Cool Colors. Warm Quilt.

It's a finish!

58 x 72

This started with a junior jelly roll someone gave me. I don't buy precuts so I had never heard of JUNIOR jelly rolls. Those only have 20 strips, not 40. So I added in some blue strips from the blue scrap bag. 

I finished the top back in June 2022. 

I quilted it on my DSM (Brother PQ1500) with some white swirls. 

Before I quilted it I should have read my June 2022 post where I mentioned I had a block turned the wrong way. It would have been an easy fix. But I didn't and so it goes.

The back is solid blue and the binding is a blue and white stripe. 

And now it is ready for donation.

"Blues and Browns" has been the theme this month in my sewing space to move UFOs forward.  In February my theme is "Free Range" -- I'll allow myself to range with freedom through the sewing space and work on any UFOs that suit my fancy. 

And sew on...

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Jan. 30 - Melting snow.We had some deep snow and drifts. Melting snow. That's cause for celebration!  I could make it out the backdoor and take a picture of my finished quilt hanging on the clothesline. While I was out I was also able to walk back to the gardens. I was pleasantly surprised that no trees have fallen this year in any of my garden areas.  I have a veg garden, cutting garden, herb garden, cottage garden and native wildflower garden.  I was not celebrating when I saw all the deer poop everywhere and damage to plants. 😢

 

Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR) Round 2

The round 2 prompt for the SAHRR is "using only 2 colors do whatever you want".

I used blue and white as my 2 colors and added a border of 2.5 x 4.5 (unfinished) Flying Geese.  After round 2 my block is a 24.5 inch square. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Jan. 29 - Celebrating a good book and good author - I finished the second book of the Cullen's Celtic Cabaret series - A Beautiful Ferocity by Jean Grainger.  I started reading the third book in the series - Rivers of Wrath.  I've read a number of different books by Jean Grainger and liked them all. 

 

And Then There Were Twelve

I have all twelve of my Stars finished and ready for the pink background to be added.  The quilt is from the book Scrappy Firework Quilts by Edyta Sitar and she calls it Bluberry Farm. I'm calling mine Peace Patch. 

Whew! It was close on that brown batik fabric with peace signs! I had less than the pattern called for and so thought I might have to piece together some of the scraps. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Jan. 28 -Celebrating scraps! The postman dropped off a medium flat rate box Saturday evening. On Sunday most of the box was processed. Some scraps went into project bags and boxes and some went into scrap bags kept by color. I love scraps! I also love quilty friends with scraps! And I do have a few quilty friends I love that send backing pieces once in awhile too.  Yes, celebrating scraps and friends with scraps and scrappy comfort quilts!  I get by with a little help from my friends. 

 

Dandy Boho Stars

Dandy Boho Stars

6 inch

A new start.

I usually use most every color scrap in my quilts and rarely pick a color scheme to make a quilt. I was thinking I would try what I would call a Boho color scheme of grays, browns, electric oranges, sky blues and saturated purples. At first I thought I would make Sawtooth Stars but then I decided upon Dandy Stars. I've made several Dandy quilts of 12 inch blocks and love them so thought I would give a smaller version a try this time.  So far I'm liking it. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Jan. 26 - Celebrating dinner on a fancy plate!     Years and years ago I used to collect cabbage rose depression glass dishes. I have plates ,cups, saucers, salt and pepper, tumblers, berry bowls and a few other pieces. I have some in amber, green and pink. I used to set a fancy table for holidays and that was the only time I used the dishes I keep in an old pie safe in the dining room.   I cleared a place in my kitchen cupboard for some of the amber plates and am going to use them for dinner every evening. Might as well serve it up on a fancy plate every day. I collected them because I love roses and the dishes are just so beautiful. Might as well use what I love. I know my kids will just sell them when all is said and done.  

Cabbage Rose Plate

A stack going into the cupboard.

Ready for dinner.

Ravioli with homemade sauce. The onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes (Jersey Devil) and herbs were from my garden. Cooking for one sure takes some getting used to.

 

Something Has Been Bugging Me

It's a top!

42.5 x 51

This top started with a little baggie of 5 inch squares and the note above. 

Too bright? 

Also it just so happens that green is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. I had my green scrap bag out full of LOTs of scraps.  So I pulled out some chunks of green and cut 2.5 inch sides and made some Happy Blocks. 

Those bright center squares gave me a chance to use some dark and muddy looking olive greens as frames. 

I didn't have quite enough squares in the baggie for a quilt so I dug into my little drawer of novelties and found a few squares to add to the mix. 

Too bright? Seriously? 

And sew on...

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

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CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Jan. 26 - Melting snow outside, seed catalogs, a quilt, a couch and a cup of hot chocolate. 

I save a lot of my seeds and order other seeds at gardening year end when they are deeply discounted but I have been expanding my gardens since I retired and have added a native wildflower area as well as a cutting garden.  This time of year I have a good time just looking at pictures in seed catalogs. Of course I could skip the paper catalogs and look at pictures on line but for me that is not the same experience as cuddling up in a quilt with a cup of hot chocolate and a seed catalog near a window where I can see the snow outside. 

We have a huge veg garden and process and store veggies for the two of us for a year. We also give a lot of produce away. Well, since hubby can no longer swallow and will be getting his nutrition via gtube for the rest of his life I won't be growing quite as many veggies this year. I was thinking I might like to grow Sunflowers or flowers for drying in those parts of the veggie garden instead.  I love gardening!

 

It's A Finish! Diagonal Bars

It's a finish!

Diagonal Bars

65 x 85

This is one of my oldest UFOs. I won a May 2014 Block Lotto. I don't remember how many Diagonal Bars blocks I won that month. I think I might have won all of them in this quilt and just decided to add sashing to make it large enough for a twin sized donation quilt. 

I made the top back in August 2021.

I quilted it on my DSM (Brother PQ1500) with swirls in bright blue. 

This one finally made it to the top of the quilting queue because the theme in my sewing space this month to move UFOs forward is "Browns and Blues".  I used monthly themes last year and they worked pretty well so am using them again this month. 

I had a piece of wide backing that fit this quilt perfectly. And I had just enough of that blue and white fabric for the binding. So I guess it was all meant to be. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts.

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CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Jan. 25 - Speaking of Alycia - I won one of her recent giveaways and it arrived yesterday. On the right is the contents of a kit of Asian fabrics and template for making 12 inch butterfly blocks. And on the right is a few more Asian fabrics.  I do love Butterflies (almost as much as I love roses) so while I am celebrating I'm celebrating butterflies too. The strange thing is that I usually do not do much applique; however, it seems that now quite a few things on my long list of projects have applique in some form or other. I'm thinking this will be a new needle turn applique project. 

 

Some Rolling Stones Are Starting To Gather Moss

Rolling Stone

9 inch block

I started a Rolling Stone (aka Broken Wheel) quilt last year. My goal is 48 blocks and I now have half that many.  I love these blocks in aqua, purple and red and need to get this quilt finished so my Rolling Stones gather no moss. 

And sew on...

*****

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Jan. 24 - I celebrated getting caught up on hubby's medical bills a few days ago. Since I had a few dollars left after that I decided to do more celebrating so treated myself and ordered 3 floribunda roses to be delivered in the Spring - Hot Cocoa,, Ketchup and Mustard and La Park. Can't wait! I LOVE roses!

 

A Fishing Trip and Surf and Turf

Fishing Trip

42 x 54

I'm still using fish fabric - some given to me and some I had on hand. I've been trying to get to the end of it but those fish seem to multiply. This is quilt top #5.   It's a Fishing Trip Around The World with 6.5 inch squares. 

I had to add some "water" to the mix. 

Surf and Turf

44 x 52

Surf is full of 8.5 inch fish squares and...

...turf is full of sandy beach 8.5 inch squares. 

I still have some fish fabric left. 

Anyone for fish and chips? 😀

And sew on...

*****

CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Jan. 23 -a box of scraps from a friend arrived on my door step! Oh, the makes I can make!

(They weren't all small. There were a couple of big pieces in there too. I don't think I saw any fish, though!)

 

Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR)

For the center of my Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR) I chose a 12.5 inch orphan block someone gave me. 

The border #1 prompt is Signature Block. 

I made my blocks 2.5 x 4.5.

So now my block is 20.5 inches square. 

I'm quilting along in order to challenge myself to think creatively and maybe to have some fun doing that and maybe to have a nice quilt when all is said and done.  I always seem to have problems making medallion style quilts because I never know what to add for borders. Now I can let someone else spark an idea for borders.  I'm also hoping to use up mostly blue scraps but I'm never very good at staying with two colors for a quilt. Let's see what happens! 

And sew on...

SAHRR - Border 1

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CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Jan. 21 - For the first time in I don't know how many days hubby's gtube stoma did not leak like a waterfall (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration) all night long while hooked up to pump feed. And that also meant I got a good night's sleep without interruption every few hours to change his shirt and stoma dressing and apply barrier cream or hydrocortisone cream  to areas where stomach acid burned his skin. 

Jan. 22 - Temps above 0 degrees all day! 

 

Progress On Some Applique Projects

Bramble Blooms QAL

The prompt for the first border is: "Add a border with repeat applique motifs to your centerpiece, with quarter-triangle style cornerstone blocks."

If you read any of my previous posts about this QAL you would know that there will be three improv quilts made in this series and our first prompt was to make three piles of fabrics to use in making.  I am using a little box of orange and lime green scraps as the base fabrics for all three quilts. Then for this one I am adding the color purple. 

So, my repeat applique motif is a butterfly. Remember this is improv, okay? And since my colors for this quilt are orange, lime green and purple my butterflies are made from some of those lime green scraps. 

I used needleturn applique for my center piece of Coneflowers but I did not think I wanted to use that method for little butterflies with point everywhere on them so I did turned edge applique with interfacing and blanket stitch. 

My polka dot border is 6 inches wide.   After I get the butterflies all appliqued in place I need to look for some of my longer needles I used when I did a lot of crazy quilting because I want to add a bullion stitch body to the butterflies and after that I will embroider some antennae in backstitch or running stitch. 

I am using two strands of a variegated purple and lime green embroidery thread. I will use perle #12 for the antennae and the bullion stitch bodies if I find my long needles. 

After the butterflies are finished I will work on my "quarter-triangle style cornerstone blocks".

One thing I have learned about applique is that I am not really very fond of all the prep work involved. 

And also you may remember that I have been working on emptying a bag and bin of rose and heart scraps. One of the quilts to come out of those scraps is a Dresden Fan.  I'm not sure how these little six inch blocks are all going to go together at this point. For right now I am just using scraps and making blocks and trying to empty out some scraps bags and bins.   I will probably be able to make more than one quilt from all those scraps but for right now I'm concentrating on this one. 

I have appliqued more blocks for my collection since my last post. 

More finished blocks but I have not removed pins yet. 

And more blocks are pinned and ready for applique. 

And sew on...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Jan. 20 - I finished a good book - For All The World by Jean Grainger.  It is book one of a series called Cullen's Celtic Cabaret. I started on book 2 in the series A Beautiful Ferocity. I have read quite a variety of books written by Jean Grainger. I do a lot of reading when I wake up in the middle of the night and unfortunately reading this book did not help me get back to sleep.