May draws closer to the final days of the month and I have tuck away the green scrap bins. It seems that summer is suddenly upon us with the unofficial beginning as the US celebrates Memorial Day.
This celebration is not just a weekend of BBQs, swimming and parties. Memorial Day became an official holiday in 1868. It commemorates the end of the Civil War. Freed slaves and Union troops held the earliest Memorial Day celebrations in May 1865 – just a few weeks after the fighting ended. Union war hero General John A. Logan organized the first Memorial Day and designated May 30, 1868, as the first official celebration. You can learn many other bits of information if you follow the link above which will take you to a post from 4 years ago.
I used a good amount of scraps and chunks of green fabrics this month on three quilted projects - a table topper (or a tummy time quilt) and two crib sized quilts... by my estimation, at least 8 or 9 yards between the tops and backs of all of them. :)
Fractured Emeralds is my favorite, but the Sweet Pea quilt is a strong rival. I continued using the tropical print squares in my first green RSC project - the smallest of the 3 quilts. So far, the tropical squares have been paired with pink, yellow, (teal) and red... and now green. Blue is the only monthly color choice they sat out on. They probably will not make an appearance with orange or purple but would play very well with browns. What color is on tap for June???
After tucking away the green scraps I pulled out my daughter's UFO college t-shirt quilt from storage. I decided it was time to move it along. She had made larger blocks (18" and lots of them!) and it was going to be huge (king size) if I included them all on the front.
I made the executive decision to make it smaller and use some blocks on the back. To better incorporate several smaller blocks, I chose to applique them onto some of her "filler" blocks.
I will be playing hostess of this week's TGIFF party and plan to show it off in its full glory then. Be sure to come back!
In other "news"... I pulled out another vintage quilt from the cedar chest for use display on our guest bed. This Hearts & Flowers quilt was made by my Grandma T in the 1980s and quilted by a group of ladies in La Junta, CO. There is a "sister" quilt of this one is made in purple.
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After getting encouragement from Leanna at Not Afraid of Color, I signed up for the Making Zen workshop. I don't have any specific project or workshop that I am looking at, but in general, I have already been inspired to add some stitching to two pairs of jeans that needed a little attention and repair...
The first is one (on the right) I had added a flower to hide a small hole that had started. It then got ripped on the knee... I plan to add a second flower to mask that really bad repair that I made.
They since have required a little more attention on the other leg. My repair was much neater, and I refuse to let them go just yet... They happen to be one of my most favorite pair of jeans. Some variegated embroidery thread with blues, purples and a little green will create a nice spiral.
The second pair is another favorite that I am adding a few patches to. The patches will serve to cover over two crease worn holes on the side seams and will be stitched down with a buttonhole stitch.
In addition to all the activities in my studio, I had a lovely and well overdue in-person visit with our youngest daughter and celebrated a few HS graduations for "kids" that we have enjoyed watching grow up and become some wonderful young adults. Both grads have been given a gift certificate for a personal memory quilt. Not all grads that we have given gift certificates to have redeemed them. I am hopeful that these two will follow through.
It's now time for the feature from last week's party... Vicki at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting showed off a beautiful and cheerful red tulip table runner. Tulips are a sure sign that spring has arrived, and Vicki confirmed this fact with hers. That red gingham seals the deal and could brighten any coffee break!
She had a second table runner ready for applique too. Maybe she will be sharing the progress of that one this week.
As Memorial Day weekend is celebrated remember to offer gratitude to the families of fallen soldiers... All gave some - Some gave ALL.
Keep Piecing,
Melva
Linking with:
Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch
Saturday Sparks at Pieced Pastimes
You did great in May - finishing three quilts! And the repairs you're doing on your jeans are fun, too. My favorite pair of jeans are getting a little thin, too - I'll have to remember that I can fix them up with some embroidery and fabric scraps!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your finishes! I too had favorite jeans with holes in several places, I found some new ones last year so I let the old ones go just this past week. Thanks for the feature!
ReplyDeleteI love your Fractured Emeralds. I hope the grads with the quilt gift certificate will redeem their gifts. I love your Grandma's quilt, isn't that an interesting pattern - it's beautiful. I don't have a completed project but I'm entering my post anyway. ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the history of Memorial Day. For our family, it is a quiet day.
ReplyDeleteYour green quilts are so pretty and unique! Nice job! Good thinking on your daughter’s quilt! Oh! Your Grandma T’s quilts is lovely! Wow! It looks hand quilted. She was extremely talented! The jeans look fun! Good for you!
Those green quilts sure look lovely in the shade of that tree. Great job for May, getting them all done! Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2025/05/21/wednesday-wait-loss-434
You have three nice quilts using the RSC greens. And Hearts & Flowers is a true heirloom. Those are some really big blocks for the t-shirt quilt. I would have agreed with your executive decision. I just finished one for my husband. It is much simpler and I limited the number of shirts LOL.
ReplyDeleteSo many lovely quilts and projects Melva. Your repair job on this jeans looks like fun. Thank you for hosting us all 😁 Carol
ReplyDeleteInteresting history of Memorial Day beginnings! Love all the green quilts you made this month. Really cool jeans patch too! Love that as well as the Hearts and Flowers Quilt. What a treasure! Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings.
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