Finished by Friday: Grocery Bag, Barn Quilt Block

Sometimes when there about 3,000 things I ought to be doing, what I need to do is make something. Or finish something. Something that makes me feel creative and accomplished. That's what happened this week. One morning when there were boxes and pieces of the kitchen all over the place (I'm supposed to be dismantling my kitchen for the remodel), two separate giant piles of clean but unfolded laundry to be folded, dirty floors AND lots of transcription work available that would have earned me the money to help pay for all this, I just hit the wall. I took 30 minutes, that's all, and made this grocery bag:
The pattern is a free download from Spool Sewing. It uses a half yard of two fabrics, one for the outside, one for the lining. I used a piece of upholstery fabric that came in my Burlington laundry hamper that I bought at the Syttende Mai sales in the spring. It was a smallish piece that I didn't know what else to do with, and this was perfect. I lined it with white muslin. It's a nice, sturdy bag, holds a couple of gallons of milk easily, and doubles as a purse before you get groceries. I would like to make several of these and slowly reduce our consumption of plastic trash bags (though I still need some - I use them for cleaning out the litter box).

And then --


-- our barn block. Barry put it up for me over the weekend, then I touched up the paint and painted the screws.


No comments whatsoever from the town, except for Kathleen who of course loved it.

In reading more about the Iowa Barn Quilt Project, I find that the quilt block is only a minor part of it. The point is to learn about the historic barns and preserve their history. So here is the history of our historic (?) garage: It was added to the property in about 1931. (I'll check the date for sure when I get our abstract back from the bank.) It originally had half for the vehicle, half for the stable. :o) It's built with a double hipped roof which is great for resisting the wind. It once had a woodstove in it, and it has survived at least one fire. Last summer Barry reroofed and resided it, using concrete siding, and we have replaced the original garage doors, one a couple of years ago, the other last winter. Barry also added a storage loft with a ladder for stashing lumber, animal cages, storm windows/screens, and projects that people have started and really will finish someday.

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Some Finished by Friday reports I've spotted in the wild:

Molly's hexagon quilt
Stitchin By the Lake has been very busy
Unofficial FbF from the Shallow Sister