39Ps

I have lots of little 3 inch 9 patches. Some are ironed...

...some are not. 

I usually make the when I get to the end of a piece of fabric and have at least 3 - 1.5 inch strips. But sometimes I just throw that end piece into the 4.5 inch scrap pile.  

I've turned the little nine patches into 5 inch Sister's Choice blocks and made the above quilt. 

I've added a few navy hexies and bright solid triangles to the bright little nine patches and made a Jack's Chain quilt 

I'm working on Jack's Chain #2 which is bigger and uses darker little nine patches, neutral hexies and muslin triangles. 

I also have a couple of other ideas (only in my head for now) for these little cuties. 

I'd like to swap some 3 inch 9 patches. 

See the tab at the top of my blog for further info. 

Help Wanted! 39P Swap.

Due May 15

I've already received some from 2 swappers but haven't peeked into the packages yet. 

Use those scraps!

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework. 

Jack's Chain #2

I've been slowly, slowly working on my Jack's Chain quilt.  This is my second one and in a completely different colorway from the first which was brights on navy background.  That one a wedding quilt for my grandson and is in the hope chest . It won't be needed for awhile. He's only 9. This one is a little bigger too.   

This is the width I want but it is only about half as long as I want it. 

As you can see...this takes lots and lots and lots and oodles  and oodles of little 3 inch nine patches. 

I've been using little nine patches that are on the darker side as values may go. 

I'm getting low on little nine patches now and would be willing to swap with anyone who is interested.  I'm trying to avoid a lot of duplicate patches in my quilt.  I do swap three times a year with an online group but use the little darlings almost as soon as I get them.  

If you are interested in swapping see the tab I just added to the header of this blog -

HELP WANTED! (39P swap)


Lots of scraps going into this quilt!
Other scrap projects: Scraptastic Tuesday

New linky party:
Sew, Stitch, Snap, Share

Bright and Wild UFO Sighting

Bright and Wild

It's just a flimsy (finally).

It will be donated when finished.

39 x 58.5

I THINK I swapped these bright and wild happy blocks some time before 2012.  I found some Bright and Wild, Patriotic and Fall themed swap blocks in a box.    They are actually a strange size of Happy Block...they finish at 6.5 inches.  They are made of 4 inch centers and 2 inch sides. 

I had about 36 Happy Blocks from the swap so dug through some swapped 4 inch squares looking for 18 bright and wild pieces.  I had to cut into fabric for the 2 inch side pieces. I have a box of fabrics set aside for donation quilts so used those fabrics. Then I made more blocks. 

Then I sewed all of the blocks together. 

And that's where I'm at now. 

I probably won't get it completely finished until summer. 

For now it will reside in the donation top pile which is a step up from being hidden away in a box for years. 

And my sewing room is a little bit cleaner. LITTLE bit! 

So Sue Me!

Sunbonnet Sues

63 x 78

These blocks were swapped in 2009. They were my first attempt at fusible applique and I really didn't like them after I made them but swapped anyway.  We could use any Sunbonnet Sue pattern and white on white background. We were supposed to use fusible applique and then machine stitch around the shapes.   

Luckily after the swap I had the same amount of them facing different directions so I could alternate blocks.   A couple of years ago I sashed them with some 30s reproductions and "that green".  I had some 3 inch 9 patches in 30s from another swap so I threw some of those in too.  And so the top has been sitting around for another couple of years.  I really don't like the stiffness of the fused interfacing but figured a quilt is better than wasted blocks. 

So, I quilted it on my plain Jane DSM with some three petaled flowers and on the dress and bonnet I quilted some really tiny 3 petaled flowers...really tiny. 

I didn't quilt into the arm and shoes so they sort of stand out as 3D.  All that quilting in Sue kind of softened the fusible interfacing.  

I used a vintage sheet on the back. 

My husband and I are from large families and our siblings are all becoming grandparents many times over so I'm sure there will be a girl baby coming along soon that will need a quilt that's perfect for crawling around on. 

I can cross another UFO off my list. 

This was a Q4 goal for 2015 Finish Along (#6)

with Adrianne of On the Windy Side. 

Linking up today to:

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilts 

and a new one

Moving it Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag.

Working on the Chain, Gang!

A few weeks ago I received the results of a 3 inch 9 patch swap - 60 blocks.  I've participated in this quarterly swap for several years and just love these little things. 

Every time I get a batch of 9Ps back I sort them into brights and darks and have been using the bright ones in a Jack's Chain quilt that will eventually go into the hope chest as a wedding quilt for my grandson.  The darks have been piling up but I did start another Jack's Chain with neutral background. 

I used the templates for the hex and triangles from Quilter's Cache.  I kind of followed the instructions with a few modifications which I never remember each time I sit down to add a row. 

I just added another section  and now the top measures roughly 70 x 70.   I need to make some more 9Ps - enough for one more section and I think I'll be finished with this top.  It's been a UFO for quite awhile. 

The challenge for this quilt? Not to cuss each time I get to a Y seam. There's been a whole lot of cussing going on around here. 

Connecting up to:

Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

WIPs Be Gone at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Happy Hearts

40 x 56

Happy Hearts

This will be donated to either Quilts Beyond Borders or Wrap a Smile. 

Years ago I used to participate in a Happy Block swap every month.  Each participant would send out 6 Happy Block centers (either 4.5 or 6.5) to each participant who would border 5 of them with 2.5 inch strips and keep one center.  Then the bordered blocks were all sent back to the originator.    It was a great use of scraps and you would then get a variety of  bordered blocks back to put into a quilt.  I quit signing up for the swap when some people failed to meet their commitments to return blocks to the owner.  

At any rate...I have a huge box of Happy Blocks (my Happy Place) waiting to be made into donation quilts. 

I found almost enough heart themed blocks for this one, made a few more and before you know it a quilt was born. 

I quilted it simply with five petaled flowers and loops and swirls. 

I'm not used to making machine binding but it is suggested by several places I donate quilts that the binding be machine stitched. I have found my machine's buttonhole stitch does about the best job. 

This was my goal #11 for the Q2 Finish Along      with Adrianne at On the Windy Side. (link also on the sidebar). 

At the end of the month I will link up to Julie's Binding Blitz.  

Today I will link up with Oh Scrap at Quilting is More Fun than Housewwork. 

To Border or Not to Border. That is the Question.

I finished my Sister's Choice in Civil War reproductions top...or have I ?????

The blocks are 10 inches so as you can see..my top is now 60 x 80. 

But the more I looked at it the more I heard little voices calling...border, border, border.   I'm not a border person so either those little voices in my head are turning against me or trying to teach me new tricks.  BUT, I thought I read somewhere that civil war quilts were rarely bordered.  Or did I just imagine I read that? 

Anyway...should I add a border? If so what should it look like? I have an idea but not sure I actually like it enough (or am ambitious enough) to make it. 

Obviously I don't have a design wall.  I just randomly sewed blocks together. I don't think design walls were a thing back in the civil war days so I guess I'm really reproducing with my reproductions. 

Design Wall Monday 

for those who may or may not have design walls. 

August update:
To get this finished (borders or not) is my August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes!

Dots and Dashes

Ever play the game Dots and Dashes when you were a kid? 

Don't know why but these blocks remind me of that game.  

And they also remind me of the song Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me. 

Block Swappers Yahoo Group swapped these six inch blocks a couple of times.   I want 224 blocks for my quilt and I'm going to alternate polka dot background blocks with striped background blocks.  That means I need 8 more blocks with polka dot backgrounds and 22 more with striped backgrounds and then I can assemble my top (and then I can get it quilted , bound and labeled and then I can cross it off my UFO list).  . 

Ta-da!

I made them yesterday.  

Eight with polka dot backgrounds...

...twelve with striped backgrounds (and it looks like one to fix)...

...and that makes 22 with striped backgrounds!

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. 

Sister's Choice

 

Awhile back I participated in a 6 inch 9 patch swap in civil war reproduction fabrics - blue corners, red centers and the rest of the block in tan. 

I've slowly been turning them into  10 inch Sister's Choice blocks. 

Design Wall Monday

PS - I Love You!

I love postage stamps - 1.5 inch little squares of fabric. 

For the past couple of years of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge I've made some 49 patches in rainbow colors and I think I have enough to make a rainbow quilt of my imagination. So I started on that quilt last weekend. 

Why 49 patches?  Because there are 7 colors of the rainbow! 

And I started late last year making these Sunbonnet Sue postage stamp girls after I saw them on the Q is for Quilter blog.   I have 10 girls and need 12 - maybe a gray and a neutral. I've started bordering the blocks now with a row of white and then a row of the girl's color. 

I don't think I'll be a grandmother to any more grandchildren than I already have so I will probably leave this in the hope chest for the first great granddaughter when I actually finish it. 

Last weekend I also made 6 more brown/cream 49 patch blocks.  I think that makes a total of 15 blocks. I want to make a large quilt only in brown/cream.  I think it looks so vintage. 

This is another ps quilt I'm working on with squares that don't fit into any of the above category or with duplicate squares used in other projects.  

I just started this one.  I saw a vintage quilt like this (they called it roman stripe - see below) on Ebay and loved it so decided to make the single 5 strip blocks as part of the rainbow scrap challenge the rest of this year and all next year.  

(Vintage Roman Stripe quilt seen on Ebay). 

I actually swap these little jewels a few times a year with the members of the

  Postage Stamp Quilts Yahoo Group

We just finished a swap, I received it last week and that's why I was sorting and working on some of the above projects.  I couldn't wait to see and use the 750  little postage stamps I received in the swap. 

And now for the first time I've signed up for a 1.5 inch (and 2.5)  ps swap with The Curious Quilter.  You have until Oct 4 to sign up for this swap.  You can sign up to swap 1.5, 2, or 2.5 squares.  

More Fun with Pink and Black - What Will Become of Them in August?

9 inch pink and black sampler blocks swapped in 2010

My August goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes:

At the very least get these assembled into a top and, hey, 

if they actually end up a finished quilt...well, that's even better. 

 

In the Pink - a UFO Finish

54 x 66

99 - 6 inch Thrifty Blocks

(Yes, I do see now that a couple of blocks had the corner four patches oriented the wrong way)!!! 

I completed my July Lovely Year of Finishes goal  (#103 on ALYoF goal setting page).   Actually, I did more than my goal. I only wanted to complete the top but I've not only completed the top...I quilted it on my plain Jane Janome DSM and then finished sewing down the binding by hand. 

I swapped a different color of Thrifty Block (directions from Block Lotto) each month with a group of ladies on a Yahoo Group in 2010. (I think it was 2010 or it might even have been 2009. I left the group long ago).  I finished a Rainbow Thrifty Quilt late last year with some of the other colors. 

I quilted it, as I previously mentioned, on my plain Jane DSM. All 99 squares have free form (very free form) flower quilted on it. 

The back is a 100% cotton PINK sheet in excellent condition from the thrift store. 

I think I know a PINK loving little girl who will love the quilt.