Autumn

It's that time of year again.  The days are noticeably shorter and cooler.  Time to start changing out the summer clothing for more substantial items.

However, I have a few other things to change out too.  My SD card reader is being uncooperative so I am having to be more creative to get any photos from the SD card to the blog post.  If that is not just frustrating enough, the computer keyboard has decided to be a nonparticipant too. Sounds like it is time to upgrade. I really can't complain. Until just now, everything has been running smoothly and I appreciate the warning.

Happy Autumn.

Scrappy Bits Update

Just a quick update on Scrappy Bits, although, now that I have cut it out and started sewing it, I think a more appropriate name might be scrappy bricks. It is so easy it is a great little sewing project to work on while I think about other things I am planning. 

This top is made from two jelly rolls, cut in 6.5" x 2.5" blocks. Because I am not a big fan of quilts with lots of sashing this quilt will look like a multicolored brick wall. 

1. I have grouped the blocks by the colors I plan to put in each row. 
2. Then numbered each group on a piece of paper to keep them separated. 
3. As I finish each row the top color is moved to the back so the next row from the color set will not be exactly like the newly completed row.  
4. A benefit of the paper besides keeping the rows grouped, is being able to stack them up which makes storage easier and keeps them away from the cat, who will scramble the pieces for me if I let her.

pieces grouped by rows

The next photograph is a test lay out to see if the results are what I want before I commit to sewing the rows together. There are still a lot of rows to go, but I think it will go quickly because it is the speediest quilt top I have ever put together. It is something a beginner could make with very little trouble. Quite the departure from my usual hexagon shapes I love so much. I am thinking it needs to be quilted with leaves so it looks like ivy on a brick wall.

Testing the lay out

There seems to be some irony here that I am working on a brick wall shaped quilt top when I hit the wall and mull over ideas for other projects. 

From Online Etymology Dictionary:

irony (n.) 

c.1500, from Latin ironia, from Greek eironeia "dissimulation, assumed ignorance," from eiron "dissembler," perhaps related to eirein "to speak" (see verb). Used in Greek of affected ignorance, especially that of Socrates. For nuances of usage, see humor. Figurative use for "condition opposite to what might be expected; contradictory circumstances" is from 1640s.

illusion (n.) 

mid-14c., "act of deception," from Old French illusion "a mocking, deceit, deception" (12c.), from Latin illusionem (nominative illusio) "a mocking, jesting, irony," from illudere "mock at," literally "to play with," from assimilated form of in- "at, upon" (see in- (2)) + ludere "to play" (see ludicrous). Sense of "deceptive appearance" developed in Church Latin and was attested in English by late 14c. Related: Illusioned "full of illusions" (1920).

1930s Vintage

Vintage patterns to draft at home

Pattern from Mrs. Depew Vintage Etsy Shop, see link below

I found Mrs. Depew's Vintage shop on ETSY with these small draft at home patterns that are very much like the Lutterloh system I wrote about here. The biggest difference is the measuring device. Lutterloh has one tape measure, in centimeters. The first part of the measuring tape is used to make the size adjustments. After taking the appropriate measurements you use the number you measured as the pivot point to make the rest of the register dots when marking out the pattern. 

Mrs. Depew's vintage patterns are also very small replications of the patterns but each size has its own tape measure that you will need to print and tape together. Custom tape measures are included for all sizes when you purchase the pattern. The size differences are made by adjusting the measurement marks. Instead of each mark being a full centimeter, the number stays the same and the distance between the marks is different. This means your marks probably are not an exact centimeter, depending on the size you need. You may also need to use a couple of measuring tapes if your top and bottom measurements are not exactly the same.  

Custom measuring device, labeled with pattern number

I found the best way to create the measuring tape was to rough cut the pieces from the paper, join the ends together with small pieces of tape then lay the tape measure over the clear packaging tape. Once that is smoothed down, Cover the other side of the measuring tape with packaging tape so that the paper tape measure is sandwiched between two long strips of packaging tape. Once that is completely smooth then trim the tape measure. You can see in my photo that the yellow tape (Lutterloh) and the white tape (Mrs. Depew's) are not marked the exact same, although I did start them together at the beginning of centimeter 1. Each tape measure for each different size on the Mrs. Depew's tapes will be slightly different and are made specifically for each pattern. 

Why you need the customized tape measure

There is a lot of interest in vintage patterns and the biggest complaint is grading these to fit. To check out Mrs. Depew's ETSY shop go here. She has vintage patterns from several eras. I just happened to find several from the 30's I had to have. 

From Online Etymology Dictionary:

grade (n.) 

1510s, "degree of measurement," from French grade "grade, degree" (16c.), from Latin gradus "step, pace, gait, walk;" figuratively "a step, stage, degree," related to gradi "to walk, step, go," from PIE *ghredh- (cf. Lithuanian gridiju "to go, wander," Old Church Slavonic gredo "to come," Old Irish in-greinn "he pursues," and second element in congress,progress, etc.).

Replaced Middle English gree "step, degree in a series," from Old French grei "step," from Latin gradus. Railway sense is from 1811. Meaning "class of things having the same quality or value" is from 1807; meaning "division of a school curriculum equivalent to one year" is from 1835; that of "letter-mark indicating assessment of a student's work" is from 1886 (earlier used of numerical grades). Grade A "top quality, fit for human consumption" (originally of milk) is from a U.S. system instituted in 1912.