Sew I See!

There's a new old sewing machine in the house.   That is, a new-to-me vintage sewing machine.   It's been here in the house for a while, actually, but what with one thing and another, I haven't gotten around to writing about it until now.   Okay!  Confession:  I actually wrote most of this blog post back in March, and I'm only now coming back to the draft in late August.  It's long and rambling, but I'll probably keep most of it.  There will be a "too long; didn't read" summary just before the photos.   - - - - - - - As much as I like the Minnesota, it has its drawbacks-- the special needles and the less-common (and more difficult to replace) shuttle.  I'm almost afraid to use it too much, for fear that I'll completely wear out the shuttle... I still will use it, I guess, and just hope for the best (and maybe find a spare shuttle, if I can), but I thought it might be nice to have a more modern vintage treadle.  Something with a rotary-styl

I finished a larger-than-usual (for me) diamond painting, since last time.  There wasn't much left to do, after I filled in most of it while Donald was travelling in July.  (He went to a figure-painting show in the Netherlands, then visited his family in Sweden.)  I needed a break from it, so set it aside.  The last 1.5 inches or so went pretty quickly, once I got it back out again.   It's a 40x60 cm diamond painting, with an image of jars of wildflowers against a dilapidated wall with peeling paint-- I mean, against a shabby chic wall.  😜   * * * Sidetrack!  Is shabby chic still "a thing"?  I'm sure some people are still decorating in that style.  In fact, I recently saw a decorating magazine where many things looked like the "primitive" or "country" style I remember from the 90s.  Are those things back in style or did they just never go away for the people who love them?   I think I've officially reached that point where things are alrea

I'm back, and it hasn't even been a month since the last entry!  😁 Nothing new is finished, but I have a few photos to share. First up, here are the string blocks waiting to become HSTs.  I've made sure to use a wide strip in the center, since that's where they'll be cut in half.   I'm not sure how many I need, because I'm not sure how big the quilt should be.  I'll probably keep making at least a few more blocks, then sit down and do a little math to decide how many more are needed.   - - - - - - - Speaking of doing a little math, earlier this week I calculated how many more crumb strips I need to make a decent-sized throw quilt.  (This is the project with the 3"x10" strips of crumbs pieced onto phonebook foundation papers.)   At that point, the project still needed nineteen strips, but I've been making more since then and probably need only about a dozen more.  However, I'm very low on crumbs now, so that's temporarily on hold. 

Still in the "catching up" phase of blogging!  At this point, I'm down to the "odds and ends" section.  The bottom of the barrel, if you will.  😁 First up, the last quilty-ish "finish" since I went AWOL.  It's not a full quilt or even a wall quilt, which is why it didn't deserve a blog entry of its own.  Instead, it's a quilted pillow sham I made for Kimberly's birthday.  (That's my youngest sister, if there's anyone out there reading who doesn't already know. 😅)  One of the things Kimberly likes/collects is raccoons, so I thought I'd try my hand at a paper-pieced raccoon quilt block.  The pattern that ended up catching my eye, however, was not foundation paper pieced, but traditionally pieced.  The pattern is from Sew Fresh Quilts, if anyone is interested.   My version doesn't really do it justice.  It's not bad, but it's not perfect, either!  I did slightly alter the eyes from the original pattern.  I wan

Did I write about this one already?  I probably mentioned that I had finally bound this quilt, but I don't know if I posted photos or not.   To be honest, photos are almost pointless, because this quilt is so similar to the other version as to be nearly interchangeable.  Some of the "book covers" are different, and they're arranged differently, but to the casual observer, they look the same.   To briefly recap this quilt, it started when I began making a "Tall Tales" foundation paper pieced quilt for my niece.  I enjoyed making the sample "book" block so much that I thought I'd make a second quilt for myself.  All the books were pieced at the same time, but while I finished Clarabel's in time to give it for Christmas 2020 (it's been a while!), mine took longer to complete.  ...Because I stopped wanting to work on it. 😆 Anyway, this quilt is very similar to the first one in just about every way.  Many of the book covers are the same. 

I crocheted another doily earlier in the year-- probably in the month or so before Mother's Day in May.  (I remember giving it to Mom, but without looking it up, I'm not positive if it was for her birthday or Mother's Day.) The pattern is "Amelia", a design by Grace Fearon.  The thread is Alize Miss Batik (not sure of the color number).   I don't think I have much more to say about this project.  (Just a ton of photos to share in a moment...)  I still have that other doily-- the huge one-- to block, but I just can't make myself want to deal with it, yet!  Eventually I'll work up the enthusiasm.   In the meantime, I've taken a break from thread crochet.  Instead, I dug out a bag of scrap yarn and made some granny squares, then joined them into 9-patch blocks.  (I need to get a photo of that stack, some time!) When I ran out of sufficient scrap yarn, I stopped.  Now it's gone back into hibernation, but it's one giant step closer to being a co