Design Wall Monday - October 31

Happy Halloween!  

What is on my design wall today - besides binding another quilt?  

One of the projects on my design wall is Humble Homes, and it's beginning to take shape after being on the UFO list for a few years. Can I get another row done this week?  The trees are pinned onto Row 3, and the houses are ironed on.  Hmmm . . . so far so good.  

Hello Birdie is getting close as well.  The blocks are all made, and now I need to get them sewn into rows.  That should happen by the end of the week.  

The Scrappiness Is Happiness sew-along starts today.  Not that I need another project to work on, but it's hard to resist Lori Holt projects.  I have the book already, so why not, right?  Bonus - some of our Sew Vintage members will work on this sew-along, and that just adds more fun.  And the 30s stash hasn't shrunk much, so that might be the plan. Check it out at: 

 https://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/

The Sewcialites 2 (Fat Quarter Shop) sew-along has posted 2 blocks so far.  They come out on Fridays, and so far I've kept up.  The second block is called Tussy Mussy (by Susan Ache).  It's pretty much an old traditional block called Nosegay.  Thank goodness for my little design board, because it came in handy keeping the colors in the right spots.  It really helps to lay the pieces onto the design board in their proper positions before sewing. Then each section goes back onto the board in the right position as I work on them. 

What's on your design wall today?  
https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

 

October in the rear view mirror

October was definitely a month of finishes - some only finished to the flimsy stage, but others have been quilted and bound.  Five quilt tops were finished in October.

This churn dash quilt is made from child themed novelty prints and solids.  These are the extra blocks beyond the ones I made for a guild baby quilt project.  

The other quilt tops (above) are Windmill, Saturday Sampler #2, Saturday Sampler Christmas, and Ohio Star.  The complete finishes (including binding) are Halloween Party, Tulip Time, Boo Buddies, Umbrella & Hearts, and Bee Patriotic.  A LOT of binding happened this month. 

Continuing the focus on finishes, a lot of Quilt of Valor blocks were made, as well as lots of Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks in the October color of green plus other colors as needed.  Lots and lots of blocks have been made in order to finish those quilt tops, and working toward more finishes.  

The main UFO with progress this month is the Humble Homes quilt - nearly all applique.  With a new month starting, I'm working on some additional goals that will include more UFOs, and maybe a new project or two.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - last Saturday of October

One more quilt top is finished from my collection of RSC blocks.  This is Windmill, and it's the 3rd one I've made in 2022 with this block.  The first 2 were more controlled scrappiness, with lighter colors.  This one is totally scrappy with no white or cream backgrounds anywhere.  

This will most likely be another donation quilt, and it's about 45 x 56, so a good size for a child.  The blocks were made from the scrap bin and from the "orphan charm square" box.  Each block just needs 2 charms of each color.  

And yes, I've jumped onto the Sewcialites 2 bandwagon and made Block #1 - twice.  I'm really weak when it comes to the squirrels that cross my path.  I am making the 6" version of these blocks from my stash of batiks, and will hopefully keep up with the 1 block per week of this Fat Quarter Shop free sew-along. Today is the day for the release of Block #2.  Yay! I'm going to make some of the 9" versions using the overflowing bin of green that is out of control.  I've never made an all green quilt before.  Note: I did fix the wonky bottom right corner that was pressed badly.

And it shouldn't surprise anyone that I couldn't resist making at least one stash buster block from the Border Creek Station link I shared the other day.  Totally made from scraps, and it is obviously an easy block to make since it's just squares and rectangles.  I'm sure there will be more of these in future RSC playing but for now it's hanging in the closet with the instructions - in the "block collection zone".  

The Falling In Love blocks are all sewn into sets of 4, so I can work on sashing those as part of my November goals.  Most likely it will become another donation quilt.   

What is happening in the rest of the RSC world today?

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

In between applique

 I mentioned the other day that my patience with applique is directly related to how "fussy" the shapes are, and those trees are fussy.  So I need to work on something different in between the blanket stitching sessions.  Three projects have been happening "in between" this week.  

One Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt top was completed - which I'll show tomorrow.  

The red/white/blue Twinkle Star blocks are continuing to add up.  Generally I cut the pieces for 3-5 of these, and then sew them as I have time.  The photo below is kind of washed out, but I currently have these laid out on floor to play with.  Two more rows, plus filling that partial row, and it will be big enough for a Quilt of Valor.  One border will probably be added as well.

A couple more Hello Birdie blocks and the alternating chain blocks have been added. These are also adding up nicely.  I think 3 more birds and 3 more chains will finish this one up.  

There isn't any rush for either of these projects so the blocks will just continue to collect as I'm in the mood to sew something different - in between that applique project.    

More Humble Homes progress

Another row for Humble Homes is in progress.  I've gone back and forth this week, working on the applique for this project and then switching to other piecing when I get tired of it.  

My patience with applique is directly connected to how fussy or complicated it is.  This row will have 2 houses and 3 groves of trees and those trees are fussy.  The first row I made has the reverse of that - 3 houses, and 2 groves of trees, so it went more quickly. 

I called that first one Row 1, but it will actually be Row 2.  And this new one will now be Row 1.  It won't matter as long as the 5 rows are alternated.  The main reason I'm switching them has to do with the background fabrics.  I actually have 2 different but very similar backgrounds, and planned to alternate them.  Turns out I started with the background with only 2 strips instead of 3 strips.  It won't matter in the end, as long as they are alternated.  

Weekly progress

The view from my desk is turning more golden.  When I look out this window the nearest tree is this type of birch.  It turns gold but doesn't drop it's leaves until much later in the season.  Toward the right side I can see branches from a maple, and toward the left are the naked branches of an ash.  Those ash leaves all fell in a 2 day period.  The maple is looking more brown than its' normal red, possibly because we had a hard freeze before it started changing color. 

Not the best photo, but I am excited to have Row 1 of Humble Homes all blanket stitched and pressed.  It's ready for a green bottom strip that will separate it from Row 2.  Next step is to measure and pin all of the trees and houses on that second row so I can start that blanket stitching.

It's always nice to check off another finish.  Bee Patriotic was a Lori Holt sew-along a couple of years ago.  At the time, I had just finished a Quilt of Valor, so decided to make a smaller version of the blocks and to use something other than red, white, and blue. 

I've had the flimsy done for a couple of years but couldn't decide if I wanted to make it into a floor pillow or wall hanging.  It's about 30" square.  I finally decided on wall hanging or table topper, and had it quilted at The Pin Cushion.  Becki did this Baptist Fan on it and I love it.   The binding is actually just scraps from that border - which was leftover from a previous quilt backing.  

Stay tuned for another quilt top finish this week, because I'm optimistic that will happen.

A small finish for Sew Vintage

 It's only about 30" square, but this little wall hanging is a fun finish.  The Sew Vintage group decided to make the little hearts as signature blocks last winter, and exchange them in the group.  

Then one of the members, Holly, gave each of us the umbrella pieces.  She had fun cutting them using her AccuQuilt cutting system, and was generous enough to share.  

I absolutely LOVE the texture of the quilting that Becki (another member) did on my little wall hanging.  It has hearts in those swirls, and is just perfect.  

This will hang in my sewing room to enjoy every day.