It's A Top! Back Stories II

It's a top!

Back Stories II

60 x 80

I made the top for Back Stories I in 2020 using a pattern I bought called Interweave.  Unfortunately when I started making the top I realized that the top was not going to finish at the dimensions the author listed and was going to turn out almost square. I had to improvise to make a longer quilt and wrote about the problem to the pattern author as you can see in my 2020 post. (Note: She still has the same finished dimensions listed as she did in 2020 when I bought the pattern. I thought I would mention this in case you are inclined to purchase the pattern.)

So, anyway, I finished the Back Stories I quilt two years later in 2022.  As you can see in that post I mentioned that I had made revisions to the pattern and in 2022 started collecting strips for Back Stories II in a little shoe box.   Here it is 2024 and I noticed the other day when I added a couple of strips to the shoe box that I had enough strips for the top. So here we are.

I call the quilt Back Stories because most of the strips are cut from quilt back trimmings. 

Not all of the strips in this one, though, are from trimmings. Some strips came from friends in boxes of scraps. 

Back Stories II is a scrap community of plaids, florals, geometrics, novelties in a rainbow of colors. I tried to make them all get along together. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 25 -- Garden Veggies. The rascally critters actually let me harvest some! 

 None of my big tomatoes are ripe yet but I have been eating some of the cherry type tomatoes -- yellow pear, black strawberry. I also tried a new one this year called spoon tomatoes (those tiny red ones in the glass bowl). I grow all my tomatoes from seed and those were free seeds so gave them a try and put a plant in a pot on the deck.  I also grow my peppers from seeds. I don't eat hot peppers but used to grow a few types for hubby but now that he doesn't eat I only grow sweeter types of peppers. I harvested Lesya which is supposed to be the sweetest pepper (not sure about that) and I eat strips of peppers almost every day for lunch. I harvested a few Jimmy Nordello (an old Italian heirloom - the long ones) that I use for cooking (had them in my omelet for dinner last night). There's also a couple of Paprika peppers in the bowl. They seem a little small this year but I will probably dry and grind them for paprika.  I also have Baby Bell, Chocolate and Anaheim peppers growing but have not harvested any of those yet.   There's a few "volunteer" new potatoes in the bowl. Volunteers are potatoes that sprout up from a few potatoes that did not get harvested last year.  I harvested a red, yellow and white onion that was in my green onion row but grew larger than a green onion. I buy plants from Dixondale Farms for my onions. I love onions. I grew two different types of pickling cucumbers but can't remember which they were. If I get a lot of them and can't keep up with eating them I'll make bread and butter pickles. And I harvested some Dragon Tongue bush beans. Some critter and insects ate most of my bean plants early on so I wasn't sure if I was going to get any beans. Some of the Dragon Tongue plants survived but only one of the Red Swan - both heirloom beans. 

Wonky Quarter Log Cabin Finish

Wonky Quarter Log Cabin

It's a finish!

50 x 60

I used some colorful and wider selvages to make the blocks. Most of the selvages came from quilt back trimmings to that is why they are wider. I normally don't like to leave that much fabric with a selvage. Most of my selvages are cut thin and I save them to use as garden ties.  

I used some spider web fabric squares for the start of the blocks. 

Blocks finished at 10.5 inches.  

I finished the top in April 2023.

I quilted it on my DSM with swirls in gray thread.

The binding is scrappy -- darker pieces from the leftover bindings box. 

The back. 

And ready for donation!

The theme in my sewing space this month has been STRINGS. I've finished up 8 string quilts and have been working on three new quilts - Feather Bed, Spider Web and Eight Point Stars.  I think that is about all of the finishes I will have this month but will continue to work on the new starts for the rest of the month. Maybe I will run out of strings. 

I differentiate between string quilts and strip quilts. 

For me...strings just happen. I don't cut into any fabrics to make string quilts. Most of the time strings are a result of quilt back trimmings or wonky end cuts of yardage. If someone sends me longer strips of fabric I first measure the width and if it is an even 1.5, 2, or 2.5 inches in width then I usually have one or two projects in process that can use that strip. If it is wonky or not exactly one of those widths then it goes into my string box.   

On the other hand...for me... strip quilts usually involve some cutting of yardage or even width strips I receive from other folks who send fabric and scraps my way. 

Next month the theme in my sewing space will be KIDS.   I hope to work on finishing kiddo sized quilt tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) stack and dig into the orphan blocks and make a few tops. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 24 - I wasn't really up to celebrating much of anything. My sewing space used to be a back porch and has a flat roof with a very slight slant .  I noticed a small leak in my ceiling the last time it rained. After that son helped me get up there and put a tarp over where we thought the leak was. Well, it rained yesterday and rain still leaked in. I took a good look out the window at the roof when it was raining and I think it might be collecting nearer to where the water flows into the gutter so we need to move the tarp. We have known we need a new roof and gutters for awhile because roof is about 30 years old (we replaced it a few years after we moved here) but with hubby in and out of the hospital, too weak to do much and  still with many doc appointments pending for osteoradionecrosis in the jaw and dysphagia I have not gotten around to getting any quotes. And I don't want to have someone working on the roof when we aren't around.    So, anyway, I went to bed without celebrating a thing.  And then...hubby yelled for me. and woke me up. His feeding tube was about ready to fall out.   I do have a spare one here but first tried pushing that one back in and then measured the volume in the balloon that kind of holds it in place in the stoma and it was low so I added some distilled water to it with syringe and he was able to hook back up to the feed pump ok.  Today I will have to measure volume of that balloon again to make sure it doesn't have a slow leak.   So, I was proud of myself for staying calm in the midst of crisis and taking care of business - definitely cause to celebrate. I'm surprised I can do some of the things I do.  Last time his feeding tube fell out it was Christmas Day and we ended up in the ER. They did not have the right Gtube to insert so they put in temp foley cath. We ended up at the surgeon's office the next day and he put in a new one. I asked him what to do next time it fell out and he said "watch me put this in" and get a spare one for home. I didn't want to but I watched....just in case...

 

Wednesday Wandering - Roses and Lilies

Just showing you some of the roses and lilies in the cottage garden this week. 

Well, you might see a few weeds too. 

The Roses, Orienpet and Oriental lilies are all very fragrant. The Daylilies are not.

I've been using Bobbex to repel the deer. 

I've seen a few Japanese Beetles starting to invade the roses but I've been picking them off and throwing them in soapy water on my tour through the gardens (if I remember to take my little bucket of soapy water with me).  

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CELEBRATE (my word of the year)

July 23 - Quilt stories!  I read about the power of a quilt and prayer on Linda's blog. 

 

Another Wonky Log Cabin Finish

It's a finish!

Wonky Log Cabin

Fields and Furrows Setting

45 x 54

I made this top earlier this year. I used brown and blue strings around an orange 2 inch square. 

Blocks were trimmed to 9.5 inches. 

I used a fields and furrows layout.

I quilted it on my DSM with swirls in gray thread.

The backing. 

The binding is the same orange batik as the extra strip I had to add to the backing. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 19 - My Gladiolas.  I think I have the color scheme for my next quilt - purple, yellow, red with touches of pink and light orange. 

July 20 - House Dresses. I ordered a couple earlier this year to wear when working outside in the garden. I thought I would feel a little cooler on hot days. I do. But I can't help but think that from the back when bending over now I look like those bent over old lady lawn ornaments. Good thing we don't have close neighbors! 

July 21 - I finished a book! This one was light reading and not my usual historical fiction. Sometimes a few historical fiction books based on true stories kind of get depressing. Closer Than You Think by Jean Grainger is the fourth book in the Mags Munroe series. Mags Munroe is an Irish Garda.  I'm looking forward to further exploits of Mags Munroe. 

July 22 - Oh joy! I received packages of lovely fabrics from both Julierose and Nann. I am so thankful for their generosity. I hope to turn a lot of it into comfort quilts asap! 

Another Wonky Log Cabin Finish!

Wonky Log Cabin

54 x 72

It's a finish!

This one has heart!

I made the top earlier this year and used low volume strings around a 2 inch pink center for this one.

I trimmed the blocks to 9.5 inches. 

I quilted it with three petaled flowers on my DSM (Brother PQ1500SL) in white thread. 

Binding is pastel pink. I sewed this binding down by machine. 

The backing. It too has heart(s). 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 19 - 44 (or more) in 2024!  I've met my goal!  At the beginning of the year I set a goal to finish 44 or more donation quilts in 2024. You can see my goal over on the side bar.  This low volume wonky log cabin makes donation quilt finish 45.   I've actually finished 46 quilts this year but one of them I'm keeping around in case I need a gift for family or friends. I guess that actually still qualifies for a donation quilt but for purposes of my goal I put it in the gift category.   Most of the quilts were UFOs but for the first time this year I've also finished a quite a few quilts that aren't UFOs. I hope to keep up that trend. Also, so far this year I've already donated 42 quilts kiddo quilts from ones I've had on hand. Thank you to all my friends who have sent me supplies to help me complete this goal. Now that I've met that goal I'm feeling like I can give myself permission to work on a few of my own quilts and then see how many more than 44 quilts I can finish for donation.   I have a tab for quilt finishes this year at the top of this blog. 

 

Progress on Strings - Works in Progress

Feather Bed blocks.   

I've finished sewing all my longest strings into strata and cut the parts for 76 feathers. 

I don't cut fabrics for strings. They just happen. So it is always fun to see what the mix of fabrics in my quilts will look like together. 

I decided to use green for the background because I think every color goes with green. Doesn't every color of flower have green leaves? 

Now that my longest strings have been used the remainders go into the pile of strings for Spider Web blocks. 

So I made some Spider Web blocks this week too.  I'm mostly using bright and wild strings for these projects. 

Then after I've used a string in the Spider Web blocks and there is a little piece of string left it goes into the baggie for Eight Point Star pieces.   I made enough pieces (32) for 4 Stars. 

So that's the long and short of it.

And sew on...

 

A Wonky Log Cabin Finish

Wonky Log Cabin in a

Fields and Furrows setting.

It's a finish!

60 x 72

I made the top back in April 2023.

It started with some orange 4.5 inch squares...

...and some bright and neutral strings. 

I even added in a little flour and sugar! 

I quilted it with swirls on my DSM in a natural colored thread.  I wanted to add an orange binding but I didn't have enough of any orange fabric to use so I used a gold fabric. 

The pieced backing.

When I was piecing I meant for those two different fabrics to be in one strip at the side instead of together side by side. I must have gone into "mindless mode" (aka Cathy's World) when piecing. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

***

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 17 - Heirloom Roses had a big sale so I treated myself to three new floribundas. One can never have too many roses to stop and smell. They arrived yesterday. I planted them in the cutting garden since they are roses suitable for cutting and fragrant too.  They are Celestial Nights (magenta), Plum Perfect (plum, of course) and About Face (multicolor orange). I immediately sprayed them with Bobbex to keep critters away. 

July 18 - Today is my daughter's 48th birthday. Again, how can that be? I thought I was 48! 😀 I remember the day she was born...it was early morning and I woke hubby to tell him I needed to get to the hospital right away. Our son was 2 1/2 so we woke him too. Hubby dropped me off at the hospital and said he would be back after he dropped our son off with my step mom.  When he got back to the hospital I had given birth to a baby girl - 8lb. 4oz. and 20 inches long. The sky was beautiful at sunrise that day. We named her Amber Dawn.