Small projects

Now that I've finished a couple of large projects, it's time to tackle a couple of small projects from my UFO list. 

Raspberry Cocoa is a Kim Diehl Simple Whatnots project from last year that I'm hand quilting. I'm very slow at hand quilting but it's almost half done.  Since it's only about 30" square it shouldn't take too long.  But I tend to work on it for awhile and then set it aside.

Another small project waiting for me is Lukas' pillow cover, which is also about 30" square. My plan is to do a diagonal grid of simple machine quilting on this front section.  Then I can put the envelope back pieces on and mail it off.  I added this to my UFO list because even though it isn't an old project, it had been set aside with no progress for weeks. And it needs to be finished and gifted soon.

Another UFO to check off the list

Yay!  I can check off another large UFO quilt from my challenge list.  That makes 2 big quilts and 2 small ones completed so far in 2019.  This one is 80" by 96".  And I'll be quick to admit that I like this quilt much better in person than I do when looking at the photo. The colors get a little lost in the photo, probably due to the continuous grey skies and light. 

This was the Saturday Sampler we began in October 2017, finishing in summer of 2018.  Summer Watermelon Sampler was the pattern name and we did 2 variations of the same block each month. I really love some of these blocks  and will probably make some again.  We were encouraged to "shop our stash" to make this one so I dug into what I have a LOT of: brights and black/white prints. 

I decided that I liked that swirly backing so much that I used it for the borders too.  The narrow inner border was a lime green with tiny dots, and the binding is a solid lime green - except for about 18" of the green dot.  That's what happens when you run short of binding just before turning the final corner.  I had no more of the solid left, but there were some scraps of the dot, and they are basically the same color, so I made it work. 

Fat Quarter Frenzy

I have a fondness for fat quarters.  OK, maybe it's more like an obsession.  But I do have a difficult time resisting them. And The Pin Cushion had an event last Friday showcasing them called Fat Quarter Frenzy.  Fat quarters for $1.50 each. Who could resist?  Not me!

Some neutrals always fit into the stash so there are 5 of them. I found some reds and blues for future Quilts of Valor blocks.  And then the rest were just pretty and called my name. 

How do you store your fat quarters?  I have a big flat tub that is just the right depth for me to line up the fat quarters on end and be able to see the colors easily.  But with this little purchase my tub is now packed quite full.  

Is there a rule that says I have to quit buying them until I use up a few more?  I hope not. 

Design Wall Monday: Squared Away

The hard part of my RSC18 Squared Away quilt is done - all of the sashing and cornerstones. This center section is currently 60” x 72”.  I have enough of the white jelly roll left to add a narrow inner border, but I feel like it needs an outer border too.  But what color do I choose?  Or maybe I can find a great print with lots of these colors in it.

Check out Design Wall Monday: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Group projects

I love making blocks for group projects because it gives me the chance to just do a little sewing with no pressure to finish something.  Sometimes that is all we have time for, right?

Our local guild has several fun group projects going right now and we have a sewing "morning" planned before our next meeting.  We need some baby quilts made for the New Years baby gifts we give. Another smaller area hospital will receive a quilt this year too, rather than just the big local one. So we are thinking we may need at least 3 on hand - in case of a set of twins being the first babies of the New Year.

I think these blocks will be cute for a baby quilt - owls, butterflies, cats, farm scenes, and dots in happy colors.  I've made 9 so far for the group project and another half dozen for myself. These Ritzy Cracker blocks from Moda Bake Shop are so fast to make and lend themselves to scraps very nicely.

We  also have a set of beautiful embroidered blocks that were donated by a member. Those blocks will be set together and then possibly hand quilted to stay with the vintage vibe of the blocks.  That quilt may be donated for a local fund raiser.

And many of our guild members have joined our new Quilts of Valor group and we have a lot of blocks ready to set into tops for that too.  These are just the ones I've been given already and I expect there will be lots more brought to the sewing session and to the guild meeting.

These look great no matter which way we turn them.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the ladies bring to add to the variety.  Even members who didn't join the QOV group want to make blocks for the quilts and we will appreciate getting them.   

The morning after

We got 5 or 6" of fresh snow last night.  The sky was still very grey when I took this photo, but now the sun is trying to come out. The snowplow has just come through our street and my husband is out with the snowblower opening up our driveway and sidewalks. It's pretty, but I'm really sick of winter this year. Like everyone.  We've had such bitter cold this year.  We better enjoy the sunshine today because it sounds like another system is coming through Friday-Sunday.  

Do you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder?  I do and really struggled with it last winter and am  struggling again this winter.  Sunshine definitely helps even when it's very very cold outside. Maybe that is why I like bright colors so much when I'm sewing.

Working towards another finish

I'm busy binding - slowly.  This quilt was our Saturday Sampler from 2018, actually began in 2017.  I can't remember exactly how many months this one extended over but we ended up with a lot of beautiful blocks.  We were encouraged to "shop our stash" for this one so I did that for the blocks themselves.  I pulled black and whites and lots of brights.  

Once I decided to set the blocks on point I did have to buy a few new prints for those alternating blocks because I didn't have enough large enough pieces.  And I bought the border and backing fabric too.  But the blocks were from stash.  I have one whole drawer full of black and white prints. And you know I tend to gravitate toward bright colors, so this one was easy to shop the stash.

It will feel good to knock another UFO off the list.  This is a large quilt and I'm a slow binder so it will take me several evenings of TV watching and stitching to get this one done. 

Design Wall Monday

Happy Monday everyone! After watching it snow all day yesterday again, I'm glad to see a hint of blue sky outside.  But the grey light yesterday kept my photos looking so washed out.  

I made a yellow string block to add to that set of blocks.  And I looked at some other block possibilities to use to make more donation quilts using the RSC colors.  

Then I worked on laying out the RSC18 blocks on my "design floor".  My sewing room doesn't really have enough floor space for this but I made it work well enough.  These blocks are actually very bright and happy colors - except in the grey snowy light.  Each block has sashing on 2 sides with a cornerstone, so now they are going into groups of 4 or 6 sewn together. 

And there is a binding happening on another big UFO. More to come on that another day. 

What will you find on other Design Walls this Monday? http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

A little mindless sewing

With an hour or so available today, I managed to get a bit of mindless sewing done. It’s a great way to relax.

Four more Ritzy Cracker blocks came together quickly - 2 for our guild baby quilt project and 2 for me to add to my own stack.  I have a lot of scraps of various children’s prints left over from making baby quilts over the years. So I dug into that drawer and found the green farm print.  And there is a wide enough strip left to use as the top of a pillowcase.

Since I had a narrow green strip laying on the cutting board, it seemed logical to use it up in a string block.  Digging into the green scrap bin produced plenty of green bits and pieces to make this 9.5" block.  

On a roll, right?  Because the February color for RSC19 is pink I decided to also make a pink block while I had the time and the mojo.  These 2 new blocks bring the total of Rainbow String blocks to 13.  I think 20 will make a good sized kid’s quilt if I add a sashing. We’ll see what the March color is and maybe that will be the next one I make.

OOPS - the RSC color for February was yellow, not pink.  I think a yellow string blocks needs to happen next.  

Happy Valentine's Day

Yesterday I said there was nothing new around here for Valentine's Day, but I was wrong.  This Thimbleberries Basket wall hanging (circa 2004) has hearts on it.  And I finished binding it last night while watching college basketball on TV.  

This project was another one from that Thimbleberries Club time frame. I had the top done at the time, but it's been folded up in a drawer waiting to be quilted ever since.  The hearts in the basket have hand blanket stitching around them with black.  

One more old UFO to check off my list.  Next up is binding my 2017 Saturday Sampler quilt.  I prepped that binding on Tuesday, and it's ready to sew onto that big quilt.  

Seasonal decor

There is nothing new to show around here this year for Valentine's Day quilting, but I have pulled out a couple of table runners to brighten up the house.  This one was a 2018 project and is very long, which is OK for my dining room table when both leaves are in the table. 

And this one is probably about 8 or 10 years old, hand quilted and one of my old favorites.  I hand quilted around the hearts in the center fabric, and then added some simple hand quilting in the borders.  I've used this pattern (Waffle ??) several times to make square and rectangular table runners. It was a terrific pattern for showcasing a pretty fabric in the center without cutting small pieces.

Having a few pops of pink is pretty deceptive since we are still deep in the clutches of winter around here.  But it does brighten up the house and hints that spring will comes around eventually. 

Saturday Sampler

We had a very simple step to add to our Saturday Sampler mystery quilt this month - adding a 2.5" x 6.5" rectangle to this pieced unit. It took less than an hour to sew both sets (this one & the pink/aqua/black set) and now I have to wait a whole month for the next clue.  I'm feeling quite impatient with this project because I have no idea what it will look like.  We were told that there would be more involved sewing for next month.  

So, it's still a mystery to me.  I can't seem to figure out a way that all of the pieces leftover could possibly fit together.  But whatever is the solution I'm guessing I will love it. 

Design Wall Monday

Yesterday I worked on a bunch of Ritzy Cracker blocks (Moda Bake Shop pattern).  The yellow ones were done with leftovers after making the yellow cat for RSC19 and the pink ones were leftovers from an apron I made my niece's daughter a couple of years ago. These will go toward the baby quilts our guild is working on. 

Then I made some red and blue ones for our Quilts of Valor group.  We named ourselves Prairie Winds Quilters, and will be an "official" QOV group once I get the last form filled in and mailed.  We have a sewing day planned for the morning of our March guild meeting and hopefully can get some progress made on another quilt.

And since there were still a couple of charm sized pieces left of this yellow, I made 2 more Ritzy Cracker blocks for myself.  These can be "seed" for another scrappy quilt.  

Check out more Design Wall Monday posts at: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Yellow cat, yellow cat

Oh my goodness - I LOVE this yellow cat block!  I'm so glad I decided to do these  12" Lori Holt cat blocks for this year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC19) because they are turning out so cute.  I can't wait to add more to the group. 

This bright yellow dot was in my fat quarter box and called my name as I started to look for some fun yellow fabric to use.  I'm going to use the remaining chunk to make some blocks for a baby quilt that our guild is working on.  So it's going, going, gone - out of the stash.  I know it's only a fat quarter but it's nice to use it up and not add it to the scrap bins.

The rest of the colors in this block came from the scrap bins. I was going to make the ears and tail from another yellow but I like the orange.  

South Dakota blizzards

I am in Sioux Falls for a couple of days of meetings for work.  And we are having a blizzard, which would normally be fine since I’m safe and sound indoors, right?

Well - this is the snow piling up 6’ behind me in a conference room at the hotel where we have our meetings.  Snow - drifting through a gap in a door to a patio.  Crazy!!

Hourglass is complete

Hourglass was the oldest UFO that I've worked on so far and it's done.  That is cause for a celebration!  And this is one of my favorite quilts that I've finished recently. 

This 2004 Thimbleberries Club pattern was actually begun during 2004 making it 15 years old.  Yikes!!  It's made from leftovers of the other projects from that year.  I had 6 of the blocks done, and then it was set aside for some crazy reason. Luckily the pattern and all of the fabrics were in one place with those blocks just waiting for me to finish. 

I love the way those hourglass blocks are surrounded by the flying geese blocks to make a sawtooth type of border.  The original pattern didn't have the outer border pieced, but I didn't have quite enough of any one fabric.  So I pieced it and think it doesn't detract from the design at all.  It's queen sized, so it's large enough for my bed.  

Crackerjack is done

Crackerjack was our November project for our Kim Diehl club, and I'm happy to say this one is finished.  It kind of kicked my butt.  The center didn't want to lay flat, and those borders just caused me problems that needed to be ripped out and fixed.  The finished size is about 35" square and it was a kit.  Interesting note: the plaids are all flannels, and are used with the wrong side up. I think the stretchy qualities of flannel has contributed to my problems with getting this one right.

I really love the 4 blocks in the center of this one, and also how the sashing is done with small churn dash blocks in the corners.  I just don't like the border very well.  The quilting has helped the whole thing lay flatter.  So overall it's a good finish.  

Cats, cats, cats

The REAL cat in my house spent 7 hours yesterday sleeping on top of the quilt I was trying to bind.  I got to a point - halfway down the last side - where I couldn't move the quilt enough to stitch the binding without making His Royal Highness move. This is the look I got whenever I disturbed him.  And of course I didn't have the heart to just push him off the quilt, so that last side of binding still needs to be finished. Oh well - it's a UFO that I started in 2004 so a couple more days won't matter.  I bound a table topper instead.  

This cat is one of my RSC19 (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) blocks for this year- red blocks for January.  This week I'll be making a yellow one for February.   This is the 12" version of Barn Cat from Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage blocks.  It was an extra download to go with the book.  It will make a fun kid quilt with a rainbow of cats. 

It's still a mystery

I still have no idea how these pieces will go together.  And that is the purpose of a good mystery quilt isn't it?   

There are plenty of triangles left, and some of the units match the length or width of that pieced unit in the middle. But then nothing else lines up. The mystery continues, and the next clue will be released to us next Saturday. Can't wait to see what's next. 

UFO progress & goals

Being gone in January for 2 weeks has definitely slowed down my UFO progress, but hasn't stopped it completely.  My January list of 3 UFOs has progress made on all of them. 

I've cut the sashing for the RSC18 quilt and sewed sashing strips to one side of all 30 blocks. Both of the other projects are quilted and I'm working on binding them.  So I'm feeling very positive about that progress. 

My February list already has a start because I picked up the Saturday Sampler quilt from my quilter the day before I left.  It will wait for binding until after the ones I'm currently working on. And it's another big quilt so it will take me awhile as I'm slow at binding.

I hope to finish the blocks for the OBW this month and maybe begin to lay it out.  As for the door hanging, I am toying with adding some words to it before finishing it.  So we'll see what happens with that one. 

So - my goals for February are simple:

1 - keep up with current Saturday Sampler

2 - catch up with RSC color blocks (red and yellow)

3 - finish binding Hourglass UFO

4 - finish binding Crackerjack UFO

5 - finish sashing RSC18 blocks

6 - finish OBW blocks

7 - finish Lukas’ pillow top

And I'm challenging myself to NOT start any new projects unless I finish at least 2 of my goals first.

Caribelle Batik

On the island of St Kitts, our whole quilt retreat group went on a shore excursion to Caribelle Batik, a "factory" and shop where hand-stamped batiks are created.  We got a tour, had some fun creating our own batik, and got to shop.  I didn't buy any yardage as it wasn't available there, but did purchase some smaller pieces to take home.  

Our tour guide took us through the process they use.  Large and small stamps are dipped in wax, and then hand-stamped onto the fabrics.  Then they were soaked in containers with dye.  The next step was rinsing the excess dye out and then boiling them in big pots to get the wax out of the fabric.  And finally they were hung to dry. We also saw an interesting piece that was being drawn in wax over simple pencil lines for a detailed landscape. 

They let us choose our stamps: such as flowers and turtles.  I stamped several flowers onto my fabric.  They wrapped us in batik sarongs to protect our clothing. 

Then we took our fabric to the dye baths and chose between blue or orange.  The wet pieces were put into double baggies for transport home.  Mine is rinsed now and dry, but will need to be boiled for 30 minutes to remove the wax.  Once that is done I'll decide what to do with my personal piece of batik. 

The last thing many of us did at Caribelle Batik (after shopping) was stop at the snack bar and buy a Ting with a Sting. Ting is a local grapefruit soft drink, and the sting was coconut rum added to it. It was by far the best local rum drink I had on the whole trip.  I may try making it now that I'm home.