sew and tell

Sew & Tell ~ Maintenance and Self-Care from Melva Loves Scraps

As I wrote my stories for last week's Pieces of My Life series (blog post & newsletter) I mentioned the need for maintenance... roads require it or they become rough and, sometimes, impassable. Vehicles require maintenance...water systems need it... machines of all types need it.

I've been so busy with customers quilts (not to mention life) lately that the proper cleaning and maintenance of my sewing machines had been overlooked.

As you can see, my poor Lyric was in desperate need of attention. No wonder the stitches weren't quite "perfect"!

After a good cleaning of all the ...

added by Melva 22 hours, 20 minutes ago. under sew and tell

Sew & Tell ~ Vintage Revived from Melva Loves Scraps

A few pictures of some special details

Last week I added the final finishes to the Baby's First Year quilt - the label - and then looked around wondering what my next project could be. I had been "dreaming" of a vintage tablecloth that had been included in the box of baby clothes from my customer/friend and decided then and there, that was it.

She actually sent me two of them... this one and a larger pink one. (I'll show you that one later.)

As I decided on how to quilt it, I could nearly imagine the hours of ...

added by Melva 1 week, 1 day ago. under sew and tell

Remote Studio ~ Sew & Tell from Melva Loves Scraps

What a week... We have seen roads from Northern Colorado all the way to Seymour, TX... I'm not quite sure what day of the week is, other than the fact that my phone calendar tells me that it is time for Sew & Tell! LOL

I was honored to be invited to the Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild in Greeley and enjoyed presenting my "trunk" show of "Story Telling Quilts." What an amazing group of quilters. They were an attentive and well engaged bunch. The had some good questions and I was happy to answer them.

As I write this session ...

added by Melva 2 weeks, 2 days ago. under sew and tell

Weekly update: golf, "fringed" benefits, and project at random from With Strings Attached

The 24th annual Jack McElmurry/Jake Zappa Memorial Golf Tournament on Friday was a great success.

The weather was beautiful and all the golfers (36 foursomes, a full course) had a good time.

I helped with set up and brought Stevens to the banquet. It was great to see some long-time friends.

The old guys: Nate, Phil, Stevens

Jack was a charter member of the club and an avid golfer. He came up with the idea of the golf outing that has become our signature fundraiser. He passed away in 2003. His widow and their four daughters and their families ...

added by Nann 3 weeks, 3 days ago. under design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , oh scrap! , rotary club , scrap quilts , sew and tell , weekly update

Fall is in the Air ~ Sew & Tell ~ September 16, 2024 from Melva Loves Scraps

Welcome to the first fall session of Sew & Tell! Our maple trees are beautiful as they are beginning to turn red... The days are cooler, and the overnight temps continue to dip lower. And, though we have not had a freeze or any frost yet, I know it is just around the corner.

After our return from a far too quiet camping trip, I added the border on the Baby's First Year, twin-sized, top. I selected a primary color fabric for it... then, I was waiting for a fabric order of backing fabric to arrive, so I played with ...

added by Melva 3 weeks, 3 days ago. under sew and tell

Sew & Tell ~ Patriotic Finish from Melva Loves Scraps

Welcome back! I have two finishes... sorta.

One is the Baby's First Year quilt that is ready for borders. That counts as a finish, right??? Of course it does!

Once I got it to this point, I set it aside to quilt a customer's Quilt of Valor quilt. She sent it to me in hopes that it would be finished and ready to be returned to her via her son & his wife. Our friends, Jamie & Jack, whom we frequently visit in Seymour, TX were to come visit us. Sadly, their plans were hijacked by an emergency.

Alas, I ...

added by Melva 4 weeks ago. under sew and tell

Sew & Tell ~ September 2, 2024 from Melva Loves Scraps

We have turned the pages of the calendar to yet another month! Here we are in September... I call it the "yellow" season. My Grandma Teegarden's favorite color was yellow, and she loved going for a drive in the fall to see the turning of the leaves. She marveled at the amount of yellow... not just the aspen trees, but so many of the grasses, small bushes and flowers are yellow as well. She would mention multiple times, "It's all yellow." LOL She may have believed that the season of autumn was meant just for her ;)

Bed head ...

added by Melva 1 month, 1 week ago. under sew and tell

Weekly update: HLC complete, stash report, and reading from With Strings Attached

Rabbit, rabbit! Welcome to September. I caught this cottontail bounding across the path at Lyons Woods last week.

Hike Lake County 2024 is a wrap! They allow a wild card, meaning a 2-mile hike at any forest preserve not on the list. On Friday afternoon we went to Van Patten Woods which is close to home. To change things up I went in the opposite direction from usual.

There were many monarchs and other butterflies flitting about. One of them stayed still long enough for a photo.

Saturday morning we went to Ryerson. It's 27 miles away and I ...

added by Nann 1 month, 1 week ago. under design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , neckties , oh scrap! , reading , sew and tell , stash report , weekly update

New Week = New Quilt~ Sew & Tell from Melva Loves Scraps

Man-o-man, oh-man, the weeks are flying by! Everyone seems to be surprised that it is late August... So, at least I am not alone!

After returning home I needed to sort through all of my sewing stuff and get my mind square with the Camping Journal Blocks that I pieced on the road. I was able to get a small section ready to add to the borders of the quilt (sans the embroidery on the signs). Here's a quick peek at what I have ready to add...

It was a good project to focus on for a few hours ...

added by Melva 1 month, 1 week ago. under sew and tell

Weekly update: hikes, Equality Day, rummage sale, a bunch of blocks, and 44 years! from With Strings Attached

We checked three more forest preserves off the Hike Lake County list. Wednesday: Lake Carina is a reclaimed gravel pit quarried to build the Illinois Tollway, traffic on which can be heard though not seen from the one-mile trail around the lake. Friday: Capt. Daniel Wright Woods and Half Day are adjacent but divided by the Des Plaines River. Though there's a bridge to cross the river it wasn't on the marked trails this year so we drove from one to the other.

Top: water lilies at Half Day, thistles, Jack-in-the-Pulpit seed bundle. Middle: burning bush seeds, river ...

added by Nann 1 month, 1 week ago. under charity quilts , design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , lake county women's coalition , oh scrap! , rummage sale , sew and tell , weekly update

Christa’s Soapbox – Making Soul-Fulfilling Work from Christa Quilts

I’ve been sitting on a feeling for awhile that I need to change up a little bit of what I’ve been doing. I will still be doing all the fun things: designing, writing, traveling & teaching, but I’m starting to make space to work on some more “experimental” ideas.

A current “What If?” Idea in progress…

A few years ago I started getting an itch to explore new concepts and ideas in my quilting work. As a full time professional quilter, that can cause somewhat of a conflict because most everything I currently make is for commercial consumption ...

added by Christa 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under christa's quilts , fabric , machine quilting , sew and tell , soapbox (Comments)

Weekly update: three hikes and a finish from With Strings Attached

I planned to do the Hike Lake County trails systematically, starting with those farthest away and ending with those closer to home. That didn't quite work out -- the most-farthest is yet to come -- but we did go to the next-to-farthest as well as two others sort-of-far. Two on Friday: Cuba Marsh and Heron Creek.

Ripe blackberries at Heron Creek. I left my cap in the car. If I'd had it I would have harvested more than a handful.

One on Sunday: Fourth Lake/Millennium Trail. This was something of a cop-out because it was mostly an asphalt path ...

added by Nann 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under batik quilt , design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , oh scrap! , sew and tell , weekly update

Secret Sewing Reveal ~ Sew & Tell from Melva Loves Scraps

It's official! The 50th Anniversary quilt has been gifted and I can finally give a full reveal.

This quilt began with inspiration from Amanda's Westwood Acres Fabric and her Golden Afternoon quilt. I would have loved to have purchased a kit or pattern from her, but neither were available.

Since I needed to come up my own design, my intent was never to copy her pattern or quilt exactly so I didn't spend a great deal of time staring at her picture. I knew there were stars and an Irish chains. I also knew I needed the ...

added by Melva 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under sew and tell

Weekly update: beautiful weather from With Strings Attached

The weather was glorious this weekend -- temperatures in the mid-70's, low humidity, and lots of sunshine. We went out both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

These are scarlet lobelia or cardinal flower. I've found them in only two forest preserves (here, Sedge Meadow Canoe Launch) though surely they grow in others. The red is really red!

We've visited Volo Bog when we've had enough time for the 26 not-very-direct-mile-drive. Today was one of those days. I hiked the entire trail -- 2.75 miles -- which took so long that I didn't take the boardwalk through the bog ...

added by Nann 1 month, 4 weeks ago. under design wall monday , lake county forest preserves , oh scrap! , sew and tell , volo bog , weekly update

Sew & Tell ~ Pieces of My Life Section II from Melva Loves Scraps

Welcome! I am still working on the secret sewing project sooooo....

This week's show for Sew & Tell is the layout of Section II of the Pieces of My Life Sew Along. All four sections of the quilt are the same, just rotated... (no, I did not forget how to count.... Remember, block #11 ~ Solitaire Diamond ~ has been released, but will be used in Section III... )

Cutting instructions are the same as Section I:

2 - 2-1/2" x 12-1/2" strips

2 - 2-1/2" x 18-1/2" strips

2 - 3-1/2" x 12-1/2" strips

Layout your blocks and ...

added by Melva 1 month, 4 weeks ago. under pieces of my life , sew and tell

Secret Sewing Sew & Tell from Melva Loves Scraps

Welcome! This is my weekly Sew & Tell party... where the rules are made up and the points don't matter. LOL... Did anyone else ever watch "Whose Line is it Anyway?" It was such a silly and hilarious (and sometimes inappropriate) show.

I've made a quick recovery from last week's "under the weather" moment. There is nothing like experience to tell you when you need some medication... Rx was started and I sat as I binged the Olympics. This helped me to pass the time as I rested without feeling antsy about getting back to my studio. By ...

added by Melva 2 months ago. under sew and tell

Weekly update: goal #1, some experimenting, and some good books from With Strings Attached

Wonderful wildflowers at Ethel's Woods Forest Preserve this afternoon.

Clockwise from upper right: coneflower, teasel, false sunflower, rattlesnake master, ironweed, and a mass of monarda and more false sunflowers.

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I received notice that one of my quilts was accepted into the Wisconsin Quilt Expo!

The quilt is named Antipodes because the word means "polar opposite." For the British that was Australia and southeast Asia -- fitting for the Australian prints and Indonesian batiks that I used.

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In the studio: I tried again to make a container for Wonder Clips. (See Friday's post for the less-successful first try.) This time ...

added by Nann 2 months ago. under oh scrap! , reading , scrap , sew and tell , weekly update , wildflowers

Sew & Tell ~ Under the Weather from Melva Loves Scraps

Welcome to Sew & Tell... the that we gather each week to share the progress of all things quilty as well as a little bit of life.

The craziness of the past 6+ weeks has finally caught up with me... When you refuse to listen to your body, your body will eventually demand some attention. For that reason I am keeping this short. Before succumbing completely, I did get the Tumbling Blocks quilt finished.

All in all, it looks great! I'll get some better "glamor shots" on another day...

Join the party as I rest up until my next fabric ...

added by Melva 2 months, 1 week ago. under sew and tell

Weekly update: log cabins + reading from With Strings Attached

Some of this week's wildflowers and other flora:

Top: smooth false foxglove, chokecherry, sand cherry. Middle: few-leaf sunflower, limestone calamine (teeny flowers!), white flat-topped goldenrod (new one to me). Bottom: sky-blue aster, mountain mint (it does smell minty when it's crushed), whole leaf rosinweed.

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We watched the first season of Joe Pickett. We've both enjoyed the series by C. J. Box. This season combined two of the books. They took other liberties, not the least of which was that Nate Romanowski was cast as a Black man (in the books he's a blond) and Mary Beth ...

added by Nann 2 months, 1 week ago. under oh scrap! , reading , scrap quilts , sew and tell , weekly update , wildflowers

Weekly update: it's a flimsy + a new start from With Strings Attached

After last week's storms it's easy to see why the French explorers called the river "eau pleine," or "water-full." Eau pleine became Des Plaines (a river and a city) and O'Plaine (a road).

I ignored the sign and walked through the puddle on my heels.

That was Saturday's walk at the Des Plaines River Canoe Launch. Sunday was closer to home at Sand Pond.

Clockwise from left: coneflower + monarda, mullein, pinnate coneflower, nightshade, betony, primrose, swamp milkweekd. Center: American germander.

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Our friend Mary Lou invited me to harvest a second batch of rhubarb. Our only freezer ...

added by Nann 2 months, 2 weeks ago. under design wall monday , log cabin , oh scrap! , scrap quilts , sew and tell , weekly update , wildflowers

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