Recycled Christmas Ornaments

Each year our town asks the Girl Scouts to make ornaments for the tree that is in the public park. It is always a challenge. The ornaments need to be weather-proof, cheap and easy to make.

This year I decided to use old CDs and strips of fabric. I tore the fabric into 1" wide x 22" or so strips. For each ornament it took 2 CDs, 1 strip of fabric and a little glue. I put one end of the strip between the two CDs and started wrapping it around, finishing up where I started. I tucked the end between the two CDs and put in a little glue. The CD were placed with the printed side in and the shiny side out.

The girls in the troop were pros! They made these so quickly. They look beautiful hanging in the village park.



In fact, they are pretty enough to steal! Of the 25 ornaments that the girls made, there are 8 left. It has been windy, so maybe the wind took some as well.

It was a fun project, and a great way to recyle. The ornament have held up well to the weather.

Quilt Top Finished!

Today I worked on a quilt top. I had some wonderful blocks of Aunt Martha's "Saucy Suzy" pattern. I used the Book "Turning Twenty - Around the Block" for the pattern.

So all I had to collect was the book and 9 fat quarters. As an homage to vintage 30s quilts, I picked some solids.



Each fat quarter was cut the same, so it was easy. I had to trim the embroidery blocks to 8 1/2 x 10 1/2" and that was a little trickier. I put some painters tape on my square ruler and used it as a guide to place my blocks.



The finished quilt looks great! I am happy with the way it came out. It has vintage blocks, vintage colors, but a modern feeling. I'm putting some kits together for sale on Sunbonnetsue.com!



Around the Blocks quilt - Saucy Suzy!

Old Dutch Cleanser

Sometimes I get requests from visitors to Sunbonnetsue.com about vintage quilt patterns. Here is a picture of an inquiry I got earlier this year.

"I purchased this quilt on ebay. Have you ever seen this figure on a quilt? " The inquirer also send this picture:

The quilt has an interesting layout. Since I haven't seen a published pattern of this sue, I can only guess that it is a hand-drawn pattern. Someone saw a Sunbonnet sue quilt and wanted to recreate one. Perhaps the quilter was trying to recreate the Logos from “old dutch cleanser” packages. Here is a picture:

The outstretched hand, and way the bonnet trails down the back is similar.

So what do you think? Have you seen this design?

Summer Sunbonnet Sue

Now that summer is over, it is time to finish up the Sunbonnet Sue Summer swap. I finished my second design and got the blocks in the mail to Sandy, the swap hostess. Here is my second Summer Sue.

She is a mother Sue, watching her daughter in the water. I made her as a companion to my earlier Sunbonnet sue, playing with her boat in the water.

I can't wait to get the swapped blocks back.

Stepping outside of the box by stepping into one!

I tend to quilt the same traditional things, so sometimes I like to try new things. My guild sponsored a workshop with Karen Combs, so I signed up.

Karen is known for her modern quilts of illusion. Here is her website. I enjoyed her talk on color, value, and texture. I really learned a lot.



Here she is explaining the differences in color, value and scale. We all made cubes that used a light, medium and dark to simulate shading. Here are all the cubes we made. Mine is the black and red one on the bottom.



It was fun, but I wasn't interested in creating another unfinished quilt. I decided to make a couple of pillows and finish. Here they are all done.



It is way outside of my comfort zone, and I'm glad I made them! Now back to making some Sunbonnet Sues!

Sunbonnet Sue at the Lake

One of the members of the "Sunbonnet Sue chat" group (an e-mail group on yahoo groups) is sponsoring a "Summer Fun Sunbonnet Sue" swap. I worked on my block this weekend. My Sue is playing with a boat in the water.

This is the first one I have finished. Now I just have 9 more to go! There are two groups of 10, so I need to design another block and get that going as well. I'm thinking Sue under a Palm tree.

If you'd like to read about the Sunbonnet Sue group on Yahoo groups, here's a link:

http://sunbonnetsue.com/email.html

I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

Kim

2nd Annual Long Island Quilt Shop Hop

Last weekend was the long Island Quilt shop hop. It is a fun time to travel around Long Island and visit all the quilt shops. My friends Colleen, Cindy and Kathy met at "Pieceful Quilting" for a day of quilt shopping. Each shop had a free pattern to give out. The patterns made a quilt that each shop had on display.

Here is Kathy in front of the quilt from "Pieceful Quilting" in Riverhead. Their color choices are patriotic and happy. Like the pieceful shop that are many different types of fabrics in their quilt.

Here is the quilt from "Patchworks". This quilt is filled with batiks, a type of fabric that shop is know for. Each shop had goodies for us to nibble on too!

Below is the quilt from "The Quilt Bug". It is bright and colorful, just like the shop it comes from.

"Sentimental Stitches" is a shop that features reproduction and traditional fabrics. It is a quaint place. Their quilt is made in reproduction fabrics and hung behind the counter. Here is what I managed to photograph.

Finally, here is the quilt from "Sew What's New". It used some beautiful mottled fabrics for the sky and sea.

Each shop had a gift basket with raffle chances. I found out this morning that I won the basket from the Quilt Bug!!! Wow. I never win anything. Of course, that shop is the furthest distance, so I'll have to venture out again and visit the shop. It is well worth it.

We are lucky that on Long Island we have great quilt shops that offer such a variety. I bought my first fabric "Jelly Roll" and I hope to have a "Many Trips.." quilt done by the end of the summer. I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy! Kim