Archive for August, 2012

Recycled Crayons

Saturday, August 11th, 2012

by Nancy

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Now here’s a Crackpot Project which doesn’t use any fabric at all. Like most families with kids, we have a ridiculous number of old crayons in our house. And every school year we buy new ones because you have to start the new school year with new crayons. But what about all the old, broken crayons left behind? I saw (on the Internet, of course) that you could melt them in the oven in an old muffin tin and make new crayons. So, I’ve been on the lookout for a cool-shaped muffin pan on clearance to use for this purpose. (It’s recommended that you not bake muffins in the pan after using it for crayons.) A few weeks ago I found an ice cream cone shaped mold at JoAnn’s for 70% off. Perfect! Andrew and I have been peeling paper off of crayons and sorting them while watching the Olympics, and a few days ago we had enough to bake. Here is the result. They turned out great! I definitely recommend the silicone pan, which makes it much easier to remove the crayons because the pan is flexible. We’re already at work peeling and sorting our next batch…

Paper Pieced Log Cabin Blocks

Thursday, August 9th, 2012

by Nancy

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I’m about halfway done hand-sewing the binding to the back of my Card Trick Lap Quilt, working while watching the Olympics. After finishing piecing the Crackpotty Backing for the Round Robin Quilt, I’ve been making these three paper pieced log cabin blocks. They form a flower basket for a 14″ block I found in one of the quilting magazines Marty brought to All Together Week. The rest of the block is appliqué, and I hope to make it into a wall hanging for our downstairs half bathroom.

First Cuts

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

by Ann

So who needs green? I have decided to start in a corner of the quilt that uses red, orange, purple, and blue, so I can get started before I figure out what to do about my running green fabric. And I am very eager to get started! So here are my first two strips of red. I’m making sure my rotary cutting is very accurate. Oh boy!

Scrappy Hearts

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012

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by Nancy

Here are three scrappy hearts I made a little while ago, really just to try out a pattern I’d found and to do a little fun piecing without any real plan after I’d finished Helene’s quilt. I really like how they look! Now I have to figure out what to do with them. Right now I’m considering turning them into bibs for Mira and Audra, or possibly making a few more and turning them into a Project Linus quilt.

Also, in the background you can see the binding for my Card Trick Lap Quilt. I’ve machine sewed it to the quilt and am now working on hand sewing it to the back.

Crackpotty Backing

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

by Nancy

Here it is, and it is very crackpotty! This is the completed backing for the Crackpot Round Robin Quilt. I started it during the All Together Week Quilt Day and completed it today. It’s very unplanned and uses the largest leftover pieces of fabric from the quilt.

So, what happens next? Should I keep it until next summer, when we can layer, baste, and quilt it? Should I mail it to a willing Crackpot for layering and basting? Should I mail it out without warning or instructions to a unsuspecting Crackpot?

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There’s a Rainbow in my Basement!

Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

by Ann

And, yes, I know that green is missing. I washed all of the fabric for The Quilt, and only the green ran. So it was having an extra soak when this photo was taken. Actually it soaked in multiple changes of cold water for several days, including an overnight soak in salt water, and it is still running. Does anyone have any suggestions? Marty??  I can’t wait to start cutting and creating strip sets so I can start piecing, but obviously I have to solve the running problem first.