Scrapology

IT'S TRUE!  Scraps really DO have their own ecosystem!  I have seen it first hand.

I started 2020 with the goal of completing 4 lap Christmas quilts for my son's family, starting with "mom."

A Scrappy Log Cabin.  Read about it HERE.

I've changed the layout, but 30 blocks later I'm ready to assemble the quilt.

Scrappy Log Cabin
No yardage was harmed in the making of these blocks.

Every log in every block is from a scrap bin.
So WHY is there not a big 'ol dent in the pile-o-scraps?
And these are just the strip scraps!

Pile-o-Scraps

When I was a young girl, many, many moons ago, the question was "What is the meaning of life?"
Now the question is "Where do all these scraps come from?"  I am here to testify, they really do live and breath and mate at night when we are all asleep in our little beds, producing offspring.

Back in the bins until another strip project.







While I am tidying up the studio this weekend and I am determined to find that
Fabric Fertility God and give her a proper burial down the trash shoot. (or maybe I'll send her home with Charlotte-the-Tall...)

Update from The Studio

Two months into 2020 and the sewing machines in The Studio are a smokin!

Our little band of quilters, The Needlers, meet every Tuesday night in the Mezzanine Room of my apartment building.

We are blessed to have this room.  We can leave our projects and quilt junk...ah...stuff  all spread out while we are creating.  It is fun to get together and laugh and gossip while we sew.

We've even double-dated with Jack (the ripper).

Miss Nancy sewing away.
  Charlotte-the-Tall planning her next project.

Two of us, Miss Nancy and myself, use the room nearly every day.
Right this moment it is pretty messy as she and I both are in the middle of big projects.

My Space

Nancy's space.

We sit facing each other so we can make funny faces...

My goal for Christmas 2020 is six lap quilts for my son and his family.

And if no one in the family decides to have a baby this year, I'll make it. 

I'm well into piecing the first top.

Log Cabin using scrap strips
 Designed in EQ8* and paper pieced

Nancy is creating a queen-size quilt for her and Mr. Nancy's bed.

Kindred Pinwheel from Missouri Star.
Click HERE to watch the tutorial.

Our final member, Miss Kate, is entertaining company from out of town...her cousins, "The Marys." She is always good for a laugh and we miss her when she cannot join us.

Honorable Mention....Miss Wanda.  She has moved.  Her spot sits empty because no one can replace her. (She is close by and we do visit, but she is unable to attend Tuesday nights.)

If you don't sew with a group, it is well worth making the effort to either start one or join one.  Many quilt shops have what Orange Quilt Bee calls Fuzzy Slipper Night or Cozy Quilts' BYOP Sit-N-Sew.**  My Portland friend, Miss Susan, hosts Quilt 'til you Wilt one Thursday a month.

Sewing with a group is so much fun and truth-be-told most of us could use a little fun

(especially free-or-inexpensive fun) in our lives.

*EQ8 = Electric Quilt 8
 **Orange Quilt Bee and Cozy Quilts are both Southern California shops.

A World Away and A Step Back in Time

I have been off the grid for the past 10 days or so...traveling with a group to Israel.

8088 Miles from LAX to Tel Aviv - That's 15 hours on a plane, just sayin.
I believe I deserve an "atta girl."

However, the trip was amazing, in spite of the long plane trip.  

If you have never been, start saving your shekels and go.  You won't regret it.

I wish I could say I visited at least one quilt shop or fabric shop while I was there, but I did not.  I  checked Google Maps before I left the U.S. to see if there were any shops.  There appeared to be some but not close to anywhere our tour went or within walking distance of our hotel. (And, yes, I do recommend a tour.  Our guide was so knowledgeable, he made a big difference, I'm sure.)

Even though we did not visit any quilt shops or fabric stores, there were patterns and color every where.

Walking through the market place in the old city and down the Via Dolorosa (The Way of Suffering) 

 the colors were vibrant and beautiful.

Crowded Market Streets

Spice Shop

 The shops had garments and shawls hanging all around, 

and of course other souvenirs.

 



 I even saw two crazy patchwork quilts !

The pink one was for sale, not sure if the red one was for sale.
They were both hand pieced.

The Red one was in a little alleyway off the main passage.  I stepped aside just long enough to snap a picture.  This is not a place you want to lose your group!

 

The sides of many buildings were adorned with bright tiles and intricate patterns.

Dome of the Rock

Tile Work on the Dome of the Rock

 

Jerusalem.  Anyone else see Jen Kingwell's  My Small World.

Floor in the Church at
The Mount of Beatitudes.

 

 

   

We visited various historical and Biblical sites as well as excavation sites.  

More intricate patterns on the walls and floors.  

From the beginning of time people are the same the world over.  

They are creative and artistic. They like their space beautiful. 

All their points meet up perfectly! 

The patio in the Garden in Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee.

 Beit Shean, a Decapolis Capital.  Israel's largest excavation.

 

Tile work in the bath house in Beit Shean

 

 One our our final destinations, Masada.  

 Click HERE if you would like to read about Masada.
The tale was quite interesting.

Tile Work in Masada.  HEXIES!

 

It was a trip of a lifetime and as I said at the beginning; if you've never been, GO.

Even though I am a Believer in Jesus Christ, this trip was not a religious pilgrimage. 

It is  an ancient, historical place filled with beauty and wonder.

And, you can float in the Dead Sea!

The lowest point on earth.

Miss Vivian and Me
Yes, the water was cold.