliqué work, I might be done my Dandelion quilt by now!)  Instead, I am playing with patchwork, and enjoying the opportunity to play with color schemes I might not otherwise choose, in small sizes!  I like the idea of the baby still using the quilt as they grow, long after the cutesy stuff is consigned to memorabilia.  Today, I share a quilt for a co-worker who is adopting.  The colors work for boy or girl. 

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Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

8/30/2022

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Here's a brief update on my life.  I last posted in October last year.  I was stalled, trying to finish the appliqué dandelions for my self-designed quilt.  I wanted to finish them soon, to have a quilt for the winter.  *Narrator voice: She did not finish the quilt for that winter.*  In fact, I still haven't finished the appliqués.  I will... eventually.

Instead, I've been making other quilts, some of which I even bothered to photograph!  More on that, soon. 

On the home front, we lost Cutie Pie, and several months later brought a new kitten, Buckaroo, into the home.  It was sad to say goodbye to Cutie Pie, but our li'l Bauckaroo is lively and adorable.  He's also a bit more destructive than Pretty Kitty (who has now entered her dotage) or Cutie Pie, who was too shy to do much damage.  Buckaroo loves string and fabric, but instead of staring and occasionally swatting at it, he jumps on it and scatters it everywhere! 
Picture
Cutie-Pie, our sweet talkative boy
Picture
Buckaroo!
On the work front, I have thoroughly loved my job as a caregiver/DSP (Direct Support Professional, but give it a few years and they'll re-name the job, again) at a group home.  I love the five guys I support, and it's a joy to be there.  Given that, it's sad to contemplate leaving... yet here I am, leaving.  The reason is that working in that home has opened my eyes to a previously unknown field that I can be good at, and education I want to pursue.  This is the first time in years that I have had anything like a long-term plan or career ambitions.  I've mostly been trying various things without a sense of purpose.  My ambitions were personal, not professional.  Now I have a plan: short term, get my CNA-1, and work as one while applying for Mt. Hood Community College's Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) program; next fall and the next two years, work as an agency CNA (more flexible hours than being employed by one facility) while getting my PTA; long-term, get employment as a PTA. 

Alas, I can not stay at my current job, much as I love it, and afford full-time college next year, and so becoming a CNA is my stepping stone.  By changing jobs, I automatically give myself a $4 raise, with employer-assistance for college after a year of employment.  I can expect to make a bit more with bonuses/incentives once I'm doing agency work.  I also think having worked as a CNA will help me later, since I'll have experience in a variety of healthcare facilities with different populations.

Overall, I am excited to be walking a new path, with a destination in mind. 
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My Dandelion Quilt - Flower Appliqués

10/26/2021

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Picture
I decide I want to finish this quilt top by the end of the month, so I can get it to the long-armer ASAP.  Winter is coming, and I want to have a sunshiney summer bedspread to cheer me through the drear.  I have two more appliqués to do: the dandelion bloom and the side-view with sepals. 
But first, my Dandelion Quilt posts so far:
Design
Sky and Wishies
Pieced Dandelions
Delectable Mountains Block (1)
Bear Paw
Barrister's Block
Delectable Mountains Block (2)
Appliqué Leaves

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    Karen Roy

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