A Finish: May Baskets

May Baskets

70 x 82

Hand quilted

This started with two different swaps long ago  - baskets in 30's reproduction fabrics but in two different sizes.   So first I brought the smaller seven inch baskets up to the nine inch size of the other by adding sashing strips to the sides. 

I hand quilted about 1/4 inch outside the smaller baskets...

...and hand quilted about 1/4 inch inside the fabrics in the larger baskets. 

I used a  100% cotton white sheet with polka dots from the thrift store for the backing.  I pieced together some Hobb's Heirloom Cotton Batting for batting.  I like to use that when I hand quilt. 

And the binding was scrappy.

And now I can mark two UFOs off the list! 

This was my goal #9 

for the Second Quarter Finish-A-Long

Hot weather has arrived so it's time to work on smaller projects next. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Two Donation Quilts

Both 40 x 60

Both are safari or maybe jungle themed.   I had a bunch of different sized Happy Blocks that loosely fit that theme. I had more than enough for one quilt but not enough for two.  So I rooted through my novelty squares and...

...made a few more blocks so I had enough for two quilts.  

For the first one I dug through scraps that were kind of wild or jungley and framed all 10 of the blocks in the outer columns so they were 12 inches square.  For the middle 5 blocks I framed them so they were 14 inches wide and 12 inches in length.  This was so I would have my total 40 inches in width for the quilt. 

Once I had all the various sized blocks ready I just sewed the columns together. 

I quilted it with some rudimentary jungle leaves on my DSM

For the backing I used some flannel with monkeys.   For the binding I used up all the black/black background pieces of binding from the leftover bindings box. 

For the second quilt I used some orange solid leftover from a quilt I made someone with leukemia. Orange is the color of the leukemia awareness ribbon.   I had some brown solid leftover from making a quilt back and I had some green solid my daughter brought me from a box of garage sale odds and ends.   As you can see I alternately bordered the eight inch Happy Blocks with orange and brown on two sides only with some 2.5 inch strips to bring them up to 10 inches (finished).  

I quilted the square areas with some rudimentary leaves and loopy vines but decided to try some curvy jungle vines in the orange and brown areas (to tone down that orange???) in brown.   I had some bobbins in brown machine quilting thread I wanted to use up.  I never tried jungle vines before and I definitely need to work on them but I think they will do. 

On the back it looks like these flannel monkeys are swinging from the vines.  I bound this one in green like the corner stones in the front of the quilt.   That used up the garage sale green and most of that orange.  I still have some brown left to use in another kid's quilt and I think I have some teddy bear bits and pieces and some brown polka dot scraps to go with that.   

While sewing I normally don't listen to anything except the marbles rolling around in my head and nature sounds outside my window but for some reason I kept hearing strains of The Lion Sleeps Tonight over and over and over in my head.  

It has been raining and raining and raining and raining so I can't get out to work in the garden for any long spells so I've spent my time quilting up most of the kid's donation tops I've had sitting here.  Now I'm once again out of batting and almost out of kid's quilt tops and backings so I will have to move on to something else when it rains (or have an excuse to start something new?)

 I like to donate quilts locally or to Quilts Beyond Borders or to Wrap-A-Smile. 

Just getting one of these finished was my goal #2 for

Q2 Finish-A-Long

Lots of scraps used!   Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

A Finish: Bright and Wild

Bright and Wild

42 x 63

A donation quilt

Long ago I used to swap Happy Blocks quarterly with a group of ladies until the group kind of fizzled out.  These blocks have 4.5 inch centers and 2 inch sides so finish at 7 inches.  Each quarter there was a theme and the theme for these was Bright and Wild. 

 I have a box of various sized and themed Happy Blocks (I call it the Happy Place) and when I was digging in it I came across this pile and  I found I didn't have enough for a donation quilt for kids which I usually make at least 40 x 60.  So I made several more blocks to fit the theme. And then made a quilt. Now the box is just a little lighter and I have a quilt to donate. 

I quilted with spirals on my DSM.  I used all the bright and wild pieces of leftover binding to bind the quilt.   Most of the places I donate request the binding be sewn on by machine but I really have a problem with this on my Brother. (It was never a problem on the old Janome so I might have to go use it from now on.)  Anyway, no matter which stitch I use  - in this case zig zag- stitches get skipped at irregular intervals and I don't know why.  It's kind of strange.  There's stitches there they just don't zag when they are supposed to all the time.   The same thing happened when I tried the blanket stitch  on a quilt. 

I used the other half of the thrift store sheet leftover from backing a different quilt a few months back. 

This was my goal #8     for   Q2 Finish-Along 

Sew Some Love  

A Finish: Smooth Sailing

Smooth Sailing

40 x 60

Machine quilted on my DSM

A donation quilt for Quilts Beyond Borders or Wrap-A-Smile

(Sorry for the blurry photo - it was a windy day)

This quilt started out a long time ago with a couple of blocks (those sailboat Happy Blocks) I pulled out of a pile of some Sunshine Online Quilt Guild  block lotto winnings.  I felt I could build a separate quilt around those two blocks and used the rest of the lotto winnings in other quilts. I put the Happy Sailboats in a box along with some blue scraps I had on hand. As time passed I would throw any blue scraps that represented sea or sky into the box.  Then one day I had the making of a quilt.  So I made it. 

I usually make my donation quilts for QBB or WAS 40 x 60 so kept that in mind as I built the quilt.  I first made that 12 inch Sailboat Block with rainbow sails for the center of the quilt to go with the two Happy Blocks.  Then I...

...made a couple of Sawtooth Star blocks for the sky section of the quilt. 

Then I just added the scrappy bits and pieces chunk by chunk, piece by piece, bit by bit to the appropriate section of the quilt - either sea or sky. 

As you can see I quilted the sky section with loops and stars on my DSM. 

I quilted the sea section with waves. 

The backing is pieced. The bottom piece of clouds and moon I picked it up from the thrift store quilt a while ago.  The top piece of outer space fabric is a left over piece of 100% cotton sheet I had picked up from the thrift store and used on another quilt. 

This was goal #3 from my Q2 Finish-Along list. 

Sewing for charity so linking up to:

Sew Some Love at Kat & Cat Quilts

A Finish: Country Nine Patch

Country Nine Patch

72 x 90

Machine quilted and tied

I swapped these nine inch blocks a very long time ago.  I'm not sure why I left these on my UFO list for so long but I'm glad I can cross another quilt off the list.  It's a nice twin sized quilt so I'm thinking I will put it in the to-be-donated-or-gifted pile.   It's nice to have a few spares in that pile for unexpected events. 

I would have stitched in the ditch if I could stay in the ditch.  Instead I sewed on the diagonal 1/4 inch or so inside the diagonal seams depending upon which side of the seam I was sewing on. With the nine patches on the diagonal the stitching sometimes ended up in the nine patch and sometimes outside the nine patch.  

I used some variegated cream, blue, brown yarn leftover from crocheting hats to tie the quilt in the center of the nine patches and where the blocks meet.  The quilt just called for it.  I haven't tied a quilt for a long time (since the 70s?) so it was kind of fun to do for a change.  I think it took as long to tie the quilt as it did to machine stitch around the nine patches.   I bound it with a sort of country red I had in the stash. 

For the backing I used a country looking 100% cotton sheet I found at the thrift store. 

It really feels good to empty a box, free up some space and finish an old UFO!! 

This was my goal #19

for the 2017 Finish-A-Long

Owls in the Barn Door Finished!

Owls in the Barn Door

48 x 60

I used lots of bits and pieces of owl themed scraps I had left over from other quilts. I quilted it on my DSM with straight lines in red, blue and yellow thread.  I got rid of a lot of miscellaneous spools of thread as well as bobbins.  The back and binding are all a red solid just like the barn doors.  

This is a donation quilt for Camp Hobe - a camp for kids with cancer and their siblings. 

It's a Hands2Help quilt - an event sponsored by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

It used up some owl scraps:

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

It was my goal #7

for Q2  2017 Finish-A-Long

And this is my April OMG (One Monthly Goal)

with Elm Street Quilts.