Finished the baby rag quilt I started here. It was a quick sew, but the clipping took a while. I’d clip, rest, clip some more, do something else, then clip, clip, clip! The quilt has been washed and dried twice to get it fluffed up. Each washing & dry will make it more snuggly.
I secured the outside of the quilt with an extra strip doubled over instead of binding. It too is clipped. The stripe brightens the quilt and pulls it all together.
For the backing I used a bright directional print, but altered direction of the design. SNUGGLE is labeled and ready to gift!
And…my newest addition to my garden. Couldn’t resist this sign.
So happy to have completed two more quilts for Hospice. These will be the last of my finishes for a while as I will be concentrating on a few of my personal quilts.
The first is a quilt with triangle blocks that were cut on the Sizzix and sewn together by attendees at a retreat in 2019. Seems forever ago, especially since there weren’t any retreats in 2020. I’ve been going through my donation bin lately and pulled these out – put them together – quilted – sewed the binding and done!!
Next was a quilt that was donated quite some time ago. It was already backed and there was a little bit of quilting done. It really was a pretty quick finish to get this quilted – oh why, oh why did I wait so long?? I also love that it’s all blue. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a great pic – the colors are really much more vibrant in person.
I especially love that so many hands were involved in the completion of these quilts. A few more finished to add to the pile and they’ll be on their way to Hospice.
Last week I shared the flannel rag quilt kit I prepared for a week long retreat I’ll be attending. Of course one isn’t enough, so I now have two more ready to go!
First up is a string block kit. I pulled from some beloved batik greens and blues and one almost white and cut into varying strip widths. The plan is to sew them onto paper piecing paper doing a diamond design. I love to do string quilts! For me its both fun and therapeutic sewing. Sewing this quilt will also be perfect for a retreat as it doesn’t require much concentration. And again, I planned, made notes, and saved them in the kit box.
The second kit I prepared this week isn’t really planned out. When diving in a bin of blocks and miscellany, I came across these triangles cut from sewn very colorful strips. I barely remember these!
And then there were cuts randomly sewn into blocks. That was it! I’ll bring these to retreat , cut them randomly, sew and put together however the mood strikes at the moment. This will be fun play!
I am really so excited for this get away. I have a retreat checklist that I prepared years ago and having been going through it and putting everything in a guest room ready to pack. Good thing I’m traveling alone – it’s a lot!
It’s been a couple of weeks. Spring has really sprung here and I’ve been outside enjoying all the color and amazing nature. Uhhh, the pollen not so much! In absolute contrast, last week we went up to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a couple of days to celebrate my birthday and it snowed! It didn’t stick, was pretty to watch – the best kind.
And now for a fabulous delivery made to my home last week. Thank you to Dolores for three amazing quilts she has donated for Hospice. She is an excellent and long time quilter and her generosity is greatly appreciated.
All three were made from her scraps and are just so cheerful. The different designs and use of the pieces are so smart and I’ll be sure to be copying at least one very soon. I am partial to the one below – the arrows are so clever.
All the colors in the next quilt are so fun – this is sure to be a cheerful welcome!
The third pops with color like crazy! I’ll be checking my scraps to see if I can put together one similar – wow!
It is always so thrilling to experience the amazing generosity of quilters. Not only do they use their own fabrics, there is much time invested in each of these quilts. Thank you!
Cut, pieced, quilted and bound in five days! Amazing how much I enjoyed making this quilt. No contest when I auditioned border fabric. The bold black and white was a definite winner – perfect for all the bright, pretty and fun strings in the quilt body.
A very simple quilting – diagonal wavy lines – was perfect. I wanted this quilt to be about the fabrics, not the quilting. And I am tickled the way the black and white prints come together in the center of the blocks and where four blocks meet. I finished the binding by hand which quickly reminded me why I rarely do that anymore. My hand cramped and ached so I had to take many breaks along the way.
The backing – oh the backing! I bought this Brandon Mably fabric when I took a workshop from Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably a few years ago. Brandon, who knows my daughter, brought a bolt of the Can Can fabric up to me and thought I had to have it as it reminded him of my feisty daughter! Of course I bought some, but I never did use it in the workshop project. So glad because it is perfect for the back of this quilt, thus the name Can-Can! She’s already living in my living room – bright, cheerful and warm.
“No new Works in Progress this year until a few more of existing ones are complete” is what I told myself over and over again at the end of 2020. Well, inspiration hit and a quilter’s gotta do what a quilter’s gotta do! It all happened because while rummaging through a bin, I came upon some long forgotten Robert Kaufman Christmas fabrics. They are so pretty! “Joyful” was born.
Never having done a sixteen patch, but having admired them for such a long time, I decided to do one with this batch of fabric. It’s a fast and easy block which was my Psyche needed at this time (you guessed it, Pandemic Syndrome or maybe more likely just Quilter’s Squirrel Disorder!!)
Having gotten bored with the sixteen patches, and wanting four more blocks, I did stars! It was a quick finish and a lot of fun. However, the border is now a bit troubling. I put the narrow green border on thinking I was going to put a wider border on the outside using one of the prints in the collection. None of them worked. They looked absolutely terrible! I now would prefer to use the green with gold dots as a slightly wider border alone and also as the binding. Can’t – not enough fabric. A pieced border? That could work, but I just don’s want to! I’ve scoured my fabric closet and came up with nothing. I’ve also looked on line and, your guessed it – nothing. This top will now hang in the closet of flimsies until next fall when I’m sure there will be something in a fabric Christmas release that will work. Should be fun to pull this out after many months and give it its needed finish!
More sewing? Organization? Purging? Yes on all three! In this new year, I will definitely be sewing, because that’s what I do! Organization is a continuing process with me. Some things in the studio are somewhat difficult to keep tidy and organized, especially when I’m in “creative mode.” Purging? Oh yes. My goal is to reduce my fabric inventory significantly. There are several places on Facebook marketplace where I can sell fabric. I’ve done a fair amount of that this year and plan to continue. And some fabrics will be donated.
Sewing: As of this writing, I haven’t sewn in five days. It’s a good thing as I will no doubt feel more joy when I turn on my machine again. I have two fairly labor intensive projects that I want to actively work on right now. One is a log cabin wall hanging – block above finishes at 5 1/4″. The other a tiny house quilt. The house block finishes at 3″ and will be doing each as a square in a square. Lots of progress on the first, not so much on the second.
Hospice quilts – I have a bin with dedicated blocks, fabric, partial quilt tops that have all been donated. I need to take inventory and make a plan. An empty bin would be quite an accomplishment!
And here is my 2020 rundown:
May your 2021 be filled with joy and success in all you pursue!
Another Scrappy Finish and soon to be another quilt to go to Hospice! I began piecing this quite some time ago and a few blocks sat on the design wall for much too long. In a moment of boredom, a few more blocks were added. Finally, last week, I got a bit annoyed with myself for having let it go for so long, so…I sewed!
I really got into it and by the end of the day all the blocks were together, a pieced border added, and it was a flimsy. was just the sewing therapy I needed. It now hangs with several other to be quilted tops, a few which are also for Hospice.
My quilting journey began somewhere around 2006 to 2007. I purchased a magazine, “Quilt It, Two Block Quilts” and immediately loved two of the quilts. The first is in the back of my quilting closet, partially quilted. Each time I take it out thinking I’ll finish it, I’m reminded that I don’t care for it very much. I also remind myself that a fair amount of work went into it, especially as a beginner, and that I should finish it so I can donate it.
The second pattern was for “Baby Love.” In 2018 I finally got around to pulling various fun fabrics and copying the paper piecing patterns. In December of that year I worked on some of the blocks while retreating with a few quilty friends. Can you guess? The project box just sat on the shelf until earlier this year. Somehow I was motivated to get it together. I did, however, simplify and modify the pattern some. I didn’t use all the NY Beauty blocks. They’re in the orphan quilt box waiting for lightening to hit me with a brilliant plan!
Funny how after sitting for so long, I was super motivated and quickly got the top put together. Some weeks ago I pulled the top from my hangar of “flimsies,” found a batting and used a gray fleece for the backing.
Oh how I love having another finish. And where is this quilt headed? To play with the other baby quilts I have waiting for some unknown future arrival. Now I call that being prepared!”
Scraps, scraps, scraps. A container full of one and one half inch scrap strips! There is also a bin of polka dots that has been waiting to be used. The blocks are quarter log cabins with the centers made up of four patches of polka dots.
This option for arranging the blocks just didn’t work for me.
I’ve arranged the quarter log cabins several ways and putting four together for one full log cabin block was most pleasing to me.
For now, this is my layout choice.
There’s a long way to go. I’m now piecing more four patches. Adding the strips goes fairly quickly and is fun sewing.
Lots and lots of strips to choose from!
I’ve been doing a lot of organizing and although I don’t feel as though I’ve been sewing that much, I have really been quite productive. Hmmm. Maybe it’s because I’m not going anywhere during quarantine?!
How about you – how have you been using your time?
