Thriftiness X 3

 Thriftiness #1: I completed the latest three of the Barrister's Sow-Along blocks in my plaids from thrift store shirts. Usually I only catch up the day before Randy posts new blocks, so it feels good to have a little breathing room this time.

You can click here to see all of the blocks made to this point.

 I made these two patterns again using Christmas fabric.

Thriftiness #2: And remember this little quilt from the last post made from Kathie's trimmings from a recent top she made of 9-patches on point? I know I said I was only going to add muslin, but I just needed one more inch of green to make it work. Once I started sewing the HST together to make the sawtooth strips, they weren't going to be long enough, so I had to sprinkle in red HST to make it work. But I was just shy that one inch of green to make enough green HSTs to alternate with the reds. So one of the green HSTs is actually pieced together with a bit of green from my stash. Can you see it?  (The green you see in the lower left corner is what I was auditioning for the binding.)

This measures about 15x20".  DD#2 refers to this as my
"Cheddar Challenge" and I think the name will stick!

Thriftiness #3: Then I couldn't resist scooping up the leftover bits--picking out any seams that were left in the scraps and seeing what I could make out of them. This little four square sampler was the result. I had to add the muslin, six 1" red squares and the green from my stash.  The green was busier than I would have liked, but it maintained the brighter feel of the green Kathie had used, and I wanted to try and sustain that look. When this was made there were just trimmed off slivers and points remaining from the scraps Kathie had sent. I used it all and it was fun! I think I will call this little thing "Making the Best of It".

This is 7" square and each of the four little blocks
 finishes at 2 1/2 inches! Those are 1/2" finished squares
in that 25 patch!

All of this "being thrifty" has consumed what little sewing time I have had lately. I've now fallen behind by two blocks on my "Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown" BOM. That will be my next piecing goal. I am also getting some table runners quilted (and one of these days I will be brave enough to tackle a full bed quilt), so hopefully there will be a couple of finishes to show in my next post--but don't hold your breath.

Until then,

Janet O.