Pin It Weekly #334

Just a few recent pins...

                  From barn shed corncrib silo granary mill

            From craft diy make

            From heart, quilts

just for fun :-)

Happenings and door hangers

Last week Richard's aunt passed away. She and his mom were quite close, so we offered to take her to the services in Ville Platte, about 45 minutes' drive. The burial was in Prairie Rhonde, a place rather than a town, per se. I sat in the back seat, taking pictures because it's almost impossible to hear a conversation happening in the front seat. (That's a big-truck problem.) Anyway, I discovered both a grain mill and a wonderful old red barn. 

The grain mill is in town, but this barn is in the middle of nothingness. Well, rice field and pasture land. Prairie Rhonde is French for round prairie. Generally when we think of South Louisiana, we think of swamps and cypress trees and low-lying areas. But there was once a huge swath of prairie land that separated the coast from the pine forests of North Louisiana. 

Today there are very few acres of prairie left because so much of the land is currently used for agricultural purposes, especially rice. However, the Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society is a non-profit with the goal of restoring small plots of land to the prairie habitat. 

 In other news, I have managed to wrangle a few more wooden pieces from my husband. He told me to get off of Pinterest. Hahaha! That's happening, right? Here are a few door hangers that I made for my craft booth. 

And just like that, the week was over!

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Words and Phrases

In September of 2015 I wrote this SQI about using text in quilts. At the time I was collecting fabric with words, which was becoming an easier goal anytime I walked into a quilt shop. Today at least one piece in a line of fabric has some kind of lettering or words. And I have enough text fabric to make several quilts. 

Nevertheless, words and how we use them still fascinate me. There are always words in my head. And I analyze sentences, usage, mechanics at the drop of a hat. Ask me if I've seen a sign (or a million) that needed correcting. These quilts don't need a red pen; they just want an audience.

Like the other 13,000+ quilts, these pins can be found in my "heart, quilts" board. In fact, they are in a new board called, "words and texts." Have you made a quilt with words? What about using fabric with text? 

Pin It Weekly #333

  Hello Weekly! Do you remember when I wrote last week that I really wanted to paint a mason jar? Well, I did. It's not so much fun, actually.

I painted a few in fall colors. Then distressed them. Then put a sealant on them. The paint still wants to scratch off. I had conned Rich into making some crates for them, so they are going in my little shop at Griffin's, but I don't know about this painted glass business. 

Notice the crosses leaning on the jars? There are three. Rich made those because (I think) it's a bit of a challenge. The cross piece interlocks with, or fits into, the upright piece. 

I also have made a few of these painted books. Another Pinterest find that I really like. As a former English teacher, I have a few books already boxed up for donation, so I pulled some of the "aged" ones from the boxes. I really like the look of these, which translates to I may make more.

So this week has been all about turning old books into decor. A few finds:

Improv on Point ~~ finished!

This quilt is already one of my favorites. It was a struggle for a while, but once it started coming together, I fell in love. 

Turns out, all it wanted was to be turned on-point, which made it a little more difficult to piece together. 

I made large chunks of red pieces and larger chunks of neutral/brown/gold with a little red mixed in and built most of the chunks using a modified log cabin technique.

Since the front is all improv, the back should be. Right? So it is. I used more of the linen, but didn't have enough for this 71" square quilt, which means I was forced to add other fabrics. Those cute cherries and a burgundy paisley were just the fit. 

I had such fun quilting small improv motifs across the quilt. No rules, all improv! And then I bound it all up with a burgundy solid that I've had for a long time. That means I made "Improv on Point" entirely from scraps and stash!

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Improv on Point
	Size:	71" X 71"
	Fabrics:	scraps from stash
	Pattern:	my design
	Backing:	cotton and linen from stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	burgundy fabric from stash
	Quilting:	improv with various motifs
	Completed:	2020