Richard and I spent the last four days camping with some of my sisters and our children and grandchildren. It's become an annual thing (read about the 2015 trip here) so that we get to catch up with the nieces and nephews that we rarely get to see anymore.
Town of Woodworth photo
Everyone is living their own lives in different parts of the state and, yes, even the country. Jobs and children's activities make traveling difficult.
And let's be honest, now that our parents are deceased, we aren't making any big efforts. People make an effort to visit parents, especially elderly or sickly ones, so it was much easier to run into each other.
This weekend, however, we made a big effort. I say big because camping in this Louisiana heat is something of a chore. Thankfully, one family had a boat, so the children could go boating, tubing, and swimming. There are always fans and air conditioners to retreat to when the sweltering heat is just too much. Let's not forget the iced tea!
We share campers and take turns cooking, so that means everyone gets a share of the mess and the extra heat that cooking brings. We ate well: roast pork, fried chicken, boudin, dressing, salads, breads, cookies, pies,even spaghetti. (Richard and I made spaghetti for about 40 people--the problem: only 18 were there for lunch!)
We have now returned home, cleaned up the camper, returned all the pots and pans, the clothing, and the many other odds and ends to their respective places, and taken cool showers. As mom used to say, "Ahhh." Though I did not go swimming or boating, I swept away great piles of sand. So I thought I'd let that sand be inspiration for today's post.
Calling all pinners! Has anyone figured out how to make money pinning? I pin enough that it seems someone should pay me! Oh, I'm sure there are people who pin more than I do, especially since I don't even pin every day, but still...
Sorry that this week's pins are a hot mess: I am working from my cellphone. Free WiFi is available in these woods! Who do ya think left her laptop? Right, but I just knew I'd be using data and running up charges. That would have meant I'd be off grid! Geez.
These are my pins for the week. Come for Sunday Quilt Inspiration to see what I've got in my Pinterest hat.
As I was sewing earlier in the week, this mess kept getting in the way. When I had to rip out a perfectly good seam because a scrap had attached itself into the seam, I decided that enough was enough! I had to do something about the scraps that were spilling over the edges onto the floor and now into my sewing. I thought about finding a bucket in Richard's shed, but that would have required lots of cleaning and washing. Nah. I'm not one to wash a ratty old plastic bucket when I can whip up one in very little time.
And, of course, since it's to be a scrap bucket, I made it from scraps. Some of those very ones that were bugging the heck out me by getting in the way.
I really wanted a bucket. One that would hold its shape and sit up straight and tall so that when I'd toss scraps in the right direction, I'd get it into the bucket. Maybe the ugly plastic one would have worked after all. But this one is much prettier.
To make it sit up straight and tall, I used four layers: the backing (which doesn't show in this picture) a layer of heavy Pelon interfacing, a layer cotton, and my stitched together scrap fabric.
I quilted it lightly using a wavy stitch that now looks as though it goes around and around the bucket.
I tried to keep the inside clean and low key so that I wouldn't be grabbing at a fake scrap--one that was sewn into the bucket. Instead, the inside is a light gray and off-white. It's pretty big also, this dark picture show what a pack of needles looks like inside--small.
One of the things I like most about using scraps for projects is that I end up with a fun, changing design. Every time I turn or move the bucket, there's a different design and color, despite that I used some fabrics a couple of times.
One reason to use fabrics two or three times, is to give the bucket a cohesive look in the overall design. I really do like this little project.
Doesn't it look good on my sewing table? Now I have a large scrap bucket on the worktable and a small one on the sewing table. I wonder if I really have that many scraps...
This did not make a dent in the scraps! Well, not much even though I used scraps for every bit of it, including the batting, Pelon and backing fabric. Because there are so many scraps, I thought I'd make a few more pincushions. I know, they don't use up much scraps, but I am working on a large project and didn't want to get too far away from that. So here are some pictures of the pincushion that did get finished.
