Sunday, October 31, 2010

Bull's Eye!


Who says quilts gotta be made just one way?  Not moi, for sure.

(And for those of you who didn't know I quilted, well - voila.  Evidence.  You decide if it's for or against!)

Having made a decision to go through the endless boxes of scrappity bits and see what could be done to turn some of them into something fun, I have arrived at this cute little fellow.  The Bull's Eye Quilt. 

Yes, it's an actual printed pattern, found in the marvelous book, Quilts from Aunt Amy.  It's a take off on a very early 20th century pattern in which the circles were actually pieced and seamed together.  Augh!  Work!  This one is all done layer on layer, and with the raw edges left raw.  As the quilt is put into use, the edges will begin to fray and fuzz up.  Laundering will bring out even more of the fuzz factor, but even simple use will start the process.  In a short time, a brand new quilt looks just like a prized quilt from gramma's attic.  (Just cleaner, and minus the dried up bug detritus and wierd yellowish age stains.)

I haven't quilted this fellow yet - it's just a 'quilt top' at this stage of its career. 

These blocks are so much fun to make.  You begin with a fabric square, onto which you stitch 3 circles of various sizes.  Then the blocks are cut and reassembled.  As you go through these steps, you'll be amazed to see how even the "What was I thinking" fabrics can blossom beautifully. 

Which, I'm sure, is a lovely moral lesson for all of us.  I'm quite pooped from writing this, so I'll let you ponder the ramifications.  Go on.  It'll be good for you.

Monday, October 18, 2010

The Hunger of Dryers

It happened.

And then, it happened again.

My dryer ate half a pair of brand new dryer balls.  They were pink and purple and made laundry fun. 

 And then, a few loads later, there was one forlorn little dryer ball bouncing around in there all by its lonesome.

Where did the other one go?  No one knows. 

We looked in reasonable places and unreasonable ones.  No second dryer ball.  Nothing.  Not even little shreddie pink and purple bits.

The next set of dryer balls was bland and boring.  The dryer didn't care.  It ate one of those, too.

I think I heard it belch.