Saturday, July 11, 2026

Forgotten Treasure Boxes - Decluttering

The last week I've been going through my fabric/craft stash/wardrobe.
Particularly one big box mostly containing fabrics not suitable for quilting. The box once contained a 21" bulky television, was filled to the brim with stuff! I don't remember how many years it has taken up space at the bottom of the wardrobe. Every time it annoyed me, I postponed doing anything to it, until beginning this week! 
(forgot to take photo of that box)

Most of the fabrics were cotton mix, pieces from curtains and other things I've made, old jeans, flannel etc. 
Most of it will be donated. I still have three heaps to go through; jeans, flannel and fabrics suitable for grocery bags. 


My intention was to make a denim quilt from old jeans... Well, not anymore! I may make a floor rug, or grocery bags.... I shall see...


Some of the flannel I can use for donation quilts 


and we always need grocery bags. 
Not the most interesting fabrics, but suitable for bags.


A small heap with cotton quilting fabrics I can use.
The greenish/white fabric to the right is furniture fabric, I may use on a chair where the seat badly needs a new cover. 

To my surprise, I discovered these two boxes!
I had totally forgotten about them! 



They date back to 2006!! I had many pen pals and I got the idea to ask each of them to send me two 5-1/2" fabric squares. Some were very generous and sent me even more. As you can see from the labels on top of the boxes, there are fabric pieces from Brunei, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand as well as from my DF Kari in Norway. Most pals have stopped writing, but Waltraud in Germany is still a very dear pen friend to me. 

I have yet to go through these boxes. I even have the envelopes! What a treasure! 
After all the years stored away, I notice some pins have rusted (always high humidity here), I hope the fabrics are not too damaged. I will definitely make a quilt using these treasured squares! 

Linking up with: 

Angela at So Scrappy






Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Christmas in July


Have you ever thought from where Christmas in July originates?
To be honest, I have always thought it came from the Southern Hemisphere. Recently, I did a search and according to this link, it originates from France! Did you know? I didn't!

The month of July is usually the time I start making Christmas items for gifts etc. 


Last year, I prepped some dogs and cats themed mug rugs, using scraps from my stash. (I forgot to add them to my UFO list). I have finished quite some big quilts (so far) this year, it feels good working on something small, like quilting the mug rugs (even if that can be a bit tedious).

I have three Christmas UFOs I hope to finish / make progress.
The first two, I hope to finish before Christmas so that I can display them on the wall.


  Kris Kringle Kit - Teresa Kogut (UFO #19)


Christmas Card holder (UFO #4)
The pattern is in French - UGH! I'll get it done, eventually! 


Scrappy Christmas Stars (UFO #3)
Or should I say ongoing project? I have done 3 blocks only. I shall see if more can be done this month.

It's raining this a.m., showers with gusts up to 56 miles/h (90 km/h) is predicted today. I hope there will be some dry spells so I can do some grocery shopping later. 

 

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Coffee with Dad - RSC Finish

...as the title says; Coffee with Dad is finished! 
UFO #26 on my UFO/WIP list 2026
Actually I finished it in May, but didn't take photos at that time.   


An easy and fun quilt to make! 


Drums, daffodils, black cat and colorful gecko


Yellow cat


Geckoes and sunflowers


The pink cat, and favorite coffee batik
Yes, I love cats! It was fun to rediscover some of the fussy cut fabrics for the cups.


Pieced backing
It was difficult to get the colors right. I took the photos in the shade on the porch. The bottom looks a bit washed out compared to the top that have more the right colors. 


I've had this teapots / teacups fabric for years. The idea was to make some table quilts (table runners, placemats, tea cozy etc) which never happened. I had saved it because it was 'too pretty to cut'! lol Well, I just had to trim it a bit to fit the backing.


...and yes, I did incorporate the broken handle cup to the back! 😃
The binding is an 'old' black and white animal print I found in my stash.


First blocks made: January 2025 (RSC)
Flimsy: March 2026
Finished: May 8, 2026

Size: 60 x 83 inches / 153 x 210 cm
All fabrics from my stash


Other UFO Finishes 2026, take a look here