Saturday, June 13, 2020

Keeping my Head Down

It’s been an historic week or two. Nationwide Worldwide protests have taken place over police brutality in general and the tragic, unnecessary murder of George Floyd in particular. While the protesters have been mostly peaceful, there have been some violent infiltrators from both extreme ends of the political spectrum who are looting and causing damage. We’ve seen nakedly political stunts and heard tone-deaf statements by politicians at the low end of the scale. At the high end, blacks and whites (and browns and people of every skin color, age, gender identification, religion, etc.) have marched arm in arm to end police brutality and systemic racism; to call attention to issues and shine light on problems that have remained shrouded in secrecy and denial for too long. The people of our great nation have finally awakened, and it truly feels as though these righteous causes have at last reached critical mass. We will not be going back to the old ways. 

And all of this grand scale upheaval comes against the backdrop of COVID-19, which continues to rage through the US at alarming infection rates. This year, 2020, isn’t even half over yet. What do you think the rest of the year has in store for us? Fires? Earthquakes? Floods? Locusts? Actually, we’ve seen all those already in the first half! All I can imagine is that after this year’s run of awfulness, 2021 is due to be the greatest year in the History of Time. 

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So, yeah, I’ve been keeping my head down this week. Early in the week for about 3-4 days it was because of an inner ear infection that left me alternately nearly deaf in one ear and/or too dizzy to get up. But it has passed, and the next round of keeping my head down was more the pedal-to-the-metal variety at the sewing machine. And so I turned from issues of black and white to the very refreshing issue of PINK, the Rainbow Scrap color of the month for June. 

First up were the strings. I had a ton of pink scraps, and for the last couple years have not made much of a dent in them. This year I’ve been determined to change all that. The strings, then, yielded 25 squares at 6” (finished size). Wow.


And then it was on to making my scrappy basket for the month.  Although I’ve been using Angela’s pattern (link here), I modified it a bit this time. Instead of creating a totally separate lining, I quilted each side panel as one unit, then sewed them together at the corners. I overstitched the seams for neatness and security. The bottom panel as inserted normally, but I used cardboard for sturdiness between the layers instead of batting. The top edge was finished with bias binding.


I did add the handle on the side as usual, a feature I love! It turned out so cute!


Here it is on the shelf. Wow, it finally looks as though my stash is noticeably smaller! Look how tidy the pink bucket looks compared to the orange one I did back in February!


There was also some work on my scrap (“Creature”) quilt. The center medallion portion is sewn together. However, I realized that I made the white coping strips on the sides (barely visible in the picture below) too narrow. It’s width measures 30”, and it needs to measure 30.5” to allow for seams. Arrrrgh! So, I’ll be giving my seam ripper a workout first thing today and replacing those before I can move on. 


I’m aiming for a rectangular quilt, so the top and bottom will begin to see more stuff added as I work outwards. I have 21 various 6” orphan blocks to add, plus lots of 4” blocks, fabric squares, strips and any of those string blocks from above that I might need. This is the fun part!

When my friend Terri visited about a month ago for a socially-distanced lunch out on the patio, she brought some baby quilts she’d made for Quilts for Kids as well as some kennel quilts for donation to Best Friends. Kennel quilts! That set me on a frenzy to sew up all the cat fabric and “parts” that I’ve had laying around for over a year. I cut and sewed the fabrics into matching panels and cut batting scraps. Everything is paired up now and will become 19 finished kennel quilts of varying sizes. Twelve are sewn together and quilted, seven are still left to do.


A lot of these fabrics were 10” squares from a layer cake pre-cut pack, so that’s why there are strips of coordinating fabric added to the tops. You’ll notice that kennel quilts don’t have traditional binding. They’re made by sewing three layers (top, bottom, batting) together, right sides facing, then leaving an opening for turning. Once turned, the opening is sewn shut as a top-stitched seam around the entire perimeter. That way, the kitties (and small dogs) who use them aren’t tempted to tear off the binding. Then it’s quick work to just quilt the mat as desired.

Does anyone else make kennel quilts? I’d be happy to do a tutorial if there is enough interest or if my description isn’t clear. I imagine this is an easy way to make placemats, too. 

So that’s it for this week. I’ll be linking up to Scrappy Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

19 comments:

  1. Awww! The pink basket does look so neat and tidy! Cute finish.

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  2. Love the idea of kennel quilts... I haven't heard of that before.
    Such a sweet pink basket... I really want to try making these!

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  3. I would enjoy making kennel quilts - just need to find out if our local humane society takes them. Your pink blocks and Creature quilt are all so much fun and love seeing those scrappy baskets on your shelves, too!

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  4. Congrats on finishing your PINK scrap bin! You made SEW many lovely String Blocks, Cathy. Looking forward to the latest Creature Quilt in the series!

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  5. There is a lot of confusion here about the basket...I’m wondering why the basket is empty, Molly is worried that it is too small for a vintage kitten, and Buddy is worried it might be too small for his head.

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  6. The pink blocks look so much better than the green ones! I do make kennel quilts and I've been meaning to make some more, but my cutting mat and ironing board are jam packed with current projects, and there is no room to cut out the batting I picked up. The fabric front and backs have been cut for awhile and waiting patiently for me to clear a space for the batting. I guess it's high time to clear the decks.

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  7. I like your take on the basket construction! I’ll be working on my pink one this week! Fingers crossed! It is fun to see everyone’s interpretation! Can’t wait for your creature quilt to show itself!
    Glad your ear infection is better, no fun to be “under the weather!
    Have a great week! Keeping you both in my thoughts!

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  8. Sorry you were laid low by an ear infection. No fun at all. Your pink scraps are turning into wonderful blocks. I've been feeling pretty depressed with the discouraging daily news, the crazy weather (it was 38 degrees at 6:30 this morning), my garden full of weeds. I did finally start the quilting on my Centred sew along piece which needs to be finished this coming week. It was just too cold to work outside. I know this to shall pass, but I'm feeling real unmotivated right now.
    Pat

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  9. I'd like to know more about your kennel quilts. I've made some pet beds, more like a pillow, for a shelter here. Friends are saving scraps for the stuffing.

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    1. The kennel quilts I make range in size from 12x18” up to 18x20”, and are dictated by the size of my scraps. I layer front and back fabrics right sides together, then cut a piece of batting to match and add that on one side. Sew the 3 layers together with a quarter-inch seam all the way around, leaving a 4-5” opening for turning. Clip corners, turn and press. Stitch the opening closed as you top stitch the perimeter of the mat. Quilt as desired. They are so easy to assembly-line produce!

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  10. I'm sorry to hear you had an ear infection. That must have been worrying, not to mention uncomfortable! Your creature quilt is coming along nicely, even if you have to fiddle a bit with it. I'd love to make more kennel quilts, but it has been hard for me to find a new local recipient every time we move. Maybe I should just commit to one place and mail the quilts to them. Any suggestions? Maybe your local kennel/shelter?

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    1. Louise, Blogger didn’t send me your comment, so let’s talk privately about this as soon as I get the issue corrected. Again. It seems I’m having to redo my email notification in Blogger every couple weeks. Grrr...

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  11. An ear infection cannot be fun! Happy to hear it has passed!
    I would like to know more about the kennel quilts. There are a few rescue places close by me and I think it would be fun to send them some love! I'm loving your pink basket. That's just the thing I need to fill up my new shelves in the sewing room closet if I can ever get the "kids" to put them up for me. (I would do it myself, but the arthritis in my hands won't allow me to hold a drill for long!)
    The pattern on the "Creature" quilt is nice. The pinks are great!
    I'm hoping that all the unrest around the world will bring about some positive changes to bring absolute equality to everyone, and to stop racial bias in all aspects of authority. I am just plain sick of what has gone on!

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  12. Glad your ears are back to normal. That's no fun. And I love your pink quilt and basket. Over the past few years, I have been 'collecting' pink fabrics here and there, and now I have a bunch. It would be fun to make a pink quilt - my grandmother, back in the early 60's/50's, used solid pink as a mainstay in her quilting. It was a 'thing'. So it would be nice to make one to honor her that way (This thought just popped into my head, but I do believe I will follow through with it this year.)

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  13. I appreciated your summary of the year to date. Who could have imagined what was in store for 2020?! Hope you're feeling better and continue on in healthy mode. The pink scraps were a nice break from the world outside; I think the pink Creature quilt is going to be fun...maybe incorporate a flamingo into the name?

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    1. I should’ve thought of flamingo! But “Bubblegum Factory” popped into my head first. And truly, my quilts resemble a wad of bubblegum more than they resemble an elegant flamingo! xo

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  14. Glad your ears are back to normal. I have permanent hearing damage and ringing in my ears. I can’t imagine losing any more! Love your scrap basket!

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  15. Well it is an election year and a census year too. I am sure the best of the shenanigans are yet to be...and afraid so. Love the pinks. Pink basket is uber cute. Pinks make me happy. If you are looking for a name may I suggest Dolores Umbridge? She is so evil. Yes, very cruel of me.

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