Tuesday, February 3, 2015

The Indian and the Cupboard... with a few scraps thrown in...

Over the past month, I have spent several hours a day packing up my kitchen for a long awaited renovation.  It has been full of the "finally found, the once forgotten & the wonders of why it was saved in the first place".  I have parted with what I could and have been packing up the rest...

I have a stunning antique welsh cabinet. We bought it from the homes previous owner 21 years ago. It has many drawers & shelves & cubbys. It has taken me several days to carefully pack it up. 

Last week, I found a few Star Wars figures in a drawer and joked my daughter had hid them from her brother. She promptly defended herself and said they were hers & she did no such thing. Over the next week, I found a matchbox car, Buzz Lightyear, & a few more figures. (Someone had been busy!)

Today, I removed the very last piece of china... ready to be wrapped and safely stored. 
That is when it suddenly "appeared".


Growing up, I read to my kids all the time. One of their favorite books and movies was "The Indian & The Cupboard". It is about a boy with a magical cupboard that brings toys placed within it to life overnight. 

So now I know... It was my son who believed in the magic of my cupboard way way back then.  Wouldn't you just love to believe in that kind of magic again. 




OK, Back to sewing blog stuff...

In between my packing up the kitchen & other household duties, I am sewing the blocks I need for Quiltcon. As I explained last month, 
I registered for a class with Lee Heinrich called
 "Off The Grid: Working with Alternative Layouts".
  

It requires 5-20 pre-made, completed blocks to be the main quilt design. After putting it off for months, I finally grabbed my bags of selvedges to create my fabric. I sorted them in to color families to create "color families".




I decided on varied 10" star blocks... & I have been piecing them ever since. 
Here are a few completed ones:







My primary sewing goal for February is to finish creating as many blocks as I can. The more I have to work with for the workshop,  the more creative the quilts design can be. (I can decide how many to use in this particular project at that time.)

QuiltCon is a few weeks off & preparations for it & the kitchen are likely to leave time for little else. It is a very exciting & busy month.
Somewhere in its middle, I need to complete my guild blocks of the month & create a valentines day project for my modern quilt group... 

Guess I better keep moving & stop wasting time typing!

5 comments:

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh gosh - all those stars are fantastic!!!

I love the indian in the closet - what fun - I bet that was a great memory

Handmade Whimzy said...

I love your selvedge stars! You are doing such a great job with them. Your quilt is going to be spectacular. You'll have to finish it right away - no leaving it as a WIP.
We'll have fun a Quiltcon - in spite of any obstacles.

Lucy said...

these aww stunning :) I love them... I work on selvedge saving and selvedge blocks from time to time :) Its always good to have ideas like this to think about. www.crazyforpurple.com

Sandy Panagos said...

I love your cupboard story. So fun finding things like that. Good luck with your goal. Your stars are great!

Melinda Kiefer said...

Love your selvage stars. Enjoy Quiltcon!