Design Wall Monday - November 30

What is on your design wall this morning?  I have a lot of block sets going right now on my design wall and they are keeping me in happy colors.

Using the Blossom Time tulip block as a leader/ender project lately has resulted in a total of 16 so far.  I've sewn them into sets of 4 with the stems meeting in the middle.  The sashing in between is only cut 1" wide, so it's very narrow.  So far I'm loving how these are coming together. 

One of the projects moving back onto my radar for December and for 2021 is to add Round 3 blocks to Unity.  For this round I'm only using the aqua and hot pink with the black because there was so much lime green in that second round section.  In the photo I noticed that the black and white bicycle print makes the background of those blocks look more washed out than the others.  But I can live with that. 

Here is how Unity was looking after finishing the first 2 clues.  I liked it as is and planned to just quilt it and bind it.  But now I've decided to add at least this next round to make it bigger.  Then I'll decide whether or not to keep going. 

These are both Bonnie Hunter patterns and you probably already know that her new mystery quilt has just begun.  It's called Grassy Creek, and her suggested colors are beautiful rich fall colors.  I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to work on this new mystery, but as always I'm saving each clue pattern just in case I feel the need to jump in.  

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday:
https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

November accomplishments

Being cooped up inside more in the month of November certainly contributed to my exuberant sewing. It also helped that I worked fewer hours this month.  I met most of the goals I set for myself, plus more.  

• Begin NEW Saturday Sampler - DONE (sections #1 and #2)
• 2 pillowcases - DONE (watermelon print)
• 2 yellow gingham RSC blocks - DONE
• Christmas stocking for Laura’s MIL - DONE & gifted
• 1 of the 2 blue snowflake runner (quilt, bind, mail to swap partner) - #1 is DONE & gifted
• Quilt 2 Winter Moose runners - Not Yet
• Bind patriotic pinwheel table topper - DONE
• Bind Rainbow String quilt - DONE
• Bind 1 other item currently at quilter 
• Snowman quilt is DONE
• Sew Vintage door hanger is DONE
• Thimbleberries Autumn Glow quilt is DONE
• Spooky Houses/Trick or Treat Street small wall hanging is DONE
• Move to flimsy stage:
• Kim Diehl Pleased As Punch mini quilt - flimsy is DONE
• Ritzy Crackers quilt - Not Yet
• Ohio Stars quilt - flimsy is DONE
• 1 Quick Strippee child size quilt - Not Yet
• Label and mail a Quilt of Valor (going to Florida) - DONE
• Applique 1 (one) of the gingerbread blocks (UFO) - Not Yet
• Organize some UFOs and PIGS for 2021 list 
• Unity quilt (round #3)
• Humble Homes quilt kit
• Fractured Paint Box quilt
• Jelly Belly Bars quilt
• Urban Cabin quilt
• Temecula Circa 2016 quilt
• 3 Sew Together bags (navy & cream, aqua & lavender butterflies, pink floral)

What else did I accomplish in November?  More than I expected to accomplish.

• Baby quilt from layer cake - top made & donated to a charity project
• Donated Paris panel quilt top to same charity
• donated a completed baby quilt to that charity
• lots of Blossom Time blocks made
• several Wisdom blocks made
• 1 Past President's block for guild - made and delivered to a committee member

Just a few more Wisdom blocks

 Just a few more Wisdom blocks to add to the collection.  I think I counted 8 of them now hanging in the closet - clipped to a skirt hanger with the pattern.

The darker plaid on in the bottom left corner was cut from scraps of a Christmas print.  It was so much darker than the others I had made so I decided to also make that darker blue one too.  I will need to remember to make both dark and medium tones.  

And based on the top left block, I think the bigger prints work even better than the more subtle prints.  Interesting how these turn out!  

No sewing is planned for today because unless things change drastically between now and 2 pm, we will be at a LIVE college basketball game.  The Jackrabbit women have a home game this afternoon at Frost Arena, and they offered a limited number of tickets for fans.  We don't get our usual season ticket seats, as we assume they are spreading people out.  And no concession stands will be open.  Masks are required of course and we don't mind.  At least we'll be there to cheer on the Jacks.  I hope.

Rainbow String - finished

One of my favorite finishes of 2020 - Rainbow Strings.  This quilt is so bright and cheerful with the string blocks each done in a different color palette.  I may just keep this one for myself, at least for now.

Rainbow Strings is a free pattern from Mary Quilts.  Mary generously shares her many patterns and design ideas on her blog and website for free.  One of the things I love about her patterns is that the instructions are always easy to follow, and they don't usually contain small pieces or complicated blocks.  She makes a lot of donation quilts, so quick and easy is ideal.  Thank you Mary for the inspiration you so generously share!

Thanksgiving plans

 Celebrating safely during a pandemic when your children are health care professionals needs to be creative if we are going to do anything "together".  Our solution is a simple one.  We're doing a DRIVE BY Thanksgiving.  We did the same at Easter this year.  

We live about 90 miles from the furthest family, and 70 miles away from the closest family.  Tomorrow morning we'll drive to Sioux Falls and deliver a box of goodies to one family, visit for awhile at a socially acceptable distance with masks on, and then continue on to Canton to deliver the other box and repeat.  Then we'll come home and eat our little Thanksgiving dinner and be grateful for being able to at least see and talk to everyone, however briefly.  Everyone except our older daughter who will be working an extra shift at the hospital tomorrow.

What's in the boxes you ask?  My girls and I have an annual tradition where I give them a new Christmas ornament every year.  I began this tradition when they were born so by the time they moved to their own places they had a small box of ornaments for their own trees.  Now I give them a "family" ornament, and each grandchild receives a new ornament, continuing that tradition to the new generation.  Normally I give those ornaments to them whenever we get together for Thanksgiving.

So the boxes contain their 2020 ornaments plus 2 new Jan Brett books for each family. Each family is getting a Grinch dish towel which seems quite appropriate for this year.  There are also some yummy goodies - hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows, a bottle of sparkling wine, and more.  And in Laura's box is the stocking I made for her mother-in-law (who lives with them) plus an ornament for that grandma too.  

At Easter when we did this the weather was warmer so we didn't mind visiting outdoors.  Jack even drew a big X on the sidewalk to show us where to stand.  It will be too cold tomorrow to spend much time outdoors visiting, but even a little time together is a blessing.  I'll take it. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 

Ohio Star flimsy

 One of my main tasks for Sunday had been to get the final 2 rows onto the Ohio Star quilt.  I love star blocks of any kind but this has to be one of my most favorite.  The flimsy finished at about 50 x 60 inches, so I'm going to hang it in the closet for now and decide whether or not I want to keep making these blocks and add to it to make a bed sized quilt of a more generous size.  

Design Wall Monday - November 23

 The weekend was spent playing in the scrap bins in the basement sewing room, while my husband binge-watched 2 seasons of Yellowstone upstairs in the living room.  Personally, I think I had more fun.  And I have something to show for my hours.

There is another Wisdom block added to the collection.  I wanted to see how they look made with large scale prints and I'm very pleased.  I just wanted to keep making these.  

Then I just HAD to use a piece of that floral print in a Diamond Tile block.  That's only a 3.5" square in the center but it looks fine.  While I had those blocks out, I began to lay some of them out. And then of course I just had to sew some together in four-sies.  

So, now there are 2 bigger blocks (of 4 Tiles) clipped to the skirt hanger along with 6 more of the single Tiles.  These Diamond Tiles are trimmed to 7.5" square so it will take a lot to make a good sized quilt but what a fun Rainbow Scrap Challenge project to continue with.

What's on your design wall this morning?  I've linked up to: 

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

Pine Tree Point progress

 The guesses were all "on point" because I am working on Bonnie Hunter's new Pine Tree Point.  Her pattern has a whole quilt and a table runner, but I just wanted to play for now.

My first plan was to make a pillow, but now I've decided it will just be a little wall hanging.  I think the quilting will remain simple, and maybe I'll just add a star button at the top of the tree.  This was a fun project and every green piece came from that scrap bin full of green scraps.  

I did notice that I had a lot of lime green and dark green but not much in the way of Christmas green.  I tried not to repeat very many and to mostly use the odd shaped pieces. 

Once I had the strip sets done I found some fun surprises - like the little raccoon below and the golf scene above.  

It's sandwiched and ready to quilt this next week, assuming I figure out HOW I want to quilt it.  Less is more, right?  So it needs to stay simple. 

The green scrap bin

The green scrap bin is on my sewing desk and it is overflowing.  I spent the morning playing in those green scraps, and it's still overflowing.  Obviously I need to play some more.   

Can you guess what I've been working on? 

Scrappy binding

Do you save the leftover binding strips to use for other projects?  Some of mine end up in string blocks, but generally if there is more than a foot of binding left then it goes into a gallon zip lock bag for future scrappy bindings.  

These strips of binding have been sewn together and are now attached to the Rainbow String quilt.  Let the hand stitching begin.

A UFO from 2003

 This quilt has been a UFO for a LONG time.  But now it's hanging at the bottom of the stairs where I'll enjoy seeing it whenever I go down to my sewing room.  Actually it can be seen from the top of the steps too, so that is a bonus. 

Autumn Glow is a project from the 2003 Thimbleberries Club.  Isn't that a blast from the past?  I made the top in 2003 and attempted to hand quilt it.  That didn't go well and I set it aside to become a UFO.  Last month I decided to pick out the hand quilting and send it out to be quilted.  It was very obvious that I would NEVER finish that hand quilting.  Plus the quality of my hand quilting 17 years ago was terrible, so it deserved to be removed.  

What was hanging here before?  This "spring" quilt from the same Thimbleberries Club project year has been hanging in the spot.  I hand quilted this one, which is probably why I thought I needed to do the same with the fall quilt. The 2003 club had 4 small quilts - one for each season.  I didn't like the summer one at all, and used the fabrics for something else long ago.  The winter quilt has snowmen and most of the fabrics are still tied together with the pattern, but I have no idea whether or not I'll ever make it.  Maybe I need to put it on my 2021 UFO list as a possibility.     

Another task I've finally managed to tackle is quilt storage.  This corner cabinet entertainment center was in the living room of our previous house with a TV in that big center section.  Remember how deep and heavy those TVs were?  Well, in this house I put that cabinet in a corner of our master bedroom, with a smaller flat screen TV on top.  I've had an antique wooden chest and a big plant in that center section for 14 years.

But now it's holding folded quilts.  The angels on all of the other shelves stayed put, although I've been thinking I need to reduce the size of that angel collection one of these days.  There is room for 1 more quilt in that center section and as soon as I take down the Halloween quilt hanging in the dining room, it will be folded up and tucked in here.  I think I could roll up some smaller quilts like wall hangings and maybe put them along the side.  

More leader and ender sewing

As I plug along sewing rows together for Ohio Star, I've also been using Blossom Time for leaders and enders between blocks.  I had kitted up several more of the tulips over the weekend, and it's fun to see these take shape. 

The first 2 blocks are now done.  These end up about 13" square with 4 tulips in each.  The leaf sections make this great little secondary design.  I have no idea if they will end up being a whole quilt or something smaller.  They are bright and cheerful, so whatever they become is OK with me.  

On Monday afternoon I picked up the final quilt that was being quilted professionally.  November has been a productive month, but several of the projects had been just waiting for quilting, and I had finally taken the step of dropping them off to be quilted.  This was my RSC20 string quilt, and my goal is to get the binding on this one by Thanksgiving.  It's also #12 (last item) on my PHD (projects half done) list at the Pin Cushion.  This will be the first time I've finished all 12 things on the list.     

Planning ahead

 I like to "kit up" projects so they are ready to sew when I have the time and the inspiration.  Right now I'm trying to plan ahead for some winter projects - anticipating a LOT of time stuck at home due to Covid and winter weather.  Yesterday I created 3 bag kits to add to the 2 child quilt kits that I have cut and made ready for some quick sewing.  

The parts (fabric and zippers) for these 2 Sew Together bags have been in a bag hanging in my sewing room closet.  Now that I have collected plenty of batting scraps again I decided to pair batting with the fabric pieces for the outer parts of these bags and prep them for quilting.  It will be a very quick matter of doing some simple quilting lines, and then trimming them to size for each kit. That helps whittle down the batting scrap pile too.  

This is the 3rd kit for a Sew Together bag.  I had some great navy and cream prints set aside for the lining and pockets, along with this very neutral navy print for the outside.  But then I had another inspiration hit me.

I had ordered a Jim Shore Christmas ornament from the Missouri Star website last week, and while "browsing" I saw that they had done a fabric license plate for 2020. Sew The Blues Away - what a perfect saying for 2020!!  I didn't even know any shops anywhere did any license plates this year.  I added one to my order and it arrived yesterday.  And it will fit perfectly on the navy/cream bag.

I've done a previous bag with a license plate on it, and love how it turned out, so I think this new one will turn out just as fun. 

I also need to do some cleaning in my sewing room again.  I've been on a tear, sewing up a storm lately, but haven't done well with putting things away that I pull out.  My cutting surface is a real mess again.

Design Wall Monday - November 16

My design wall this morning is full of bright color.   

Blossom Time is a Bonnie Hunter block from a past issue of Quiltmaker magazine.  Each tulip is a 6" finished block on point.  Our guild used this block in 2019 as a swap on the bus trip.  It's a fun project for scraps, and my Sunday sewing was all about playing with scraps.  

The first 4 blocks are now set together with 1" sashing (1/2" finished) and a center square.  And the next 3 blocks are done.  I have 2 more kitted up to use as my leader/ender this week as I attempt to get all of the Ohio Star blocks into rows. 

The other colorful scrap blocks from Sunday are the green/pink floral and the purple on the left side of this photo.  This is the Wisdom block from the current Fat Quarter Shop sew along called Sewcialites.  I fell in love with the Wisdom block and made a couple just for fun.  But I know I'll continue working on these through out the next months. These 9" finished blocks will be a perfect Rainbow Scrap Challenge project going forward.

What's on your design wall today?  I'm linking up with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

Playing with scraps again

 I just had fun playing in my scrap bins and making blocks today.  Yellow was the color of October for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge but I didn’t get the yellow gingham blocks made.  So they were on my November goal list.  

Check them off the list now.  Aren’t they cheerful?  And since I was having fun digging into those scraps, I got carried away and made a few more somewhat random blocks.  More on that another day however. 

Snowman Meadow is complete

Binding is done and Snowman Meadow is ready to snuggle under on the sofa this winter.  The quilting gives this one a lot of great texture.  And I love that red plaid.   It will make a terrific pop of color in my family room all winter. 

The green batik that makes the star points also worked perfectly for that narrow inner border and for the binding on this one.  

Sew Vintage hanging

 My original plan was to hang this little gem on the door to my sewing room, but for now it's "pinned" to the wall next to the door.   I may keep it there because I can see it from my sewing machine.

The spools with hearts on the bottom half of this were tiny exchange blocks that the Sew Vintage group did in 2014.  Each one is signed by a member of the group at the time.  About half of the ladies are no longer part of the group so it does bring me some good memories of them.  One has passed away, one moved to Alaska, a couple more moved on to other interests or got too busy.  But each one is special.  The other half of the gals are still part of the group - and I certainly miss our monthly gathering now that we can't get together.  We met in the park over the summer but now it's too wintery to meet outside.   

Keeping the spool theme alive is the adorable quilting of spools with needles and thread.  It really shows up in that white space nicely.  Thank you to the quilter at The Pin Cushion for finding such a perfect stitch pattern for this little project.  

This little hanging was the second project I put binding on this week, and I'll show the other one another day.  On Tuesday I picked up 3 more small things from the quilter.  On Thursday morning I sewed the binding to one of those projects and hopefully I'll finish hand stitching it over the weekend.  

Checking the Christmas stocking off the list

 This week has had quite a few positive progress steps on more than one project.  And one small project has been completely finished and ready to gift.

Over the last couple of years I've made quilted Christmas stockings for both daughters' families.  My younger daughter now has her mother-in-law living with them, since her stroke in February.  Happily, the MIL has made great health improvements but will probably continue to live with them for awhile yet.  So Laura asked me to make a stocking for her to hang with the rest of the family.  I think it turned out pretty cute and I'll gift it along with the annual Christmas ornaments that I give each family member every year.  

Another project that had become a UFO is Unity.  This was a free Bonnie Hunter quilt pattern that she released this spring/summer possibly as a reminder to us all that we need to be unified and kind to each other during this stressful time.  She chose to do her quilt in red/white/blue but I chose to use black as the background with bright aqua, pink, and lime green.  

I made the first 2 "rounds" which were released on a weekly basis just like her winter mystery quilts.  I love how it looks but then realized that I really didn't have enough of the bright colors left to make all of the "rounds" for a full sized quilt.  So, the project currently hangs in my closet - waiting for a decision.  

I keep seeing some beautiful versions of this quilt online, and finally decided that I will at least add Round #3 as part of my 2021 UFO Challenge.  Then we'll see where it goes from there.  I'll need a total of 36 of the 4" (finished) star blocks for this round.  There is only 1 in the bag, but at least I've pulled it back out and written it down on my list.  And yes, that UFO list keeps growing!!

Lightening the load

 On Saturday our guild met . . . with only 19 ladies spread out in a huge room.  But, as always, it was so good to be part of that community of quilters.   

One member, Janice showed us some blocks she was working on made from a layer cake.  One 10" square in the center, one square cut into 5 x 5" quarters, and two squares cut into 5 x 10" halves.  Such a simple idea.  Janice was using a beautiful autumn layer cake, and of course I immediately went home to see what I had for layer cakes in my stash. 

This child sized quilt top took less than 2 hours to make.  And I only used about a dozen of the 10" squares from the layer cake.  I made the 4 simple blocks that Janice showed us, and then added an extra row of squares to the top and bottom to make it a bit longer.  I had the fun of making it, but didn't really have a plan for where it was going to end up.  

And this brings me to "lightening the load".  On Monday morning I was prepping a couple of packages for shipping - a secret Santa swap, and a Quilt of Valor.  And I got to thinking about donating a quilt or two.  I found an Oregon shop that is accepting quilts and tops for victims of the fall wild fires, and decided that a box needed to go that way too.  A little Google searching provided several options.

The red package has my secret Santa goodies going to a state I won't name until it has arrived.  Don't want to spoil the surprise!!  The middle box has a Quilt of Valor going to one of my relatives in Florida.  I'm shipping that to his daughter and she will do the presentation since I can't go in person.

The bottom box contains the layer cake baby quilt top shown above, the panel quilt top (below) that has been hanging in my closet for a couple of years, and a finished baby quilt that needed a home too.  Those quilt tops will be finished by the shop's volunteers and given to someone in the area who lost everything in the fires.  And the baby quilt is ready for them to give.   

It felt so good to mail those boxes to lighten my own load, and hopefully bring some pleasure to others out there.  I have the luxury of being able to sew and I need to share the wealth more often. 

Lots of sewing time

 My husband is spending lots of time on a job site this week and that means I have plenty of peace and quiet to do as I please - which means I'm sewing.  

A set of cute pillowcases are finished.  I used the watermelon fabric on a big floor pillow for a granddaughter last Christmas. There was just enough left to use for the cuffs of these.  I have quite a stack of finished pillowcases again that will be gifted or donated.  

Two of the 6 rows of Ohio Star blocks are  now assembled.  The rows have 5 blocks across, and a few of the blocks have the colors reversed, with white as the star instead of the background.  In between the Ohio Star blocks I used the sections of the red tulip block so that I wasn't constantly cutting thread - a good leader/ender. 

The Blossom Time block was a free Bonnie Hunter block published in Quiltmaker magazine quite a while ago.  Our guild used the blocks as a "swap" type project for our bus trip in 2019.  And I still had a couple of them "kitted up".  The purple one was done and tucked into the page protector with the instructions and the parts for the red one.  Now those loose pieces are a cute block, ready for some future project. 

And . . . I auditioned several different fabrics to use as the cuff on the Christmas stocking, finally deciding on this medium green.  It blends nicely with the green in the holly.  The lining is made and inside the stocking, the loop is ready, and the cuff is made and waiting for the name to applique.  Once I get the name on it, then it will take 5 minutes to attach the cuff and loop to the stocking.  

Design Wall Monday - November 9

Sunday afternoon provided plenty of sewing time while watching football.  A binding went onto a snowman themed quilt, and later in the evening I managed to get about 1/3 of that binding flipped and handstitched to the back.

My daughter asked me to make a Christmas stocking for her mother-in-law who lives with them.  I chose a couple of smaller scale prints and made a simple checkboard.  You can't see the quilting in this photo, but I have added a diagonal straight stitching.  The back is a red candy cane print. I haven't decided yet what color to make the cuff - possibly green or maybe red.  Then I can put "G'ma" in white letters on the cuff.  Or I could do a cream cuff with red letters. 

Another project I worked on was the top of a baby quilt - based on a block shown at guild on Saturday.  But I'm going to wait and share that another day.  

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/