Feather Bed Flimsy

Feather Bed

It's a flimsy!

72 x 90

Feather Bed is an Anna Maria Horner pattern. 

Back when I made my first Feather Bed quilt it was a free pattern and I kept all my templates I made at that time. 

Last year I started making these feathers from my longest and widest strings.    So I didn't have to choose any fabrics to make this quilt except for the background.  I'm not really crazy about the color but it takes a LOT of background to make this quilt and I really don't have many yards of any one fabric.  This fabric was in my stack of fabrics to be used for quilt backings so I pulled it out of there for this quilt. 

I see a version on her newest release of the pattern that has different background fabrics. Well, why didn't I think of that?  And now I'm thinking I can make a few feathers now and then when I have a lot of long strings and just use different neutrals or solids or browns or greens for the backgrounds. 

The theme this month in my sewing space to move UFOs forward is "Strings and Things".  I assembled all the feathers for this quilt last year when I had the same theme in my sewing space.  Now this year it's assembled.   When I have boxes of strings I want to try to use up I start with the longest and widest and then move on to make quilts that take shorter and skinnier ones.   Last year after I made the feathers for this one I started making Spider Web blocks. And with the really short and really skinny strings I started making String Stars.   So now I need to work on the Spider Webs and Stars. 

This year with my long and wide strings I made 48 - 10 inch (finished) Heartstring inspired string blocks but have not assembled them yet. 

And sew on...

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

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

Here it is only 9 days into Feb. and all I've been able to do is remember appointments. So far I've taken hubby to oncologist and me to opthamologist and dermatologist. Monday I have dentist appointment and Thursday hubby has periodontist appointment. I wish hubby could drive! But if wishes were horses beggars would ride...or drive! After that I'm looking forward to being a hermit again!

 

Feather Finishing

A few months ago I dug into my string bin and started several new string quilts. I usually start making a quilt with the longest and widest strings and then start several other quilts using shorter and shorter and skinnier and skinnier strings. 

This Feather Bed quilt is the one that used the longest and widest strips. This week I've worked on and off on completing 25 feathers.  I now have 38 of them and the quilt is ready to be assembled. 

I'm not in love with the background fabric but it was about all I had at the time with enough yardage. It has kind of grown on me now. It's not as bright as in the photos. I used the flash on my camera and I think that brightened it up a bit.   So, anyway, you know it's all about "make do" around here so make do I did!

Feather Bed is an Anna Maria Horner pattern.   I picked up the pattern back when it was first issued and was free but now it is no longer free.   I previously made a Feather Bed quilt back in 2016 using the pattern and hand quilted it. 

For the feathers I pull out the longer and wider strings and try to group them together by colors that will work together. Then I sew the strings together into a long and wide enough piece of made fabric to cut left and right feather pieces with a template. 

But before I assemble the blocks I need to quilt a few tops. I haven't had any finishes in awhile.  Last night I pin basted a couple of smalls so I might get around to quilting today. 

And sew on...

Finished Or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)

Oct. 1 - Spent most of the day clearing scrub brush - mulberry bushes, honeysuckle, wild rose, wild raspberries. Also cleared a few patches of ragweed and pokeberries taller than me. How do the things I don't want to grow grow so fast?   Well, anyway, it feels good to see progress! And I'm thankful I'm using my little battery operated chain saw on scrub brush and not trees that have fallen during a hurricane. 

Oct. 2 - Spent most of the day an hour away at Univ. of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC). Hubby had three teeth removed and bone biopsy of his jaw. Now we wait for results. In the past he had fibula free flap reconstruction surgery on the jaw on the other side (they made new jaw bone from his fibula). All of his mouth problems (bone necrosis and lost teeth) are a side effect of radiation he had back when he had oropharyngeal cancer.  

  

That's not what I celebrated...I do not like to drive in the dark and interstate has lots of road work going on and lots of semis on the road. We started our journey to UIHC at 5:30 a.m.   Well, weather was nice but a little chilly and we made it there and back just fine. Well, my back kind of hurt a little from being so tense but no worries now.   And hubby is doing fine - very little pain, thank goodness!

Oct. 3 - Daffodil bulbs arrived. I ordered some small and fragrant ones. Also received some allium bulbs.  Deer don't bother either of those. Now I just need to get them planted. I'm putting them in the cutting garden tulip bed with what tulips I have left after the deer ate most of the leaves before they could bloom this year. I met a deer a few days ago in the middle of the afternoon when I went out to do some veg garden clean up. It was munching on my broccoli. This year deer have munched more broccoli than I have. So I pulled up all the broccoli plants and threw them on the compost pile. 

Also - remember when I celebrated sending quilts to Wrap-A-Smile on Sep. 25? Well, the coordinator lives in Asheville, NC. According to tracking info the quilts were held up in Greensboro for awhile but they were able to be delivered yesterday.  Thankfully, Ann, the coordinator is safe. She had 5 trees fall and was without power for a couple of days and still might be without internet. My nephew and family also live in Asheville and I've heard all are safe.   

Feathers and Webs

The theme in my sewing space in July was strings.  I started making Feathers with the longer and wider strings. I have all of the two sides of the feathers made so now I'm just putting them all together into blocks. 

Maybe in August I will get this to flimsy stage. 

I don't really have many longer pieces of yardage for quilts that need lots of background. I did have enough of this green. I figured green goes with everything- most flowers have green leaves. 

I also started making Spider Web blocks in July. I don't have enough for a larger top yet. I don't want to make a kiddo sized quiltt because that black/rainbow fabric I'm using for the centers has marijuana leaves on it. 

It's August and now my theme is KIDS but I will still fit in some string sewing now and then. I don't want the string quilts to turn into UFOs until they are flimsies. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

July 31 - Finished a book! The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer - a WWII historical fiction. "Life has a way of reminding you that you are at the mercy of chance, and that even well-thought-out plans can turn to chaos in an instant."

August 1 - A BLT with a big juicy homegrown tomato. Homegrown tomatoes sprinkled with homegrown basil.  Unfortunately my tomatoes are not producing very well this year but I am really enjoying the ones I have harvested. 

 

Progress on Strings - Works in Progress

Feather Bed blocks.   

I've finished sewing all my longest strings into strata and cut the parts for 76 feathers. 

I don't cut fabrics for strings. They just happen. So it is always fun to see what the mix of fabrics in my quilts will look like together. 

I decided to use green for the background because I think every color goes with green. Doesn't every color of flower have green leaves? 

Now that my longest strings have been used the remainders go into the pile of strings for Spider Web blocks. 

So I made some Spider Web blocks this week too.  I'm mostly using bright and wild strings for these projects. 

Then after I've used a string in the Spider Web blocks and there is a little piece of string left it goes into the baggie for Eight Point Star pieces.   I made enough pieces (32) for 4 Stars. 

So that's the long and short of it.

And sew on...

 

String Progress

Spider Web Blocks

I previously posted on June 18 that I had sorted my strings into several different projects and started those projects.  Since then I started another string project (child sized Heartstring with yellow centers) and got that to flimsy stage.  This time of year I spend more time out in the gardens than I do in the sewing room but I did manage to find bits of time here and there to work on my string projects.  I'm hoping to get all three projects to flimsy stage by the end of July and have most of my strings used up. 

So since my last string post I've made Spider Web parts and turned those into four blocks. 

I've made many Feather Bed parts with the longest of strings - most from quilt back trimmings. 

And I've made several Eight Point Star parts from the very short strings left over from other string projects.

And sew on...

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 

Oh, Feathers!

I finally decided what to quilt between my feathers which are quilted with perle #8...feathers! 

I had some spools of Coats and Clarks hand quilting thread left over from my Pickle Dish quilt that was close in color to the feathers in the fabric so decided to use it. 

I had originally tried quilting some straight lines but didn't like how they looked so ripped out those stitches and started on the feathers.  I like how they look. 

I'm using this stencil and a mechanical pencil for marking. 

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

Feathers in the quilt were made with lots of leftover strings mostly cut from the sides of quilt backings. 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

In The Hoop

I've been off work this week to take care of my husband post surgery (they took out his fibula and made it into his mandible to fix a jaw that broke due to osteoradionecrosis which means, I think, bone death due to radiation when he had cancer years ago).  During this time t's nice and relaxing to just sit, de-stress and hand quilt in between changing his dressings, packing his drains,  grinding his medications to dust and filling his "feed bag". 

These colors are definitely sunshine on a rainy day! (Bring on the sunglasses). 

As you can see I'm using perle #8 - odds and ends - different colors leftover from other projects - to stitch around the feathers and on the feathers themselves. 

(Yes, I'm a thread slob). 

Feather Bed is a free Anna Maria Horner pattern 

I used all the bright and long string scraps leftover, for the most part, from quilt backing trimmings.  Some of the scraps that are smaller in width were leftovers from the very end of a piece of fabric. If the fabric end pieces are smaller than 1.5 inches I throw them into the long string mishmash of scraps otherwise they go into the 1.5, 2.5 or 4.5 scraps.  

After I get the feathers all quilted I have no idea how or what I'm going to do with the empty space between the feathers.  Suggestions? (Easy ones, please). 

Got scraps? 

You need a Scraptastic Tuesday fix. 

Has Anyone Seen The Elusive Quilt Back Bird? She Left Me Some Feathers!

A Flimsy of Feathers

Not a quilt yet. Just a top. 

72 x 90

A free pattern from Anna Maria Horner

I was looking for something different for string scraps and this fit the bill. I used the long pieces trimmed from quilt backings for the feathers. 

I don't normally buy a lot of yardage when I buy fabrics but I've had this feather fabric for awhile.  I think it was on the table at Hancock's when they marked all the Spot the Bolt fabrics down to $3.98 per yard. Plus I think it was senior day so I got a 25% discount off of that.  I thought it was pretty ugly when I bought it and I thought if nothing else I would use it on the back of quilts.   I like it now. 

So, have you seen the elusive Quilt Back bird? I think that wild and crazy bird left me with some feathers. 

Linking to:

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

These Feathers Aren't For My Cap

Put on your sunglasses!

I found a pattern to use up some of my brighter  and long string scraps (about a garbage bag full - most are quilt back trimmings)- Anna Maria Horner's Feather Bed. 

Eight blocks down and thirty more to go for a twin sized quilt.  I think I have enough strings. I hope I have enough of that wild feather background. 

I'll show you later what I did with the lighter colored strings. 

Design Wall Monday