I've Reached the End of the Road to Lampasas

Road to Lampasas

75 x 90

(Too long for the clothesline this way- I'll have to turn it sideways)

I used a vintage McCall's pattern ...

...and I used mostly 30's reproduction fabrics. (Sometimes other fabrics creep over into my 30s bin).

I used a scrappy binding. 

I machine quilted it on my plain Jane Janome (DSM) with some four petaled flowers. 

The quilt ended up with some nice texture...wrinkly, soft, cuddly. 

The back is a purple gingham sheet from the thrift store. 

This was my April goal  (#41) for A Lovely Year of Finishes. 

This was also a Q2 goal (#14) for the 2015 Finish Along.

And at the end of the month I'll link up with Julie's Binding Blitz.

Some Slow Stitching Things Going On

I've been big stitching on Basket Weave.  It's a lap quilt I put together from last year's Block Lotto winnings.  There's a row of baskets in there somewhere too.  I've finished most of the vertical stitching and now need to stitch horizontally along the seams and then add some regular hand stitching around the baskets. 

I need to do some more prep work for the 1718 coverlet that I am hand piecing in the mosaic patchwork method the original maker used.  I finished the two blocks on top. I just need one more difficult fleur-de-lis block and can join these two pieces together into row one. 

And I've been working on crocheting another shawl. This one will be for my other granddaughter, Kayla, who loves pink.  I take this to work with me sometimes to work on during my lunch break. 

I might do some binding tonight depending upon how far I get on machine quilting a small donation quilt today.  It's sunny, but wet, so I'm going to try to get into the garden to weed the strawberry bed. 

I'm joining the virtual Slow Sunday Stitching sewing bee at Kathy's Quilts.   You should see all the gorgeous work that goes on at our get-together each Sunday! 

Purple

This is the last week of purple for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

I've made four 9 inch Wonky Log blocks which in turn became one 18 inch Wonky Log...

...Sixteen 3 inch Spool Blocks...

...and a couple of 9 inch "Butterfly" /Beggar Blocks.     Look closely and you will see that the 3 inch "butterflies" in the block are made the same way as the Spool Blocks above. 

Where has the month gone?  I still have some purple strings and crumbs. 

It's raining so won't get out to the garden so I guess some sewing is on my agenda. 

So many scraps so little time...

Want to see how others have spent their time using purple scraps?

Visit ScrapHappy Saturday - a linky for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Purple Haze or is it a Fog?

I made some 6.5 purple crumb blocks last year when it was RSC purple month. 

The block of the month at Block Lotto is Crumb (or Made Fabric) Stars. They have 3.5 inch centers and finish at 9 inches. I used the same idea and Tri-Rec rulers and my purple crumb blocks and ended up with some gigantic 18 inch (finished) blocks. 

I think next time I will also use some crumbs for the star points. 

They went together quickly and before you know it I had a 40 x 60 top ready to be quilted and donated after I sew together my mountain of batting scraps. 

(Those darned grandkids kept pestering me last night while I was trying to take pictures so I finally gave in and said I would play a board game after my picture taking session.)

In other purple news I used 2.5 inch scraps to make some 6 inch Twinkler blocks and two 8 inch Depression blocks...

...and 13 Pentland Cracker blocks...

...and some lozenges (bitter pills)...

...and some miscellaneous 4 inch things. 

Got Scraps?

Use them up. Show them off each ScrapHappy Saturday. 

I May Be Dense but the Quilting Isn't

Dots and Dashes

84 x 96

224 six inch shoo fly blocks made of polka dots and stripes.

Some blocks (maybe half?) came from a couple of swaps and I made the rest.

Sometimes it's difficult to match up seams and triangles on swapped blocks but overall it all turned out okay.  The quilt is so busy I don't think anyone will notice a few mismatched seams or points. )If they do...they have a problem ).   And the quilt is so loud it may keep someone awake at night. 

No dense quilting...just a few lines either side of the middle section of the blocks.  I wrestled it through my dinky little plain Jane Janome DSM. 

And the back looks like this. 

And for the binding I used some brown polka dots and stripes. 

Speaking of binding...I'll link this post up at the end of the month to Julie's Binding Blitz. 

I can mark another UFO off my list.  Yahoo! 

This was goal number 12 for the Q2 Finish Along. 

Today I'm linking up to: 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

A Quilting Reader's Garden

56 Shades of Envy - Shades 39 to 44

 

The block is actually called The Dandy Quilt. 

I've made a couple of different quilts using this block. 

This time all of the blocks are green with neutrals. 

Sometimes I amuse myself when I'm pairing fabrics...for instance the last block has text with different names for grandmother in the green and the white has different Confuscious sayings.  Both were wise...don't know who would win in the advice- giving contest. 

I guess it doesn't take much to amuse me. 

Now to dig in my stash for 12 more shades of green.   I like big quilts. 

Izzy's Shawl

I've finished a shawl for my granddaughter, Isabelle. 

It's a Christmas gift. 

She liked the shawl I made for myself a few years ago so I decided I would make her one. 

This was one of my second quarter Finish Along Goals.  (#15)

At the end of June I will link up my Finish with Adrianne at On the Windy Side. 

And now I can start on a pink shawl for my other granddaughter, Kayla. 

Crumby Stars

The block of the month at Block Lotto is what Sophie calls "Stars with Made Fabric".

Crumbs..."made fabric"...it's all the same thing. 

Now that I've made these nine inch blocks using the Tri-Rec ruler I've had in my drawer and used only once before, I think I will make some 18 inch stars using the 6.5 inch pile of crumb blocks I've had sitting around here  in a box waiting for inspiration to strike.     

Yes,  I think some 18 inch stars with crumb centers will make some quick, easy and nice donation quilts.  

Scraptastic Tuesday

I Do LOVE Cherry Pie!

  

I finished 31 Cherry Pie ( aka Flowering Snowball) blocks and now there are 90.  It takes longer to cut out the pieces than sew them together. 

I made templates from the pattern at  the Molly Flanders blog but I think I cut off the 1/4 inch seam allowance when I made my templates so my blocks are a weird size. But they are all the same weird size so that's fine with me. 

Time to start assembling a top. 

Working the 1718 Coverlet by Hand (Row 1)

I'm making my version of the 1718 Coverlet. 

I'm using mottled solids  (Mirage line from Connecting Threads)

I'm going to sew together the whole darned thing together by hand using the same mosaic patchwork (aka English paper piecing) method that the original maker used. 

I'm using ladder stitch, not whip stitch to connect the pieces. I've tried both stitches on other projects but my ladder stitches look better to me. 

I've completed six blocks out of 9 in the top row excluding larger blocks on the ends. 

You can see the first row at the top of the book cover.  And these are the three blocks I have left for the row.  Wish me luck on that fleur-de-lis ...so far the blocks have been pretty easy. 

This is definitely going to be slow to finish and slow stitching.  I think it will be a nice project to work on this summer. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts. 

Purple Kaleidoscopes

Ten purple scrappy 8 inch Kaleidoscope blocks because 

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

Q2- She's Got High Hopes...High in the Sky Apple Pie Hopes

Kind of like that ant that moved the rubber tree plant I have some high hopes for some Q2 Finishes. 

1.  Cherry Pie (aka Flowering Snowball). I need to make more blocks and then hand quilt with perle #8.

2. Tulips - Blocks made. I need to finish assembly. 

3. Bear Foot - I need a few more blocks. 

4.  Sister's Choice - need a few more blocks. 

5.  I think I will combine two different Block Lotto winnings into one quilt. 

6.  56 Shades of Envy - I need a few more blocks. 

7. Petunias - I need a few more blocks. 

8.  Attic Windows - I need a few more blocks.

9. Rail Fence - Need to assemble top. 

10. Orca Bay - It's a top.

11. Happy Hearts - It's a top.

12.  Dots and Dashes - It's a top and it's pin basted. 

13.  Happy Owls - It's a top.

14. Road to Lampasas - It's a top.

15.  Shawl for Izzy - It's getting close to a finish. 

16. I need a new purse.