While I am traveling on a road trip to Yellowstone National Park with my hubby and son, I have once again set up the Backseat Sewing Studio which really is a nice way to travel. I decided my Create On the Go project for this trip will be sewing fabric scrap pieces onto scrap batting cut to 5" or 6" squares which is a great way to use up both of these never-ending stashes. I plan on using these squares for either mug rugs or pincushions. I thought I would share a scrappy story and the blocks made along the road.
I guess my Hubby does not read my blog because he would know that a Ninja with a rotary cutter, I am not. As we started on our travels to Yellowstone, I was in the backseat behind my hubby while my son occupied the front seat next to him. After a couple of hours into the road trip, I started working on my hand-piecing project. I brought my brayer/roller so I can press the seams as I sewed along which made a squeaking sound. I could somewhat hear a conversation between the two guys; hubby asking my son a question, he responding: "What's that?" and then talking about a pizza cutter and then my son slowly turning around to look at what I was doing and then telling my hubby "No". Hubby thought I was using a rotary cutter while he was driving. I am pretty careful when it comes to using my rotary cutter--two feet on the floor, eyes focused, mindful of where the rotary cutter is going and something I would only do in the comfort of my studio/home and not in a moving vehicle. I will admit though, I did entertain a thought of bringing my Sizzix Fabi Die-cutter to cut a gazillion 1" HST while in the backseat but I didn't want to make a mess in my backseat studio.
I sewed these scrappy blocks on the way to Yellowstone The one in the top photo I'm thinking would make a nice mug trough and the ones in the middle will be for pincushions or mug rugs. (BTW, the block on the very bottom was a test block made before we left and it was trimmed.) The bottom ones are my favorite so far and I love the improvisational look. I'm sewing the scraps the Crazy Mom's Scrap Vortex method and involves finding and sewing scraps which are the same size or shape. It's really a nice, relaxing project for the road, albeit the squeaky brayer. I'll trim these squares once I'm home where the rotary cutter will be waiting for me.
I brought my Happy Trail Rails Quilt, which was finished last week, along on our road trip
(you can read about it here). Diann of Little Penguin Quilts suggested I take some photos of the quilt in Yellowstone. I am not too adventurous and still camera shy when it comes to photographing my quilts outside my house but I think these two photos turned out quite nice.
These photos are better....I'm just having a little fun here--no animals nor I were harmed; the photos are courtesy of picMonkey photo editing and my quilt being photographed at the right position. How do you like my watermark on these photos? Just like not using a rotary cutter in the car, I would never think of using wildlife for a photo prop for one of my quilts; it's not right nor allowed plus I can't run fast anymore. It sure was funny when hubby asked me how I did I that; I think for one brief second he thought maybe the quilt was actually on these beautiful creatures.
Well, it should be no surprise that I already purchased 7.5 yards of fabric before we arrived at Yellowstone. I like to visit Wal-Mart whenever we're on vacation to see if I can score any deals in their fabric department and I did find some backing and some basics. I'll tally my new total for my Minus One Hundred Yard Challenge on my next post since there may be a chance I may actually visit a quilt shop on the return trip home. Maybe I should add a rule that fabric purchased while on vacation does not count, especially if money was saved. At Yellowstone, we finally purchased our National Park Lifetime Senior Passes for $10 each, just two days before the rate was going up to $80 each, so that's a $140 saving which does buy a lot of fabric.
Linking up with:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Busy Hands Quilts: Finish Or Not Friday
Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework: Oh Scrap
It's so funny that your husband and son heard the squeak sound and it made them stop! I just acquired that same seam roller literally a day ago. I'm not sure about it yet. Do you like it? So when you piece on the road ... do you sew all the seams by hand?? How do you get that perfect quarter-inch ... or do you not worry about it and stick to improv style? Those improv blocks are very cute, and I look forward to seeing them being used!
ReplyDeleteHi Liz! I love that roller, squeaks and all. It really presses the seam down nice and flat. I am hand sewing all of the seams, you can eye ball the 1/4" but I did bring a small ruler and pencil with me to mark the seams which really don't have to be accurate. Thanks for visiting; I'll be making more blocks on the trip home.
DeleteI love your Happy Trails quilt - a riot of colour - love the photo shoot!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Maureen! We had a great time at Yellowstone and are on our way home now.
DeleteI love your idea Rose, do you precut your scraps before you go? How much equipment do you need to tale? I love that roller, and such a funny story too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate! I did not precut my scraps, they were already in strips and some pieces were cut-offs from strip sets. I save all my leftover pieces from quilts so they really came in handy for this project. All you need are scissors, I had two pair, a small ruler and pencil if you want to mark your 1/4" seam allowance, needle, thread, straight pins and a pincushion. I kept all of my supplies in a tray and my scraps in a bag. My son purchased a pair of shoes while on vacation and they came in a nice size tool box so I put all of the scraps in there, much easier to find pieces and when I closed the lid, it made a nice hard surface to sew on. It's really a nice portable project and between the trips driving to and from, all of my blocks are sewn. Today, I sewed 10 blocks. I plan on cutting up more batting squares when I get home so this project will be a ready to go. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
DeleteKate, I forgot to mention you do need a brayer/roller for pressing the seams-it does a real nice job, squeaks and all.
DeleteI'm impressed by your hand piecing Rose! I prefer to EPP in the car, I think because of the stability of the cardboard pieces. And what fun those quilt photos are! "No animal was harmed in this quilt photo shoot!" LOL!
ReplyDeleteThanks Suz! This is a fun project and something different. I'm all done sewing all of the squares so it's a good thing I brought some books and my 30's hexie project because we still have one more day of driving.
DeleteRose it sounds like fun in the car. I can't believe you can do all that in the car. The blocks look great. I am in total agreement, any fabric bought on vacation does not count now or ever in your fabric totals. Yeah to getting your National Park Pass before the increase. It was the best $10 we've ever spent, especially with the government.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jan! The blocks were fun and I am all done sewing all of the squares. We're on our way home from Yellowstone and am sad to leave--it was a wonderful trip and I love the park, so many wonderful and breathtaking views. It's definitely worth the trip. We have one more day of driving and I don't think there will be any visits to any quilt shops but that's okay--there's something online that I want--maybe.
DeleteYou had me going there for a minute...I wondered how you could walk up to a buffalo and get it to stand still. I thought maybe they were statues. You're lucky you can work on sewing in the car. I could only do knitting because I could do it while looking out the window. I suffer from motion sickness. I don't travel much anymore so it's not much of a problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks--I couldn't resist doing some photo editing. I always need to have some handwork to do while watching TV or traveling. I am lucky that I can do things in the car; otherwise the traveling would get long and boring for me.
DeleteStill smiling over the roller/rotary cutter thing. Hehe. We're leaving for our anniversary trip soon, and I was thinking I'd take a break from sewing (gasp!), but now you've got me thinking about bringing some scraps. Hmm. You sure have a way with animals, Rose. They were so cooperative! Your quilts are beautiful and those little scraps will make fun mug rugs or whatever you create from them!
ReplyDeleteThanks Wendy. This is a great travel project and now I'm thinking of creating a sewing desk for the road trips. My son purchased a pair of shoes while at Yellowstone and the big shoebox worked wonderfully for storing the scraps (better than the plastic bag) kept it on my lap and when the lid is closed, it made a nice hard surface for sewing. I'm all done sewing the squares so it's a good thing I brought along my 30's hexie project to work on.
DeleteCan you hear me laughing? I can hear my husband's reaction if I was rotary cutting in the car! I love the little mug rugs. Sweet! For just a moment I really thought you might have thrown the quilt on a buffalo! Too funny!
ReplyDeleteThanks Wendy, I thought you would find the hubby story funny. I'm all done sewing the squares so it's a good thing I have some hexies I can sew because we still have one more day of driving. We did have a bison come right up to the car but I didn't have the quilt with me.
Deletedoing all that hand sewing in the car, you are likely missing out on important parts of the trip, the landscape you are going through. One gal I was reading, perhaps last year, had a hand crank sewing machine that she set up on (?) in front of her in the front seat. She got a lot done on the road too. Love your photo creations with your quilt and the wild life you saw.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I only sewed when we were driving to Yellowstone and my son would let me know when there was a good view. Otherwise when we were in the park, no sewing was done--the views were magnificent and I wouldn't miss seeing them even if it involved quilting. And the wildlife, talk about getting stuck in traffic because herds of bisons wanted to cross the road.
DeleteLovely photos! Sounds like a fun trip, even getting in a bit of sewing too! Thanks for sharing with 'sew stitch snap SHARE'
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. Part of the fun of going on road trips is the sewing I can get done.
DeleteLOL!!! Love the buffalo and elk photos!!! Best quilt photos ever!!! You have me totally wanting one of those squeaky roller things. And Nat'l Park pass at the lower price definitely equals more $ for quilting!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy! Those "quilt" photo were fun to create and I made sure to put those disclaimers in my post because I don't want the National Park Service to be paying me a visit for mis-using their wildlife. We didn't know about the price increase so our timing was impeccable and lucky and I sure did feel like it was a cause to buy some fabric.
DeleteI love your quilt photos in the wild! I had to laugh when I saw the ones of the bison (did she really do that, I was asking myself!). But so glad you explained! I also enjoyed the blocks you've been making on the road. What a fun idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks Diann, I thought you would get a chuckle since you suggested I take photos of the quilt at Yellowstone and being photographed on a bison or elk would have said it all. The block project is fun and I got them all done while driving to and from Yellowstone--no sewing was done when we were at the park because I didn't want to miss the scenery.
DeleteYou got me Rose. Looking at the pics, I did think that you draped your gorgeous quilt over the animals' backs. Looks like you were having fun - both at the park and paying with picmonkey :-D Be careful, those scrappy blocks have a tendency to take over everything else :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Preeti! And weren't you the one that told me to post more photos of this quilt. We are having fun and all of the scrappy blocks are done, they come together very fast plus I still have a box of scraps left. It doesn't look like I used any. I have to get home and cut up some more batting squares.
DeleteBoy, you really got me too. I was all "you can't go up to the animals. How did you do that without getting hurt?" I'd just seen something about how many people were injured because they tried to approach the animals. I may have to try Pic Monkey one of these days. you made good use of your time! I will knit or read in a car but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteHi Bonnie, sorry for the delay in responding to you, this is what I get when I either respond directly from this blog and using gmail, but I thought I sent you one earlier. There was an incident at the park where a bison was laying in the parking lot and people were keeping a respectful distance away, the Park Ranger was busy talking to someone and a young girl went too close to the bison for the parent to take her photo. I yelled out that she was too close and then the Park Ranger ordered everyone to leave. It could have been disastrous because it turned out that a baby bison was laying next to the mother. PicMonkey is fun and I am not computer savvy. I also knit but did not bring any project and had six books but did not read one page.
DeleteYou cracked me up with those animals-modeling-quilts pics!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the info on the roller - I never would have thought of traveling with that!
Thanks Gayle! It's the first time I used that roller and I even have another one which is smaller and is plastic and doesn't squeak but I wanted to take the big guy on the road with me.
Deletea squeek story-my BIL wears hearing aids. My husband had never met him until we were driving somewhere and he was riding along with us. His hearing aid was squeeking. My husband would say "what's that squeek" and I would kick him. The third time he said "WHAT'S THAT SQUEEK AND WHY ARE YOU KICKING ME??!!" My BIL good naturedly explained the "squeek". Have a good time on your trip!
ReplyDeleteLOL, that's something my husband would do with his sensitive ear, he's always annoyed when he hears something rattling in the glove compartment that I can't hear. He has super sensitive ears except when it comes to listening to me, then he suffers momentary loss of hearing.
DeleteI love the edited photos and watermark. I enjoy a little hand piecing or appliqué in the car as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jasmine. I also brought along some books to read but didn't get a chance to do any reading. I am never bored when we travel.
DeleteOK, I do clearly remember this post! Perhaps I saw the quilt-wrapped buffalo ADORE! on Instagram as well… I think that I was reading some posts but not commenting with the not very good summer that our family had… I remember thinking I would be barfing if I was sewing in the backseat; backseat travel is not good for me at the best of times but head down sewing nuh-uh, disaster! Wonderful hand-pieced blocks here; you amaze me with how much you do, both on the machine and by hand and so quickly!
ReplyDelete