Frugal Friday Feature....

and for this first FFF, I have chosen Barb C. of Thinking Out Loud. Barb is a prolific quilt maker and multi-talented gal. She knits, quilts, beads and makes wonderful embellish Madonnas and other pieces. She leans toward creating from recycled objects and does it with great talent and dedication. There are many of her quilts listed on the sidebar under Barb's Orphans. A few weeks back, I was stuck by the beauty of this "leftovers" quilt in progress. In this collage you have the beginnings and a glimpse of what is to come. *VBS*
 This isn't the entire top, but gives you a good idea of where it's going.Here's what Barb had to say about it:"I've made all the blocks for this charity quilt and I've got the quilt designed. I have used up all the pre-cut squares I had made, and I found more of the yellow and white in my stash to finish up the corner squares. Finally putting this quilt together, I remembered why I liked this block design in the first place.
The quilt measures about 72 x 80. One of the long print strips (on the far right) is narrower than the one at the far left, and I may leave them uneven. In this design, I don't think it matters that they're not symmetrical. I should have time this weekend to stitch the top together."
 This collage features 5 of Barb's small quilt tops. Again, working with what she had on hand, and what was leftover from other projects or recycled fabric, she created these for Debra S. Deb is collecting quilts for a woman's shelter, I believe. The single block(a shoofly)is a wonderful example of taking something and MAKING it work with what you have. Barbs sums up with with leftovers with this insight:"Here's what I learned from the process: pre-cut strips are an asset. If I needed a piece of sashing or some 4-patch blocks, it was great to leaf through my strips to see what was already cut. I've made a big dent in my store of 2.5 and 3.5" strips, so I'm going to cut into some of my fabrics and replenish the drawer. Orphan blocks are great starters for these little projects too. I think I've gone through a lot of stash in the process, but more importantly, I've uncovered some works-in-progress that I want to go back and finish. It's been a mind de-cluttering as well as a destash exercise. Next I'll be making a larger quilt for Debra's efforts, then I'm going to round up some the ghost projects that are haunting my sewing room, and finish them up and show them the light of day." I've seen absolutely astonishing results from her recycle efforts. A recent inspiration has resulted in recycled cotton yarn. Who knew you could unravel a cotton knit and reclaim the yarn? Not me, but it is being done. Check out Barb's blog and archives for multiple projects using reclaimed materials. You're one of the most creative people I know Barb!! High Fives and a "way to go"!!

New Feature on the Orphan Train...

I've decided to do a "featuring" of one of our Orphan Train volunteers. I haven't decided as yet if it will be weekly. Keep coming back to see what I decide...LOL This lovely orphan blocks quilt was recently put together by Barb, who blogs at Thinking out Loud. She makes many, many dontaion quilts, generally using semi-rescued or re-purposed fabric. There truly is such an abundance of materials to work with, without going out and buying everything new. Here's what Barb has to say about this one:"Here's a close-up of another one. I pulled from what Finn would call my orphan block stash and included a couple of blocks Debra embroidered that were left over from another project. Most of this fabric had been cut into half-square triangles for a project I never made because I decided I didn't like these fabrics together after all."

Orphan Parts.....

This quilt came from the scrap drawer and from a small stash of squares I had set aside. The first is "Mosaic "(48x48). I'm favoring table-sized quilts these days. They're mostly done by the time I get bored. The white and blue inner border is from a piece of vintage fabric that I think may be feed sack. I'm happy to have found a use for some of it.(Barb's posting)

Finn says: Orphan parts are almost the same thing as an Orphan blocks, but not quite. As quilters, I'm sure no explanation is necessary. This piece is part of Barb's 12 X 12 X 12 challenge. The 'leftover' parts of this creation are the pickle dish sections. They work sooo well in here, you'd think she made them for this piece.
In this one, it's easier to see that she was working with leftover squares, but what a neat, creative way to turn them into a very individual looking table runner. It would make a lovely gift for spur of the moment giving...way to go Barb!
And this last use of leftovers is much the same as #2...but look at that great border fabric. I showed that swatch on my blog last October, in the red color way... this is a very bold way to use it, but the colors pick up what's in the table runner perfectly...*VBS* So many good ideas for using up our 'parts'. Keep them coming gals!

The Orphans of the world....

come in many forms, in needlework they are the unfinished, unwanted, unloved that quietly age into little piles of broken threads and dust. The orphan boarding our Orphan Train
today is the creation of Barb. Her blog is called Thinking Out Loud, and is located at http://xicanartista.blogspot.com/ Her posts are often thought provoking and enlightening. She has a marvelous post this week about tables. Something we don't give much thought to, isn't it? An excellent post!!
But back to the Orphan.....Barb, like many of us, frequents thrift stores in search of vintage and other treasures from years gone by. She has noticed a trend towards the abandonment of embroidery projects. Especially stamped cross stitch. I confess to having a weakness for those stitchery project (in abandon form) myself. I own quite a few, and have finished some. Please link to Barb's blog, and read HER words concerning what she thinks about as she buys these little treasure.
This quilt is built around the Holly Hobbie
stitchery piece she found. I think the quilt is quite wonderful, serviceable and charming. Simple but honest. I love the idea! I've thought about adding embroidery to quilts, but not in the sampler kit form.
Embroidery has been featured in quilts for years and years...all those embroidered penny blocks, the redwork blocks, the state flowers or the state birds. You name, it was embroidered and put into a quilt. I feel this is slightly different, due to the nature of the background fabric. I'm guessing it isn't aida cloth. Most of the ones I've picked up are on a rayon type linen...a fairly loose weave, not like a pillowcase or dresser scarf. I wonder if maybe one shouldn't use an interfacting to stablize the stitching piece if it's not a cotton?? I will be doing that with mine...*VBS* Yes, I want to try Barb's ideas...LOL.
I browsing blogs yesterday, I noticed that Vera, at http://kcquilter.blogspot.com/ has a dainty little doll quilt done in Aunt Gracies prints with embroidered blocks of 'ittsy-bitsy spider'. It's just adorable...check it out! I'll be back tomorrow with another completed for this challenge top(or quilt.....or two quilts) from Patti, one of our speed demons....*VBS* Watch out Bonnie, Patti's gaining on you......Happy July 1st everyone!