somebody to love me?

I, for one, am so glad that Cynthia is having her Quilty Orphan Adoption program again this year. it goes right along with my ImmaCleanOutMyHouseAndGetRidOfAlotOfTheCrapISeemedToAccumulateWithoutRealizingIt theme of this Lent season. 

(i'm doing a List Of 40 Things I Can Clean, Purge, Sort or Donate for Lent. SUPER EXCITED: i'm on #24 as i type!!!) 

The sewing room has not escaped my merciless super-good-intentions work sessions! i have 7 things to move along from there. 1 i've already shared, and 1 has been claimed, so here are my remaining 5 things i'd like to share/move/donate. 

priority will be given to Charity Sewing/Donations, but whatever you do, it will be better than just sitting collecting dust in my house, so that will also be taken into consideration! i will be happy to mail these to you; i'll mail them for free, but if you want to send a bit-o-money back to help with postage, that would be appreciated!

#1- ADOPTED a Huge Pile of {mostly batik} strips. i think they're all 2 ½", and many seem to be parts of a jelly roll. i know i won't make anything with these, and batiks are not really my cup of tea. I think there are just about enough of the strips to fill up a large flat rate priority mail box. (but expect to do some ironing when you receive them!) 

#2- ADOPTED this is a random assortment of mostly tan/beige/cream strips. they have been sorted into lengths, and maybe you can see the measurement on the green dot? i was (and still am) making the JuneQAL hosted by Amanda of Crazy Mom Quilts. i pulled these strips out, as i just wanted to use the white based fabrics.. 

#3-ADOPTED this quilt magically showed up on my front porch ages ago. it's a pretty neat quilt, but again: i obviously won't get to doing anything with it anytime soon. the measurements are 93" X 54". it's a mixture of really old fabric, and spans the ages through to feed sack fabric. the stars are pretty neat, but many of the points have been cut off. i suppose if you took the strips of green, blue or pink fabric out, that might improve matters some. 

#4- ADOPTEDa brother to the magically appearing quilt above. mostly vintage fabrics. it's 84" X 52". Walker is my beagle {besides super cute, he's VERY LOUD! we adopted him last spring. i nevernevernever thought i'd be one of those dog people. but to the surprise of my children-and me!-i am...}

#5- ADOPTED this one really has to take the cake for Longest Ever UFO. but to be completely fair to myself, it's not really MY UFO. i've just been hauling it around with me for the last 33 years and 6 moves. yikes! 

the DWR is started- 9 rings almost completely pieced. there are also the muslin centers (it was the 1980's, after all!) a few melons, MANY arcs and a few chain pieced wedges. there is also a little bit of purple, and some yardage of the aqua calico that was used in the 4 patch centers. 

here's the note that i taped to the top of the pretzel can this sad UFO has been stored in- it's older than my oldest child! marily is the mother of an old friend, and she was an accomplished quilter. i was just starting out, and she had passed along some of her stash/unwanted items. i guess as a new quilter, i didn't want to tackle this project. 

in conclusion- if you'd like to adopt and love any of my UFOs, please let me know. give me your mailing address, and i'll get these projects out to you as quick as i can! and thanks for stopping by! 

Marching right along...

March definitely came in like a lamb here in our neck of the woods, and it's nice to feel the promise of spring when we go outside. just yesterday A, my 13yo daughter, excitedly came inside and announced that she saw a robin! it sure seems early, but spring is such and exciting and promising time!

i recently bought an Accuquilt Studio 2 Cutter. {not an affiliate link} and i'm LOVING it!!! i got a basic array of dies for it, while i become acquainted with what will work best for my and my style of sewing: churn dash, 6" tumblers, 3" squares and (too small in retrospect) equilateral triangles.

i have a list of things a mile long that i need to be working on: taxes, the family Christmas calendar, I Spy quilts for the (4) grandchildren for Easter, the baby quilt for grandchild #5 (!!!) and spring cleaning/Lent purging/get all the crap out of here/someday i'm going to die and i don't want to saddle my children with all the stuff cleaning.

anyway- lots to keep me busy around here! AND: i'm thrilled that Cynthia IS doing her Quilty Adoption again this year- starting March 19. i'm still working in the sewing room, cleaning/purging/rearranging, and i've found at least 4 things that i'd like to share/move on.

first up: (getting an early start!) a box of extra 3" squares. (picture coming later) ADOPTED there is quite a lot there: enough room for a boat-load of creativity! i sorted through the drawer, looking to consolidate, and picked out a bunch of the squares that i'm "done" with. there are many different colors, but most of them are "cream based" rather than "white based". if you'd like my box of squares to get creative with your own projects, leave a comment. i'll be happy to share- first priority will go to charity quilts, but other than that, the sky's the limit!

i'll be back later with more... Saturday morning is in full speed around here... 

it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

i'm back! I've been lurking around, regularly looking at everyone's great projects and even leaving a comment or two...

this past summer was a difficult growing season: more on the personal level than in the veggie rows, but we managed to have our best CSA season, with 39 families eating from our gardens weekly, as well as selling at 2 Farmer's Markets each week, so i guess that's something...

i really lost my sewing mojo this summer/fall, but it feels good to be in a better place and sewing again... 

my second son, N is out of the Army and living in Baltimore (working at John's Hopkins) with lovely wife P and 3yo daughter, E. E recently went to a big girl bed, and Mommy happened to mention that she would like a quilt.

so, what's a grammy to do? make a quilt, of course! it's just my crumb blocks from recent RSC years, put into rows, interspersed with Kona stars (candy pink, lupine and watermelon). you can see in the first picture that E was really happy with her new quilt. 

i found this alphabet print on my birthday shopping trip and bought it on a whim and impulse. it was perfect for the back of E's quilt!

i still have a few stacks of blocks from RSC18 & RSC19 *hangs head in shame* so i only started one "new" project for RSC20.

3 orange blocks this month: burnt orange, bright orange and salmon.

i'm using my 3" squares as the "base" of this block (3" always, still, forever...)  and a neutral background. i WAY underestimated just how much of this background i would need, even with a reasonable and modest goal of 1 block per color each month. next month i'll choose something else- and hopefully with enough to last me through the year... 

the blocks finish at 20", so i'm sure i'll get a few tops out of these blocks at the end of the year.

AND: i've heavily edited my 3" square drawer. i plan on offering a box of them up in Cynthia's Quilty Orphan Adoption in March. more on that later... 

this quilt (pictured on my design wall) is my Rainbow Rail blocks from last year. i only needed to make 1 more pink block to complete it; the blocks are numbered and waiting their turn in the queue to be sewn into a flimsy. 

i've taken stock in the sewing room; sorting, purging, donating and evaluating. with the exception of the closet *shudder*, i've sorted and evaluated my projects (WIPs, UFOs, piles of inspiration and intentions) and made a list. i re-arranged and cleaned, too, so my sewing room feels like a new room. (more on that later, too) 

so: that's it for now. thanks for stopping by. and be sure to click back to Angie's to see what everyone else is up to... 

sewing the summer blues!

i did have a finish this month: as in FINISHED! quilted, bound, washed and on the bed finished!

woohoo! this scrappy 16 patch has been in the works for awhile. it never made it to the UFO status- just a sluggish WIP. 

i quilted it myself- straight line quilting through the kona stratosphere blues with no batting. (just like A's RSC18 kona quilt that i gave her for valentine's day)

it's a perfect summer quilt. quilting the top and backing with out batting makes it feel more like a sheet or light-weight blanket, but it still has the aesthetic beauty of a quilt, and looks nice on our bed.  the backing is cheddar orange (or yellow?) it's a long hoarded favorite piece that i'm thrilled to finally see in use! 

the pictures are a bit out of order, but the 2 pillows at the top of the post go with this quilt. (obvious, i guess...) i pulled out all the medium blues as i was piecing the top- i didn't want the patchwork pattern to get lost with blues that were "too blendy" with the kona stratosphere. i used them to make two (22") pillows, complemented with kona duckling. 

the quilt measures about 82½" X 102½" after washing. every morning when i make my bed, i spot so many different fabrics, and it brings back happy memories of my children when they were smaller, my grandchildren that are small now and already have fabrics that are "theirs", and many other projects and special people in my life, too. 

June was blue- or was it green?

although the "official" color of June was (is) blue, for me it seemed like it was really green!

so many green things growing: hydroponic lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, kale, swiss chard, herbs, sweet and hot peppers, pumpkins, summer squash, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, eggplant, sweet corn... 

our CSA/Farm Share pickups have started, and with our biggest group of members ever, it's keeping me busy. and mostly exhausted, too. 

i did sort out all my 3" blue squares at the beginning of the month, and sewed 16 of my eclectic and bohemian 9 patches- 8 with dark centers, 8 with light centers. 

9 of my "split rails" of sorts blocks happened, too. i also cut out my isosceles triangle quilt for this month- a dark {and ugly} Kansas Troubles blue with a creamy calico as the alternate triangle. there was so much of the KT that it's the backing and binding, too! 

click over to Angela's SoScrappy blog- lots of beautiful blues happening over there. (and soon it's a new month and new color- can't wait!) 

orange you glad it's spring?

i made my monthly marker, but forgot to share it here. oops! (you can follow me at jlcap69 on instagram. i'm slightly more active over there...) 

i'm sharing these 40ish *untrimmed* crumb blocks now- who knows, if i wait until they're trimmed to share, it might be the end of October. ha!

the whole gamut of orange here: pale peach to dark umber.

and a few salmons that lean towards pink...

be sure to click over and see the more productive quilters and projects for RSC19.

H2H- all done and checking in!

i do quite a bit of "charity quilting" but this is my first time participating in Sarah's Hands2Help campaign. i saw that one of the chosen gifting recipients Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project, which was specifically looking for larger quilts.  

i pieced strip sets (2½") for Rainbow Scrap Challenge in both 2015 and 2016. In 2017 i managed to get 2 "pinwheel" quilts out of that multitude of blocks!

although my youngest daughter, BJ, originally chose this quilt in our Great Quilt Gifting of 2017, she decided that she liked a different quilt, Growing Up Odd better, so she swapped. 

we packed up this behemoth, along with backing and binding, and sent it off to Sally F. in Wisconsin.  She sent me this picture of the completed quilt (thanks so much, Sally!) and i'm thrilled that it's finally done, and will go to a new home to bring warmth and comfort! 

What color did she say again?

oops! i just realized that although i up loaded my aqua crumb blocks from April, i forgot to write the blurbs and post the pictures!

just like the orange blocks, aqua can't really decide what color she wants to be, either...

teal, aqua, turquoise, mallard, light blue, sea foam, slate... all those colors were in my scrap jar.

never-the-less, i pieced 35 of the "teal" blocks for April, and the pile continues to grow! (and the jars that i keep the scraps in- 1 gallon glass pickle jars- never seem to get any emptier!) but they are pretty to look at on my shelf...

go look at all the other pretty blocks at soscrappy...

a quick check in between the yard work and field work and garden work..

i have had some time to sew in the last few weeks. if i have the energy, i enjoy going up to the sewing room to sew a few orange blocks for May RSC19. 

orange is one of those goofy colors that just can't decide what color it wants to be... orange, rust, burnt umber, cheddar, salmon... 

it does drive an anal meticulous piecer like me a bit batty, separating out all the different oranges into their own friendly family....

still, i pieced 6 of my rail fence blocks.

and thanks to the generous contribution of my unknown, but generous friend, Dorthy, i had lots and lots of orange squares to choose from this month! 

i pieced 11 of my light/dark 9 patches. i'm thinking that maybe i'll use these, and also last year's bohemian and eclectic 9 patches to make 2 table cloths for our table at the holidays/family meals (one sized for with the leaves, the other to fit without the leaves) 

i'm almost done with piecing my orange crumb blocks for this month, too, so i'll have another orange post to share next week.

off to work in the flower beds- hubby Dave got a great deal on mulch from Lowes (he works there) so we've been inspired to do a bit of sprucing up around the flower beds near the house. they've been neglected the last few years- i've been busy with the veggies, but now i'm on a roll! maybe i'll share pictures of that next week, too! have a great week (the weather is fabulous today!) and thanks for stopping by!

aqua- such a cheery color!

APRIL! it's been here awhile, and i've been sewing a bit.  just now taking the time to post about my blocks. 

April is a busy time on the farm- so much to do, and all the spring work hits at once! we've hit the ground running with tilling, plowing, discing and planting some of the earliest crops. it won't really slow down too much until we hit the lull in mid-June or so. then we gallop along again until September, where we wind down and are done early October. 

i've enjoyed a few quiet moments piecing my aqua 9 patches, and a "split rail" of sorts. i don't have too much aqua, so that's been a good thing. 

i have no aqua yardage, so there will be no isosceles triangle quilt this month, which is just as well, really... 

i have a modest jar-full of aqua scraps and crumbs- i'll be piecing my (6½") crumb blocks in the next week while waiting to see what Mays color will be. in the meantime, click on over to Angie's So Scrappy on Saturday and see what everyone else has been sewing on.