Thursday, January 20, 2011

Wednesday - not wordless

But I do have a few pictures.  I had a lovely surprise today when Del sent me a phoo of her and her friend Mary, both wearing Rayna scarves.  How nice!  Del always looks so elegant - and wears hats so well!  Thanks, Del - it's nice to see the scarves actually being worn.
While the sun was out today, I was in for most of the day except for banks, bagel store, and CVS. Tomorrow, I MUST go take a bunch of stuff to the studio and bring back artwork for a show that my art group has next month at a NJ gallery.

Cleaning up this sewing room is an endless chore because we have to get new carpeting and have it painted (in the wrong order, of course).  Gary the Carpet Man thought I should put office carpeting down on the floor in here but as you know, I am barefoot at all times indoors and that stuff is just not comfy on my tootsies.  So, nice gray carpeting.  The basement gets the office carpeting.

Anyway, cleaning out has its benefits.  I found a trove (I won't say treasure because these are butt ugly) of 1940's to early 50's Propeller blocks: 25 or 26 of them.  Why on earth would I have bought these?
At any rate, since I am teaching Reinventing the UFO in March, I thought I would make a class sample or two to show the class that all things are possible. So that was my evening's activity.  It is actually pretty addictive but I stopped after one because I really need to go to bed.  Here is the original block.  The photo makes it look yellower than it really is -believe me, it is ug.


 Here it is after the first round of slice/dice/add.

 and here it is after I'm done with it.  I have two more of these identical blocks, so I will have to think about where I can use them. 
  Just to see them side-by-side is a good before/after reminder.  For me, it's a permutation of therapy sewing.  No thinking, just doing - and it turns out how it turns out. Isn't it nice not to have to take responsibility? It can't be worse than it started and if it isn't great, it is still better than the original.
Maybe I'll put it into Emma's quilt so she will have a really vintage block.  But not tonight.

7 comments:

Gerrie said...

I love how you recreate those old blocks. It looks like fun.

Marianne said...

J'aime bien la transformation du bloc, très réussie

patty a. said...

That really is an ugly block, but you have turned a sow's ear into a silk purse. I love the after!

Cate Rose said...

I love what you did with that boring block!

FunkyC said...

Your edits really give spark to that vintage block!

Eva said...

Definitely improved! And you selvaged this interesting black-and-turquoise eye motif. The combination with the other fabrics turns a beast into a beauty.

Susan Ettl said...

I am now inspired to play with my stash of fabric. I will let you know how it goes dear friend.

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