recycled quilt

For the few years Ive been gathering used/salvaged pieces of wood. Some parts I bought from the re-store, others came from building projects Ive seen near my house. Ive picked up some as "trash" and Ive picked up some in trade for loading dumpsters. There was a work site next door and I went aver and asked if I loaded a dumpster if I could pick what I wanted. I got some good stuff. - Here is the bed Ive been working on. The doors are about 36 inches wide. Im excited to cut off a few inches of the twin mattress and have a thin little canopy bed with a MASSIVE amount of hidden storage under it! See the doors? There is also a door as the flat part of the frame. So far, I have only bought screws. But I think I will have to buy some pieces to frame the top. We will see what happens. I could go look for more doors. The bed will stay in back of the couch and eventually it will get a top and nice curtains to block off the rest of the room. I usually have a housemate and thi

Ive been piecing together scraps without a foundation to make larger pieces for as long as I have been quilting.  I love how this sort of fabric building does not require a foundation - -and it also does not build the directional lines that traditional string piecing does. Im sure many people do this - but, here is how I do it.  I love making fabric because, I can use the fabric as new yardage and cut new sizes out of it.  See how these scraps remain scrappy and do not go together in strings to make a new directional pattern on the quilt top?  Here is a video on how I do it -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl9vRQCVbq8 (Im not happy that blogger.com will not find my youtube videos in the tools sections anymore - but youtube is loading all comments to google+)

Living small works great for me. I have a micro condo, 250 sf. Look for more posts about the small house goals and cheap living skills I'm trying to develop. One goal is trying to make myself eat more veggies. Not any specific food goal besides eating tons of veggies and less garbage. Dont look for chef made foods - not a foodie - and do not aspire to be. But, look for things that are simple and try to be high quality. Posting pics and trying to fine more people to chat with about small homes, living with less by choice, having more time to do the things I love. Every hour that I dont spend working for someone else I get to enjoy my own hobbies. Ive been eating better foods for about 8 days. (Today is November 8, 2013.) I am diabetic (type 2) and have been tired for the entire last year, when I was first diagnosed as diabetic. Medication did not really work and gave me unacceptable side effects. Anyhow - I got this stuff at the grocery store today. Im making steam

Before I bought the house - before the economy crashed and changed my financial and emotional life, I was a vegan. I was vegan for about 2 years. When I ate that sort of food I felt really great and was able to lose some weight. Here are some pics of the food I made last night. Simple. Steamed squash, mashed up. Vegan. It felt good to east some healthy food again. My friend bartered some handmade pottery for a quilt. I made the napkin. Homesteading interests me, as does tiny house living. I live in a small city. My goal is to post more about the things I do to try to make my small city life reflect beliefs I have. Nothing aims to be perfect. I only want to try.

I am working on a quilt that will have the 7 continents appliqued onto the top. The background is just a light blue. More pics to follow but, here are some process pics. I plan to have the continents bright colored.

Hi - I wanted to post a video that demonstrates a few of my quilty ideas. This video shows the Pfaff Grand Quilter sewing, we need more videos that show the machines actually doing their work. Finishing quilts with Straight Stitch quilting does a few things. It brings every sewing machine into the quilting game. Every machine does a Straight Stitch with no extra foot needed. Old machines are great - and cheap - and you can buy one and work it! The other great things about Straight Stitch quilting is, it finishes work in a fast utilitarian way. Utilitarian is beautiful. Remember the phrase "Form follows function?" You already know how to Straight Stitch - no need to learn Free Motion Quilting. I also think most quilt teachers advocate for much more basting than is necessary. My goal is never perfection - my goal is to enjoy the process. Quilt tops that are flat will quilt flat even if you only use a few basting pins. Quilt tops that are poorly pieced will be poorly pieced

A few years ago I made a few video tutorials that I posted on youtube. Here is one -  Piecing on my Singer 15-91 I am thinking about making some videos using old house keeping instructions to make products for my house. Could be hilarious. Could Stink. There is also a new sewing machine review to do. Im not telling what kind yet. Or maybe Ive talked about it before? Soon I will make a new video review of the machine.

Still making quilts from recycled fabrics and scraps. This one is made from string sets and some flip and sew piecing.  It is a king size quilt and was made as a commission. The background fabric is new, Kona fabric.