Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tiny bits

I cut sashing and borders for the little bits strips after I trimmed them as straight as I could. The narrow ones were hard to keep straight and ended up a little crooked in the final piece. It is 14.5" x 17.25".
If it becomes a wall piece, I don't know which way it should be, vertical or horizontal.Since it is the size of a placemat, I could just lay it on the table and not worry about it. I would use it as a table centerpiece, not a placemat. That was the last of one of my favorite purple batiks that I bordered it with. I had to hold my self back from searching the Internet to see if I can get any more of it. Surely I should use some of the fabric I have first. Fabric collectors anonymous, do you have any meetings in my area? My name is Wanda and I have a problem...............

We had a little earthquake here in northern IL yesterday morning at 4. I woke up and looked at the clock but didn't know what had awakened me. I heard a noise that I thought was a loud truck with the engine running and I wondered who was in my driveway or in the street out front. I went back to sleep and when the radio came on at 6:30 they were talking about it. My brother was awake and heard his house shaking and rattling.
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Several people yesterday suggested using the narrow strips to stuff dog cushions. All of the dogs in my extended family are chewers and would have a great time ripping open the cushion and shaking the contents all over their house. We had a dog once that tore open a pillow and it was stuffed with the foam crumbles. He was closed in a bedroom while we were gone. When we opened the door, there was foam everywhere and all you could do is laugh at how far he could fling the foam while he shook the pillow.

38 comments:

Lynne RidgeAndFurrow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

The little quilt turned out beautifully!! I think I might be tempted to just put it on the table or underneath a potted plant to give it a little pizzazz. Hear about the earthquake, glad all is okay. Our guild does a similar thing, uses scraps to stuff dog beds. It sounds like a great idea. I think I would rather have scraps of fabric laying all over the place rather than foam.

Lynne RidgeAndFurrow said...

I love it - I vote for Horizontal!

Julie Bagamary said...

Wow - you have been busy. The qults are so fun.

Linda at Roscoe's Ma said...

I read about your earthquake on CNN.com. Have never felt an earthquake before. Hope your home wasn't damaged.

Love this little placemat quilt...very cool. Makes more sense to enjoy those fabrics in a quilt rather than have them hidden away in a cupboard. But I know the feeling about using something and wondering if you are using it in the right piece or should you save it for something else...

Yuki said...

Love your little quilt! I vote put it on the wall. It is too pretty to cover up.

ttfn :) Yuki

Eva said...

Wonderful! I prefer the horizontal version. It reminds me of some secret message.

Gene Black said...

I vote for the vertical position, but I think using it on a table is the best idea.

Melody Johnson said...

You made me laff out loud with the Fabric Collectors Anonymous, and am just imagining the meetings. Especially funny if you held one of them in your studio...all that fabric and all those salivating fabric junkies. Too funny!

I'll have to join.

Darlene said...

I got a laugh out of the Fabric Collectors Anonymous too! It would probably turn into a free-for-all with everyone fighting over the scraps.

Love that little quilt. Think I'll do a couple for the AAQI Priority Quilts. I already have strips like yours ready to go! Thanks for the idea.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I like how you used your little bits in the strips like that. Good idea. My daughter near Madison heard the "snowplow" type sound also at about 4 in the morning - she thought she was dreaming until she heard the news when she got up.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Anonymous said...

Your little bits quilt is wonderful.

The fact that Illinois had and earthquake is not so wonderful. I have not heard of any damage, though; I hope there was none. The world has had enough with earthquakes lately. I can't imagine how awful it is for the Haitians.

Needled Mom said...

Your little quilt is simply charming! I'll join the FA group with you.

We expect those little rumbles every now and then, but IL is NOT suppose to get them. What's with that?

Julie in the Barn said...

I like it vertical. I remember seeing a quilt you posted awhile back that used that same technique. It inspired me to use my crumbs in the same way. I started a wall hanging with all my harvesty colored bits but pooped out before I finished it. I know it's in a baggie somewhere....let's see, where is that baggie? You've inspired me to find it and finish that project.

Vicki W said...

I've been saving little bits of my hand dyed fabrics. I need to do this to them - but I would probably go ahead and make placemats. At least I would use them!

Anonymous said...

I like it best vertical. I would hang it on the wall in a small space. Hannah

Jody said...

I almost called you yesterday Wanda! I needed encouragement for machine quilting and I knew that you would have just the right advice!! Pushed thru tho - and it's all alright.
I LOVE the little quilt - especially in the horizontal position.

Leslie said...

Very cute little quilt! Not so cute earthquake - I'm glad you emerged unscathed. My sewing room and table are always in a state of disarray until MANY small projects are completed. It was refreshing to see your photo of a clean table. I can do that once or twice a year - LOL!

elle said...

oh, I do like strippies. This is too cute and would make me smile as I constantly changed its position on the table.

Cheryl Arkison said...

I was pulling farbic for a new project last night and saw my stash, truly, for the first time in a LONG time. Man, I have a lot of fabric! And shh, I just ordered some too. To be fair, I have a quilt with indigos stuck in my head and not a single indigo in my stash.

Quiltdivajulie said...

I like the portrait layout for a wallhanging. I think I'd use it on a table, though . . .

LOVELY!! (the dogs in our family were kleenex destroyers - all trash cans had to be lifted up before we left the house or else we'd be picking up bits of tissue for days on end)

Char said...

I like it horizontal also.
My name is Charmaine, and I too have a problem.............

Debra Dixon said...

What a super little piece of art--and a great use for your bitty scraps!

Claire O'Connor said...

Wanda-- smashing, simole yet stunning design -- fabulous use of color (as ever!) Love it!

Elsie Montgomery said...

This is a great little quilt. I also vote for horizontal, but on a table it doesn't matter. I've a plan to do a plain dark background, rather large, around three orphan blocks. This shows me how good it would look.
Glad the shakeup didn't hurt anything. Isn't it odd to have earthquakes in IL?
Can I join your new AA (QA) group!!

Anonymous said...

WOW! What a finish for this piece, love the sashing, it looks way larger than it's actual size. No matter where you use it~ it makes a gorgeous statement.

I too LOL at Fabric collectors anonymous... plus just imagining the foam crumbles your dog had such fun spraying your room with. I bet you still find a crumble or two after all these years. They are the worst to clean up.

J~MT

Cathi said...

I vote for the vertical -- love the effect of those little bits!
Fabric Collectors Anonymous had me laughing out loud -- one can only imagine what those meetings would be like!
Hope there was no damage from the earthquake!

antique quilter said...

oh I love the horizontal lay out
great little quilt, I am having fun making little quilts right now
will post my liberated one tomorrow
similar idea to this
Kathie

Michelle said...

Very cute -- I like it horizontal.

Anonymous said...

I like the vertical which makes the stripes horizontal - I think!!!! An earthquake! We had one here the other year. It sounded just like someone running a concrete roller down the drive.

Purple Pam said...

I like the vertical direction. If you find a Fabriholics Anonymous group, please let me know. I need to join.

Jean said...

This turned out really cute. What a fun and cute project.

Wendy said...

What a great table topper or wall quilt. Like you I love the border batik fabric. So yummy. My litte dachund is one of those who opens, shreds and destroys anything stuffed. Never had the foam issue as of yet. I imagine it was a mess. Dogs can be so funny, gotta love em.

Kate said...

Love the quilt! I'm not sure if you're asking for an opinion, but I think you should display it on the wall horizonally. What a fabulous use of scraps.

Vicky F said...

Hi Wanda,
I had been wondering if you felt or heard the earthquake. I heard it was a "shallow" one, but not quite sure what that means.

I like your strippy tiny bits quilt. I like the vertical version (2nd one shown) because it reminds me of stained glass panels with a skinny side window between. Almost like you're walking down a dark hallway and one wall of the hallway is windows.
Vicky F

Rebel said...

I love it! I like the idea of using it on a table, under a small bowl of fruit or flowers or similar. But if you wanted to hang it... you could do a sleeve on each of two sides to change up which way is 'up' depending on your mood. =)

I think we all know how hard it is to use up the last of your favorite fabrics. But it's not gone gone... you have it in many projects around the house I'm sure. And there's always a new favorite fabric right around the corner.

Janet said...

Another winner!

Laura said...

I like the horizontal layout best and I love the border batik. I think that design was one that came out when I first started quilted and it's definitely one of the best. Glad you used it. Now you can enjoy it every time you look at this quilt.