Sunday Quilt Inspiration: TRAVEL

I actually started this inspiration with the word road, but that didn't go very far. Ha! Pun intended, I suppose. 

The reason for this inspiration? Ah, we leave in the morning for a nice little road trip. More on that later, but the packing and hauling and organizing stuff in the camper gave me little time to come up with an idea. So here we are. Almost. On the road, I mean.

For those of you interested, this year's hashtag is #marcottesgowest. 

And because the quilts are just as important, here are a few...

Thanks for coming by. Here's hoping you have a wonderful week and come back for a quick visit soon. I'll post the majority of the pictures here, but there will also be some on my Facebook page. 

AmandaJean's QAL ~~ Finished!

Last week I posted that I'd finished the quilt top that I'd been working on as part of the Crazy Mom Quilts QAL. This week I managed to get it quilted and bound. When I took these pictures there was no label on it yet, but after working on the quilt stats, I decided to sew it on before posting it. So now it's completely finished. 

I really love this little quilt. It's big for a baby quilt at 50" square, but it's perfect. 
That crazy orange, which I got at Hancock Fabric, was really, really cheap. I don't know how cheap, but I assure you I would not have bought it for anything close to regular price. It is definitely not in my comfort colors. However, ...

When I decided to join in the QAL, I also decided to do one thing that I would normally not do. Just one thing. The crazy orange became that one thing. Believe me, it was enough. I almost chickened out. 

I'm so very glad that I didn't. 

I was supposed to take the quilt outside for a photo shoot, but dang, it's hot!  I didn't make it. I died right outside the door. Seriously. Died. Didn't even make a second step. The thing that saved me is that I was holding on to the doorknob. I managed, in my weakened state, to drag my body to the slit of cool air escaping through the crack. You can't know how delicious a sliver of chilled oxygen is until you've died in Louisiana in July. 

I was forced to wait until I could wrangle someone into helping. The photo shoot was delayed for the wedding of Icy and Trin Penguin. They were married right in our living room on the coffee table. Marley was the maid of honor and wore her favorite night gown (gown being the operative word). After the lovely couple was pronounced husband and wife, they kissed and danced. Icy tossed his hat and Trin threw her scarf. Then they posed for pictures. 

Happily, the quilt made a beautiful backdrop for the wedding photos. The preacher was doubling as wedding planner and held the quilt, then discreetly switched his hat to quilt model so that I could get a few (exactly three) pictures before running off to help the newlyweds with their luggage. Mr. and Mrs. Icy Penguin are thankful to have such wonderful friends willing to serve as hosts for their wedding. They will live in Evergreen, La., after a wedding trip to Disney World in Florida.

Quilt Stats Name: AmandaJean's QAL  Size: 50" X 50"  Fabrics: Scrap fabrics from stash Background: Yardage from stash  Binding: Scrap fabrics  Pattern: June from No Scrap Left Behind Quilting: practice quilting / variety of motifs

Linking up with:

Confessions of a Fabric Addict 
Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

        Myra at Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday
 Julie and Linda's Sew Stitch Snap SHARE 

     

Do you like linky parties? Did you know that I have a tab with a list of linky parties that happen almost every week? Look at the tab across the top and click on the one that says,  " UPDATED: 60+ Linky Parties."  The link will take you to two lists: the first is in alpha order and the second is in chronological (daily) order.

Pin It Weekly #210

It's another Pin It Weekly. Aren't we racing through the summer? It will soon be back-to-school time and, for those of us in the deep South, some bearable days of temps in the 70s. Oh, to be so blessed right now!  

Wouldn't you love to meet Judi Bennett in person? I would and here's why: we have many things in common. Our Pinterest sites, for example, share many of the same type of boards. It's possible that we are pinning from each other! But even more intriguing is her board, "Respect, Honor, Sacrifice."  

Tracy Milligan must love watercolors and may even create her own works. I'm not exactly sure since the board that appears to be of her work doesn't really say. She has another board, "watercolors," that is obviously an inspiration board for her. Take a look at these beautiful pieces.

And lastly, Donna Fournier has only a few boards, but one titled "Places to Visit" seems to be more about sewing. That board (no matter the title) caught my eye right away!

Have you found any interesting boards lately? Leave a link in the comments section so the rest of us can go by and check it out.

Already? A Uniform Finish

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Independence Day!

On left the skirt that fits used for measurements; on right the new skirt

Are you aware that it's already time to start preparing for the next school year? Well, that's what I'm told anyway. Last weekend Jenny and Adam went shopping for uniforms for Marley. When they got home, Jenny asked me to remake an old uniform skirt into a "new" skirt that would fit Marley. The skirt was about three sizes too large and much too long. 

closures left intact

side seam with top-stitching to
hold hand-stitched basting

 I planned to rip out every seam and cut a new skirt from the pieces. But that wasn't necessary. The skirt has a zipper and a button closure in good condition so I decided to leave that intact. Instead I cut away the opposite side seam trimming off enough to fit Marley after sewing the seam back together. To make sure that the waistband looked good, I hand-stitched the different sections in place then top-stitched with the machine along the seams.

Hem, sewn on the machine rather than hand sewn 

Using a skirt that fit, I measured and sewed the hem. Then I pressed the whole skirt using sizing and lots of heat. The little skirt looks pretty good for something refashioned from a skirt that has been worn by three different girls. Uniform fabric is heavy, durable stuff, somewhat like men's khaki pants. It can take almost anything! When Marley outgrows this skirt, it will go to school for another little girl to wear. 

Final outcome

And so there we are: one grandie ready for school! Five more to go! Are you and yours getting ready for back-to-school yet?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: R U S T

According to Wikipedia, rust occurs when iron or its alloys corrode. Since I asked how does rust occur, and I already knew that answer, I decided to find an answer that I could call scientific. 

Enter Wonderopolis, which explains it this way: 

The surface of a piece of iron will begin to corrode first in the presence of oxygen and water. Given enough time, any piece of iron will change entirely into rust and disintegrate.

The process of rusting is a combustion reaction, similar to fire. Left in contact with oxygen, iron will react with the oxygen to form rust. 

Thanks to Pinterest, I can show just what rust looks like.

And while I am sure that you've seen rust or have an idea of rust, I thought some of these rust-dyed fabrics would be of special interest.

And so, a few quilts...all with the beautiful colors that only rust can give. Well, fabric that is the color rust without the actual rust. Since rust causes fabrics to breakdown faster, this is an important distinction.

Have you made quilts using rust-colored or rust-dyed fabrics?