HI everyone,
I have 3 new pieces to show you for Rozen’s outfit, and I hope you really like them… but I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow to share them, partly because one had glue that was drying, but mostly because today, I’m focusing on 2 ladies… one from Southern Illinois and one from way out west in Washington… They both are very creative and I’m thrilled to show you what they’ve been doing.
First, I’ll brag on Joy Carter… a friend of mine from church. I think it was just last Sunday, but I gave Joy 2 gallon Zip Lock bags full of fabric scraps from my sewing the last few years. They were various colors and she said she wanted to do some “crumb” quilting. That’s where you don’t really have a pattern, but just make your blocks all different ways… kind of like crazy quilting. She made some 6″ blocks and brought 18 of them to church this morning and showed me. I was overjoyed at what she had done with my scraps and told her I wanted to take some pictures of her blocks after church.
I spread them out on a pew and wanted to share them with you! I think you’ll love them too. She’s trying to decide what color fabric to set them together with…
This was her stack of the blocks…
The top one, with the kitty, just so happened to be her favorite… I think it was mine too! So sweet…
Here they are, all spread out on a pew.
Here are a few pictures of them grouped together…
I also took a short video of them all laid out!
Thanks so much Joy! Keep up the good work and we’ll have to have a final look at your quilt when you finish it! So far, so good!!! :o)
Did you guess who’s out in the state of Washington and likes to sew? Of course, it’s our Charlotte! I think she finds time to sew just about every day and she’s just returned from EXPO, a huge sewing convention, and she has pictures!
Here is Charlotte’s email to me with the explanation of her pictures.
Hi Jeanne,
As promised, here are pictures from the sewing expo I went to. I had such a good time!
DAY 1:
1: Last year we were encouraged to sign squares of fabrics, and they would later be assembled in a quilt. Last year was Sewing & Stitchery Expo’s 40th anniversary; hence the big “40”. Here you see the completed quilt.
2: I found my name and am pointing to it!
3: Tonya and I actually had a class together this year: watercolor painting on fabric. It was a lot of fun.
4: Tonya and I wore our twinsy jackets both days I attended. It was fun to hear comments when people realized we were dressed alike! Here we are, out on the sales floor.
5: My efforts from our watercolor class. It still needs to be rinsed out for the full watercolor effect, and I keep forgetting to bring it upstairs and do that! Tomorrow…
6: My purchases from day 1. The geometric prints are all smallish pieces of upholstery fabric, and they came packaged together with a label reading “Creativity stimulus package”; I will probably choose from them for smaller bags, wallets, etc. There are also a knitting magazine, a pattern for a cupcake oven mitt, and a fusible applique to add to a t-shirt or something. This last was from Amanda’s Bundles, and there were many styles available. This was my favorite. I understand they are on her website; I haven’t checked, but I’m sure anyone could search for her website if interested.
7: ON DAY 2: we REALLY did the twinsy thing!! Our jackets from this year and tops from last year, plus of course our bags from 2020. Mine is front and center in this picture; you can just see a corner of Tonya’s, which she had slung over her shoulder. This picture was taken by Laura, who is the moderator of the Puyallup Sew Expo Fun Facebook page, and is in their 2025 album there. You do have to ask to join the page to see all the pictures, but I don’t think that will be a problem, if you’d like to take a look. (See those rolls of stripey-looking fabric sticking out of our bags?! That’s for next year!)
8: Here we are with two more friends. Tonya, Britt (left in picture) and Peggy are all from Utah. Not shown is Sue, who also came with the group but wasn’t around when we had our “photo op”. She joined us for dinners, etc., though.
9: Goodies!! First, the bright pink is my sample from a class, Metallic Embroidery on Hand-dyed Fabric. Under it is some vintage seersucker, and there is a pen (freebie) from Amanda’s Bundles. To the right is our twinsy fabric for next year, upholstery weight for a small purse or waistpack. I found this fabulous zipper tape and strapping (star print) and matching zipper pulls, which they put onto the zipper tape for me, so I won’t have to fiddle with it; I thought they went so well with the fabric. She threw in some zipper basting tape, too. There is also a 100th anniversary pin from Colonial Needles (freebie) and a wrist holder (freebie) for quilting/sewing clips from Clover.
10: A closer look at our twinsy fabric and my zipper tape, and you can see the commemorative pin a little better, too.
11: Hard to see at the top are two fat quarters of African batik fabric; below that, two smallish pieces from the “stash busters” table (free for the taking) which I thought might be good for doll clothes. Below those, two patterns, plus the hardware for the Mia bag, and to the right, some faux ostrich leather in black. Also, at deep discount, a specialty foot for my old Viking. Peggy had bought it, and when I saw it at show and tell (always in my room!!), I said “I didn’t see those! I want to go back tomorrow!!” and she gave it to me, and said she’d get another one the next day (when I was on my way home). So nice of her!
Well, thank you Charlotte… it sure LOOKS like you had a good time! I LOVE going to the vendor’s section when I’m at the Paducah Quilt show! You never know what you’ll see that you JUST CANNOT live without! Been there, done that!
Well, that’s it for today… tomorrow will be Rozen’s turn again… and some pictures from Karen…
See you then,
Blessings, Jeanne
It’s always fun to see what others are making. I think I recognize at least a couple of the smaller prints in Joy’s blocks. What a fun way to use up scraps! For setting them together, something in a soft tone, like maybe green, to tie in with some of those fabrics, and then for the borders, I would do two, and make sure the outer one is in the pink/red family, with a narrower inside border of white on white, I think (or white on cream, if she can find it, and it looks good).
Thank you for sharing my pictures! I will try to come back and reply to comments at some point in the afternoon. I did have so much fun at Expo this year. Beforehand, I had a “moment”….when I was looking at my tickets and starting to feel genuinely excited about Expo this year, and suddenly it hit me: I couldn’t call Ron like I always did (every day, and the last two or three years, I called him twice a day), and I had a little meltdown. But in the long run, I did have a wonderful time, and felt really caught up in it all. I’m already looking forward to next year!
It is always so difficult when you are used to sharing things with someone for so many years and then you can’t. My mother passed away a couple years after Andrea married but four years before Sean married. I wanted so much to pick up the phone and tell her the news, especially when the grandkids came along. I still think of her every time there is news to share. A meltdown is not surprising considering all the years you and Ron shared. Quite frankly I think you’re amazingly brave.
Thank you, Barbara. I have to attribute that to my faith, and my wonderful support group–family, church family, and my sewing and doll friends (such as all of you). I’m sure I would have had a much more difficult time with losing Ron, were it not for all of that.
Jeanne, how wonderful to see the quilt blocks made from scraps that might have been discarded! That’s a wonderful way to use them and keep them out of the landfill! I could use an idea like that with the material scraps I have from making my daughter’s clothes. I just could not throw away small pieces that brought back so many wonderful memories! A “memory” quilt might be the way to go, but I just don’t have the patience to sit there and sew them together! I so admire people who can do that! Yes, that one piece with the kittens is by far my favorite one too!
I would definitely set them together with a medium pink fabric. It is the dominant color, and would bring them together well. I have never made a quilt, but I have seen many, and have some myself, as well.
So nice to see Charlotte at the Expo! Charlotte, you never age! You have looked the same since I have seen your pictures on the blog! It certainly looks like you had a wonderful time and did a lot of interesting things. I was particularly interested in your painting on fabric. As a former art teacher, I was wondering what kind of projects you would do that for? Wouldn’t rinsing the paintings wash out the picture completely? I wouldn’t mind seeing what that looks like afterward.
So three new things for Rozen’s outfit! Thigh-high’s, bag or purse, and headband??
Thank you, Linda. You aren’t the one who looks in my mirror every morning! I see all the wrinkles that have been added in the last few years…. I think the one thing that makes people think I’m younger than I am (79) is that my hair has never gone gray! I keep waiting!! It stayed really pale blonde until I was in my 30s, and then started darkening. Mom thought I had colored it!!
The lady who taught the watercolor class showed tote bags and pillows (she did large motifs, about 15″ square; I divided my fabric into quadrants and did smaller motifs) made with fabric she’d painted. Apparently all the color doesn’t wash out (we were using acrylic paints, actually), just sort of softens and blends. The outlines are done with Sharpie or other permanent marker.
I finally did bring mine upstairs, but still need to rinse it out. I will be sure to take a picture or two and send to Jeanne once I have done that (and pressed it).
Wow and WOW. Beautiful work, Joy Carter! WOW
I believe I have 6 big boxes of fabrics that should be made into a quilt… some day.
these look lovely
Charlotte, you are cute as a button, I want to hug you.
I love everything about your adventure, and sharing these. I love the fabrics, the jackets, the new stash and all of your pretty friends.
Time change really joggled me. I changed all of the clocks ahead and yesterday kind of went okay, alertness wise… but last evening we were watching a series on Britbox, it was so riveting, about a woman whose husband is murdered by an unknown person, and then investigations show her husband was involved in money laundering on a very very large scale. So when the first episode ended, I said, “it’s early, let’s watch another one”.. well, I had been looking at the clock over my sewing table which had not been turned ahead. So, in the end we were an hour later than our routine bed time routine.
haha funny. I hope all of you are coping with the time change.
This is going to be a warmer week and I see my tulips already pushing up. I planted 120 of them (accidentally planted 20 more) in honor of my daddy late November of 2023.
Last Spring it was so lovely to see them. Both of my parents are from the Netherlands.
Thank you, Rosemary; I’m glad you enjoyed my pictures and my “adventures”!
What a clever use of scraps! The end product will be cheerful and colorful.
Charlotte I can tell you are in your element at the Expo! Those are really beautiful jackets you two are wearing. Such a soft, pretty color. The fabric for next year looks interesting and very striking, I am using my imagination. 🤔. Thank you for sharing your photos and your memories. I love the quilt!
Thank you, Debbie.
Although that jacket fabric was a bit tricky to work with, I am really pleased with how my jacket turned out. I wore it the Sunday after Expo, over a solid-color dress, and I thought it worked very well for that, too. I also think it might be dressy enough to wear over my black knit suede skirt, also.
For next year we are going to make some kind of a smallish purse–could be a crossover bag, a waistpack (Tonya doesn’t wear those but at Expo, I do use one), or something along those lines. I’ve thought about doing a waistpack, but I only use those at Expo, so I’m leaning towards doing a crossover bag or smallish purse. I’ll have to see what patterns I already have, plus what might be available at the local quilt shop. Stay tuned!
So nice to learn you can use even smaller scraps to make a quilt! The blocks look so pretty together. I like the cat one, too 🙂
So good to see Charlotte again! I am glad she had a wonderful time with her friends at the Expo.
Thank you so much, Karen.
Hope everyone survived the time change. Around here, we’re still getting up late.
What a great use of Jeanne’s scraps. Joy C. is doing a wonderful job.
Looks like Charlotte, broke the bank at the expo. What a fun collection of items. I’m sure I’d go nuts buying fabric. Can’t wait to see the twin piece for next year. Thanks so much Charlotte and Jeanne for sharing the photos.
Haven’t done much around here, but had better get back to more yard work as it looks like a lot of rain once again heading our way this week. Probably will knock over the daffodils that are blooming so nicely right now.
Spring has definitely sprung around here.
Hi Joy. Actually I didn’t spend as much (I don’t think) this year as I have in the past. I’m at the point now where my stash is pretty large, and there’s really not a lot I really NEED! I think the most money I spent in one place was at the vendor with the vintage fabric–that stuff goes for $16 per yard for most of it, and I think she had some that was a little higher. I got two yards of that vintage seersucker, and I’m pretty sure that was my biggest purchase, a total of $32 plus tax. There have been some years I’ve come home with a Lot more!! (and some is still waiting to be used…) But it was sure fun, and for me the best part is always seeing my friends, as I usually see them just once a year, as they are from other states.
It’s so nice to see Charlotte and her friends and all the goodies she saw and also got! I admired all who sew ( as I can’t sew at all !) and their ideas and what they like to sew and create. Such talented people.
You and your friend look cute in your twinsie outfits.
I have a thing for totes and I love the tote you are carrying in one of your pictures, Charlotte. Very cool.
Glad you had a wonderful time at the expo! Thanks for sharing your pictures.
Thank you so much, Paula. As I tell my non-sewing friends, don’t feel badly that you don’t sew; you probably have some talents and interests that I don’t. My girlfriend in Hawaii loves to cook, for instance–and I have a kitchen because it came with the house! 😂 Seriously, I’m a good cook, but it’s just that I’d rather sew! And the older I get, the more attractive a senior housing unit sounds where I don’t have to cook unless I really want to!
Oh, yes, I love tote bags, too, and have made several (as well as several purses). My husband would always look askance at me when I had churned out another bag, and ask me if I didn’t have enough tote bags yet?!! Haha…..
The fabric of the bag I have in that picture came just like that–looks like paint streaks, sort of. We both loved it, and it was really fun to make. I had made one other tote bag from that pattern first, to test it before I cut into my “good” fabric, and it turned out really pretty, too–it has a pieced front and back, with contrasting “stripes” sewn in. The blue one you see there, I made the front and back each of just one solid piece of fabric.
Charlotte thank you so much for the fun and interesting photos. Your descriptions were great too!!
The crumble quilt pieces are exceptional. It was fun being able to pick out a few fabrics that were from outfits made by Jeanne. Sort of a brain teaser. Thank you so much for sharing.
Have a great day all.
Thank you so much, Dorothy; I’m glad you enjoyed it.
What a clever use of the scraps, Joy. Of course I love the kitty faces on the one.
I’m so glad you had a great time at Expo, Charlotte. Your twinsie outfits are so cute. I’m sure Tonya and you had fun.
Thank you so much, Laura. Yes, Tonya and I had a lot of fun. We are about 20 years apart in age, but we just enjoy each other’s company so much, and can always find things to talk about! We often call or email during the year, too.
Great to see you, Charlotte, brings back such a fun memory when we met at the American Girl place and had lunch, too. You look just the same as you did all those years ago. Fun to see your stash, twinsy outfits and your friends.
I love the quilt squares and look forward to seeing the final result! I have often wished I took up quilting. The only ones I have done were squares from 2 baby books that you buy on fabric. I make little blankets for my granddaughter when she was 3 and another for her cousin.
Thank you so much, Sissy. That was a fun day, wasn’t it? I’m so glad I got to meet you and your family. As I recall, we went to PF Chang for lunch, across the way from AG Place. AG Place isn’t there any more–they closed it after the pandemic. There’s a nice toy store there now, though, and they do have some dolls, too.
I’m glad you enjoyed my pictures.
I really liked seeing the quilt blocks and am looking forward to hearing about the color you choose to pull them together — and maybe even seeing the finished product.
It looks like Charlotte had a great , and profitable, time at the Expo. I always look forward to those posts. (I accidentally typed her name as Chatlotte. Remember when I wrote Ten Pig instead of Ten Ping? She noticed, and forgave me — at length. I’m glad I noticed Charlotte’s name before it was too late.)
Rozen’s new outfit is coming along nicely. The new blue shoes are winners. Now for a purse or bag and do you have enough of the jacket fabric for a newsboy/girl cap, maybe with a flower on it? Would that be too much blue?
Spring is here, but I don’t think we’re done with winter. If we don’t have snow, sometimes we have floods. I prefer the snow. I especially prefer enough that we don’t have wildfires. But a few warm days as a break will be nice.
Thank you so much, Marilyn; I’m glad you enjoyed my pictures.
Don’t worry about typos; I do that quite often myself–adding or changing a letter! And sometimes, in spite of careful (?!) proofreading, a mistake might still slip thru!
What great things Joy Carter has done with the scraps. I love all the squares. I hope we get to see a picture when the quilt is finished. I once gave a friend a bunch of scraps I had and she made the cutest dress for her little girl. Reminded me of Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors”.
I loved all of Charlotte’s pictures. Made me wish more than ever I could have joined her and her friends. I love all the twinsie stuff. What a great tradition that’s been carried on for several years. I wish I had even one friend who liked to sew or quilt. Nancy Zieman used to say everyone should have a sewing buddy. Maybe once upon a time but not these days. I hear more than I can count, “I don’t have the patience to sew.”
Today is my big day. Sean and Skyy will be putting my new sewing/crafting table together later today. I cleaned the area and even took down my curtains and washed them since it will be hard to get them down once the table is in place. Once that’s done I will have hours of sorting ahead of me since I pretty much cleaned off the table top by putting things randomly in the totes I bought for the cubbies underneath the table. But first I have to get the things ready for my tax guy. Then I will have time to play.
Beautiful day here today. Unfortunately it’s the lull before it starts heating up again.
Thank you so much, Barbara. The twinsie thing just sort of grew out of happenstance–I wore a blouse I’d made to our pre-Expo dinner (for our FB group), and Tonya saw me and said, “Oh, I have that fabric, and I made a blouse, too!” So the next year we both brought our blouses and wore them on the same day. Then we decided it might be fun to do this on purpose, so we went shopping together….and a tradition was born! I think this was about the 7th year.
In your search for sewing friends, you might check with the American Sewing Guild (asg.org) and see if there are any chapters in your area. Perhaps you could visit a meeting and see what it’s about (I think you can visit up to three times before you’re required to join in order to keep attending). The other thing you might check out is to see if any of the local churches have a quilting group that makes quilts (or possibly other items) for charity. For those who don’t quilt, they always need people to help press, tie quilts, sort donated fabrics, etc. The local hospital might have a similar group attached. I know our Seattle chapter of ASG has a neighborhood group for Ronald McDonald House, and they do a lot of mending projects there, but there could be something similar in your area that is just an auxiliary of the hospital or whatever.
Anyway, those are some ideas of places to check, and maybe you will find a sewing friend or two along the way!