Thursday, July 21, 2016

Boy, Oh Boy!

Pardon me while I dust off the blog! Achoo!

The past month saw zero quilting projects to completion. ZERO! I barely had the energy to do any sewing as I was battling a really awful and annoying summer cold. Unfortunately my asthma and allergies make colds linger for a lot longer than they normally would, so it lasted about four weeks. Yuck! Nonetheless, I'm back at it...finally.

I did a quick project for a fundraiser. One of my cousins was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and the family put on a fundraiser for her which included several auction items. One of my aunts asked if I'd be willing to do the quilting and binding on a top she sewed 46 or 47 years ago so that it could be donated to the auction. It's the first time I worked on an old top (EDIT: no, it's not - I did the binding on a quilt my great grandmother hand-sewed sometime in the 1950's), but it was a small baby quilt so it wasn't difficult at all.

The picture isn't the greatest quality, but this is the near 50-year-old quilt top.

I think these were poly/cotton blends, but it didn't cause any issues. It was a good way to ease back into some sewing. The good news is that the auction raised over $3,000 to help cover her medical costs!

The sectional in my living room is in need of some new pillows, so I sat down last week to sew some blocks for a new pillow. I again used Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book (along with a supplemental pattern) for the blocks, and the end result is really lovely!


I used an envelope style backing so that I could fill it with a pillow form or use it as a table runner. Now that it's in place on the living room console, I'm having a hard time putting it to use on the couch. I'm really in love with using solid colors as the background fabric lately. The block designs can sometimes blend into the background with whites, and this is a great way to show off the color and design of the blocks.

There are a ton of half-finished projects in my sewing room, and I'm bound and determined to get to them rather than starting any new projects. With Halloween and Christmas approaching that commitment may be easier said than done.

2 comments:

  1. So sorry you've been sick, Dan. Glad you are feeling better and tapping back into your creative energies! That's quite a quilt! Congratulations on raising so much money and best wishes to your cousin. What a great pillow top! It's so big, at first I thought you inserted the wrong picture! Looks great as a table runner, too! Have a good day! ~karen

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    1. Thank you so much! The family pulled together quite a collection of auction items to raise that amount of money. And the pillow is big - 14" x 28". The pillow against the wall in the background is about the same size. Now I'm tempted to leave it on the table. ;)

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