Design Wall (Floor) Monday

Still laying on my design floor is this:

Remember this quilt?: (click the picture to read the post about it)

Now that I've finally got the backing ready, I'm nervous about putting it on. I know it needs to be done to keep the wool from falling out as the original backing deteriorates, but I'm really not sure how to baste it. I don't want to use pins because I think it could tear the old fabric. I'm going to put a few gentle stitches into the seams to hold this backing in place, but I need it basted first. So I'll probably study it awhile, or until Hubby tells me to get it off the floor.

In other areas of design, I've been working on my shopping bags.  Have you ever taken your cloth shopping bags to the grocery store, handed them to the checker, and seen a look of annoyance on her face? I've been using cloth bags for years and have seen that look a lot - to the point that at the Wall of Mart I finally told the checker to just put my groceries back in the basket. Then, after pulling the cart out of the way, I loaded them into my cloth bags. Why? Take a look at my cloth bags:

I got the two in the top left corner about 1986. They were freebies - one at the grand opening of a Hypermart (a precursor of Super Wally), and one at the grand opening of a Page Drug (before Tom Thumb had their own inside drug store). The two in the lower left corner were company freebies at a trade show. I actually bought the Brookshires bag in the top right corner (and it's the poorest quality of the lot), and based on the construction of all these bags and a paper bag, I made the one in the bottom right corner.

The reason most cashiers despise these bags (and the person who brings them in) is mainly because of the handle. For one thing, the handles are too long, and for another, they are attached side to side instead of front to back. Because of the handles, the bags don't fit well on their wire rack made for plastic bags. The long handles also make it harder to carry them without dragging on the ground.

I've been meaning to remake my bags for quite a while and a handle on the Page Drug bag was unravelled so it was a good time to try a remake. (I had replaced the other handle to match the size of original.) Oh, and this is the other side of the bag.

I took both handles off, cut a shorter piece of strap, and reattached front to back.

Better, and fits the wire rack but not well. The construction of the bag could be improved.

So I made a new bag based on the typical grocery store plastic bag.





Marti

Stash Report

I decided to start doing a stash report like a lot of other quilters since there is no 12 step program for my stash addiction. These gals are trying to use their stash also and post their progress for all the world to see. It seems to be working for them, and since I have added more than used this year, I think I need the support.

So here goes.

Eeek! I didn't know I was in the red until just now. I resolve not to add this week, but to lose those 8 yards. Losing a few pounds would be nice too.

* I included the project I am revealing tomorrow because technically, it's already used.

I have a question for all of you quilters out there. What is the oldest quilt you've ever washed, how did you wash it, and what product did you use? Ok, that's three questions, but only one question mark.

Until next time, may you have blessings and resolve,
Marti

Remake a Short Shirt

Have you noticed how hard it is to find a long, knit shirt? After a few washings, most of my barely long enough knit shirts are too short to wear in public. I finally decided to do something about it. There is a reason I don't make clothes, and it is because they seldom fit, even if I follow a pattern and adjust in all the right places. But I was going to toss this one anyway, so what did I have to lose?

Before (and this is where it hit the top of my jeans:
After:
And it still fits! I still need to do the hem, but I have a red velvet cake to make.

Until next time, may you have blessings and easy sewing,
Marti

Around the Homestead

Snow! And the temperature is 65°. So ok, it's not snow, it's insulation. We had twelve inches blown in the attic. It's white and it looks like tv snow when it drifts down every time we pull down the attic stairs.


And with this nice weather, Hubby tilled part of the garden and we planted a row of onions.


My New Year's goals, or resolutions, are not going well.

I went to Walmart in my search for blue and tan border fabric, and came home with these


What can I say? They jumped in the basket and I didn't have the heart to make them leave.

The diet is going, if not going well. We ate at I-Hop last night, and one meal alone destroyed my calorie count.

Until next time, may you have blessings and self-control,
Marti

Design Wall Monday

I'm joining Judy at Patchwork Times today, showing what is in the works on my design wall, or design floor in my case.

One of my resolutions, decisions, goals, whatever you want to call it, is to use up my stash. I boxed it up over a year ago when we needed the bedroom to be a bedroom again, and it never came down. Now it's down and there is no where to put it, so along with my regular too-much-stuff, I have five totes of fabric!

While making this quilt, I've decided I am a lot like my great grandmother, Mother S. Some of the scraps for this quilt are twenty years old; scraps from dresses and shorts I made for the girls. My mother never kept scraps. I don't know why I started keeping them, maybe for patching those dresses and shorts, but probably because I thought they would be useful some day. That's the hoarder in me.

Since nearly every scrap brought back a memory, I could call this quilt Trip Around the Past. But really, I'm calling it Around the World from the Couch because it will be my recliner quilt. This photo was taken yesterday afternoon, and I've got this part together now. Now all I have to do is figure out a border. That's always the hard part for me.

Until next time, may you have blessings and scraps of memories,
Marti