Activity While Under an Evacuation Level --Post 2

Martha's string top basted

After I pieced the back to Martha's top, I pin basted it. This time, I was careful to smooth the top so it should be flatter and easier for me to quilt than the Unity quilt project has been. 

Martha loved to sew pedal to the metal. Towards the end of her life, she still sewed pedal to the metal; but, she wasn't as accurate. With this top, there are some waves in the sashing and a couple of seams that came unstitched. I decided to leave the waves and quilt it as it is. I did fix the spots where the seams came unstitched.  

I do remember her lamenting about what a hard pattern it was to make. She saw the pattern in a quilt magazine under the heading of quick quilts. Her blocks look flat so I don't know what problems she encountered. She liked choosing the fabrics and starting a new project. She wasn't so excited about finishing the top. She hated the quilting part!

She worked on this project a long time and lamented often that there was NOTHING quick about this project! I do like the pattern. I may take some photos to make one another time because this pattern incorporates a variety of many scraps!

First flannel scrap top #1

My quilting plan is to stitch in the ditch with a monofilament thread and to add some texture with a cotton thread in the sashing. I do not plan to quilt this project to death as is my usual habit! I haven't picked a binding for this project. 

For the back, the floral print is a fabric that Martha would have liked because it has purple in it and it has a metallic thread. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough in the piece that I had for the entire back. The low volume print that borders it came from my mom. My mom will bring me a sack of fabric that she picks up from yard sales because they are "quilt" or cotton fabrics. My mom doesn't quilt. I was glad to be able to use these fabrics for the back. Using up and creating space feels great!

I wanted to stitch more with the Necchi sewing machine so I revisited the flannel tops that I had pieced from Martha's scraps last March at the beginning of COVID. I pulled the flannels that I had picked up from the August quilt guild fabric sale. There was a tan print fabric and a green fabric that worked well with the other fabrics. I added those borders and had a completed top! I also cut the binding which is the green flannel on the outer border.

Pieced back for flannel top #1

Next, I pieced the back for this top. I had a piece of fabric from my grandmother's stash. I remember that she made a cap sleeved blouse out of this fabric. Purple was her favorite color. Since she gave away most of what she made, I thought it fitting to make it part of the back. I've petted it often. It has been in the mix for a number of projects; but, not used. It was time! My grandmother donated a time and energy to many community projects so she would be happy her fabric would be going to warm someone somewhere.

That pink is a scabiosa or pincushion flower print. I had a small chunk that was about the width of my grandmother's fabric. I filled in with a green print that I purchased years ago. It's been on the back of some small projects and on the front of some too!

My quilting plan is to stitch in the ditch and to practice a design with rulers in the larger borders. I also plan to use the walking foot to quilt straight lines too!

That Necchi sure stitched this back nicely! I moved on to finish piecing the second flannel top. This was one needed to be a little wider. In that fabric sale, I picked up a piece of purple flannel which was a little darker than the flannel in

Finished scrap flannel top #2

Martha's stash. It worked fine in the top! My quilting plan after stitching in the ditch to anchor the pieces is to quilt a pattern using rulers in the wide purple section. Originally, I planned to quilt the subway tile pattern in that section. I still might and then decorate some of the tiles with texture. It is always good to have options!

In constructing this top, I stitched a lot of strings together! The strings are my favorite part of top. I had a piece of light blue fabric that was fairly large so that was my starting point for the pieced back. It was wide enough; but, it wasn't long enough for the back. I searched through my light blue scrap bits. I have few light blue scraps.

My eye caught on two pieces. The flower print was leftover from the fabric that I had used in my oldest daughter's first quilt that I started when she was in second grade and that I finished when she was in sixth grade! The other print was leftover, from a baby quilt that I made for my niece when she was born. This is the niece that married last month so that fabric also had been around for a long time. Into the back both went which made the back long enough! It was serendipity!

Pieced back for flannel top #2

I moved on to finishing flannel top number three. I didn't have scraps remaining that I felt would work into this top. I went to Joann Craft and Fabric store and purchased a yard of black flannel and a half yard of beige flannel.

I had a scrap of linen fabric that I loved the graphics. I pieced it into the top. I decided that this top would be my book club project. I had read "Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands" which is an autobiography of Mary Seacole which she wrote in 1857. A Jamaican/British nurse, businesswomen and healer, Mary wanted to join Florence Nightingale on the war front to support ill and injured troops.

Florence didn't want Mary as part of her team because Florence didn't feel that Mary had nursing training. Rather than tell Mary that, she stated there wasn't space. Mary forged on and built the British Hotel and served the soldiers of the Crimean War. For her venture, she used any scrap available to make into her building. I thought this piece represented her life. She wrote her autobiography at the urging of soldiers she served so that she would have an income after the war. It was in interesting read.

Finished scrap flannel top #3

The green half diagonal lines are triangles left from cutting the binding for top #1 and top #2. I had leftover rectangles of the strip that I cut into triangles to make the half square triangles in the design. 

I pieced the backing with a tree fabric that I purchased specifically for a book club quilt in 2008. With the Oregon fires, it seemed fitting to use it along with a chunk of red fabric to represent fire! Both fabrics also went well with the theme of war, muck, devastation and blood.

Again, my plan is to quilt with simple lines.The plain rectangles might end up with a design. The binding for this one is a batik which has been in my stash for years! I used the majority of it when I made a shirt for my brother either in college or the first years of my marriage. 

The reason I worked on these projects was because I had packed the projects that I was working on when we were on the evacuation list. Since these are all made with scraps, I'm linking to Oh Scrap!

Pieced back for scrap flannel top #3

Regarding COVID:

Worldwide: 36.4M confirmed; 24.1M recovered; 1.03M deaths 

United States: 7.36M confirmed; 209K deaths

Oregon: 34,163 confirmed; 571 deaths

Overall, cases are rising in some countries like France and the UK as well as the United States. Yesterday, the UK reported 13,000 new cases up from 7,000 new cases from the previous day. Friday, the United States reported 54,000 new cases which was the highest since reporting began. Nine hundred six people died in the U.S. from COVID on Friday. 

President Trump, his wife and other members of White House staffers have tested positive for COVID. Trump is currently in Walter Reed undergoing treatment. Oregon continues to have more than 300 new cases reported each day. The majority of the cases are younger people who are not following social distancing guidelines. 

Binding for flannel quilt #3

Regarding the protests: The protests continue; but it seems the activity isn't held nightly. Friday night protestors marched from Laurelhurst Park to the Penumbra Kelly Building which is private property. Brianna Taylor's aunt joined in the protest via video chat. Protestors threatened to burn the building down and they threw eggs at police. Police turned their lights on the protestors. The protestors used reflective shields to shine the lights into the officers' eyes. Four arrests were made.

Regarding the fires: This week, officials opened 200 miles of highways that had been closed because of the wildfires. Heavy rains could cause landslides in some areas causing road closures. Parts of highway 22 remain closed because crews are still working to remove trees and other debris that fell into the roadway. Officials have estimated that more than 480,000 trees still need to be removed. 

The Riverside fire (the fire that affected us) is about 54 percent contained. Homeowners returning to their devastated properties have begun clean up. Step one is to remove hazardous wastes. This removal is at no cost to property owners. Owners have until October 16 to sign the access agreement that allows these workers on the property. The head of FEMA toured Oregon this week. It is thought that since he has seen the devastation, help to remove the toxic debris will come faster. Our rainy season is coming and it would be sad for these toxins to seep into waterways.