Orphan Norton Finished

Orphan Norton

40 x 48

It's a finish! 

And I did it! I have finished 31 quilts this month. That was my goal - one for each day. 

This one has blue and white orphan blocks. Some were framed so they ended up at 12.5 inches (unfinished). A 2.5 inch blue and white striped sashing was added between columns. 

I quilted it with swirls on my DSM (Brother PQ1500SL). 

And here you can see the backing and binding. 

The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 29 - State and federal Taxes filed. Nothing to pay, thank goodness, and we will get a few dollars back - but it's not even enough to even spend it all in one place.

March 30 - Today I want to celebrate all the friends I've made through blogging. Thank you for all the prayers, positive thoughts and virtual hugs I've received over the years. Thank you for  all the words of encouragement and support.  Thank you laughs and smiles. Thank you for the time you take out of your day to make comments. And thank you for the gifts I receive from time to time that keep me sewing. I don't have to meet you all in person to know you are all real.  

Animal Crackers

Animal Crackers

30 Patches

40 x 60

They are finished! 

I actually started making these blocks in September 2020.  I used small animal prints and solids. 

Back in my September post I wrote: "I was inspired by Gretchen's (Gretchen's Little Corner) quilt she called Modern Amish and by Nann's (With Strings Attached) 30 patch quilt. Both quilts were inspired by a quilt called Sound Check by John Kubiniec (McCall's, March/April 2014). "

I quilted one with vertical and horizontal lines. 

And the other was quilted with diagonal lines. 

The backs have animals too. 

The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 28 - Seeds. Plant them. Be witness to a miracle. Life.

 

Another Monkey Wrench - Pinks on Point

Pinks on Point

Monkey Wrenches

43 x 43

It's a finish!

I finished the top in August 2023. 

For the last couple of years one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects has been Monkey Wrench block in three different sizes - 5 inch, 7.5 inch and 10 inch.  It's always fun to make blocks from scraps until I have a big pile of them. Then it's always fun to see how many donation/comfort quilts I can make from those piles. 

This one has pink 7.5 inch blocks. 

I quilted it with a lot of horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines because there's a lot of batting pieces inside the quilt. 

The back is pieced too. 

Pink always brings back memories of the granddaughters when they were younger. They just loved everything pink. I think it might have been one of their first words.  The word giggle reminds me of them too. They were five weeks apart in age and spent most weekends and the summers here at the farm. I used to love to hear their giggling - music to my ears. 

The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 27 - Memories. I'm glad I have lots of them. I've mostly edited out the bad ones now and so have more room in mind for more good ones. 

Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind

Memories, sweetened through the ages just like wine...

--lyrics from song Memories.

Little Cowhands Moving Along

Little Cowhands

42 x 45

It's a finish!

This top (and the back) are pretty old. I made it and three others back in March 2020 to use up a lot of cowhand fabrics.  I thought this smaller size would be good to quilt toward the end of this month to use up a lot of batting pieces. 

I quilted in some lassos.

And there are cowhands at work on the back too.  Binding is a navy and white stripe. 

 The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 26 - Oh, joy! I received a box of scraps in the mail. I'm so ready to use them. I need to make more tops! 

Basket Weave Finish

Basket Weave

42 x 48

It's a finish! 

I made the top in August 2023.     It all started with some 3.5 x 6.5 rectangles in warm colors that someone gave me in a box of scraps. I decided to use them in a basket weave type quilt so cut more rectangles. 

I like what I call the Basket Weave block because you can use almost any size rectangle and that rectangle can consist of anything from squares sewn together, strings, crumbs, etc.   Then you just need to figure out the length/width of rectangles for the sides.  In this case I used 3.5 x 6.5 center rectangles and 2 x 6.5 rectangles for the sides to equal a 6.5 unfinished block.  

It is actually the same type of "block" used in the quilt I blogged about yesterday except yesterday's blocks were 8.5 inch unfinished. 

I quilted it on my DSM with vertical lines. 

The backing is a crazy rainbow cat fabric and the binding is a solid yellow. 

The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 25 - Surprise! Am I lucky or what? More batting arrived on my doorstep (well, actually in my breezeway) ! Guess I will keep on trying to reduce that TBQ (to be quilted) pile thanks to a little help from my friends.  

Fish Net Finish

Fish Net

40 x 56

It's a finish!

Last year I was gifted some fish fabrics. I have made several different quilts with the fabrics. I finished this top in January of this year.  

I quilted it simply with lines on my DSM. 

The binding is a blue gray and the backing is a plaid fabric. 

The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 24 - I finished The Bad Weather Friend by Dean Koontz. I really enjoyed this book. It was a cross between a fairy tale and an Aesop Fable with a mix of humor, satire and symbolism.  Spoiler alert...kindness and wisdom prevails and all who have both live happily ever after with a little help from their Bad Weather Friend. 

Here's to kindness and wisdom! 

 

Lacy Heart Finish

Lacy Heart

39 x 42

It's a finish!

I do love heart quilts and found a larger version of this one on Pinterest called Heather's Lacy Heart. with notes on making a smaller version. 

I finished the top back in September 2023.  I used a lot of lime green 3.5 inch squares given to me.

I quilted it on my DSM with swirls inside the heart and diagonal lines through the rest of the quilt

The binding is a purple stripe the same value as the purple used in the nine patches. 

The backing is a lime green polka dot. 

The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 23 - Celebrating resilience; the ability to weather a storm.   

We had an inch of snow on March 22. It was mostly melted by the afternoon of March 23 when I took photos. I still have lots of things in bloom - Daffodils, Grape Hyacinth, Iris Reticulata, Hellebore, Forsythia. 

Grape Hyacinths (Muscari) starting to emerge.

One of many bunches of Daffodils still in bloom

According to folklore there are three more snows after the forsythia blooms. That inch of snow must have been the first. The snow flurries last night might be considered the second?  If we are going to get a third snowfall I wish it would happen in the next few days. 

My forsythia has been in bloom for weeks.  I need to take cuttings of my forsythia and start a bunch of new bushes because it was crowded out a long time ago by wild honeysuckle and elderberries and is now very sad and spindly with blooms laying on the ground.

Sad Forsythia.

 

Cool Monkey Wrenches

Cool Monkey Wrenches

(Greens, Blues,Purples)

40 x 50

It's a finish!

Throughout 2022 and 2023 one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects was Monkey Wrench blocks in three different sizes made with scraps in the color of the month.  I was able to put together over a dozen tops so far from the blocks. This one has 10 inch Monkey Wrench blocks in cool colors that were left over after making a purple/green quilt, and all blue and all green quilts. 

I quilted it simply with lines. 

The backing is a cheater cloth quilt and the binding is a leafy green floral.

 The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 22 -- Hubby had a doctor office visit - four month follow up after last hospital stay for aspiration pneumonia.  He is tolerating his feeding tube formula and is now gaining weight and strength. His lab results were all good. Previously he had a problem with high sodium and glucose. He was on metformin for the high glucose but as of yesterday he no longer needs to take that. That means he is on no drugs now except for the one he uses in the nebulizer. His sodium is in the normal range. And he has been getting around most of the time without the walker. In fact he went up and down the stairs to the house and to the doc visit without the walker - he just held my hand. 

Lots And Lots of Squares

Square Deal?

16 Patches

42 x 60

It's a finish!

I think I've mentioned several times that a few years ago a couple of folks gave me gallon bags of 2 inch squares. I had quite a few of my own. I've used most of them up now in several different quilts. 

This is one of the first tops I made and I pulled out most of the dark and light squares that were novelties and geometrics. I made 16 Patch Blocks. 

I quilted it on the diagonals. The binding is an old calico. 

The backing is a creature feature. 

  The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

The Monkey Wrench Blues

Monkey Wrench Blues

40 x 60

It's a finish!

Throughout 2022 and 2023 one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects was Monkey Wrench blocks in three different sizes made with scraps in the color of the month.  I was able to put together over a dozen tops so far from the blocks. This one has 10 inch Monkey Wrench blocks in blue.

I quilted it on my DSM (Brother PQ1500SL) with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. 

Binding was scrappy blues.

The backing is a blue and white plaid.

 The theme this month in my sewing space is March Madness (Quilting) Marathon.  I'm going to concentrate on finishing up a lot of the small tops I have in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  They will then be donated to:

Fostering Crossroads

Wrap - A -Smile 

Quilts Beyond Borders

And sew on...

***

CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

March 20 --  I might be harvesting asparagus soon!

March 21 - Happy 72nd Birthday to me!