Monday, September 23, 2013

Back to regular posting (and breaking the Candy Crush habit!)

In an effort to sew more, I've decided that I need to have regular days to post on my blog!  (I seem to sew a lot more when I want to have something to share - must be the narcissist in me?)  So, I'm going to try this schedule:
 
Farmer's Wife Friday
Sunday Stash Report
Crummy Monday
Needle Network (Canadian Bloggers) WIP
 
Any other linkies you might suggest?
 
Perhaps now, I might get off of Facebook and the stupid games I play!

Even though it's late in the day, I am going to do my first Crummy Monday post!
 
 
I love crumbs!  And I can't resist doing fun things with them.
 
My first excursion into crumbs was these cute little 3 1/2" blocks.  Anything larger than 3/4" is fair game. 
 
 
My smallest crumbs go in one of three jars - warms, cools or neutrals. 
 
 
Sometimes when I just need some mindless sewing, I dump out a jar and make a few crummy blocks!
 
 
I make the blocks using one colour family.  This weekend it was yellow, grape and aqua!
 
So far, I just hang them on a little clothesline with miniature clothes pins in my sewing room.  Someday I'll have enough to do something with them.
 
I love selvedges as well.  I was inspired last year by this quilt:
 
 
 
 
(If you never visited her blog, you are in for a real treat - she makes the most amazing unique quilts and wall hangings, and she's also an author!)
 
Of course, my selvedges are cut very frugally, so I didn't have a lot of print showing.  That doesn't stop me!
 
 
I recycle dryer sheets (washed a couple of times to make sure all the softener is out) and layer my selvedges over top.  I use a zig-zag stitch to reinforce the edges, because the first couple I made didn't hold.  The advantages to using the dryer sheet are that I don't have to remove it, it is soft and flexible and adds little weight, and it stabilizes the block which is important when dealing with some of those skimpy cuts.
 
I love the ones that have different designs instead of dots.  I have been known to buy a fabric simply because of the selvedge.
 
 
These also hang on my clothesline - it's a nice decoration in my room!
 

Lastly, I tried a Maverick Star this weekend!
 
 
This a free block tutorial from my favourite designer, Bonnie Hunter, and is perfect for those cut-off triangles from other projects.  I'm sticking to my monochromatic themes for these as well, not what I'm planning but it might make it easier to assemble in one project some day.   This block measures 6 1/2" unfinished.
 
 

So here is the result of my Crummy weekend - some mindless sewing to help get my mojo flowing again!  Oh, yeah - I also make 3 1/2" 4-patches from 2" squares from my scraps as well.
 
 
Have a great week!
 

Terri in BC