Melva Loves Scraps: Blog Hop

Showing posts with label Blog Hop. Show all posts

Monday, October 20, 2025

Out of the Dark Blog Hop

BOO!

Oh, I hope I didn't scare you.

Welcome to Melva Loves Scraps and the Out of the Dark Halloween Blog Hop.

Halloween has never been my favorite holiday... I'm more of a fall season girl with a love for cinnamon and spices and all of the nice-ness and the warmth that come with them... from late August to the end of November... with apples and pumpkins and the delicious goodies that can come from them.

I have seen the book The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt for a few years and have considered buying it for the granddaughters, but it was always too late. This year I started doing some early Christmas shopping and grabbed it. No... it is NOT Christmas, but I decided to send it to them for Halloween.

As I read through the book, I thought it would be fun to make some placemats that matched the book... something they could use all month leading up to Halloween.

I pulled out my scrap bins (Unmade Quilt bins) I started pulling fabrics that were similar to those used in the quilt that was a ghost. I used the inside of the book as inspiration.

With one laid out, Dave suggested that each of the placemats be a different color. I selected three other colors. We have a grandson as well as the 3 girls, but he is a 16-year old now and probably not really interested in the book, but he can have a placemat, so he is included. ;) I used 2-1/2" squares, BTW, making the placemats finish at 12x18. A perfect size for a placemat!

I sewed the blocks together to make rows and then used quilt as you go to join the rows together... I quilted the vertical lines and then added the faces.

Here's the book description...

Ghosts are supposed to be sheets, light as air and able to whirl and twirl and float and soar. But the little ghost who is a quilt can't whirl or twirl at all, and when he flies, he gets very hot.

He doesn't know why he's a quilt. His parents are both sheets, and so are all of his friends. (His great-grandmother was a lace curtain, but that doesn't really help cheer him up.) He feels sad and left out when his friends are zooming around and he can't keep up.

But one Halloween, everything changes. The little ghost who was a quilt has an experience that no other ghost could have, an experience that only happens because he's a quilt . . . and he realizes that it's OK to be different.

The author has a new book about the little ghost quilt... The Little Ghost Quilt's Winter Surprise. Yep! I bought it too. The youngest of the girls will be receiving a book collection as her Christmas gift and this will be in her gift, along with the Woman Who Swallowed a Fly. I love the classic children's books, and I have made certain that the grands have a good collection of them.

If I had to choose a completely different career... I'd like to be a librarian in the children's department. I loved taking my own girls to Storytime at the library and the fun crafts and activities that went along with the stories. Ok... now I am getting weepy and nostalgic, so I better go.

But before you go... Tell me...

Do you have a favorite Halloween storybook?

What is your favorite children's story?

I'd love to hear from you!

Be sure to visit the rest of the bloggers that hopping with me. The full list is below.

Keep Piecing & Happy Fall Y'all!

Melva

Linking with:

Monday Oct 20

Tuesday Oct 21

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Wednesday Oct 22

Quilting Between the Rails (on Facebook)

Thursday Oct 23

Friday, July 25, 2025

Christmas in July - Pieces from the Past Christmas

The Christmas in July blog hop continues!

You can find a complete list of participants at the bottom of the page

(and my day 1 project here)

What follows is an excerpt from the Pieces from the Past Sew Along series that I hosted 5 years ago... and a bonus share for the Christmas in July blog hop. It is a sweet little ornament that I designed by modifying the Corner Star pattern.

The series features letters from former German POWs that were held at a prison camp near Trinidad, CO. Several of the prisoners were allowed to work on local farms. After the first men worked on my Grandparents' farm east of Camp Trinidad, they discovered that my grandparents were fluent in German (as Germans from Russia that moved to the US as children).

You can learn more about the series by following the link above.

*********************************

I read an accounting of a Christmas celebration at Camp Trinidad for the German POWs and how the tables were decorated with small wooden stars that held candles. I wondered about the humble celebration the men had here in Trinidad, as well as how they may have celebrated after their return home.

Written in 1943... "First Christmas day as POW. We spent Christmas evening with beer and wine, coffee, tea and cookies. We met in groups, and games, conversation and when available, the music heard on the radio helped us overcome our melancholic mood, as well as longing and nostalgia. We had a small Christmas tree in our room. A truck took us to a forest and under the supervision of a forest official we were able to cut down a few trees and take them with us. . . We also gave presents to each other."

"The Führer sent $9,000 to Camp Trinidad, with $2,250 for each section of the camp, and the Pope gave 2 Swiss francs per POW. We have not been forgotten."

The population of Camp Trinidad never reached more than 3,900, though it had been built to hold up to 5,000 men. The Führer's gift was approximately $2.30 for each prisoner. Adjusted for inflation, $2.30 in 1943 is equal to $34.97 in 2020. That is a nice little gift.

And the Pope's 2 francs equaled about .47 cents (US dollars) which is equal to $7.07 in today's US dollar values.

Indeed, these men were not forgotten while at Camp Trinidad!

In the Mini Corner Star pattern you will find two sizes of the block - 3 inches and 4 inches. Be sure that when you print the pattern pages, you are printing at 100% and that the 1 inch test square is accurate. When making the 4" block you will want to trim the seam allowance after it is pieced to 1/4" (as indicated by the arrows in the picture).

Also, please note that the side (rectangular) pieces will be a little long. Piece #4 on both rectangular sections with the star points will overhang the square body of the block. (shown in picture)

Press open and trim to the appropriate size - 3-1/2" or 4-1/2".

If you happen to make any of the mini blocks I'd love to see them! Use the hashtag #piecesfromthepastsewalong or tag me on instagram @melvalovesscraps or post on my facebook page.

Merry Christmas! (in July) ;)

Keep Piecing,

Melva

July 24

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps ~ hostess

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts

Carol Andrews at Quilt Schmilt

July 25

Vivian at Bronx Quilter

Gail at Quilting Gail

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal

Thursday, July 24, 2025

Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to Melva Loves Scraps and the Christmas in July blog hop!

It would seem that we are never really happy about what season of the year it its... in the winter, many long for the warm summer and all that goes with it... gardening, vacations, playing in or near a body of water.... a time that many layers of clothing are not required to be comfortable outside and windows can be open wide, allowing the scents of outside waft in.

And in the summer, many long for winter and cooler temps... because the summer heat (and humidity) can be unbearable. There is just something so comforting when there is a warm, cozy fire in the fireplace. Winter is also a season of many holidays and family gatherings... such as Christmas!

So, in the midst of the summer heat, as Dave and I were longing for the 90+ degree temperatures to drop, we pulled out one of our favorite "winter time" movies - New in Town. It is a story that takes place mostly during a Minnesota winter. It stars Renee Zellweger and Harry Conick, Jr. and we find it hilarious. We have most of the lines memorized, but that just adds to the humor.

There is a Christmas scene in New in Town when all of the residents go gather for caroling around the town tree. It's a time that the two lead characters begin to acknowledge their attraction to each other. It's very sweet...

As I pondered a small project for this blog hop, I wanted to have something "Christmas", but not overly Christmas... something that could be used throughout the year.

Since I have been playing with scraps lately, particularly "strings", I stitched up four trees using some Christmas scraps. They offer a small pop of red, but not too much for my taste.

In my Christmas scraps I found a neutral print that featured the gifts from the song Twelve Days of Christmas. I was excited to discover that there was enough for a narrow sashing strip between the tree blocks.

The scrappy piano key border was made 2-1/2" wide with HST cornerstones and offers a nice frame for the mini.

I've written up a pattern for these trees... you can find the link near the bottom of this story.

The quilting is simple straight lines, a chevron pattern, following the shape of the trees. I didn't stress over having them perfectly spaced, most are 1/2-inch apart, some a little closer, others a tad bit more like 3/4".

I auditioned several different border options, but the piano keys were all that those little trees wanted. My original plan was to treat it as a round robin quilt with each border making it a little larger. Try as I may, this mini quilt did not want to grow larger! The trees as the center of the star isn't bad... but they were just too small to be the focal point. The "star" wanted to be the STAR! The angled strip border simply screamed NO to me.

On the back of my mini quilt I used a portion of a panel that features gingerbread folks... which inspired me to make some gingersnap cookies to be included in my photos. :) The recipe is gluten free and quite yummy and comes from Homestead on the Hill's Holiday Treats book. I did a big-stitch binding finish which is printed with holly leaves and red cardinals... I included one of my personalized tags.

I'm not very good at doing cut-out sugar cookies... the dough always gives me fits when I am rolling it out... the ginger snaps were a snap to make, and more my style. ;)

I've taken up enough of your time. There are several other bloggers that have joined me for this Christmas in July hop. Be sure to visit them! There are a few prizes available! BUT, consider it a scavenger hunt to discover which quilters are doing them. 😉 Here's the link for my String Christmas Trees Pattern.

The pattern/tutorial is listed for $2.00 but you can get it for FREE by using the Code: XMASNJULYFREE. The code is only valid for the duration of this blog hop ~ July 24-27, 2025.

Before you go...

What are your favorite holiday cookies to make?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you.

Merry Christmas (in July) & Keep Piecing,

Melva

July 24

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps ~ hostess

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts

Carol Andrews at Quilt Schmilt

July 25

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps ~ hostess

Vivian at Bronx Quilter

Gail at Quilting Gail

Linda at Texas Quilt Gal

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Christmas in July Blog Hop Announcement

Sign-ups are open for my Christmas in July Blog Hop.

The hop will be held July 24-27. The ~~rules~~ requirements for participation are easy... share a Christmas project!

It could be a Christmas gift or a Christmas themed project.

Large or small... simple or more challenging...

Be Creative! Have FUN!

Maybe you want to include a special holiday recipe? Feel free!

Want to offer a give-away? Feel free!

My favorite Christmas in July story can be found here.

Send me an e-mail at

MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com

letting me know you want to be on the "official" list.

If there are enough interested, I'll split the list up into smaller groups for each day.

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Get On Board with Sewing Blog Hop ~ Day 5

Welcome to the Get On Board with Sewing blog hop! This hop is celebrating National Sewing Month... while it would seem to be a US thing, being "National", Brenda and I have chosen to include bloggers from around the world... making it an INTERNational event.

One would think that as one of the organizers for the National Sewing Month Blog Hop, I would have had a project in mind months ago! But to no avail... I did not. I knew that I had some fabric that I wanted to feature, but no specific project was in mind.

As the time for the hop grew closer, I had been making some colored pencil rolls to be included in a few Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. (You'll notice some tropical print on the inside of the opened roll.)

As I considered other items that could be included in a few boxes for girls, I cleared some cobwebs from my memory and remembered how I had put together a good number of "quilt kits". In 2019, I had also made some needle cases to be included with the quilt kits... I fully intended to make a few more to accompany the kits this year, but I simply ran out of time. BUT, I did make a trip to the local Dollar Tree and purchased sewing/mending kits and scissors... so we're all good.

What better way to celebrate National Sewing Month than by creating a kit to encourage and teach others to begin sewing? I learned how to sew at about age 9 in 4-H. My Mom knew how to sew, quite well actually, and signed me up so that she wouldn't have to teach me... her plan backfired when the 4-H sewing teacher told her that she didn't have time to teach all of the girls that had signed up and "since you know how to sew, you can do it." Well... okay then.

One of my first projects was an apron. I learned embroidery at the same time... I still have it and my girls loved to play "restrump" when they were little. You can see that it is stained, but that means that their clothes were saved protected. They would don the apron and with a pad of paper and pen in hand, go around asking whoever was around "what would you like to order?" As they grew a little older and were able to prepare lunch or breakfast for everyone, they would only have specific items on their "menu". Items such as quesadillas or English muffin pizzas, grilled cheese & soup or breakfast sandwiches. Such fun memories!

Using the tropical print pre-cut squares from my stash I put together some kits. The squares were souvenir gifts from the girls when they were in Girl Scouts and made a trip to Hawaii... over 15 years ago! Tell me again, where has the time gone???

Most of the kits include three-colors, one is only two-colors and one is a scrappy layout. I included some simple diagrams as instructions. If you look closely, I colored the diagram to indicate which fabrics go where... OR they can certainly use whatever layout their little heart desires. I am also well aware of the fact that the recipient may not want to make any sort of quilt at all. They may choose to use the fabric to patch or repair some of their clothing! My hope and desire is that the receiver of a kit will be excited about it... I mean, I know I would be!

I also thought that perhaps they could join their squares together to create a sort of a "broom stick skirt". The fabric could be used to patch a pair of pants, or create a pocket on an existing dress or skirt... Whatever the young girls make with the squares I hope that they know that they were kitted with blessings from Above and selected with love.

Would YOU be excited to see this included in a gift box? Would you make a quilt top? Or would you use them for a different project?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Be sure to visit all of the blogs to share the love! Today features...

Wednesday, September 7

Tammy Tamarinis

Leah Quilted Delights

Patricia Faith, Trust & Breast Cancer

Melva Melva Loves Scraps ~ you're here :)

Thursday, September 1

Anorina Samelia’s Mum

Brenda Songbird Designs

Cheree The Morning Latte

Denise For the Love of Geese

Friday, September 2

Karen Karen’s Korner

Nancy Grace and Peace Quilting

Sharon & Susan Ms P Designs USA

Nina-Marie Creations – Quilts, Art, Whatever

Monday, September 5

Karrin Karrin’s Crazy World

Linda Texas Quilt Gal

Yvonne Quilting Jet

Emily The Darling Dogwood

Tuesday, September 6

Gail Quilting Gail

Joy Days Filled with Joy

Melisa Pinker ‘n’ Punkin Quilting & Stitching

Carol Quilt Schmilt

Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter for the mega prize package! These are the prizes included:

$25 gift certificate from Rebecca Page,

$25 gift certificate from Gardensong Fabrics,

Fabulously Fast Quilts book by Amy Smart, donated by Patrcia at Faith, Trust & Breast Cancer

Crib size Quilter’s Dream Dream Angel batt donated by Brenda at Songbird Designs

Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail digital pattern and a spool of Aurifil thread donated by 🙋

Three stash builder bundles donated by Island Batik

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

To Do... Ta-dah... Done!

Just a quick post to check in and state that last week's list was successfully scratched through!

✔ ~~Finish Memory bear~~ As a matter of fact, this little guy got to go camping with us since there is a chance my friend will meet us at the campground to pick it up. ❤

✔ ~~Get the baby's first quilt top at least to point of being ready for borders.~~ You can see that picture on the Sew & Tell post...

✔ ~~Finish final details of Row 8 in the Pieces in the Garden Sew Along story and pattern release.~~ The Wedding Day Ring block is available at no cost. Admittedly, this particular row has many small pieces. It may be easiest to take this block in smaller "bites". Maybe prepare all of the square in square units, and then work on the remainder of the pieces. But don't get discouraged! Stick with it... I know you can.

Forrest & Tressie stuck together for nearly 70 years of marriage... through all of the ups and downs of life... and all of the anniversary celebrations that they had. You can read about all of the details by following the link above.

✔ ~~Finish my National Sewing Month blog hop project~~. There are less than two weeks until this event kicks off! Here's a sneak peek at the blog hop line up...

Thursday, September 1

Anorina Samelia’s Mum

Brenda Songbird Designs

Cheree The Morning Latte

Denise For the Love of Geese

Friday, September 2

Karen Karen’s Korner

Nancy Grace and Peace Quilting

Sharon & Susan Ms P Designs USA

Nina-Marie Creations – Quilts, Art, Whatever

Monday, September 5

Karrin Karrin’s Crazy World

Linda Texas Quilt Gal

Yvonne Quilting Jet

Emily The Darling Dogwood

Tuesday, September 6

Gail Quilting Gail

Joy Days Filled with Joy

Melisa Pinker ‘n’ Punkin Quilting & Stitching

Carol Quilt Schmilt

Wednesday, September 7

Melva Melva Loves Scraps

Tammy Tamarinis

Leah Quilted Delights

Patricia Faith, Trust & Breast Cancer

I hope that you are as excited as I am about celebrating National Sewing Month! I hope to see you celebrating with me on Instagram in addition to the blog hop. There will be weekly prize drawings for those that do! It's something you can even start planning for now!

Each day you simply need to share a picture that relates to the number of the day...

Day one could be one thimble, or one pair of scissors, or one seam ripper...

Day 2 could be two pins/needles, or two pairs of scissors...

Day 13 could be 13 spools of thread.

Use the following hashtags so that we can be sure to include you in the prize drawings...

#NationalSewingMonth2022 #NationalSewingMonth2022Day1 (change the day’s date each day, ie. #NationalSewingMonth2022Day2, #NationalSewingMonth2022Day3, etc.)

See you in a few days...

Melva

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Texas Quilt Gal
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch
Put Your Foot Down at True Blue Quilts
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Virtual Cookie Exchange Blog Hop

Welcome Melva Loves Scraps and to the final day of the Virtual Cookie Exchange hosted by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt! If you haven't had a chance to see all of the goodies (recipes) offered by the other bloggers you will want to check out the list of participants at the end of the post.

Who doesn't love Christmas Cookies?!? Every individual has a favorite and I am here to share one of our family favorites. It was mentioned in last year's post... Magic Cookie Bars. The yummy sweetness of the graham cracker crust, sweetened condensed milk, nuts, chocolate candies and coconut is difficult to resist!

But with the dietary restrictions put in place to improve my thyroid health I have not been able to have them. SO SAD!

I did find a paleo-GF recipe for them that I tried after the virtual cookie exchange last year. They did, in fact, turn out very tasty and even passed the "inspection" of the resident chief cookie monster - he goes by the name of Dave. Here you go!

GF-Paleo Magic Cookie Bars

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUST

3/4 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 pinch fine sea salt

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup coconut oil,, melted and slightly cooled

1 large egg white

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS

1 cup dark chocolate chips, or chunks, divided, plus more for garnish

3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus more for garnish

2/3 cup homemade caramel sauce**

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8"x8" square baking pan and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the "s" blade, pulse the almond flour, coconut flour, and salt several times, until combined.

Add the maple syrup, oil, and egg white and process until the dough comes together in a ball.

Press into the bottom of the prepared pan to form a firmly-packed layer.

Cover with parchment paper, then weigh the parchment down with rice, dry beans, or pie weights.

Bake for 25 minutes until the edges start to turn golden.

Remove the crust from the oven.

Distribute 3/4 cup of the chocolate over the warm crust. They will melt slightly. (That's ok, and encouraged.)

Sprinkle the chopped pecans evenly over the chocolate layer.

Add the coconut in an even layer over the pecans.

Distribute the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips around the pecans and coconut.

Pour the caramel sauce evenly over the top of the bars, coating all of the exposed chocolate, pecans, and coconut.

Sprinkle additional chocolate chips and coconut over the top of the caramel layer.

Bake for about about 20 minutes, until the caramel has seeped into the bars.

Cool completely before cutting the bars.

**Homemade Caramel Sauce

2/3 cup coconut (palm) sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 pinch fine sea salt

3/4 cup coconut cream, (5.4 ounce can)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Add the sugar, maple syrup and salt to a small saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer.

Place on the stove and turn the heat to medium.

Stir continuously until the mixture comes to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat slightly to bring the mixture down to a simmer or low boil.

Continue to stir until the mixture reaches 220F. It should take several minutes.

Once the mixture reaches 220F, turn off the heat and stir in the coconut cream until it has melted into the sugar mixture.

Turn the heat back on (medium) and continue to stir until the mixture reaches 210 again.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Stir to cool the mixture slightly, then transfer to a heatproof container. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

I have since found some GF graham crackers and make the paleo caramel sauce to use in place of the sweetened condensed milk and follow the original recipe... Note:: I use the Enjoy Life brand of mini chips and unsweetened flaked coconut. Mmmmm... not as colorful as my original version when I used the red and green holiday candies... but sometimes I have to accept a compromise. 😜

Now that I have the cookies made (two batches - one to share, one for us to keep) I need a way to deliver this deliciousness... Thus a quick little project that will give you an opportunity to practice some free-motion quilting!

A friend sent a video to me several years ago...

This quick covered dish carrier is great for using seasonal fabric...

You can choose your favorite...

Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July...

the possibilities are endless!

Is there someone on your Christmas list that needs one of these carriers? Surely at least one! Maybe it's YOU! 😉

What is your favorite cookie that you would gift with one of these carriers?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Baking and Quilting!

Melva

Don't forget to check out all of the recipes and projects shared this week!

December 2^nd

Creatin' in the Sticks

December 3^rd