The Countdown Continues...

 

Are you seeing any signs of spring?

Other than the snowdrops, I don't see many flowers yet.  However we did have a brief rain earlier this week and we were lucky to have the scent of a spring rain in the air.  It was wonderful!

So today we are celebrating the last day of February and await March and hopefully, an early spring for all us.

I had mentioned on Monday that pink and green were my favorite colors for spring and many of you commented that you like yellow and green.  Aw yes... Daffodils!  I love yellow but I don't decorate with yellow--because most of the rooms on my first floor are painted in yellow  😃.

Wishing you a safe and happy weekend!

Leaders and Enders Quilt

 

Hello!

Last week I finished my leaders and enders quilt.

I still need to figure out the next leaders and enders quilt.  I think it will be similar but with light fabrics instead of black.

This week I'm working on small table top banners.  I got my Mom a stand for Christmas but I need to finish wall hangings for July--December.  I also decided that while I was at it, I might as well do a set for my sister-aunt Kathy.  

More of those finishes next week!

Have a safe and happy day!

Tuesday's This and That: February 25, 2025

 

Hello Tuesday!

How are you doing today?

I'm not sure I told you this or not so I may be repeating myself.  Haptic and Hue have a wonderful podcast called Tapestries for Troubled Times.   

For February, the new podcast is The Quilts That Hold the Heart of Hawaii.  I know a number of friends who adore Hawaiian textiles.  Maybe you do too!

You can find the podcasts here.

***

Joann news:  The company was auctioned off over the weekend.  I'm hearing all 800 stores will be closed.  

Now the sale must be approved at court on Wednesday.  I won't expect the serious sales until after that.  

On Monday I was looking at a rotating cutting mat and found it was almost $10 cheaper at Amazon.  Crazy, right?

I've been following this story on the YouTube channel, Sewing Report.  You can check it out here.

***

Speaking of fabric, where do you get yours?

***

Have a safe and happy day!

Who's Ready for Pastels?

 

Hello and welcome to the last week of February!

I think that most of my blogger friends have been experiencing a long hard winter.  The bitter cold was bad enough...the ice storms, well that was even worse.  

It finally got above freezing here over the weekend.  We are even experiencing a thaw of the snow.  Still, the overnight temperatures drop below freezing and Lucky and I have to be careful late at night and early morning.

What color do you look forward to in the spring?  I gravitate towards pink and green.  Yesterday I was working on a little wall hanging and realized it is the colors of this quilt.  I always pull this quilt out in the spring.

The quilt was given to me by an acquaintance.  I still think it is a happy piece.  

The colors are a bit washed out on these photos.  I know the quilt is faded but the photograph isn't doing it much justice either.  

So what colors are you yearning for these days?

Have a safe and happy day!

26 Days Until Spring!

 

It's been a long cold winter.

I often think that snowdrop flowers should be called

"Hopedrop"flowers.

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Some Finishes

 

Greetings!

This month, I have mostly shoveled, cleared ice ( we had a lot of ice storms), and walked my dog wearing cleats.  My husband has been away for the last 4-5 weeks and missed the work.  He's home now.

Lucky is recovering from an ear infection and the vet lectured me that he had gained weight (a whole 1.5 lb--but he is a little dog).  I said to the vet, "What am I supposed to do in this ice?  We went from walking 2-3 miles a day to 2-3 blocks!"  We will both lose some weight when the weather warms up.

So while my husband was away, I was on "a quilt retreat for 1".  The house stayed orderly, the meals I made were easy, and I sewed through most of the day and even in the evening.

Finishes for this year include:

A lap quilt for us:

Pajama Rama Ding Dong finished:

2 baby quilts:

2 small pieces, table runner for Karen 

and  hexie piece for my round table.

Happily, I've also been making some tops to use up some orphan blocks.  More on those later!

Have a safe and happy sewing day!

Recebt Trends and Fast Fashion

 

Hello and how are you today?

Today I'm continuing my thoughts on our textile world.

My one friend said, "covid changed everything."  And in many ways it did.  I've already mentioned on this blog that our guild has closed the guild library.  Members were just not referring to quilt books anymore.  They had learned to scour the internet for free patterns or pdf purchases.  Martingale Publishers closed in 2023.  Quiltmania magazine closed last year.

The other trend is that I think quilters are often balking not only at the price of fabricd but what is referred to as "fast fashion".

"Fast Fashion" refers to the trend of wearing fadish clothes a few times and then discarding the pieces.  This has created a devasting environmental impact.  Some of the clothing dumps can actually be seen from outer space:

Many sewists (not just quilting) are concentrating on upcycling as much fabric as they can.  These even a jargon such as "Thrift Flip" for finished pieces of garments or quilts.  

For a few years now, I've watched the trend to use fabric that can be found at thrift stores or fabric deadstock stores (deadstock reminds me of the old fabric outlets of my youth it refers to fabric that manufacturers have leftover or overproduced).

Consideration of the environment is certainly a big aspect of these choices.  The other (of course) is money.  Linda and I had a long history of sewing together.  I continued to sew, she gave me her leftover fabric about 20 years ago when she stopped.  I recently told her the price of a yard of fabric these days and she just about fell off her chair.

The trend to going to thrift stores or charity shops and purchasing cotton or linen men's shirts is popular not only with the younger generation but people in my own age range.  Even middle aged professionals--like Cathy from Catbird Quilts--are famous for upcycling.  Cathy is a working pharmacist and well known for her quilts with upcycled men's shirts.

Apparently one can harvest about 1.5 to 2 yards of fabric from a dismantled man's shirt.  In many ways this isn't a new trend (flannel shirts were big years ago) but it's interesting to how many sewists are practicing this now.

Another trend?  Repairing one's clothing.  Yes mending is back and it there are tons of tutorial that feature patching, darning, and mending clothing.

I'm not sure what is in store for the textile industry.  The Craft Industry Alliance reported in 2024 that there are 30 million active sewists in the United States and 9-11 million of them are quilters.  You can read the latest report on our industry here.  

Where do you think we are headed? 

Have a safe and happy day!

Joann's Closings

Hello and how are you today?

***

Well it's official.  Joann's is closing 500 stores in the USA

Liquidation companies are vying to buy the company and I think it won't be too long until the "going out of business" sales.  

It's hard to know REALLY why it went out of business.  In court, the company cited "an unexpected ramp down" as well as severe and unexpected inventory shortages.

Early 20th century dry goods store in my valley (Macungie, PA)

 Joann's opened in 1943 in Cleveland Ohio and the name "Joann" wasn't actually used for the business until 1963.

The only thing I often bought at the store was batting, especially when they had their sales.  I have enough fabric at home.  

Still, there are many areas in this country that relied on Joann's as their main source of fabric.  I remember about 20 years ago, Walmart closed their fabric departments.  The online quilting group I belonged to had lots of midwest and southern quilters, many were panicked because that was their main source of cloth.

Will the closing of Joann's impact you?

Tomorrow I'll delve into other trends I see these days.

Have a safe and happy day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a quiet day for us.  Hubby is away on business and Lucky has been ill with an ear infection.  But he wishes you a Happy Valentine's Day too!

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Eagles

 

Greetings from Eagles Land!

The game was exciting and wonderful that Philly won the Super Bowl!  Saquon Barkley graduated from my high school.  Another young man, Jahan Dotson is also from our valley!

It was a great game (unless you were a KC fan).  

So today I'm posting an eagle coverlet:

I wish I had a better photo and will eventually replace this one.  Pennsylvania is known for these textiles with four eagles.  

Wishing you a safe and happy day!

Teddies

 

Hello and how are you today?

We are tired of ice here in the Northeast 😕

Luckily today is National Teddy Day so I don't have to do so much thinking about the post!

I'm actually grateful that I looked at these photos.  I think I will pull out the little girl piece (below) and finish her arm.  She would make a nice wall hanging.

Have a great day!

Bubble Gum Day

 

Hello and Happy Bubble Gum Day!

Honestly, I don't really know who determines these days of the year but some of them are fun and bring back memories.  My brother and I often bought the one cent piece of bazooka and then read the comic inside.  But when we had more cash, we got the gum that had baseball cards in them.  We didn't have that kind of cash often.

But bubble gum is often referenced in vintage quilts.  In the 1920s, pink became a hot color to use in quilts.  When "bubble gum pink" was introduced it was a hot color and used frequently in quilts.

It's very difficult to get colors right on digital cameras but I did a comparison for you.

Yes bubble gum pink:

Below2 quilts no not bubble gum pink:

Below--YES bubble gum pink!

I don't really enjoy gum except when baseball season begins and I'm on edge because of the game.  

And speaking of baseball...most teams report for Spring Training next week (my Phillies report Wednesday the 12th).

Have a safe and happy day!

Tumbler

 

Hello how are you today?

I've been making a few baby quilts lately.  I usually keep a stack in my closet but it's gotten really depleted lately.  More babies!!  

I'm thinking of making a tumbler quilt with some of my baby scraps.   This is unusual because I already have a vintage tumbler quilt; I don't usually do a second piece of any pattern.

But when I was cleaning out a sewing basket, I found a tumbler template that someone had given me.  I'll have to check the size but I think it will work out.  Have you ever made a tumbler quilt?

Have a safe and happy day!

Tuesday's This and That: February 4, 2025

Hello! 

 

I hope you are staying warm!  Well the groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter and just like that, we had snow that evening.  Here's a couple of tidbits I saw or read this week!

Kathleen McMusing is a quilter and a teacher.  If you are looking for some inspiration, she has a special Friday post for finished projects.  I enjoyed seeing what she and her participants had made.  I hope to join via my other blog (3 poodles and a nana) this week.  Kathleen's website is 

https://kathleenmcmusing.com

Enjoy!

***

Okay I'm not sure what is going on with Joann Fabrics at this point.  We all know there was a second bankruptcy filed a few weeks ago.  

However, there are now a lot of quilters who are reporting that the gift cards they received at Christmas are not being accepted at their store.  I don't know if this is because of the bankruptcy or if their card is just wonky...BUT enough people are complaining about it so if you have one, you should use it if you can.

Have you had this experience at Joann's?

****

On the brighter side, I was looking for one thing when a posting for a quilt came up on Ebay.  I was surprised because it IS a rare quilt to see.  It is the "Little Women" quilt designed by Marion Cheever Whiteside.  You can see the finished quilt here.  A reproduction of the pattern is here.

Have a safe and happy day!