WOW or WIP’s come far to fast this year??? I’m down in the city for 2 1/2 weeks baby sitting my sons home while he and the family are on holiday . Writing up my blog on my iPad which is so slow but where there is a will there is a way. https://estheraliu.blogspot.com/2018/07/wow-new-habits.html
Im treating these weeks as a retreat just for sewing !!! And loving every moment here this is my view while sewing it’s a tough life for some! It’s wonderful to be sewing out side all day even if it’s raining?
My view while sewing
House is up high so I can look out above the housesThis morning I machine appliqueing one of my borders for Queens Garden
How lucky I am.
It was very very peaceful till the road cleaner arrived in the area LOL
I have brought two very old UFO’s with me to work on. First one is a pile of 1930 blocks that I bought online 15 years or more ago from the USA Finally found out they are called Glorified 9 patch blocks, only thing Glorified about them is the sweet fabric that the unknown Quilters used, I say Quilters as these patches have been made by at least 3 different Quilters at some stage now I’m the 4th??? Some one tried to sew some of these blocks together but the melons that have been used were far to small buy more than 1/4 of an inch so in every join where the 8 points meet are huge volcanoes,
Back of volcanoe which looks like a mountain LOL
so I unpicked all the melons and started again but my blocks would not lye flat so unpicked a block and found that all the corner 9 patches had to much fabric some more than 1/4 of an inch, and none are square !!!! So I’m unpicking and recutting them all and slowly sewing them back into blocks!!!
Pieces of fabric I’ve had to cut off on just one block to make it lye flat? You can see why it was flutting LOL. I have the first two rows almost done?
Glad to see progress on these wee blocks as the fabrics are so sweet.
12 blocks unpicked, ironed recut ready to be sewn back into blocks?
I went back home Monday night as I had work early Tuesday morning, I decided to move all my boxes of fabric and bits and pieces out to the new storage room now that’s it’s all clos3d in to give me more work space and found another pile of UFO blocks I started around 20 years ago!!!!!
Spread these out on a double bed to see what I had? Now why did I reverse some of the fabric on some off these blocks???? You can see 4 in the first two rows as they are dark brown compared to the beige that is the front of the fabric in all the other blocks?? There are 8 blocks were the fabric is back to front and I will have to unpick and resew them?
Last night I cut and sewed cut and sewed after removing all the blocks that had any dark natal patches !!! Now only using the cream patches and I can see the secondary pattern form now?
Only some of these wee blocks are complete most need the spacers sewn on. But it now is starting to look like a quilt top t9 be?
Taken in day light this morning! Colurs are truer.
This shows you the beige silk kimono fabric that is making up the 9patches!
This is the repeat pattern on the fabric which is woven at only 14inchs wide. its 4 wee houses amongst the trees.
In the garden here to day, very different to my garden?
Stunning creeper that loves the high temps and dry
GLoriouse colour
close up.
these love the hot and dry.
my DDIL planted these tomatoes plants out just before she left 1 1/2 weeks ago and the were so big they had fallen down so I have staked them and started to prune and tie them.
Stunning colour.
love the green and yellow.
TTiny pink berries hiding from the birds. Y
In my garden yesterday
my cactus is slowly opening, I will miss seeing it bloom while down in the city.
OUr beetles are coming back, they are so colourful and interesting
My favourit cactus, such a lovely colour.
new leaf on my Mother’s Day present, took this Monday evening Tuesday morning it had more than double in size!!,
Off to link with Esther now on her WOW or WIP’s.
Thank you for visiting it’s all ways nice when people drop in. Cheers Glenda
You have a lovely place for your sewing retreat, how greta to be on the balcony with your machine and stitching with that view. Interesting the difference in plants in just the few miles from your place. You are doing a wonderful job rescuing those blocks and giving them a new life. Cheers Jenny
It’s quiet strange been in a house all on my own that’s not my own Jenny there’s so little to do, even the gardens up to date? My DDIL is such a clean and tidy person there no house work to do, so I sew eat , sleep and do it all again it’s a form of heaven LOL or what I would like heaven to be. In my own home the house chores are endless living in the rainforest. So I m making the most of each day and throughly enjoying even the unpicking of these 80 plus year old blocks? Cheers Glenda
Dear Glenda, I admire your work on the old blocks! They are beautiful, it is good to save them!!!
Have a nice day, Marita
Hi Marita, I’ve all ways loved the 1930’s prints so around 20 years ago I bought several piles of UFO’s from the 1930’s that were been sold online from estates in the USA no one else was bidding so most were just a few dollars, much less than the postageLOL. Now finally I’m finding time to rescue them ? These ones have been a real challenge till I worked out why they were not going together. But now that I have solved two major problems they are going to work I hope LOL. What is not going to lay perfectly flat will after quilting I’m sure? Thanks for dropping in
Cheers Glenda
that veranda is gorgeous and what a wonderful place to sew off and on all day with that view. I bet it was kind of like a mini vacation though to being in another area. How nice that you found a box of blocks from almost 20 years ago – you must certainly have a lot of boxes with sewing things in to have that happen
Hi Karen it is the perfect Holiday to me, at home but no house work to speak off LOL. I do one chore a day for My DDIL yesterday it was clean the ceiling fans took about 30 mins LOL. This morning it was clean the bathroom mirror and glass wall 30 mins LOL so yes it’s a real holiday. Rest of the time is just do what I feel like, chat on here or sew! Yes I do have boxes of sewing things, finding them when looking or cleaning up an area? We will sell one day and I’m clearing out some places now while I still can LOL. Cheers Glenda
I admire you for the work you put into refurbishing older blocks. You are going to have some lovely quilts. Have fun sewing!
Hi Gretchen,
I just want to finish these sweet old quilts that were never finished for one reason or another, these blocks would never of made a quilt top with the volcanoes at every point, they had tried to pull them in with a running thread and iron flat but with 1 1/2 inch’s Of 8 points that was never going to work LOL. Now they are laying pretty flat by not sewing to the end and ironing those points all going the same direction to form a flower underneath. I’m having a lot of fun with them any way. Cheers Glenda.
WOW your sewing retreat at your sons’ place was a retreat indeed! : ) Love seeing your gardens as always and if I don’t get moving on some of my stuff it is going to be 20 years old as well ! What fun to be working with older blocks though to breathe new life in to an older project 🙂
‘Hi Deb thanks so much for dropping by. Iv’e come home for the night as I have work in our local Opp Shop tomorrow I volunteer there every Tuesday from 8am till 1pm Its much easier to go from here as Id have to leave at 6.45 to be at work by 8am as the traffic is crazy early in the mornings with every one on the roads trying to get to work. I have finished making all those scrappy quilt blocks in churn-dash now joining them in to strips have two strips to make so the end is close! I’m sure loving my sewing retreat and Im amazed at how much sewing you get done when you sew day and night as I usually only sew at night time from 8pm till midnight!!!! Its 9.30pm Monday night and so cold Im going to bed to get warm LOL Cheers Glenda
Wow! That is an incredible amount of unpicking! Kudos to you for tackling that old, maligned quilt and turning into a new work of art. I lok forward to seeing it completed.
The background silk on your UFO is gorgeous. That will be a beauty. Its always interesting to come across these neglected projects and wonder what you were thinking at the time. One bunch of forgotten squares that I found became placemats. I am certain the fabric was happy to see the light of day!
Hi Lennea thanks for dropping in and yes it was a lot of unpicking a LOL. All done but for 4 blocks now, some waiting to be pressed some waiting to be resewen. I have two rows of my scrappy blocks to join and I’ve loved making up the last wee blocks so this is now about to become a fun wee quilt top. Then it’s on to sewing those Glorified 9 patches to the melons, looking forward to this as I love how the secondary pattern shows up. I like the idea of making place mats, make a nice Christmas present LOL. Cheers Glenda.
Using a sewing machine is mostly an indoor activity. The fact that you can sew while you enjoy the beautiful outdoors is absolutely the best of both worlds. I am so jealous :-p Looking forward to the full quilt 🙂
Hi Preeti, thanks for dropping by, there is some thing very special about sewing at your machine while been out in the open, one for gets every thong but the enjoyment of seeing a quilt grow, may be its because you can not see the house work that needs to be done LOL. Cheers Glenda.