Strings Attached

I've decided that for me, and my sewing room, this year will be the year of STRINGS! Back in the spring of 2019 I had my granddaughters help me to sort through all the strips and strings that I had stashed underneath the cutting table. We organized them into color groups. Sadly, that's as far as it got. Until yesterday!

I started with an idea and the low volume bin. I laid out the strings into manageable groups.

After stitching that group together, it measured approximately 24" in length. That was good enough- there's not a lot of planning going into this! The object of this is to empty this first bin and make room for something else, the next great thing. Waste not, want not. There are SEW many memories in these strings; long ago, otherwise forgotten, projects that I'm happy to recall, they warm my heart. 💗 I trimmed up the newly-constructed slab and cut two 5" strips, lengthwise, the called-for size based on what size blocks I'd already decided to build. 

Using the Studio 180 Diamond Rects tool I was able to get six diamonds for that many 5" x 10" sub-units. There was another lengthwise strip left over which will be saved for a strip-pieced border section. I'm going to try and use up every last bit of these strings. I have no idea how large this scrappy quilt will be. It will be determined by what's in the bin. The basic building unit will be the 20" pieced block shown at the top.  I grabbed the setting fabric for the side triangles off the shelf, this is meant to be stash reduction at its best! We'll see how this goes... sew on and sew forth.

Life is Good!

Red Hat? No, Not Me!

I want to begin by saying that I AM NOT a member of the Red Hat Society. They're everywhere, those 50-somethings, most noticeably (one cannot HELP but notice them!) in restaurants and at quilt shows.They appear to be a large, happy, social group. I am not opposed to happiness, or social groups for that matter; in fact, quite the opposite is true! From the outside looking in I have always just thought that the organization was a bit too flamboyant, that and the fact that I abhor the idea of sporting a red hat in public, or a feather boa or a hat-head! I wasn't aware until today that it all came about as a result of this poem, "WARNING", by Jenny Joseph:

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple With a red hat which doesn't go and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick the flowers in other people's gardens . . .

this is an adaptation, the poem concludes:

But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple."

This places the Red Hatters in a different light as far as I am concerned, I think the poem is delightful. I still won't be joining, I don't think that 50 is old to begin with. But, when my dear daughter-in-law sent me this photo of a Fisher-Price "Little People Person" who just happens to be one of them it made me laugh out loud. If, for some reason, Mason starts calling this particular character "Nana" then I might just have to reconsider!

Life is Good!