Thrift Store Bonanza: Shirts, fabrics & ribbons Oh My!

Yesterday wasn't my official Thrift Store Shop Hop with friends, but Laura and I decided to hit the thrift stores in search of some true fabric bargains, and of course, shirts! We had a lot of fun and found some really great stuff. There's nothing better than a little "retail therapy" with a friend who also likes to quilt!

So here's the real scoop.

Shirts: At the shops we visited I found 5 good men's shirts, ranging from size L to XXL Tall. Most of the shirts are short sleeved so that means the yardage is less, but I estimate a yield of at least 4 yards of usable fabric from them. This time I was smart enough to take a "BC" photo of this pile. That's "Before Cutting." :o)

I'm still debating which pattern to use for my first recycle quilt (maybe I should call them my re-psych-ulled quilts). If not one out of Bonnie Hunter's book, I could also use some of the shirting fabrics for a Snowball Strip quilt from the "101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts" by Judy Hopkins and Nancy Martin. That's super easy and would look great.

Now for yardage goods: At the pound Goodwill (they charge by the weight and not by the individual item) I found 7+ yards of fabric plus 2 spools of ribbon. I will use the brights in kid's quilts, some of the civil war repro-looking fabrics into my "Dear Jenn" quilt and the other 30's repro into my WIP (work-in-progress) buzz saw. Laura and I will split the Mary Englebreight fabrics since we both have projects to use them in.

All of this (shirts and fabric) for less than $1.70 a yard. Now that is what I call a bargain!

Speaking of splitting fabrics and re-psych-uling, Laura found a huge lot of Debbie Mumm fabrics at Goodwill last year and kindly split them with me. We decided to make a quilt called "Shimmer" which is a pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, Feb '04 issue, using only the fabrics in that lot. Blues, greens, browns, reds and creamy tans. Oh how I love a challenge. The example of the blue and yellow Shimmer quilt below is from another quilter's website, neither sewn nor quilted by me but it looks really nice. The Debbie Mumm fabrics are darker, so it will be a totally different look for Laura's and my quilt.

This is not a quick quilt as there are a lot of pieces to cut and sew. The small star blocks are 6" but then sewn into a larger block. The overall block size is 19" once the small and large star units are sewn together.

I cut most of the pieces out last fall (644 without the borders!) and had sewn a couple of sample blocks and most of the small star segments. Last night I pieced together more of the units and you can see a few of the block A and block B completed. These are the small star blocks that measure 8-1/2" square.

I store this project in a nice, flat, clear plastic case so I can keep the pattern, acrylic templates and fabrics together. It's easy to grab and sew a few before I have to pack it up and put it away for another time. I don't have a dedicated place for my sewing machine, so all piecework is done at my kitchen table and we DO have to eat. Some quilters would beg to differ though. :o)



It would be great to have more of this completed before heading down to the Sister's Quilt Show in Oregon in 2 weeks, but I doubt I will be much farther than completing all the block A and Bs.

What will I back it with? Some of these fabrics are border prints, so if I don't use them for the borders on the front, I can definitely figure out how to show their full potential on the back. Also, Laura had found me a huge piece of red print fabric to use as backing on the red & cream quilt, but since I used the toile on that other quilt, I have another big piece that will go great with this quilt.

Now it's off to do other things for the day! Happy thrifting!

Another Easy Baby Quilt Pattern - For Craft Hope

Ah, my virtual blogger friend Aunt Pitty Pat posted a blog about Crafthope.com.

"Craft Hope is a faith-based, love inspired project designed to share handmade crafts with those less fortunate. " Just reading their updates shows their past project work has been pretty inspiring.

Craft Hope has a new project where they are partnering with the Miracle Foundation to supply blankets, booties and beanie caps for babies, and these items will be going to India.

I work in Seattle with several people from India, and after finding this site, am compelled to use some of my pre-cut I-Spy blocks for another great cause and make some quick baby quilts.

I've posted another free pattern (Small I-Spy Patch Quilt) on my side panel on my blog for those who need a quick and easy pattern to make a small quilt for a loved one or to donate. (The pattern assumes you have general quilting and sewing skills.)

I-Spy blocks are easy to collect...you can easily alter the pattern to accommodate charm squares too. Check out your local quilt or fabric shop (or e-Bay) for I-Spy fabric deals. I have a LOT of novelty fabric I can use up for these. If you use my pattern, please only use it for personal or donation use. And, if you have comments about the instructions, I'm happy to hear how the pattern worked out for you.

Here's a small I-Spy I sewed up just this morning using the pattern instructions. I didn't have enough bright orange like in the image above, so used a lime green and the blue and green polka dot fabric. It turned out so cute. Now because these are going to India, I'm going to use plain white baby flannel as the batting.

Feel free to check out Craft Hopes site and thanks to Aunt Pitty Pat for finding this link and sharing it! I'll post more photos of finished I-Spy quilts for the project.

Happy sewing and crafting!

Disappearing 9-Patch Swap

I joined another block swap recently on Aunt Pitty Pat's blog for the Disappearing 9-patch blocks. I've made these up before, they are quick to sew and turn into a quilt top.

This example, that has been waiting in my UFO bin, used three 9-patch blocks, cut into quarters and then back sewn together. The fabrics were a charm pack of Moda's "Recess" fabric line. It looks rather kitschy and retro. The size is great as a table topper, although I was thinking small baby quilt...this was just not the right look for that. I haven't decided what fabric to use for backing, so I haven't gotten to the point of quilting it. I was thinking plain muslin, which would probably be fine, but I don't use that for backings very often. I think I'll quilt it rather simply - stitch in the ditch and echo quilting in the squares and rectangles. And maybe a heart thrown in during a serendipitous moment. :o)

This is the tutorial that we are following to make the blocks.

Aunt Pitty Pat's swap will be fun and it will be great to see all the blocks that come in!

That's it for now - happy sewing!

Save the Shirts - T-shirt delivery!

Wow! The t-shirt sample I ordered earlier this week from Zazzle.com arrived today! I'm pretty impressed with how the logo came out - nice and clear. It's really fun. I'm not so sure about the placement, but this is a men's medium t-shirt, so I may have to deal with it. I had to try it on right away. Maybe I'll order a woman's tee for a sample, which would better compensate for my front. :o)

The printing on the back is also bigger than I expected, but that's what you get when you're not really sure by looking at the text placement online. It definitely makes a statement (and not the best photo of my back, of course...)

I had my in-laws visiting this week for my daughter's high school graduation, so I showed them the red & cream quilt and explained how the binding gets attached. For most quilts I do a french-fold binding. You can see that they look very serious about what they're hearing!

I'll finish the binding this weekend so the quilt will be off my to-do list. I'd also like to start sewing up a canvas curtain to attach to the edge of my longarm table (this will help keep some of my storage units and bins out of view. I think I may need to make a trip to Joann's to get some denim needles - I'm not sure I have any! But there's always another excuse to go browse the fabric stores if I did!

Scraps & Shirttails - Gift for Laura

My friend Laura celebrated her birthday earlier this week, and has had her eye on Bonnie Hunter's (of Quiltville) book "Scraps & Shirttails: Reuse. Re-purpose, Recycle!" for a while now. Well, it's the perfect gift -- Happy Birthday, Laura!

I purchased two copies, one for me, of course, and then scouted through a Goodwill for the perfect extras - mens plaid and striped shirts! Unfortunately, I started cutting them up before taking a picture of the whole shirts, but you can see a collar with that blue plaid - I left some of the fun stuff on the shirts for Laura.

I kept some of each shirt for myself, so Laura and I can make similar quilts - we've started these kind of quests before and our projects are still works-in-progress. Bonnie provides some great looking quilts, and she also has some free patterns on her site and blog. If you're interested in going "green" this is a fun way to do it!

I've used shirts, old dresses and aprons to cut up and use in quilts - mostly in vintage minis - but Bonnie provides plenty of inspiration in the quilts she showcases. There's even a tote bag pattern in the book. Her book is available through her website, or from Amazon.com.

The boy onsies for the baby keepsake quilt I mentioned in one of my older blog posts were purchased from a thrift store to make a sample quilt.

Our little quilting group is planning a "Thrift Store Shop Hop" this summer for a day of fun rummaging. Who knows what the next quilt will look like?

I think I will get some t-shirts made (see pics of front and back). I'll post pics when they come in!

Red & Cream - It's all now a dream...

Okay, it's really unique that I post more than once a day. Sometimes I even go longer than a week before posting again. But I didn't want to forget to add an update on the red & cream quilt I started quilting on Memorial Day weekend. I was able to finish it last weekend.

I took it off my quilting machine, took off the upside down row, and sewed it back. Now the quilt is DONE! (Well, except for the binding, but that is just a minor thing.) It feels so good to see a project finished and ready for binding. I love to do binding, so that's not going to take long.

Have you ever used "running 8ths" for a quilt? I was moving bolts of fabric from my downstairs studio to an upstairs closet, and have two bolts of running eighths from Springs Industries - they sell these in Joanns, but I bought mine wholesale. Basically you have eight 4.5" strips running the length of the fabric. I have a mix of orange/raspberry and blue/yellow.

So, I was looking around for patterns to use the running 8ths in, and found this neat and super quick idea from Lyn Brown's blog. Since I love making baby quilts (and have a few more to complete to reach my donation goal this year), I wanted to give her technique a try.

Voila! It took me less than an hour to sew up two little quilt tops, which I'm calling "Bitty Quilts" (because they're so itty bitty, about 21" x 25"). I quilted one up in no time. Two quilts for using about a yard of fabric.

Also this week, I received my siggy blocks from the Siggy Block swap on Cootie Bug's blog. I will start piecing my dogtooth border this weekend. The blocks are all fantastic!

I can't wait to get started on that project.

Summer Reading Recommendations

We've had some wonderful weather this week in Washington. Hot and dry - it promotes a vacation-like feeling with school ending for the summer and kids playing outside until the sun hovers over the western hills. I tend to slow down on my sewing, only doing bits early in the morning or later when it's cooler. One of my favorite things to do is sit outside on the patio in the early morning when it's quiet and do hand work like finishing binding with the birds chirping.

I always plan to read during vacations, and if you like to curl up with a good book, I've read several recently that I want to recommend to anyone who appreciates stories around quilts and quilting.

First, I enjoy reading books in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini. She has 14 in print and a new one coming out in November for the holidays.


The first one I actually read was "The Quilters Homecoming," a heartwarming tale of newlyweds leaving their home in the east to settle in CA in the 1920's. It's book #10, so I jumped almost right in the middle to start. The second book I read, "The Lost Quilter," picks up a story about a runaway slave who is captured, and plans her new escape in her quilting. This book is #14.


Obviously, at this point, I wanted to start at the beginning, since I was catching snippets of characters and needed to know more.

You don't have to read these books in order, but I wanted to know how it all began. So I bought "An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler" which includes the first 3 books in one volume. Great and fun reading! I let my mom borrow it when she came to visit...she ended up taking it with her, so I don't know when I'll get it back!

I also recently read "The Persian Pickle Club" by Sandra Dallas - the book was published in 1995, so has been around, but I had never picked it up.

The most recent read was a book titled "A Drunkard's Path: A Someday Quilts Mystery," by Clare O'Donohue, which is not yet in print but I was able to read a editorial copy at work. The book will be released in September. In addition to this title, she has her first novel, "The Lovers Knot". That will be the next book on my reading list. For vacation!

I hope you have as much fun reading these as I did. I'm even considering working on my own quilting novel. Perhaps one about gypsys, if my mind has anything to do with it. :)

Happy sewing and reading!