It's A Top!

It's a top!

40 x 48

I wish I could say I made all of those beautiful applique blocks. Someone gave them to me. She said she loves to applique. 

All I had to do to make this sweet comfort quilt was to trim all blocks to 9.5 inches and add some alternate squares...

...and a little border. 

I have been working all month with blocks given to me by others for comfort quilts and have been having fun turning them into tops that probably won't get quilted on my sewing machine until next year. I still have a few piles of orphan blocks to get into tops hopefully by month end. 

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...

It's A Finish!

It's a finish!

Orphan Fiona

36 x 46

This is an orphan block row quilt. I made the blocks with the gray background a few years ago. 

Someone gave me the Pinwheel blocks many years ago.

I think the top row of orphan blocks came from three different people. I quilted it with swirls of pink thread. 

And there's more pink in the backing and binding. 

Now it is ready for donation!

A few weeks ago the Wrap-A-Smile coordinator ( Ann) sent out a plea for 40-50 "smalls":

"Hope y’all can help! I’m still on the outlook for even more very small, very light-weight children’s quilts for WAS. During the past year I have received an amazing number of gorgeous, beautiful quilts but the majority have been larger and heavier. Rotaplast treats a variety of ages and they need me to pack a mix of sizes. Plus they have weight restrictions on the supply boxes that go by air for the medical missions.

I would love to receive 40-50 “smalls” (36 x 45-ish) by the end of the year. "...Ann

If you would like to help with this international goodwill project, contact Ann at quilts7780@gmail.com

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. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alicia Quilts

Life In A Fish Bowl

It's a finish!

Life in a Fish Bowl

42 x 60

I finished the top in December 2023. (Has it been that long?) 

I made a smaller version of a free pattern by Wendy Sheppard called Life in a Fish Bowl. 

That year someone gave me a lot of fish themed fabrics to add to some I already had and I made several tops. Most have already been finished and donated.  I hesitated on this one because I wasn't sure how to quilt it or what color thread to use. 

I ended up quilting it with swirls - the first thing I tried when I decided to give free motion quilting a whirl.  Give it a whirl with swirls!

I used light gray thread. 

I kept thinking the Fish Bowls needed some fancy quilting in different colors of thread but I know that no matter the quilting some child will take a fancy to the quilt and probably knows there's a lot of love for them quilted in too. 

It's a deep blue sea on back and the binding is a green flowery fabric that kind of matches the green flowerly "wallpaper" on front behind the fish bowls. 

And now it is ready for donation.

 Right now Wrap-A-Smile (WAS) is looking for quilts so that is where it will probably go. WAS partners with Rotaplast International to provide each patient with a quilt. Rotaplast volunteers perform life changing surgeries on children and a few adults with cleft lip, cleft palate and burns. 

***

REMEMBER, TREASURE, GROW, READ (my words of the year)

Yesterday I harvested asparagus from my little patch. I could have let it grow a little longer; however, a hard frost is predicted for Tuesday night. A week or so ago we had one and it froze off the tops of the asparagus shoots just popping out of the ground so I didn't want to take a chance with this crop. I ate most of the asparagus for dinner last night along with half a left over boneless chicken breast and homemade macaroni and cheese.  Tonight I will use the rest of the asparagus in a fritatta. I was thinking of making some herb bread to go with because I see a lot of chives in the herb garden but not sure I'l get that far. I've been quilting on small quilts in the mornings and gardening in the afternoons so am rather tired when it comes time to make dinner. 

 

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! 

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!