Table Scraps Challenge - June 2022

The idea for my take on this month's Table Scraps Challenge came from a Facebook friend who was making these and shared the link to the YouTube tutorial with me, and also necessity.  

See, we had just replaced our old Corelle dinnerware with new stuff, and I don't know why but the new bowls get HOT in the microwave!  I don't know about you, but I'd like to start my day without burning my fingers on a freshly-nuked bowl of oatmeal, thank you very much.

Bowl Koozie tute to the rescue!  Although for the rest of this post, I am going to call it a cozy because I am old and crotchety that way.  Also, if you're interested in the difference between Koozie, Cozy, and Kozy (like I was), have a listen to the explanation here. 

Word nerdiness aside, this really was an easy to follow tutorial and my first attempt came out fine.  I didn't have much in the way of 100% cotton batting scraps, so I used an 80/20 scrap on half of it.  Since I don't intend to microwave the cozy itself, it should be okay.

(Second bowl cozy with thrifted striped shirt interior)

For the second cozy, I did make a trip to Joann for some Wrap & Zap batting, which is made for projects like this.  It struck me as odd that a package of 100% cotton Wrap & Zap was half the price of the same size package of Warm & Natural 100% cotton batting, and it basically looks like the same stuff (and made by the same company).  But that's neither here nor there, just interesting to note.

Both cozies are BLUE and have STRIPES, which were the two prompts for June's challenge.  No matter that they match nothing in my kitchen decor (seasonal runner aside), but white bowls go with anything, so there's that.  Also, they do coordinate well with the blueberries that adorn my morning oatmeal every day. :)

So that's the Table Scraps Challenge checked off for this month.  Before you go, though, I thought I'd show you another BLUE/STRIPE score this month.  

I've been pretty lucky at the thrift store lately, and more on that in future posts.  For now, I'll show you one item I was super excited about.  

I had just changed out my comforter set for this one (not my bedroom...I wish):

(Image source: Kohls.com)

I just love that it's airy and kind of beachy looking, and it's lightweight enough to throw off and on multiple times a night when the hotness flashes, lol.  I didn't have any wall decor to match when I bought the comforter, though, so when I spied this triple-matted piece of wall art at Goodwill a week or so later, I practically jumped for joy!  On the inside, of course; in the store, that would have been weird.

Here it is on the bedroom wall.  Perfect, no?

Hope you're having a great day!

I'm linking to The Joyful Quilter: June 2022 Table Scraps Challenge.

~Paulette

Positivity Progress

When I saw the first Positivity 2022 Quilt-Along posts at Sew Preeti Quilts, I knew I wanted to jump right in!  Are you excited about it too?  You can find all the Positivity 2022 posts linked HERE on her blog.  It's not too late to start!

My first inclination was to use some Civil War reproduction fabrics that I'd been given over the past year or two among other scraps.  I like all kinds of quilts, but I have to say that reproduction fabrics are not what I'm usually drawn to working with.  Putting them together in a donation quilt seemed like a good way to use them up and move them on.

However, what seemed like too much in my stash was not quite enough for this quilt.  So I pivoted to another group of fabrics needing attention, and that was an overflowing box of assorted batiks.

There were plenty of those.  I pulled out every one in the box and ultimately decided to just go for it and use almost all of them, save a couple of outliers. 

My background fabric is neither white nor cream.  It's a Waverly fabric called Pearl, a very subtle gray, which seems to play well with the wide variety of batiks.

Here were the first test blocks.  Looked good to me, so it was full steam ahead!

I got caught up in a couple of audiobooks while making blocks.  First it was The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.  Then it was Finding Me, the memoir of Viola Davis.  Both very good reads!

Soon enough, I had this little pile of pretties.

And here they are pressed.  There should be 80 of them, but I haven't double checked yet.  

I'm not sure if there are going to be layout suggestions or if we are on our own to play around with it.  Either way, I'm ready for what's next!

Linking to Needle & Foot 2022 Positivity Quilt Along Link Up.

~Paulette