Hand Quilting Izzy's Wedding Quilt

Last weekend in between playing games with the grandkids and each evening after work I did some hand- quilting on a Double Wedding Ring quilt I made for my granddaughter's hope chest.  I finished all the four square patches with some hearts. 

Sorry for the lousy blurry pic today. My hands are a little stiff this afternoon. 

And now I'm working on the center sections.   I thought I was being a little ambitious with this stencil since this quilt is my first attempt at hand quilting so saved the center sections for last. 

I decided to mark the quilt with chalk. I was a little nervous about using any of the newer products for marking since this quilt will be stored away until my granddaughter gets married. She's only 9 years old now.   

I have two center sections finished and hope to finish off more tonight not that the grandkids went home. 

 The grandkids were here again this weekend and they sure love to play games. My 5 year old grandson feels left out when the two nine year old girls go off to play dolls so he helped me organize the pins in my pincushion by color and sorted through the buttons in my button tin and put his favorite buttons in a baggie. 

And, yes, I do notice that there is a mismatched piece in the arch on the left. Don't know how that happened but that's the way it is and the way it will stay. 

This is how the quilt top looked before I did any quilting. I want to get it finished before the summer months. I hand stitch on smaller projects in the summer since I don't have air-conditioning. A bit quilt on the lap in mid summer is not good. 

Are you doing some hand-stitching? Join the party at Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching. 

The Last of the Blue-Green Scraps

Blue-Green (teal, turquoise, aquamarine) is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I sat out a couple of weeks of blue-green scrap sewing because I don't have many scraps of that color.  I do have a few 2.5 inch scraps so made up some of Bonnie Hunter's lozenges in the smaller size (2.5x5 unfinished).  

And I did have enough postage stamp sized scraps to finish my vintage Sunbonnet Sue (pattern at Q is for Quilter) from blue-green scraps and a 6 inch heart. 

Visit ScrapHappy Saturday for more scrappy projects. 

I Haven't Thrown in the Towel Yet

This is my tea towel for Sophie's  tea towel challenge. 

Since my last post I've made some letters for my quilt. I just couldn't get in the mood to make them. And now I have enough for two sentences. 

I also made some baskets filled with fruit for my quilt. Baskets were a pattern from Block Lotto. I cut out some fruit from various fabrics and appliqued them on. And, yes, I know the baskets of apples has an uneven handle - too far in on the right- but that's the way it is going to stay.  

My previously posted blocks were 3 inch 9 patches, some jars of fruit...

...and some embroidered fruit.   I need to add borders around these. 

I have no idea how I'm going to put all this together. In the meantime I just keep making things to go into the quilt.  And, just maybe, I'll have it finished in May or before. 

54 Butterfly Blocks Finished

I finished the last of the 54 hand appliqued butterfly blocks necessary to make a quilt like the one I inherited from my grandmother.  I used 54 different 30s reproduction fabrics.  The buttonhole and back stitches are done in black perle cotton #8.  The background fabric is Kona Snow. 

Now I can start assembly on the top.  I think Kona cottons are on sale next week at Hancock Fabrics so I'm hoping they still have some Kona Spring which is pretty close to the same green color my grandma used in most of her quilts.  I'll also pick up some muslin for the backing. 

And after that I'll be ready to do some hand quilting like grandma's. 

I've been Slow Stitching this Sunday. Have you? Celebrate at Kathy's Quilts. 

UFO Finish for QOV

I've finished my March goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes (#46).

A 60x80 Quilt of Valor. 

I think I explained in my original post  that I made these 24 inch crumb stars last year when red was the color for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I quilted it on my plain Jane DSM. Some of the stars are quilted with some spirals...

 ...and some are quilted with lines.

And everything else in between is quilted with loops and stars. 

And the binding is stars. 

The backing is some red, white blue guitars and skull and crossbones. 

I'm not sure how skulls and crossbones go with guitars or lightning bolts.  But it is kind of fun. 

And speaking of QOV...Kevin the Quilter is having a block drive. The blocks are really easy to make. I have my 5 blocks ready to go. These QOV quilts will go to veterans in eastern Missouri. 

I think I'll go Whoop, Whoop it up at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

The Closest Thing to Spring Around Here Are the Pansies and Roses on My Fabrics

I made more 6 inch blocks for my pansy quilt which has been a UFO for a while.  Looks like the last time I made any blocks was May 2013. 

I love pansies and plant plenty of them each year in pots on my deck.

I'm going to keep making these blocks ( I think the block name is Prairie Flower) until all my pansy fabric is used up.  I've been collecting pansy fabrics for years so I have a lot more blocks to go. 

Eventually I hope to make a queen-sized quilt for the bed to go with the wall border I made of vintage postcards...and to go with the pansy curtains...and the pansy lamp shades...and the pansy wall hangings...and the pansy pillowcases...and the pansy candle holders.      I think the only thing in the bedroom that isn't pansy themed is my husband and the quilts on the bed. 

I also made more 12 inch Rosebud blocks

I hope to make these blocks until I use up all my rose themed fabrics. 

I love roses too. I grow several varieties of old-fashioned roses out in the flower gardens. Unfortunately the deer and rabbits sure like to eat the rose canes during the winter so I lose a few roses every year due to their damage. Pesky varmits! Rascally rabbits!  

That's it for my "Design Wall" today. Other blog land design walls can be found at Patchwork Times today. 

So...this is as close as it gets to spring around here in eastern Iowa. It snowed again Saturday night and the temperature was 13 degrees F when I left for work this morning. I see no daffodils or tulips sprouting and no signs of crocus - the first flowers that blooms around here in the Spring.  And I need to wear garden clogs to walk around the rest of the wet and muddy property.   I usually plant my potatoes around Good Friday...but might not make it this year.  

Sophie, of Block Lotto, suggested we blog about Spring this month.   And so I have. 

How's the Crazy Farm?

I've finished my March  12 inch "Crazy Farm" block for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project.  At the end of the year I hope to assemble all blocks into a lap quilt. 

Carrots, buttonhole wheels outlined with chain stitches and feather stitch and lazy daisies...

...stem stitches with french knots to sort of imitate the green fabric, cast on stitch pansies and the red are just straight stitches topped with a detached chain stitch...

...crocheted star flowers with french knot centers and a tulip in wrapped back stitch. 

And now it joins the other "Crazy Farm" block

And now that my March crazy quilt block is finished I will probably spend the rest of the month finishing up the final 10 applique butterflies I need for the quilt I'm making like grandma's. 

After I finish hand binding a quilt I'll be working on the butterflies for my Slow Stitching Sunday project.  If you are hand stitching today join the party. 

Scraps of Teal

Teal is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I don't have many teal scraps but what I do have I hope to get used up. 

Here's some teal Twinklers from the 2.5 inch scrap bag. 

And here's my teal 3.5 inch butterflies from the 1.5 inch scrap bag. 

I started making butterflies toward the end of the year last year for RSC. I decided to start sewing them into 9 inch blocks for a quilt inspired by a vintage quilt you can see in the blog post at Nostalgic Cafe. 

I now have 11 blocks and lots of loose butterflies I might use in a border. Or not. 

ScrapHappy Saturday Teal Scrap Inspiration 

NewFOs and UFOs

NewFO

For my New Fabric Object Project for February I made some 12 inch Rosebud blocks. The backgrounds are all fabrics with roses and the "rosebuds" are all going to be made in solids - the colors of roses. 

I have a box of rose themed fabrics and back in 2009 I printed off the Rosebud pattern from Quilter's Cache and threw it in the box to remind me of a possibility for the fabrics.  I guess the time is right. I love roses and am longing for some warm weather and roses blooming in the garden. Playing in rose themed fabrics might just be the next best thing. 

For NewFO ideas and inspiration visit the NewFO Challenge Linky Party at Cat Patches. 

PROGRESS ON A NewFO

I've finished four block modules for the MOD MOD QAL going on at Block Lotto and hosted by the oh-so-creative Sophie. 

The block modules are 21 inches square. 

I'm making the individual blocks that make up the modules in complementary colors. 

And I'm using up lots of scraps.

UFOs

March Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes 2014

Last August I made some giant 24 inch crumb stars and then turned them into a 60x80 quilt top. 

My March goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to baste, quilt and bind my crumb stars and get it donated to Quilts of Valor.  I have a fun backing fabric for it all picked out. 

Izzy's Wedding Quilt

I'm making this Double Wedding Ring quilt for my granddaughter who is only 9.  After her paternal grandmother died last year she told me I would live long enough to see her get married. I hope I do but if not I'll be there in spirit. 

Just last night I finished hand quilting along all the seams in all the pieces in the arches.  I think there are 98 arches with 11 pieces each so that's a lot of stitching.  I did the stitch-in-the-ditch  so I could practice hand quilting before I stitched in any of the areas that would really show my novice stitches.  So far I have learned to use a thimble, how to do the "rocking" motion, how to hoop the quilt, how to bury knots and built up a callous on the finger I keep underneath the quilt.  I may not have the smallest stitches but I I think I keep them pretty consistently the same size. 

Here's what the back looks like so far. 

In the four patch sections I'm going to try to stitch some hearts like this template. I'm having a little problem marking the quilt. I tried a silver pencil but it doesn't show up well enough for my eyes and besides, I couldn't keep the pencil sharp.  Good thing is that I could easily remove the marks I did manage to make with a little water.  I'm going to try a mechanical pencil next. That's what I use on my crazy quilt stitching if I need to mark anything. 

And after that I'm going to try to stitch this in the large middle sections. I may be a little ambitious with this. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.