Scrapception and purge sewing

Yesterday's scrappy strippy triangle quilt top generated quite a number of subscraps. You know, those even scrappier scraps leftover from when you cut bits off your scrappy project? Well, I was determined not to keep the subscraps. Scraps get only get once chance here! So I pieced all the little bits into slabs and combined them with the cut off ends of the triangles.

Then I cut the chunks into random rectangles, bordered them with bright red, and set them in a yard of gray linen. It ended up being about 42"x42", a good baby quilt size. Kind of odd colors for a baby, but it has a very modern vibe and some young mom might like that.

The photo above has the flimsy hanging in front of a translucent blind, so I tossed it over our little round outdoor table to get a better photo of the true colors. Boy, that linen really attracts the lint! I'm not cleaning that up until I go to quilt it, someday. Since this top was made from scraps of scraps, I'm calling it Scrapception.

I cropped this out of the first photo, but realized that this scrappy quilt just happens to be the same colors as our trio of boat paintings. 

The purge quilting part of this blog post was getting rid of that gray linen. I've experimented with several types of fabric besides quilting cotton: silk, flannel, linen, corduroy and seersucker. Each one is interesting, but I don't particularly want to mix and match them in my quilts. And I simply don't have the room to store stashes of different types, so I'm purging the odd stuff.

This little quilt is also purely for purging purposes. All the green fabrics are more linen and I just wanted them gone gone gone. The greens matched this weird whimsical panel that I also wanted out of my life, so I took that as a sign to put them together. I like each block, but I can't wrap my head around why the panel included spaceships, mermaids and random animals. Somebody's own made up creation story? I don't know and I don't like it. I want my whimsy to have a consistent story line, apparently.

Here it is in the natural sunlight. The colors are very vibrant. The size is just under 36"x42" so it will only need a single yard for backing, and I have one yard of hot pink linen. Soon to be gone! I'll use a black and white stripe for the binding to pick up the inner printed borders on the panel.

The center stripe on Weirdly Whimsical (I guess that's what I'll call it) quilt, was a single strip scrap that came with this long quarter bundle of pretty homespun stripes and plaids. The pieces were clearly washed and are quite frayed, which must have frustrated the eBay seller, because I paid less than $1/yard for this. Sweet! No purging of this batch; I'm looking for a nice pattern to do it justice.

Happy news!

You may remember this quilt, called C's Canines, that I made for the granddaughter of our boating friends. C was scheduled to have surgery this month and I thought a cheerful dog-themed quilt in her very favorite colors would help.

C received her quilt the other day, and I think this big smile shows how much she loves it. I'm also very, very happy to report that her surgery went well! I like to think that little quilt helped; it certainly was filled with all my wishes and hopes for the very best results. It's always special for us quilters to see our work in use, and an extra special bonus to see it topped with a toothy smile.

My next project is cat-themed, and here is one of the nine blocks. The cats are part of a fun Makower UK panel that I've had for several years. I love their happy faces, but the dark colors (red, blue, green and gold) didn't seem very child-like to me. Then a few weeks ago I bought a fat quarter bundle of star fabrics on eBay in just those same colors. The stars are actually slightly raised, a bit rubbery, shiny and iridescent. So fun!

The eBay seller and I had several back and forth conversations where she admitted that she was disappointed at how low the bidding was on her stash of fabrics. (I got a smokin' good deal on the stars.) I told her that I was going to use my purchases for charity sewing, and that seemed to please her. Two weeks later, she wrote again to say she was sending me the rest of her stash for free! Wow! That inspired me to start the cat quilt, so I can send her photos. When I get her shipment, I'll let you know what sorts of goodies she is sending.

 

Several commenters have asked how we're doing in Tropical Storm Cindy. We're safely docked at a marina in Biloxi, MS. The docks here are very sturdy concrete and behind a protective sea wall. Mostly we've just had tons of rain and minor coastal flooding. The highest wind gust we've seen was 44mph. You can see in this photo that the water came up to just inches below our dock, so we are still able to climb off the boat (the dock is a loooong way down) and go ashore.

The marina is right next door to the Golden Nugget casino, and it is only about 500 feet from the boat to their dry parking garage. We're not gamblers, but it's nice to have access to the casino's restaurants and spa. I thought this carpet pattern in one of the hallways would make an interesting quilt, too. A couple of jelly roll strips, some HSTs...

Frugal fabric for QOV?

I just saw this eBay listing for a big batch of red, white and blue patriotic fabrics. If I was currently sewing for Quilts of Valor, I'd probably grab this right up. But first, I'd ask the seller if the fabric was stored in a smoke-free environment.

However, I'm not going to bid on this, so if you're looking for a great price on patriotic prints, this one might be for you. Let me know if you win the auction!

Frugal fabric finds

I've been asked several times in the last few weeks how I find such great fabric bargains on eBay. The answer is a combination of some really good search terms and some favorite sellers who are clearing out their stash. 

While searching for the specific types of fabrics I'm interested in (bright, cute, kid-friendly) I often come across fabulous deals on other themes and colors. So while I'm going to keep most of my super secret squirrel methods to myself for now, I thought it would be fun to share some of my miscellaneous finds.

Note that these listings and prices are only valid today, and could be bid up higher or gone completely in the near future. I don't know anything about these sellers and certainly can't guarantee that the fabric is 100% cotton, or that it isn't faded or stinky, etc. But those are the risks I take all the time on eBay and I'm rarely disappointed. Rock bottom prices are worth a little risk, in my opinion!

I'll post a photo from the listing and the current price per yard, including shipping. I happened to be looking at Christmas fabrics today and saw some nice pieces. The great thing about holiday fabric is it really doesn't go out of style and doesn't usually look dated even if it has been sitting in someone's stash for years.

So without further ado, here are today's Frugal Fabric Finds:

5 yards of Christmas fabric, currently $3.56/yd. Peppermints!

5 yds blue Christmas fabric, currently $3.56/yd Same seller as above. Some pretty silver metallics in this batch.

5 more yds from same seller, currently $3.56/yd I liked the stripes in this batch. They are always useful for bindings. 

How about classic autumn colors? This seller has some fabric groupings for $1.50/yard or less right now! If I was in the market for these colors, I'd snap several of these listings right up.

Since it is often tricky for me to get from the boat to a local quilt shop, buying fabric online is a great resource for me. I'm also terribly unfashionable and don't mind past season, non-designer fabric lines. The idea of getting older fabric out of dark, forgotten closets and back into circulation at fire sale prices is pretty appealing, too. How about you? Do you ever buy "used" fabric on eBay, thrift shops or garage sales?