A Spiderweb Finish!

 

It's a finish!

Spiderweb

54 x 75

This is one of several string quilts I started last year. 

I've made several Spider Web quilts using different methods but I like Bonnie Hunter's method the best.

There are lots of scraps in this one!

I quilted it on my sewing machine with black thread on each side of the spiderweb seams.

The backing is a black and white floral. The binding is black and all of it came out of the leftover binding box.

I bought a whole bolt of it because I have quite a few tops that can use this fabric on back. Next month I am going to work on getting those tops all quilted unless I run it of the backing fabric, batting or black thread. 

***

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts

***

Today is my granddaughter's birthday! I can't believe she is 21 years old already!

It's A Finish! Unchained Melody

 

It's a finish!

Unchained Melody

55 x 70

I made the top last year (and several others) when I was working on emptying out a box of 3 inch width strips and squares. 

616 three inch squares in cream,tan,taupe,beige,brown.

I arranged the squares by value. 

I used waste triangles to make chains in all colors of the rainbow. 

There are some fun things that can be found in an itty bitty triangle. 

I quilted with vertical lines each side of the seams in variegated threads. The binding is scrappy browns. 

And sew on...

A Small Top

 

A Small Top

36 x 46

I previously mentioned someone gave me some six inch Snowball blocks with red corners. I divided them into groups by theme.  I have already made and donated one with a sporty theme. This one has a train theme. 

I happened to have that fabric with trains I used in the center in my box of novelty bits and pieces. It just so happened to be the perfect width strip I needed. 

The Nine Patches and Sashings I worked on as leader/enders. I'm not sure when it will get quilted. Now that it is getting cooler I want to get some larger quilts finished. I don't have air conditioning and quilt on my sewing machine so not many larger quilts get finished in the summer. 

I think the light blue Snowballs might feature The Little Engine That Could. That was one of my favorite Little Golden Books when I was a little girl. Other favorites were The Little Red Hen and Aesop's Fables especially "The Ant and the Grasshopper" and "The Lion and The Mouse". Oh, and I can't forget The Velveteen Rabbit!

And sew on...

Monkey Wrench Top

 

It's a top! 

Monkey Wrench

60 x 80

A few years ago I made Monkey Wrench blocks in three different sizes from scraps as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project. I have been able to make a lot of comfort quilts with them. I can't believe I am still working with these blocks. 

These are 10 inch blocks. I love brown! It is such a comforting color. 

I had enough brown blocks for a large quilt. The complete block set has been in my SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin for awhile. Since I am working with dark neutrals this month I decided to assemble the top. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! At Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Quarter Stars and Monkey Wrenches

 

I worked with some brown scraps this week because dark neutrals is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month. 

I finished  80 more brown Quarter Stars. I now have met my goal of 320 Quarter Stars to make 80 whole stars. The quilt will measure 64 x 80 in an 8 x 10 layout.

I will probably start assembling Stars as a leader/ender project. 

I finished making 4 brown Monkey Wrench blocks that finish at 7.5 inches. That completes my goal of 35 blocks. 

Now I need to make more brown Hollow Nine blocks with 3 inch squares. They will be the alternate block in the quilt. 

And sew on...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

***

I finished a book! The Moonshiner's Daughter by Donna Everhart. It was about the effect of generational trauma, evil people and kind people on a family. Of course it was also about moonshiners. I did not expect the ending. 

***

My granddaughter let me be one of the first to know she is engaged to be married. She will be 21 years old on Halloween. They will probably wait a couple of years to be married. Gosh I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday! 

***

John's youngest sister thought she was having a stroke. She went to the ER and they found a brain tumor, transferred her to specialty facility and operated the next day which was Monday. They did some type of GPS guided surgery. She was up walking a few days later and now has been transferred back to the original hospital for care. Just before they found the brain tumor she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in lung stage 4.

***

We contract with neighbor to farm a couple of small fields we own. This year's crop is soybeans and with China not buying I am not sure there will be any money to be made. We actually don't make that much in a good year. I feel bad for farmers especially our neighbor. 

***

I shipped two boxes with a total of 16 ( I think. I kept squishing them in there) small quilts to Wrap-A-Smile. For what I think are significant cost savings on shipping I use third party software Pirateship.com. I weigh and measure box, buy label, print label and then take box to a UPS drop off. I calculate box weight by weighing myself then weighing myself holding box then I subtract the two. I need to ship more often because that is the only time I step on the bathroom scale and each time I have shipped boxes this year I have weighed a few pounds less than the previous time. 

Fan Flowers Top

 

It's a top!

Fan Flowers

55 x 70

Fan Flowers is one of many free patterns at Tilda's World.

I started making blocks in December 2023.

The pattern is one of those intended for use with a designer's fabric collection. I used my own choice of fabrics so got a little confused as to how many flower and leaf blocks of each background to make so my layout is slightly different than the original with one less row on bottom moved to the top. 

Pieces and parts have been in a box for a long time. All I had to do this week was make the leaf blocks with pink background and applique the circles on to the Fan Flowers on pink background. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts

Twilight Flock Top

 

It's a top!

Twilight Flock

60 x 78

I started making blocks in January 2024. I was inspired by a quilt called Twilight Flock in  From the Cover (Quilter's Newsletter Magazine Editors and Contributors). The complete set of blocks has been in my SAR (some assembly required) bin since September 2024.  I decided to dig it out and assemble since I am working with dark neutrals this month and these blocks sure contain a lot of them!

This was a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project and I made a few blocks each month from scraps in the RSC color of the month. For the Flying Geese I used whatever 2.5 inch width scraps I had at the time and cut parts using the Easy Angle Companion ruler. 

I used a lot of black scrap chunks to make the rest of the block. 

Yesterday I posted about Basket Weave blocks and this is another example of them. Centers are 4.5 x 6.5 rectangles and the two sides are 1.5 x 6.5 rectangles. 

And sew on...

***

I was late posting this morning because I usually take photos for blog posts a day or two ahead of the post but it has been too windy to do that the last few days. This morning there was a bit of a break so I could take a few photos as soon as the sun came out. I see there are a lot of sticks, limbs, and branches to pick up now. 

The high winds were good for hanging out laundry to dry.  I had to laugh at my husband's shirt when I was folding laundry. I guess we wear things around here until they wear out. The kids gave John that shirt on his 40th birthday and he turned 75 in August. 

***

I am still thankful for nice weather. I still need to harvest a lot of Brussels Sprouts from my sorry looking plants. The deer have eaten the tops and side leaves off all the plants but have left me some Brussels Sprouts to harvest. That is the last thing in the  veg garden to harvest.  They are sweeter after a frost. I have to wait for a hard frost to dig up and store my dahlia tubers. I have been planting a few bulbs too. I add a few each year to a meadow area I am trying to naturalize. 

***

I finished a book! The Secret Keeper by Siobhan Curham. It is a WWII historical fiction about Hollywood's role in the war. The main character is loosely based on Real life model turned actress Aline Griffith recruited to spy as an undercover agent for the OSS precursor to the CIA.  Real life events are woven into the story like the death of actor Leslie Howard. His plane was shot down by Luftwaffe. 

***

Yesterday I received a surprise box of fabric from Teresa. Oh joy! 

A Little Basket Weave

It's a finish!

Basket Weave

36 x 45

I started making the Basket Weave blocks last year.  As I mentioned in that blog post...

"I have received bits and pieces in different sizes of this and that - some end cuts of strip sets, some untrimmed or unfinished crumb blocks, some wonky little blocks. When I receive things like that from folks I put them in a box. Sometimes I may take a few pieces out to fill in some spaces in an orphan block quilt but other than that I haven't used many bits and pieces this year and the little box is getting full. "

I used mostly blue bits and pieces to make the blocks.

I like basket weave blocks because they are so versatile - anything can be used as the center between two strips, sizes can be any size rectangle and side strips can be any size as long as you do the math to end up with a square block. The width of center plus two  side strips (in this case 6.5 + 2 +2= 10.5)  minus 1 which is the seam allowance if those pieces are sewn together (=9.5). That now gives the length I need for the center and side strips. Center =6.5 x 9.5 and the two side strips = 2 x 9.5. And all sewn together = 9.5 inch unfinished square. Alternate blocks In the layout. 

I had to make another pieced back. 

And another is ready to comfort a little one.

The theme in my sewing space this month has been "smalls" and neutrals. I chose "smalls" because there was a call for smaller quilts from Wrap-A-Smile. I chose "neutrals" because that is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month and I have a lot of ufos that I need to move forward that involve working with neutrals. For now I think I am finished with "smalls" this month and will get what I have made shipped off to go to work. 

And sew on...

A Little Monkey Wrench Finish

 

It's a finish!

Monkey Wrench

34 x 45

Several years ago I made Monkey Wrench blocks from scraps in three different sizes as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) project. I was able to make a lot of comfort quilts with the blocks. Some are still in the To Be Quilted (TBQ) pile.

These 10 inch blocks were the blocks left over that didn't really fit in with any of the other quilts so I put them in the orphanage. Well, this month I have been digging through all the bits and pieces of this and that for odds and ends to use in small quilts for Wrap-A-Smile and I came upon these Monkey Wrench blocks.

I wasn't sure how to make  ice cream, Christmas ornaments, owls, zig zags, stripes and polka dots in many different colors play nicely together but finally decided maybe a bright multicolored sashings might do the trick. I also added some cornerstones and binding full of sunshine. 

I used a couple of colorful pieces on back. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! At Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

More Brown Quarter Stars

 

And now I have enough Quarter Stars for 60 Stars. I am aiming for 80 Stars so now I have only 80 more Quarter Stars to make before I start putting my whole Stars together.

And sew on...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

Where the color of the month is dark neutral

A Friendship Star Top

 

It's a top! 

Friendship Star

60 x 72

It kept blowing in the wind so it was difficult to get a good photo. 

I finished all of the 12 inch Friendship Star blocks in March of 2023 and put them in my SAR (Some Assembly Required) bin of complete block sets. 

Now it can be moved to the TBQ (To Be Quilted) pile. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts