Rayen

I have a new side project for fall: making something out of four old quilts and one quilt top that I acquired for $5.00 each. Recycling old quilts is fun, and you don't have to cut them up to make something new out of them. This is the smallest of the five; a tied doll quilt with no batting. This baby quilt is the best of the bunch. I've blurred out the name on the quilt label, but I will keep that intact to honor the original maker. This tied cheater cloth throw is identical on both sides, and has no binding. This teddy bear child's quilt is in the worst shape of the group; it's been well-loved. Finally, the quilt top. It's huge with meticulous piecing. As you can see from the back side it was pieced by hand. All the red in it worries me, as does the age of the fabric, so I think this one will be my biggest challenge. To recycle a quilt or top you first have to look at how much you've got to work with. The pink doll quilt is...

For small break projects I now have eighteen of these quilt kit bundles with which to play. Because they didn't come with instructions I can make them into whatever I want, which is fun. It's also challenging, because I now have to choose or design a quilted project for each bundle. I decided to start with this novelty bakery print bundle last month. I want to make things I'll actually use, so I thought this kit would make a nice quilted plate cover to keep my bread and biscuits warm, and double as a table pad for hot dishes. Since I didn't have a lot of fabric to work with (almost all of the kits are mostly scrap pieces) I thought simple framed blocks with a large center square would showcase the bakery print. It's tricky to work with different lengths and widths of fabric to make uniform patchwork blocks. I got six 6" blocks out of the bakery print, and then cut everything else in widths that I could get to work with those blocks. It's...

Writing up my thoughts on the Chinese drama You are my Glory is going to be one of those head-scratchers; I liked it, it got annoying, I liked it anyway, it got more annoying. In the end I was left feeling like most of the last third of the series was smacking me on the nose for being a romantic and wishing, not for the first time, I was a screenwriter who could get hired to fix this script. Anyway, okay. The premise for this series is actually pretty good: poor but brilliant aerospace engineer Yu Tu (played by the fabulously handsome Yang Yang) crosses paths with fabulously wealth but not-too-bright actress Qiao Jingjing (portrayed by the genuinely pretty Dilraba Dilmurat) who was his high school classmate. He's looking for a new job that pays better; she's in hot water due to an inappropriate product endorsement snafu, and they end up spending a lot of time together. It's a cross between Notting Hill and Apollo Thirteen, sorta kinda. Yu Tu is in a life crisis ...

My guy decided to redesign our little veggie garden for the fall, and added some stepping stones between the beds to make it easier to harvest things. He's also trying vertical rather than horizontal planting this time around. I asked him to grow two new plants this fall: jalapeños and chilies, both for cooking. Other than the hot peppers, we're growing corn again, along with bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, pole beans, radishes, tomatoes and watermelon, which have all been successful for us in the past.

Quilters are a lot like writers in many ways, which is probably why I've been so fascinated with the art. We try to make something out of the most basic materials (fabric, words) that is beautiful and creative and provides pleasure to the recipients. We also work alone, unappreciated and unaided, to do something that can be insanely difficult and not make sense to anyone else while it's in progress. I think our finest creations first come to life in imagination, so only we can see what potential is there. These past six months I have been struggling with the continued loss of my motor function, and had to deal with a lot of resentment. It seems like whenever I love something it's taken from me. But just as with my writing, and building a second career for myself, I just have to find new ways of creating via quilting. While trying to do that I've discovered I'm pretty good at thrifting beautiful fabric. Thanks to the kindness of the universe, I'...

My last (and final) Goodwill auction lot arrived, and this one has a funny story behind it. I actually didn't intend to bid on it, as I was interested in a larger 15-1/2 lb. lot of quilt kits. The one I got here is was listed as Lot "6LBs+ Quilting & Fabric Squares." Because the pics for both listings looked remarkably similar, I accidentally placed a bid on the smaller lot, which I then couldn't cancel. But it's all for a good cause, so I figured it was payback for all the amazing lots I've won. I bid on the larger lot, too, but of course all the other quilt bidders swarmed and it went for over $100.00 (and not to me.) Meanwhile, I was the only bidder on the smaller lot, which I did win with that first and only bid. From the photos I wasn't expecting much. Some fabric squares and a little scrap batting. Only when I started sorting it out did I realize I was wrong. The quilting and fabric squares turned out to be eighteen neat little ...

I should have mentioned yesterday that I was hoping to find some embroidery thread in this lot, but alas, didn't happen. This is another pre-quilted panel that is about crib size. I don't usually use pre-quilted fabrics, but I think I'll bind the panel, wash it and donate it to my Goodwill. Someone will appreciate it. :) Ditto on this pre-quilted cut-n-sew panel of Sesame Street baby bibs. Okay, I might have to keep Oscar; he was always my favorite character. The embroidery portion of this lot was obviously describing the stamped pillowcases. The original owner was very fond of embroidering pillowcases. Each of these piles are a matching set of two. As are these. And these. And these! Ha. Tell you what, even if I don't embroider them, I'll never have to buy another pillowcase in this lifetime and the next. :) I found enough cheater quilt panels to make a set of four matching pillows. And now for weirdness: In the lot I...