It's a Finish! Pansy Patch

Pansy Patch

84 x 84

machine quilted

I was inspired by a picture of a Tula Pink quilt called Chipper.  It's a basic 12 inch Birds in the Air block set on point.  Although she has a free pattern you can use if you are so inclined I made the blocks my own way plus made my quilt a bit larger. 

I found it a great way to use some of the larger print pansy fabrics I've had in my stash for quite some time. 

I quilted it on my DSM with horizontal and diagonal lines basically stitching a quarter inch inside the triangles that are the color of the outside triangles (if that makes sense?)  I had some variegated Coat's and Clark's machine quilting threads on hand but wasn't sure if I had enough of either so I used a purple variegated on the front and...

...an aqua, pink, yellow, purple variegated thread in the bobbin. 

I found just enough fabric for the backing stashed in my butterfly fabric box.  In fact the quilt width just fit inside those dotted lines on each selvage. And I had just enough of a purple solid for the binding. 

The quilt looks like it could be reversible. 

This one is for my bed now.  I'll bet it feels great in the morning to wake up surrounded by pansies.  (Or to see it at the foot of the bed since I don't have a/c so don't really use quilts in the summer). 

This was my goal #4

for

Q3 Finish-Along

Gone Matchstick Quilting or Have I?

This is day 2 of quilting Birthday Wishes (60 x 72).  I was thinking I would try matchstick quilting with some blue variegated thread. I had two different spools so used Gutermann machine quilting thread in the bobbin and Coats and Clarks up top.  I used some low loft batting I had on hand. 

I'm not sure of the definition of matchstick quilting vs straight line stitching vs echo quilting. Basically I decided to quilt some vertical straight lines (or lines as straight as I could get them).  I have to say that this is time and thread consuming.  And I'm having second thoughts as to whether this was the right way to quilt this. But time will tell. 

 Yesterday I first started out using the guide on the walking foot to stitch some vertical straight lines at irregular intervals.   (I guess I had the guide off in this photo).  

 This morning I started stitching in between the lines I made yesterday.  I noticed that when the lines were closer than half an inch the quilt started to feel a little stiffer. Maybe because of the low loft batting.  All I know is is that I don't like stiff quilts.  And maybe that will change when the quilt is washed and dried. 

Now the plan is to have areas where it's close together and then farther apart then close together then farther apart. 

On quilting breaks I've been sorting through boxes and bags of scraps and strings.  I need to make room in my sewing room to start seeds under lights  on some shelves and in the south window.   Going through some of those old scraps is like going through a box of old photos. Oh, the memories of quilts from the past.  And while quilting I've been pondering what I will make with the piles I've sorted.  Oh, and a tip...don't throw string quilt trimmings in with your scraps you want to save. I must have absentmindedly done that a couple of times.  And now I can add rag picker to my resume. 

Before I Could Even Think of Machine Quilting I Had To...

Before I could even think of quilting this on my DSM today I had to CLEAN behind my sewing machine.   YIKES.  I'm surprised I didn't find a mouse nest in there.  I did find my small scissors and a seam ripper that had been missing. 

I have my sewing machine set up on an old desk and behind that is a cutting mat 18 x 24 where I do all my rotary cutting.  At the end of that mat a LOT of stuff accumulates. 

These are the scraps after I spent hours sorting them into piles. 

Sheesh, where do scraps come from? 

On the left are all the 30s scraps which get their own pile no matter what size the scrap happens to be.  On the right are pieces for the chunk box (well, really it is a milk crate). 

On the left are 1.5 inch scraps. On the right are 2.5 inch scraps.  Each has their own respective scrap box. 

And then I have neutral scrap pieces (for a neutral scrap quilt in the works), a pile of pieces in autumn colors to be further cut (later) into pieces at least 3 inch long or so for my Pumpkin Peel (WIP) quilt, then there are strings that are at least 1 inch wide.   There's also a small pile of selvages in there somewhere to go into the Selvage quilt WIP. 

Then there's the rest of the scraps that don't fit any other category.  These will probably get made into crumb quilts (along with all the other boxes of unclassified scraps).  I'm thinking of making crumb leaves or bear paws in autumn colors.  That's another sort for another time. 

Any string pieces less than 1 inch wide go into the garden string pile. I use these to tie up things in the garden.  Sometimes the birds steal them for their nests. 

And the rest goes into the mulch basket.  I have some pretty colorful flower and veggie gardens.

And speaking of gardens...on quilting breaks I walk out and do a little garden clean up. 

Surprise, surprise. Crocus are up.  I planted a few years ago under a tree out back and over the years they have found their way all over the yard. I'm not sure if the squirrels dig them up and rebury them or what.  

The purple crocus are most prolific but I do have a few...

...yellow ones. 

I just finished cleaning up the asparagus bed and the spot where I'm going to plant lettuce and spinach so now it's back to machine quilting. 

Ah, retirement!!!!