A Wonky Windmill Top

 

Wonky Windmills

It's a top! 

40 x 56

I have been making blocks for a year or more. I have enough blocks for 4 tops. This one has mostly the blocks with geometric or tone on tone fabrics. I also was able to make enough blocks for a quilt with novelties, with florals and with black and pink blocks. 

I made all blocks with gray backgrounds because I had quite a pile of gray scrap chunks to use. This was one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects so each month I looked through 4.5 or 5 inch scraps in the color of the month and cut two 4.5 x 5 inch rectangles of whatever I could to make blocks. 

And sew on...

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts

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Last Autumn I sowed a couple of Classic Prairie seed mixes. I really wasn't expecting to see much in bloom for two or three years but I have been pleasantly surprised by all of the Rudbeckia blooms. 

Do all the flowers look the same? 

I had to research the difference between Black-eyed Susan, Brown-eyed Susan and Sweet Black-eyed Susans because all three are in the mix. 

And sow on...

It's A Top !

It's a top!

45 x 59

I wish I could say I did all that beautiful applique but I am not that good at it. I received the blocks and several others from someone who just loves to applique. 

I trimmed this set of blocks to 11.5 inches and made the sashings.

Now it will make the sweetest comfort quilt. I was a little worried about how I would quilt it. The few applique quilts I have made I hand quilted. A few weeks ago I asked the online Stasbusters Group about quilting over applique and some mentioned they quilt over it just like they do pieced blocks. 

And sew on...

***

 It has been so hot, humid and rainy the last few days so I have not been out in the gardens much lately. I think we have had 1.5 inches the last couple of days but it looks like more than that in a bucket I leave to collect rain in an area difficult to water. I think another inch is predicted for today. Yesterday I went out in the afternoon to take a look at any wind damage from storm Monday night. While I was out I also harvested beans, black raspberries, peppers and a few tomatoes. I don't think this will be a good year for tomatoes. While I was out I noticed Butterflies, mostly Swallowtails,  dancing in the zinnias  so went in and grabbed camera. 

Flying Geese and Sawtooth Stars

I mentioned last month that someone sent me some Flying Geese bodies. I have been using them to make Sawtooth Stars and rows of Flying Geese. This week I worked on the reds and blues.  I now have 29 Stars. I think 35 blocks will make a nice sized comfort quilt. 

For the centers I pull out 4.5 inch squares I have cut when scrap processing. I have a couple of bins of different sized squares. For the Star points and corners I have been using scraps from the 2.5 inch width scrap bin I have been trying to empty. 

The Flying Geese strips will be used in a separate quilt inspired by a vintage quilt. 

I have been making four strips of Geese. Sewn into columns that will equal a length of 80 inches for the quilt. 

And sew on...

***

Finished a book! Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict is historical fiction based on the life of Clementine Hozier Churchill after her marriage to Winston. Before I read the book I knew very little about her. I have read several of Marie Benedict's books and I think this is my least favorite. It was slow moving. 

It has been hot, humid and raining off and on the last couple of days so it has been too wet to work out in the gardens. I did pot up some perennials yesterday that  I started from seed last month under lights that I hope to transplant out in the gardens next month. 

Adding A Few More Purple and Orange Scrap Blocks To My Collections

Four Patches

3 inch blocks made with 2 inch scraps of black,white and one color. I have over 200. I will alternate them with solid or tone on tone (TOT) squares.

Purple has been the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color of the month. Last month it was orange. This week I finished up a few blocks made with scraps of both colors. 

25 Patches 

Made with 2.5 inch squares

Potato Chip Blocks

Made with 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangles

Nine Patches

3 inch

Someone gave me strips sewn together for this set. I have miscellaneous things like this in a box of leader/enders. Since they had purple in them I decided that should be my leader/ender while piecing the rest of these blocks. I will add them to a little bin I have of 3 inch Nine Patches. I love the little things. 

RSC ScrapHappy Saturday

I see the RSC color for August is aqua. It's always fun to see what scraps I have to work with when a new color is announced. 

And sew on...

 

Red, Blue, Yellow: A Tale of Two Tops

Two  Tops

Sixteen Patch and Ribbons

I accumulated some chunks of  red,blue and yellow novelty fabrics. Last year I cut enough 5.5 inch squares for the Ribbon ( Half Snowballs) quilt. Last year I also made a few Sixteen Patch blocks out of 3 inch width scraps when I was working on cleaning out that scrap box.  I then cut some strips from the same novelties I cut up for 5.5 inch squares. 

 

Ribbons 

40 x 50

Sixteen Patch

40 x 50

I have been working on "smalls" (quilts around 40 x 48-50) this month because there was a call for "smalls" for Wrap-A-Smile. I normally make kiddo comfort quilts 40-42 x 60.

And sew on...

Finished  Or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts

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Earlier this week I shipped 15 "smalls" to the coordinator for both Wrap-A-Smile and Quilts Beyond Borders (QBB). She will the get them to where they are needed most. 

I see on the latest QBB blog post that some of my last shipment of quilts got passed on to Global Samaritan Resources and Comfort Cases. QBB works "  with vetted partner organizations to distribute donated quilts and provide quilts to those in need without regard to race, nationality, religion, or grade point average. As of 2024, we have delivered almost 34,000 quilts to over 30 countries and counting! "

Wrap-A-Smile partners with   Rotaplast International, Inc.

"Rotaplast International, Inc. is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities. Working with local professionals, Rotarians, and other organizations, Rotaplast sends multidisciplinary medical teams to provide freely reconstructive surgery, ancillary treatment, and training for the comprehensive care of these children." Wrap-A-Smile provides each child undergoing surgery with a quilt. 

I have donated quilts to Wrap-A-Smile since 2013 (I think) and every once in awhile it is fun to spot a quilt I made with a child. I just added a page at the top of my blog with pics of kids around the world with a quilt I've made. 

If you are interested in donating quilts to Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) please read the WAS Guidelines and WAS Shipping Info. If you are interested in donating quilts to Quilts Beyond Borders please read the QBB Guidelines   Or you can email me and I'll be happy to answer your questions. 

Just an FYI - I ship through Pirate Ship for significant cost savings. 

The latest Rotaplast mission is taking place in Medellin, Colombia. There are several blog posts showing quilts with patients and smiles. 

The Green Contessa

 

I'm only showing 6 blocks of the completed 24 block set.

Blocks finish at 10 inches. Quilt will finish at 40 x 60.

This is going into the SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin to be assembled into a top at a future date.

I decided to make these blocks because I had noticed a lot of greens in my 2.5 inch width scrap bin. 

I used Moda's free pattern called Contessa.  

(It is actually what I call a Basket Weave pattern).

BUT

I didn't use a jellyroll. 

I didn't make as many blocks.

I didn't make stripsets of 5 WOF strips (because I didn't have that many). Instead I made 4 strip sets of 3 or 4 strips and then cut them into the 6.5 inch sections and added  2.5 x 6.5 inch rectangle(s) (from 2.5 inch width scrap bin) to the ends of each section. 

I previously blogged about a pink and  a blue version of Contessa. Maybe next month I will assemble and quilt all three.  

And sew on...

Going where the scraps take me and making comfort quilts one scrap at a time.  

***

Heat wave here and I don't have air conditioning in this old farm house so I'm not going to do much for a couple of days except sit near a couple of fans and sew. 

A Small Nine Patch Top

Nine Patch Top

40 x 48

Last year or maybe the year before someone gave me five 12 inch crumb blocks that looked like they consisted of four 6 inch crumb blocks. Not sure what to do with five blocks of anything I put them in the orphanage. Well, I finally decided I could make a Nine Patch with five blocks. 

Someone recently sent me some sweet candy fabric and I was glad to see there was enough for four 12.5 inch squares and two 2.5 inch strips. I guess it was meant to be! Then to make the top a little wider and longer I used some 2.5 inch striped strips someone sent me last year or was it the year before...

And sew on...

A Small Top

It's a top!

40.5 x 49.5

Yesterday I blogged about making Rail Fence blocks as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project to use 2 inch width scraps. I also mentioned I thought I had enough for a small comfort quilt if I alternated them with squares.

Well, I went ahead and made the top since the theme in my sewing space this month is "smalls".  Wrap-A-Smile recently sent out a request for some "smalls" around 40x48 so that's what I decided I to concentrate on this month. 

Now I just need to find a backing and get it quilted.

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! At Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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Finished a book! Human Errors: A Panorama Of Our Glitches, From Pointless Bones to Broken Genes By Nathan H. Lents. I found it interesting.