Round 3 - The Challenge and The Quilting

Shhhh....it's a secret but I don't think I'm revealing too much at all as to the owner of this little quilt. 

I've been participating in a mini quilt round robin.  We each start with a center block and it gets passed around several times  - once for the first border, then the second border and finally the last person does the quilting and binding. 

I'm the last person to work on this little quilt so I'm supposed to do the quilting and binding. 

But first I had to fix the first border.  The first border is the green,yellow,orange-red strips along with some little prairie points.  I'm not even sure what that fabric is but I am told it can't be ironed. The strips were not sewn together but were kind of overlapped and in one spot (above) the green fabric didn't meet up and cover the yellow border so there was some green  frayed exposed edge.  I did the best I could to tack it down but decided to embroider some vines and leaves all around the center block and then added some daisy trim in places here and there.  Those daisies covered the frayed area splendidly.   

I then added some big stitching on the first border in green and yellow. 

Now that that part is finished I've been working on quilting the rest of it with regular hand quilting thread.  But I can't show that part yet.   It will give away too much.   All will be revealed in time!  I'm almost finished! 

I'm going to join the virtual quilting bee Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts where there's a whole bunch of hand work going on. 

Lozenges, Pills or Suppositories?

More from the green 2.5 inch scraps. 

You call them lozenges. I call them bitter pills. At least I'm not calling them suppositories but I do consider them a pain in the patooty to make.  Well, not exactly pain...just plain boring to make.  But I can attest... they do use up scraps. 

The size I'm making is 2 x 4.5 finished. 

I probably have at least 500 of them by now.  I should figure out how the size of  quilt I want to make with these. 

Got Scraps?

Use them up and show off each week at the ScrapHappy Linky Party. 

Next month's RSC color is blue (light and happy). 

Who Knew?

On and off I've been making some 18 inch Spinning Stars blocks... 

...using Anna Maria Horner's pattern and the scraps left over from a Pickle Dish quilt. 

It's one of my UFOs or WIPs if you prefer. 

And this is one of my WIPs too...9 inch Wagon Wheels using a pattern on  a McCall's Vintage Quilts CD, 30s reproduction fabrics and solids.   See any similarities? 

Who knew I was working on two completely different quilts using similar patterns?  I sure didn't!

Linky partying at:

WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden

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

Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts. 

It's a Wrap!

Well, actually, it's a shawl...a finished shawl. 

This is a Christmas present for my granddaughter, Kayla, the pink-lover. 

I've been crocheting it during my lunch breaks. 

The yarn is Caron Simply Soft.  

The pattern was from The Prayer Shawl Companion. 

It's a finished shawl. It's a wrap. 

It's a Jungle Out There!

Six 12 inch Jacob's Ladder blocks 

made from some of the 4.5 inch HSTs and 4 Patches swapped with some of the members of the Block Swappers Yahoo Group. 

Even though I'm an old lady, I don't swap blocks made of "old lady" fabrics.   I usually make the wild ones.   And this quarter most of my blocks to swap have a jungle theme.  (I felt like monkeying around ). 

At Block Swappers we also swap 3 inch 9 patches quarterly.   I'm always on the lookout for fabrics with a small things printed on them.   I made a Sister's Choice quilt out of these little 9Ps last year.   After that I started using them in a couple of Jack's Chain quilts.  

Join up with Block Swappers Yahoo Group if you like swapping 4 patches, HSTs and/or little 9 patches AND if you don't mind some weird fabrics once in awhile. 

 There's also a swap going on now for 4 inch 4Ps and 4 inch HSTs in Civil War repro fabrics.  I need to get moving on those! 

Finally Finished

Orca Bay

A 2011 Bonnie Hunter (Quiltville) Mystery

75 x 85

I know you've seen a lot of these over the years in blog land.  I guess that's why I really never got around to getting it finished - too many people made one that looks exactly like it...from a distance...

...but up close and personal each quilt is a unique blend of fabrics. 

Well, I can now cross it off my UFO list. It's finished. 

I machine quilted it with loops and stars in variegated thread.  And yes (close your eyes, quilt police) , I used a thrift store sheet for the backing again.   It's silky soft and 100% cotton.  Who gives sheets in such good condition that are so silky soft to the thrift store?   I don't know but I'm thankful.

I had a couple of pics of my quilt on my plain Jane DSM just to show how small the harp is on my Janome DC2010 but I guess I deleted them before I uploaded them. And so it goes.  

Finishing this was one of my goals  (#10)  for   Q2 Finish Along 

At the end of May I will like up with Julie for Julie's Binding Blitz. 

Green 2.5

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

These 8 inch Depression Blocks used up some 2.5 inch green and neutral scraps. 

Plus I was able to make a few miscellaneous 4 inch blocks as well as several 4 patches from 2.5 inch scraps.  

Got Scraps?

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

Sister's Choice

I finished the last 14 out of the 49 Sister's Choice blocks I need for a quilt. 

These are 10 inch blocks in civil war reproductions. 

And, yes, I see two HSTs that are in the wrong spot.  I won't tell if you won't. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Hand Quilted Pickle Dish

Pickle Dish

67 x 67

Pattern from Kaffe Fassett's book Quilt Romance

This is a wedding quilt for my granddaughter's hope chest.  (She's only 10 years old now so it will be a few years before she sees it) 

It is hand quilted.  I used stencils to mark some of the quilting and in other sections. 

I'm still working to perfect my stitches. Right now I'm trying for consistent size. Later I will try for smaller and smaller stitches.  I love hand quilting. It is so relaxing and gives a quilt a lovely texture.  And somehow I think it puts me in touch with my ancestors. 

As with most of my quilts...this was a learning experience...curves, paper piecing, hand quilting...I'm hoping I'm still alive when my granddaughter gets married but if not I will be there in the spirit of this quilt. 

This is my entry for the Hand Quilted Category at 

Blogger's Quilt Festival at AmysCreativeSide.com

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Scrappy Wild Thing

Wild Thing

80 x 80

Hand quilted with perle #8

Blocks were made of scraps in complementary colors. 

As you can see from a lot of the blocks...I love novelty fabrics.

These were all last years Block Lotto blocks. 

Some blocks were rather challenging and some were very simple. 

I hand quilted the entire thing in different colors of perle cotton #8. 

Because the front was so busy I used a solid color wide backing so all of the hand quilting would show up somewhere. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

  This is my entry for the SCRAPPY category.  

Green Kaleidoscopes - No Volcanoes

 

I went through my 2.5 inch green scraps and found enough long pieces (at least 22 inches) to make 15 Kaleidoscope blocks.   These will finish at 8 inches. 

Last year I made 12 inch Kaleidoscope blocks and the first few (and a couple since then)

Last year I made 12 inch Kaleidoscope blocks and the first few (and a few since then) had the "volcano effect"...middle of the block did not lay flat. 

One of the tips I have found to eliminate the "volcano effect"  is to be sure the tip of the ruler and the side of the ruler are lined up properly before cutting.    If the outside of the block is not lined up exactly  with the ruler (as seen here)  that's usually okay (for my blocks).  Every once in a while my seam allowance is a little off and I end up with a some buckling in the middle of the blocks and those I starch into submission. 

In case you haven't guessed...green is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

Check out the sewin' of the green ScrapHappy Saturday. 

I Love Cherry Pie: The Flimsy

 "I Love Cherry Pie" (aka Flowering Snowball in Cherry Themed Fabrics and cherry pie colors) is now a flimsy.   And, oooops...I made it way bigger than I thought it was going to be.  It measures about 99 x 110 - King-sized, not Queen-sized.   So, now the backing I had planned will have to be pieced, I will have to buy a King-sized batting or piece some scraps on to the Queen-sized one I  bought. 

I'm going to big stitch hand quilt it with red perle #8.   I don't know when...it seems to be cool these days but will get warm soon and I don't have air conditioning at home. 

And it's kind of weird how random sewing sometimes ends up kind of un- random looking.    I don't have a design wall so I just pretty much grabbed and sewed.  

Partying at: 

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

WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Making Waves

Ocean Waves

192 - 2.5 inch HSTs from 30s scraps. 

My 2.5 inch 30s reproduction scrap box was starting to overflow so I made 2.5 inch HSTs which became 16 eight inch blocks  which became 4 sixteen inch blocks.   And now I have 6 out of the 25 blocks I want for a large sized quilt.   

Last December I started making Ocean Waves Variation blocks but instead of making 3.5 inch HSTs like the pattern at Quilter's Cache I made 2.5 inch HSTs.  Some of the HSTs are leftover from other projects and the 30s are combined with Kona Snow.  Some of the other HSTs are combined with unbleached muslin.  All of the HSTs I just made are combined with unbleached muslin.   I use an EZ angle ruler to cut the HSTs.  

Because I used my scraps and because tomorrow is Scraptastic Tuesday I'll be linking up there when the time comes.  (Link also on the sidebar).   On Wednesday I'll link these scraps, er, I mean Ocean Waves, up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. 

Making Waves??? 

I'm surprised I get anything made this time of year. If I'm not working at the full time job I'm trying to get all the gardens planted and the perennials weeded in between all the heavy duty rains.  We've been cutting and eating lettuce, green onions and asparagus from the garden.  I forgot to plant any radishes.  The bluebells, lilacs and tree peonies are blooming and the Iris are almost ready to bloom.   I see flowers in the strawberry patch but it's so weedy in there I'm not sure I'll be able to find the strawberries when it is time to pick them though I'm sure the grandkids will be able to find them.   

Green 1.5

With green 1.5 inch scraps I made four 9 inch Beggar blocks. 

I first saw this in a vintage "Butterfly" quilt on the Nostalgic Cafe blog. 

I started making these last year and now have 39 blocks.  I think I want 56 blocks for a large quilt with sashing between blocks.    I'm trying to decide if I want a floral sashing since it is a butterfly quilt or if I just want to stick with the Kona Candy blue.  Time will tell. 

And actually these three inch spool blocks are the exact same block as the individual "butterflies" that make up the Beggar block.   I've been making these for a couple of years too and have 534 of them.  I guess it is about time to decide what to do with them. 

Got Scraps? 

Use them and join us each ScrapHappy Saturday to show us what you've done. 

Basket Weaving 101

Basket Weaving 101

42 x 64

Hand quilted with various colors of perle #8

I won all of the blocks in this quilt from Block Lotto. These weave blocks were from October 2014. 

These Banded Baskets were the November 2013 Block Lotto block.  I almost wasn't going to make any because I had to applique the handles and I don't really like machine applique because I usually don't stay within the bounds of such small pieces.  I'm glad I tried the hand appliqued handles and even gladder I won. I love basket blocks.  (That brown/yellow basket is one of my own complete with applique handle). I have baskets enough for another project. I just thought a few of them would be fun in this quilt. 

I pieced the batting together from pieces leftover from other quilts using zigzag stitch.  The backing and binding were from my stash.  

I will link up to Julie's Binding Blitz at the end of the month. 

And speaking of basket weaving...I've made one basket in my life...about 15 or maybe even 20 years ago.  I didn't like the process enough to make another.  It's a divided basket.  And I keep some of my old embroidery transfer, cutwork and old crochet edging patterns in it. 

This was my May goal (#21)   for      A Lovely Year of Finishes. 

It is a Q2 Finish Along Goal (#5)   and I'll link up with the Finish Along at On the Windy Side at the end of the quarter in June.  

I'm going to go Whoop! Whoop! it up at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

And because this WIP is now a Finish I'm linking up to WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden. 

i