From Carol's scrap bag
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.
When we met for Bethany's shower (Lydia Circle) last week, Carol mentioned that she had more scraps, so I asked for them. She brought them on Sunday, and they are wonderful. There were sufficient red, white, and blue scraps that I was able to strip piece a whole 36 x 45 quilt top with them. (There are still quite a few scraps in her bag, and I bet I can get another top from them.)
The work of piecing the strips together is peaceful, meditative-quality work, and it suits me just fine. I'm sure it doesn't suit everyone, and I'm always reminded of that when we meet together and we marvel at the diversity of strengths among us while each of us sits in the muddle of what we perceive as our own weaknesses.
Gold, red, and brown strips from Sue's scrap bag
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.
As I was working through Carol's bag, I was rummaging through my own stash, which includes little packets here and there of scraps, so I pieced some together, combined them with the balance of the rather plain blocks I had put together before I quit in the spring, and got my sixth top completed this morning. That brings me current through June.
One of the thoughts I have when I'm putting these together is that there should be something of interest in them. Though there is definitely nothing special about most of these tops (including the last one), the strips of gold, red, and shades of brown catch your attention. It's my thought that if you were sitting in a wheel chair with this over your lap, the colorful stripes might get your attention and allow your mind to wander to another place. That could be a good thing - and it's my hope that it is.
While I was scrapping away, I threw together some scraps for some new potholders, too. They surely are nothing special except that it allowed me to throw away (toss forever!) a few permanently dingy ones that were sitting on my kitchen counter. I made two that were 9-inches, and those felt a little big, so I made two more - one 7 inches and one 6 inches, and they seem to be about the right size. They are quilted with three layers of (pieced together) cotton batting, and that seems about right. I bound the larger ones with a 3-inch piece of cross-grain fabric, folded in half. That's a good size to work with. I used a two-inch strip, folded in half, for the smaller ones. Two inches was just a tad too narrow.
Carryall bag for Lydia Circle
Originally uploaded by Suzie Rozie.
I will finish three Lydia Circle bags today, featuring sheer drapery fabric samples which were donated to the Lydia group, and that will finish up my scrapping and small projects for a while. I made the first bag (pictured) earlier this week, as a prototype, and I now have the other three ready to line and finish. These bags are large enough to hold a few magazines (or something of equivalent size) and the straps are long enough to slip over a shoulder. They don't have pockets, and the closure is a simple tie. Although they look fancy, they aren't, and they should be useful.
Next, I'll finish two knitted baby sweaters - for a total of four, and then I'll think about where I want to go from there. I think I'd like to make a baby / toddler hoodie, but I want to make it all on circulars, with a minimum of seams. I think I'll need to analyze a pattern that looks plausible and see if I can convert it to circulars. I think Elizabeth Zimmerman has a prototype hoodie in one of her books. Maybe I can find it, and that would give me a head start. I'm not fond of buttons on knits I make, but maybe I can figure out why I don't like them and fix whatever the problem is.
On with the show. Needlework is my life these days. As boring as it sounds, I'm content for a while, and that definitely is a good thing!
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