Repurposing

Long ago I made a liberated log cabin quilt named Waste Not, Want Not.  Sadly, many of the batiks faded terribly and I used much of the quilt to make placemats plus the long section with my name into a runner.  The placemats have continued to fade but I have repurposed the one last survivor (shown here turned to the reverse side) into a utility mat for one of my Raskog cart trays.  

Another well-used placemat from younger son's apartment days was turned into a utility mat for his Raskog cart.  He uses this in the cart next to his meditation table to remind him to watch out for "squirrel brain" also known as "monkey mind."

This was a runner from his apartment.  The runner's length allowed me to make two utility mats. 

Both of us like the reverse side better especially since it is far less faded and visually more interesting.

When I played along with Lori from Humble Quilts' Quilts Madder sew-along I made a small quilt that didn't follow her directions much at all.  That little quilt, which no longer had a place to hang, has been trimmed down and is now a utility mat.  

When Vicki hosted her Drunkard's Path challenge in 2014, I made a runner that has been used on our cedar chest.  With the new seasonal mats, this one no longer had a purpose so it, too, has become a set of   two utility mats.

Two different bindings, but both mats came from that same runner.

This is the reverse side, which is also a fun look in the studio.

A few years back, I made a series of pillow covers for Autumn.  The tree covers have been donated to a good cause.  I turned two of the square-patch covers into utility mats.  The others were too small to make cart mats so they have been cut into two sets of mats to be used on younger son's bathroom vanity under his mug, soap bottle, mouthwash bottle, etc.  (the binding still needs to be finished on those sets).

The runner to cover my computer keyboard has been replaced with a runner made long ago by a friend that fits the situation better.  So this reversible runner has been repurposed into two utility mats.

In November 2019, the GREEN 2020 challenge was issued for the 2020 Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Arts Show.  I made two 24" square quilts but the show was cancelled due to COVID.  The quilts had no other purpose so . . . 

Both of them have been cut down to yield four utility mats.  Now they have a purpose in life.

The off cuts from the two GREEN quilts were turned into a third set of small mats for younger son's bathroom.

And lastly, a "fall-ish" runner for the cedar chest (click here - near the end of the post) that no longer has a purpose so it was cut down into two utility mats.  This is one side . . . 

And this is the reverse side.

* * *

Yes, I made a lot of mats but I have several Raskog carts in the studio plus we have three in other parts of the house.  Not all of them have mats in their trays but the ones that needed a mat now have one.  Plus all those random unused quilted items are no longer taking up storage space.  Another benefit - I used up a LOT of leftover binding (no new binding was created for this project).  

This has been a win-win on every level.

Quiltdivajulie

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“That’s the thing about magic; you’ve got to know it’s still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.”

Charles de Lint

GREEN 2020

Viridis 

24" x 24"

Traditional foundation pieced strings

Simple diagonal-ish unmarked free motion 

quilting lines with Glide thread in Kiwi.

Reverdie

24" x 24"

Liberated strings foundation pieced

onto varying size blocks

Quilted with liberated unmarked free motion all over fans

using Glide thread in a dark green.

In the words of the Sesame Street learning song,

"one of these things is NOT like the other . . . "

Such a great way to show that there's

more than one way to use strings in a quilt.

* * *

These are my entries for GREEN 2020,

the annual challenge for this coming November's

Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Art Show.

Hopefully conditions will allow the show to be held . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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“Stories move in circle. They don't move in straight lines. 
So it helps if you listen in circles.”
Deena Metzger

Introducing Reverdie

While I wait for  my shoulder and neck to recover

I pulled out the blocks for Viridis,

my WIP for this fall's GREEN challenge

at the Davies Manor Quilt Show.

Here they are on the design wall

along with yardage I chose for the backing.

I've been reading the posts on Instagram

from Jill Fisher (aka Pie Lady Quilts) 

and this particular quilt of hers named "Over There" 

totally grabbed my attention.

Hmmm . . . I'm already making 

a traditional string quilt for the challenge.

What if I make a second string quilt

but make it in a seriously liberated manner?!?

I made a quick sketch and came up with 

these not-all-the-same block shapes.

I'll use their reverse side as foundations

since this will be a 24" x 24" wall quilt

and I won't mind the extra weight.

I rummaged around and found the last trimmings from

the Tula Pink backing of Awaken for the accent strips.

Next I pulled out a selection of greens for the strings.

(note: since the March kitchen table quilt - Bonheur - 

is still waiting to be quilted, we've been using 

Awaken's reverse side on our table this month)

I pulled the Laurel Burch piece (lower left)

 from the pile and use it for the liberated snowballed corners.

I've named this quilt-in-making Reverdie

which essentially means the re-greening

that happens each spring.

Here's a better explanation from page 65 

in the book GREEN by Michael Pastoureau.

Finally I pulled out another piece of yardage

to use for the backing.

Oh, yes - this one will be FUN!

Quiltdivajulie

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“Who else wants to shut off their phone, drive to the beach, forget everything, and just listen to the sound of the waves crashing?”
Unknown