Quilt In Progress

On the design wall right now is this scrappy darling -

I called it Scrappy Moroccan Tiles. I've finished enough blocks to make two and half rows. I need enough blocks for 5 rows. My plan is to make a block a day until I have what I need. So in about a week and a half I hope to start sewing blocks together. To allow for a little fudge factor, I'm going to shoot for Monday, March 27th as the target.

This is to be a replacement for my Dad, whose current quilt is so tattered that the binding has come completely undone in one corner. He uses it every day, which makes me so happy. His birthday is in June. This quilt would make a great birthday present. 

Snapshot Sunday - March 5

Just a few pics from my camera roll this past week -

Shamrocks from the local nursery...because it's March.

That Bradford pear tree from last Sunday with a little bit of green showing.

Sunday night spaghetti dinner. Yum! Love me some Prego!

I'm calling this string stars (inspired by my favorite quilter Bonnie Hunter).
I'm going to make them in a variety of colors - 1 each month. 

Slow Saturday Choices

I love Saturdays that have minimal to no time slots committed. Today is such a day. It's like a freebie. I don't HAVE to do anything. Sure I have a To-Do list a mile long, but that's all weekday stuff (wink, wink). Today will be for sewing and Pinterest. The only question is...What to sew? Well, there is plenty to choose from in my plethora o'projects storage unit.

Let's see, there's a block of the month from 2011. It's a Marti Michell quilt in blue and yellow called Romance Continues.

I could also select this sweetie - Summer in the Park. It was begun a few years back when I was leading a scrap club at the quilt shop where I worked. The pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company.

That's no really grabbing me. What else is there to choose from? Cathedral Stars from a Bonnie Hunter workshop. I love this quilt. It's so bright and colorful. And has sooo many pieces. Ugh. No. Not today.

This one would be easy. It's almost done. I just need to sew the blocks together and add a border or two. It's a blue and white Disappearing Four-Patch. Another project from the scrap club. 

I could go on and on. But I think it's pretty clear that I've got more than enough choices. In fact, according to my Evernote notebook I have over 50 projects, in various stages, from which to make a selection. Sheesh! I think I'll just close my eyes and pick. As long as I move something along today I'll be a happy camper. 

Sifting Through Quilt Books

In preparation for a scrap club that I'll be leading next year, I have been pouring over several quilt books that focus on scrap quilts. I believe I have narrowed my selection down to the following:

Cut the Scraps!
by Joan Ford

Scraps Plus One!

by Joan Ford 

The Big Book of Nickel Quilts
by Pat Speth with Charlene Thode

Amazing Nickel Quits
by Pat Speth

I'm looking for books that show actual scrappy quilts not just quilts with a lot of coordinating fabric. It would be good if the books used "standard" size units like those that Bonnie Hunter uses in her Scrap User System (since I've already been cutting those sizes for years). A variety of sizes would be nice, but isn't critical. Some education about color, value, tint and how to put things together would also be welcome.

The book I'm looking for will be the text and basis for a club that will meet monthly for the sole purpose of using one's stash. I think it will be fun and I can't wait to stitch up some scrappy quilts. I think I've narrowed down my options to a final choice. But I still have a little more research to do.

Stained Glass Table Runner (Top) Is Done

In the spirit of celebrating small goals set, I am excited that I completed something I started less than a week ago. I think I first saw the idea on Pinterest. Sure that I could recreate the Christmas Table Runner I saw, I determined that I would draft a pattern based on what I saw. Silly me!

Cut to Craftsy...where the pattern was for sale for a nominal fee. As I went through the checkout process, I felt a certain sense of satisfaction that I didn't actually follow through with my original idea but instead concluded that actually sewing was a better use of my time. Which is why I finished in record time.

Next I need to sandwich it and machine quilt it, most likely in the ditch. I think I'd like to try using Pinmoors for basting this baby. First, I have to buy some. So it may be a bit longer before I get to that, but I'm thinking this will make someone a nice hostess gift in the upcoming holiday season. Yay!

I Finished A Quilt...Finally

It has taken a few years and a kick in the pants to get this quilt finished. Originally, I was making this for my son who loves yellow. I thought it would be right up his alley. Not! When laying it out on the floor, I asked him how he liked it and his ambivalent response was, "It's okay." Not exactly encouraging. Who wants to give a quilt to someone who doesn't LOVE it, right? Hence the name Son's Folly. He'll never know what he missed. (I'm pretty sure he doesn't read this blog.) So, I will have to come up with a different quilt pattern for him.

In the meantime, I'm thinking of entering this quilt in the local quilt show. The pattern comes from Kim Brackett's book Scrap-Basket Surprises. It is the same quilt that is on the cover of that book. In the book it is called Bali Sea Star. You never know, maybe it will be more popular at the show than it was at home. 

I'm just thankful that this one is off my plate. Now...what to work on next?

Whipping up a Wrap for a Friend

I recently learned my friend, Jan, was diagnosed with cancer. She had surgery and will be having chemotherapy. I've heard that while receiving chemo one gets very cold, so I knew I wanted to make a quilt for Jan - to keep her warm and to let her know I was thinking of her and praying for her.

I needed to make something quick. I also needed a sample for the Scrap Happy club I'm leading at the quilt shop. My talk was about using large cuts of fabric. I combined the two "needs" into a comfort wrap for Jan. It's kind of like a long table runner that she can wrap around her - big, but not as bulky as a full size quilt and easier to manage while sitting in a chair. My co-worker Cyndi quilted it with a great heart motif (I wish I'd taken an up close pic of her quilting).  Here's what it looked like -

She loved it. She called me after using it to let me know how well it worked to keep her warm. The nurses were telling her they wanted one, too. Heck, I want one. But I've other quilts to make. More on that next time.

Sewing Time Has Been Productive Lately

Baby Snowball

Another border has been added to the Baby Snowball quilt that I'm working on for the Scrap Happy Club. I think there will be two more. I'm making it up as I go, so you never know what could happen.

The first of many disappearing 4 patch blocks.

In the meantime, I'm experimenting with a Disappearing 4 patch. I like it! I've cut 96 white charm squares. Now I have to cut up the various blues for this scrappy blue and white beauty. I hope I can get this done assembly-line style. I've got a movie's worth of cutting to do and then I will be sewing like a crazy lady. I'm looking forward to it.

Hand-Me-Down Batik Beauty

 

I dug this baby out of the closet. It was in a trunkload of stuff I received from a fellow quilter who was cleaning out her sewing room. I was happy to take these "leftovers" off her hands. When I say trunkload I mean that back of her car was packed full of garbage bags full of stuff. This was just one of the UFOs that was there.

At the quilt shop where I work one of the teachers teaches this quilt. She calls it Batik Beauty. I've overheard her say tons of times that squaring up the blocks is key to getting this quilt together, so I spent some time and squared up all 120 blocks. Now...this is going to become my new Leaders and Enders project for the next month or so. I'm hoping to get this together by the end of April. We'll see.

Snowballs in Progress

To demonstrate how to make bonus triangles (Bonnie Hunter style) for Scrap Happy Club, I made some snowball blocks. Not wanting them to go to waste I decided that they really could become a baby quilt, which was their hypothetical purpose in life. Now that they have sashing strips and one inner border they are on their way to becoming a quilt.  Hopefully tomorrow they will get borders 2-4. Then I'll have to face the challenge: finding an outer border. For now...I'm happy with the progress I've made.

Hello, Old Friend

Yesterday I revisited my Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll quilt. I started this quilt just about 2 years ago. It was a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, that is now only available in her String Fling book. I was excited, on fire, hyped up. I just knew I could keep up. Ha! Right! So here I am 2 years later still plugging away.

Yesterday was a sew day and I was amazed at how much I got done in a little over 1 1/2 hours. I was motivated after watching Bonnie on her quilt cam. She is my quilt idol. I decided to follow her example and set aside some time to quilt and just see what I could knock out. All these blocks got the red & white side triangle strips added. It's amazing what I can do when I focus!

Now, it's time to set some goals and get this baby finished. The top and bottom triangles and cornerstones are next. I'm shooting for Friday.

Finally Finished

My best friend, Judy, is coming to visit in a few weeks. She's going to sleep on our extra bed upstairs. The only quilt I have for that bed is over 20 years old and falling apart. This will not be acceptable.

I've had a flimsy complete since I went to a retreat about 3 years ago, but I wasn't loving this quilt and wasn't sure I wanted to keep it. I pulled it out and decided that maybe if I had it quilted I would like it better. I met with a local long-arm quilter and got an estimate that was a tad high for my tastes. After some thought and discussion, I decided that custom quilting wasn't really necessary. An allover meandering pattern would do quite nicely and was much less expensive. So off to the quilter it went.

Once quilted, I had a new appreciation for this old JoAnn's Block of the Month cutie. With the deadline of my visiting friend fast approaching, I whipped the binding on in no time. Ahhh....the power of a deadline! I'm hoping that power will come into play on this, not-yet-started baby quilt.



I'll keep you posted.

Starry Nights

At least I think that's the name of this quilt -



Since I started this quilt about 6 or 7 years ago, I'm not really sure. I can remember the class I took through my local guild to get this started. It was with Sharyn Craig, who was an excellent, no-nonense teacher.

It took a long time to get this quilt finished because I took a quilting hiatus of sorts - not so much on purpose, but quite by accident. I just sort of let quilting fade into the background of my life to the extent that I just forgot about it, except for the times I lamented that I didn't have time to get to it. A cunundrum to be sure. At the beginning to the year I determined to make (not find) the time to pursue one of things I enjoy most. And this quilt is the result of that effort.

No one I showed it to really liked it or thought it was all that attractive, except for one of my daughter's friends. She complimented me on the colors and thought it was pretty. This was great news since I had no idea what I was going to do with it once it was finished. I surely couldn't display a quilt in my home that everyone in the family thought disgusting. It became apparent who the recipient would be. And I dont' think it's a coincidence that I finished it in her birthday month.

I'm thankful for time to quilt. What r u thankful 4?

A Pretty Quilt...

...and it's mine. Well actually, it's my daughter's now. It is a Quilt in a Day pattern by Eleanor Burns called Garden Lattice. It took slightly longer than a day to complete...more like a year, give or take. I tried my hand at free motion quilting. There is a flower in each of the squares. The stitching doesn't show in this picture, which is a bummer. But it turned out pretty nicely.

I'm thankful for time (and money) to quilt.

What r u thankful 4?

Quilting Time

Last night I finished the top of a quilt I started about 6 years ago. Pictures to come after I get it quilted and finished.

Now it's off to a new quilt - the fan quilt using Quiltsmart printed interfacing. Here's what I have so far.



I'm thankful for time to quilt.

What are you thankful for?