Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Good intentions will only take you so far...

Today's big plan was to write up that tutorial on snail's trails using 1.5" and 2.5" strips.  Since I knew I had all the photos taken, I happily procrastinated until late this afternoon.  Finally, I sat down to write, step by step, loading photos as I went along.
And I discovered that I'd forgotten to document a bunch of the steps.  Critical steps, where a photo would have been helpful.  And that a few of the photos were blurrier than I had thought, so not hugely informative.
*sigh*
So, hey, back to procrastinating, which after all is one of my superpowers.

Instead of snails, I'll share what my wonderful sister-in-law dropped off for me.
Scraps.  One of my very favorite things.
Shoeboxes and bags of scraps.




There's Christmas, and Civil War, and brights, and border bits, and I'm jumping up and down, and already thinking about which quilt they're going to end up in.

The real treasure, though, was this:


It's a project that my grandmother had started and never completed.  She's been gone for twenty years, so I know this dates back even further.
Grandma hand pieced (and hand quilted) every quilt she ever made.  Here's the back side of the patchwork so you can see her tiny stitches.


And there are pieces of the original fabrics, so I'll have enough to complete it.  As is, it measures 11" x 16"; I'm assuming she meant to make a wall hanging or a doll quilt.


Each rectangle is fussy cut to show an animal - lions, giraffes, ostriches, gorillas.

You can guess which one is my favorite...


Hello, little monkey.

10 comments:

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

What a great treasure indeed! Getting a bag of scraps is the best. Have fun!

Libby in TN said...

Speaking of snails, I have a picture of an idea I'll send you later today when I get it off my camera.

cityquilter grace said...

wow blast from the past...i think i bought about 10 yards of that holly print at one time, still have some scraps too...

Anonymous said...

The only thing more fun than scraps is finding unfinished blocks as cute (and skillful) as those!

Julierose said...

Oh what a treasure trove. I love the fussy cuts in the windows...just perfect and those tiny stitches--amazing. what a wonderful memory laden piece....hugs, Julierose

audrey said...

Very nice to inherit this project {and scraps}! I'm sure you'll love working on this one.:)

Magpie Sue said...

What a treasure! A multi-generational project. :-)

Cathy said...

An Attic Windows that grandma made? How awesome is it to have that!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

OMG - I could write a book about my good intentions.

Your grandma's work is pretty cool though! Definitely have to do something with that.

kmkat said...

Monkeys are the new black. You heard it here first.