What's cooking...?

 Beginnings of a new MAM quilt top, for one thing. As I had mentioned in the post below, I found I really like the MAM blocks latticed. And the pre-cut purple paisley from friend Jean worked well. But moving right along, I have a lot of odds and ends of 2" white and off white strips laying around. I'm not in the mood for a log cabin, and decided they would do nicely for lattice in this MAM. I've got a stack cut at 2" X 6.5" and am adding them to blocks as I finish each block.
 Saturday I did some marathon sewing accompanied by Season One of The Waltons. The aqua and white burp cloths were given me pre-cut from scrap flannel(One side plain and one patterned). They are a bit smaller than I make them, but didn't let that stop me. The other 3 are made from one gently used receiving blanket. I wouldn't "gift" them( from used flannel) but they will help DD#2 with baby AJ. Poor little guy, he's has acid reflux despite the fact he is being nursed. He spits up A LOT! So the 8 of these are off to his Mommy. I have a couple more gently used receiving blankets and will sew those up for her too. Flannel burp cloths wash, dry and wear beautifully, and get softer with use.
 I managed to get several pillowcases cut, and at least one is sewn. It's headed off to a young man who needs a new one *VBS*
 
And in the scrappy odds and ends department, this oldie is back out and on the table. Hoping to get enough units made to finish it up...SOON!!

I've misplaced my Frugal Fridays....

think I'd better fix that. A few weeks back, Michele, of Hearts and Hands, posted a wonderful quilt that she called "Everything but the Kitchen Sink". I love the quilt and I love the idea of making Friday a day dedicated to the piecing of such. If you have orphan blocks laying around, or odd parts and bits of things, try sewing them to each other. Probably 'filler' strips or squares may be needed. It's not hard. You can't do it wrong. It starts small and grows, like a garden. The sewing machine is your plot of earth, and a un-used quilt square is your 'seed'. Take it from there and see what happens*VBS* These happy little string guys came tucked into a box of fabric and orphan blocks I received from Julie, of Through the barn door. I love them...there aren't many, but they will make a great center for a orphan block medallion. I sewed them together on Wednesday. They are in an unpressed state laying here for their picture.
 This almost completed top is like Michele's "Everything" quilt, except she used her orphans and I've used dontated orphans *VBS* This one could be pinned and quilted. Time to get busy again!!!
 And here's another waiting for pinning. Again made with donated orphan blocks. I'm always happy to accept those from any of you gals who have no desire to work with them. I know that time is often very precious, due to work schedules and young children. Luckily I have lots of time and not many committments. Think about having a Frugal Friday in your week *VBS* Hugs, Finn

Frugal Friday Feature....

and excellent Orphan Train volunteer, Sue, of From the Magpie's Nest. Sue and I have been corresponding since before the Orphan Train began running *VBS* She's great fun to have as a friend and she makes wonderful quilts for many causes. Some premie quilts for a Neo-natal unit and some for foster children. Often Sue begins with the likes of these....the boxes, drawers and bins of unwanted and leftover blocks...the orphans.
 From them she creates wonderful useful things. Here we've got examples of her creative touch in placemats for a DGD, and a premie quilt...they are small in size. She also creates "units" or blocks to work into her designs, ala design wall.
 Often her blocks come from outside sources and she swiftly blends them into wonderful quilts in many sizes.
 I don't want you to think she just makes small quilts. Here are a couple of her earlier efforts. I know she labored longer and harder on these as seen in the number of orphan blocks used. And for you Gwen and Freddy fans, in their new book, Gwen has a couple of antique quilts near the end of the book. Take a good look at Sue's and then look at the ones in the book. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

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"!!