April Challenge and a Sewing Reclaim

It's been a while since I was able to complete monthly quilt challenge on time LOL!  This little quilt from Kathy at SmallQuiltTalk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/  was a doddle (Aussie for very easy!) and made up very quickly, I used a mix of machine and handquilting.

It was also the perfect shape for an old doll-crib I have had for a while.  I bought it on ebay about 2 years ago, it is a handmade wood doll cradle.  From what I gather it was made in Pennsylvania and was owned by an elderly lady who had since she was a child, so it's quite old and now looks rustic or prim, but I love it!

It came with a doll dressed in Amish clothes - there was a mattress, but it was filled with straw and Customs confiscated it because it was plant material - I haven't managed to get around to making another, however I do have the 'ticking' fabric for it - so half way there LOL!!!

This little doll has been waiting a while for her own quilt!!!  I had to reduce the size of Kathy's original pattern to make it cradle size.

I just used scraps as the 9-patch blocks finish at 3"x 3".  The finished size of the quilt is 9 1/2"x 15".

Last post you will remember I had finished my Maple Leaf quilt, it now resides on the dining room table where I can see it everyday!

This is not the only quilt I've made with blocks from a group swap.  Back in late 2008 I received 12 blocks in return for 12 I made through Carol Doak's yahoo group.   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarolDoakQuiltingGroup/#ans

Carol's expertise is in Foundation Paper Piecing, a technique I use a lot when I want precision and have a block with odd-ball measurements.    It was a Tea Cup block swap, I received blocks from members from the US, Germany and Ireland.

After I had the blocks sitting around for a while I designed a small wall-hanging for my kitchen, but did have to add a few more small cup blocks as well as a teapot.

It was a fun swap and I really enjoyed putting this together!  Thankgoodness for EQ, as I was able to elongate the four small teacup blocks to fit the space I had at the top on either side of the teapot.  It hung on the design wall for a very long time from December 2008 till January 2010 when I finally got sick of it nagging at me!!!

Ove the past month I have been doing a lot of yard work, digging, mulching, weeding, pruning, I have a little basket in the utility room downstairs where I keep all my gardening equipment.

If you look closely you will see something that really shouldn't be there!  I am ashamed to say I had been using a pair of old dress-making scissors to prun - but no more !!!-   I hadn't given them any thought for several years, but I really took a good look at them recently and felt very guilty.   These dear old scissors are my first pairs of scissors ever, I have had them for around 30 years - and to think I relegated them to live with the gardening tools!!!!!

I took them upstairs and gave them a bit of clean and thought they'd be very blunt, but they did cut newsprint ok.  Last week I took them to my Quiltbee group and got them sharpened, and you what....they cut through fabric like new scissors, even to the tip of the blade!  Who would have thought after all that abuse!!!!  They must have been good quality!

I remembered why I ditched them - I am left handed and got myself a pair of left handed scissors, more for the comfort as any leftie will know using right handed scissors can be uncomfortable, but I have welcomed them back into the sewing room, never to live in a basket with dirty garden tools again.

They do look a bit the worse for wear, but I now appreciate them more than ever, in fact I treasure them!!!!

Thankyou for dropping by, I appreciate your visits and comments.

Take it easy,
Merilyn