The Sewin' o' the Green

The color this month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been green.  I used most of my smaller green scraps this month and moved on to my small chunks of green to make some 12 inch Dandy quilt blocks.  

Got Scraps of the color of the month?

Join us each ScrapHappy Saturday and show off what you've done with them. 

Trippin'

Trippin'

66 x 66

A quilt for my brother

A UFO finish.

The squares are 6.5 inches and from an I Spy travel themed swap I participated in several years ago. 

Colors we swapped were red, green, white/cream, blue and black.  I had to add some of my own fabrics. 

I don't know that it is evident because the squares are so big but I arranged the squares in the conventional "Trip Around the World" configuration. 

I quilted it with one big spiral (trip around the world) on my plain Jane DSM. I took Sophie's advice and made sure I rotated quilt clockwise.   It still wasn't all that easy to get the quilting done on such a large quilt but it was actually easier than I thought it would be.  

And why is the quilt for my brother?   Because I'm proud of him. 

I don't know the number of years...maybe 20 or so...but many years ago he was a cocaine addict and an alcoholic.  After he got down as low as a person can go he changed his life around and kicked both habits after many starts and many failures. 

He has been a chef in Florida at a country club for quite some time. So he gets to take a lot of vacation time off during the "slow season" - the summer months.   In the past so many (is it 20?) years he has exchanged his cocaine trippin' habit  for some world trippin' and has traveled all over the world - a lot of times to take cooking classes in the foreign countries he has traveled. 

So this quilt is to celebrate my brother's long years of sobriety. 

I hope my brother continues to have a good trip. 

Linking to:

Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

Friday HSTeria

Vicki Welsh of Field Trips in Fiber is hosting a HSTeria quilt along. 

One of my HST projects has been 16 inch Depression Blocks for a Quilt of Valor.  Each block consists of 16 - 4.5 inch HSTs. 

I finished 4 more blocks this week. Only 5 more blocks left before the blocks become a top. 

Got HSTs? Join us. 

Slow Sunday Stitching

Gardening season is here so I haven't worked too much on any hand sewing. A few minutes after work each night  I've been embroidering dishtowels and crocheting dish cloths for Christmas (or whatever) gifts/stocking stuffers. 

I've done all the gardening I can stand today (and I don't think I can stand any longer) so I will settle down on the deck with some hand sewing and a Margarita if there aren't too many gnats out there. 

First I need to finish binding a quilt for my brother for Christmas. 

And then I'll work a bit on my Crazy Farm Crazy Quilt (lap size). I haven't done that in a while so I prepped two 12 inch blocks. I piece scraps to a muslin foundation by hand then embroider and embellish. 

Slow Stitching? 

Join us for Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts. 

Oops

Green is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I have used a lot of my smaller scraps and have quite a few chunks of green I thought I would make into 12 inch Dandy Quilt blocks - instructions at Quilter's Cache.    I've made a Dandy Queen-sized quilt in 30s reproductions and a Dandy lap quilt so I figured there was no need to look at the pattern and just started making blocks.   After I finished four blocks I knew there was something wrong. 

Rather than fix them they are going to stay that way. 

Hey, these are scraps!

I just haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to continue with the blocks in this manner or make more blocks following the pattern.  I have LOTS of green chunk scraps. 

I also made a few 3 inch 9 patches since I usually swap those 3 times a year with an on-line group. We also swap 4.5 inch HSTs so I added a few of those to the pile.    And those center 3 inch blocks are what was left over from making the 9 patches. 

Do you have scraps? 

Use them up and join us each ScrapHappy Saturday and show off what you've done with them. 

Friday HSTeria

Vicki Welsh  of Field Trips in Fiber is hosting a HSTeria Quilt Along. 

I've been making a quilt for QOV with some of my HSTs.  The Depression Blocks are 16 inches and I've completed 11 of them. I think 20 blocks will make a nice quilt 64 x 80.  

(No design wall at my house so I had to take two photos). 

I've also added 6 - 9 inch blocks to my collection of basket blocks.  I think I have only a few more left to make.  I think these make a total of 38 baskets. 

Just an FYI - I cut my HSTs with an Easy Angle ruler.  They always seem to turn out perfect when I use this method. 

A,B,C,D,E, F is for Finish!

I've finished a quilt for my niece's baby. 

She's due to deliver in June and is doing things the old-fashioned way...she won't know the sex of the baby until it is born and baby will be delivered with the help of a midwife. 

I've participated in several ABC swaps so keep some ABC happy blocks on hand and ready to be assembled quickly into a quilt.  I've had the rows sewn together for a year or so but replaced the spaceships for S with some Seattle Seahawks fabric.   Funny thing is that I received that Seahawks fabric a couple of years ag by accident in an on-line order with Fabric.com.   They sent the correct fabric later on and told me to keep the Seahawks fabric. And I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I used a little of it in a b/w string quilt but have had the rest of it in with the rest of my b/w stash. 

Then I found out last year when my niece got married to her college sweetheart that her husband was from Seattle and they actually got engaged at a Seahawks game. Weird, huh? 

Blocks are 10 inches - 6.5 inch centers with 2.5 inch sides. 

It finishes at 50 x 60 for a rather large baby quilt. 

I ironed on the letters of the alphabet.  They have a velvety texture. 

I quilted it with some spirals on my plain Jane Janome DSM. 

I bound it with some polka dot fabric. 

Backing was pieced together from some fabric I picked up last year at the thrift store. It must be very old since it was only 36 inches wide. (I remember those days). 

So, that's another UFO finish  I can cross off the list. 

This was my May goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes. 

I was #82 at the May ALYoF Goal Setting Party. 

Linking up today to:

 Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Original Design

Don't Set Sail on Someone Else's Star

72 x 90

Machine Quilted

For my granddaughter's hope chest- a quilt for High School graduation. 

In the making August 2013 - February 2014

Original post. 

Entry for Blogger's Quilt Festival Original Design category. 

This was my first attempt at making letters for a quilt. 

I thought the African proverb "Don't set sail on someone else's star" was good advice for a high school graduate. 

Actually, the quilt started out with a Block Lotto win of some "Tall Stars".   

I made several blocks to add to the winnings then

I added strips to the side of the 6 x 9 inch blocks to make them 9 inch square. 

It just so happened that a month before I joined Block Lotto the block of the month was a "Tall Ship".  And I thought a few of those would go well with the quote and stars so made a few of those blocks and added strips to the sides to square up to 9 inches.  

I machine quilted stars in the star section and made an attempt at waves in the filler blocks around the ships. 

This quilt was a little outside my usual box.

 I'm glad I crawl out of it every once in a while to try something different. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Hand Quilting

Double Wedding Ring

70 x 85

Started Feb 2013

Finished Apr 2014

First attempt at hand quilting.

A wedding quilt for my granddaughter's hope chest. She's 9. 

Previous post about quilt. 

I learned a lot in the making of this quilt. It was a challenge that, quite frankly, I didn't feel I was up to.   The piecing of the quilt with all it's curves and different type of construction (no even rows) was the first challenge.  The second was the hand quilting.  I had to try different types of thimbles before I found the one that worked for me.  I had to learn the proper "rocking motion" in order to get smaller, even stitches so I first stitched in the ditch around all the arch pieces. 

I used a template and experimented with different marking methods until I found chalk worked best for me with the templates I used. 

I'm pleased with the results of my first attempt and will definitely be doing more hand quilting in the future. 

I hope I'm still alive when it comes time for my granddaughter to receive her wedding quilt but if I'm not I will be at her wedding in spirit. 

And so that is my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival - Hand Quilting category.  I would like to encourage you to try hand quilting. It's very relaxing after you get over the initial fears. I didn't think I could do it.  I can't believe I did it. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Visit and be inspired. 

Green Without Envy and Without End

Green is the color for this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I made 4 - 9 inch wonky log cabin blocks from green and light scraps and then sewed them together into one big 18 inch block. 

Then I made four 8 inch string blocks from green scraps.

Then I made 27 - 3 inch green butterflies and joined them together into 3-  9 inch blocks.  (The one in lower right was made last year. )

And finally, I added 9 - 3 inch spools to my spool collection. 

Got Green Scraps? 

Make something and join the party every ScrapHappy Saturday. 

A HSTerical Post

Vicki Welsh of Field Trips in Fiber is hosting an HST QAL. 

The UFO I'm working on that uses HSTs - 10 inch basket blocks full of all kinds of things.  

I have a lot of novelty fabrics so decided to put them in baskets. 

This is a red, blue, purple, yellow stash buster. 

I'm also still working on my 16 inch Depression blocks - all dark/light HSTs.  I'm working on stash busting my patriotic fabric drawer and when completed this will be for QOV.  I don't have a design wall so prop up my cutting mat, cover it with a left over piece of batting and prop up the blocks for a photo shoot.  

Got HSTs? 

Join us. 

Green - The 2.5 Version

Green 2.5 inch scraps used this week for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I've finished 15 Little Monkeys (they use 1.5 inch scraps up also), I've been making these since last year so I should have enough for a quilt (without sashing) as soon as I fill in this year with colors missed last year. 

I only made 4 Twinklers but may find scraps for more before month end.  

I see they are now all the rage over on the Stashbuster Yahoo Group.  I've been making them since last year. They are so easy (no points to match), good use of scraps and fun. 

Other 2.5 x 5 inch scraps went into making Lozenges.   

I opted for the smaller size since I have more 2.5 inch scraps than 3.5. 

I made 30 but got tired of putting them up for a photo shoot on my batting/cutting mat improvised design wall. 

Funny thing...when I look at my green scraps I'm kind of amazed at how many of them tend toward lime green which I thought I despised. 

Got Scraps? 

Show us what you did with the green ones. 

ScrapHappy Saturday Linky. 

HSTeria

Vicki Welsh from Field Trips in Fiber is hosting a HSTeria QAL. 

My HSTs are going toward 16 inch Despression Blocks for a QOV quilt. 

I just need 18 more blocks for a 64 x 80 quilt. 

One Wedding Quilt Was Not Enough

I'm making some things for hope chests for my 3 grandkids.    I finished (with hand quilting) a Double Wedding Ring as a wedding gift for my oldest granddaughter, Isabelle, who is only 9.  She has a brother, Jacob, who is 5. For his wedding quilt I've been making a Jack's Chain. Last weekend I made  a couple of "rows". but don't have them added on yet to the rest of the quilt.  I'm not really loving all those Y seams, but I am loving the quilt so far.   Those 9 patches are 3 inches finished to give you an idea of the size. 

Kayla, my other granddaughter who is also 9, will get a Pickle Dish quilt. She has loved PINK since she has been old enough to say the word so I've been saving up pink, yellow, orange, coral fabrics for the arches.  I originally thought I would use this teal fabric for the background but this quilt is made differently from the Double Wedding Ring in that the background is not one piece  - the quilt, following Kaffe Fassett pattern in Quilt Romance,  is made in blocks instead.  So, those big butterflies would get cut up.   And, to tell the truth...I don't think I like the teal as a background anyway. 

I found this in my stash that I think I will use instead.  I think there is enough of it. I'll have to make all of the arches and try them out on the fabric later.   Besides, I'm not sure what I'm going to use as the center fabric joining the arches. I'm taking it just one step at a time.  I never really plan anything too far ahead. 

Since these are both works in process and because it is Wednesday, 

 I'm linking up to WOW = WIPs on Wednesday at Esther's Blog.   

And, as another WOW...boy, she does some beautiful applique work.