Fan Flowers

When I  previously blogged about the Fan Flowers quilt I had all of the sets of  Fans made and needed to add the circle to the Fan blocks and then make the Flower and Leaf blocks.   I have now done that for the first set of 3 blocks. 

Just a reminder that I am using a free pattern called Fan Flower Quilt from Tilda's World. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Feb. 12- Crocus in bloom! I could not believe my eyes when I went out the back door to do a garden walk. Right near the clothesline and in the lawn where the squirrels have moved the bulbs over the years was a crocus with blooms. I have never ever seen crocus in bloom in February here! 

 

Lil' Baskets

Baskets

4 inch finished

I started making these in Feb. 2023. I made some pink ones and that was it. This year I've made this one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) projects. This month's color is red so I used some red scrap pieces that were already cut at 1.5 inch widths to make the HSTs. All of the backgrounds will be cream colored and all of the baskets will be brown.   With these baskets I now have a total of 27 toward my goal of 110. 

The baskets will be set on point and alternate with 4.5 inch squares of this red fabric with baskets. 

I was inspired by Lil' Baskets quilt in the book Scrappy Firework Quilts by Edyta Sitar. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Feb. 11 -- Tapioca!  I haven't had any since I was a young girl. My maternal grandmother served it a couple of times when we went to visit. I loved it.  So last time I was at the grocery store I bought a box of tapioca. I wanted to see if it tasted as good as I remembered. It does. While I was at the store I also added whipped cream to my grocery cart. So now I guess I also need to make a few other treats so the whipped cream doesn't go to waste!

 

A Couple Of Applique Projects

Periwinkle (aka Hummingbird aka Arkansas Snowflake) Blocks

9 inch unfinished

I've been making these appliqued blocks with a method I found at Susie's Scraps except I'm using 3.5 inch squares and 9 inch background squares. My backgrounds will all be yellow solids.  I was inspired by a vintage quilt. 

Dresden Fan Blocks

6 inch unfinished

I've also been appliqueing Dresden Fan blocks made from 3.5 inch scraps. I have a little bin and bag of valentine/heart and rose print scraps I want to use up.  I'm not sure I'm in love with these at this point and I don't really know how I'm going to lay them out. For now I'm just using scraps. I'm thinking I might make a spider web quilt with the scraps that are smaller than 3.5 inches. 

Whatever layout I use I think I will probably add a plain white thin sashing between blocks because they are so busy. 

And I'm thinking I will probably end up setting them on point. But who knows at this point. Like I said I'm using up scraps and keeping busy with some hand work for a few minutes each evening. 

And sew on...

Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Feb. 10  - I finished a good book - Rivers of Wrath by Jean Grainger. It is the third in the Cullen's Celtic Cabaret series. And I finished it just in time for the release of the fourth and final (I think) book in the series - The Gem of Ireland's Crown.   I've read a lot of Jean Grainger books. She writes Irish historical fiction. I enjoy reading that genre because all of my paternal ancestors were Irish. 

 

Red Scraps Chapter II

Wonky Windmills

Gray backgrounds

8 inch finished

This week I used some 4.5 inch scraps to make some Wonky Windmills and...

...Kaleidoscope Blocks

Yellow backgrounds

8 inches finished

Boo Boo Patch (18 Patch)

3 x 6 finished

Made from 1.5 inch scraps

Named Boo Boo Patch because when I first started makinng the blocks I meant to make them out of 1.5 x 2.5 inch pieces but miscalculated the strip size needed so ended up with 1.5 x 1.5 inch pieces instead and went with that.   It's all good because most of the time when I have 1.5 inch width scraps they aren't long enough to make the 18 Patch as I originally intended. 

I also used some red scraps to make Clue #4 of the Stars Like Spaghetti Patriotic Mystery hosted by Alycia of Alycia Quilts. 

My clue #1

My clues #2 and #3

And sew on...

Rainbow Scrap Challenge ScrapHappy Saturday

 

Animal Crackers

Two Tops Dancing in the Wind

I'm calling them Animal Crackers.

Each top measures 40 x 60.

The blocks contain solids and animal prints.

I actually started making the blocks back in 2020. I've had 43 blocks in my SAR (Some Assembly Required) box for quite some time so I decided to get them out and into tops. I think originally I intended to make a twin sized quilt with the 43 blocks in a 6 x 7 layout. I changed my mind and made two tops instead and now I have 3 blocks left for the orphanage. 

I forgot how much I like the size of these 30 patch blocks that measure 10 x 12. That is a good size for making kid's donation quilts. 20 blocks make for a 40 x 60 quilt and 16 blocks make for a 40 x 48 quilt. I'm going to have to make more of these. 

Back in September 2020 when I started making blocks I wrote in my blog post:

"I was inspired by Gretchen's (Gretchen's Little Corner) quilt she called Modern Amish and by Nann's (With Strings Attached) 30 patch quilt. Both quilts were inspired by a quilt called Sound Check by John Kubiniec (McCall's, March/April 2014)."

Now I hope to find a couple backings and get these quilted up next month when I have a quilting marathon. 

And sew on...

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

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Celebrate! (my word of the year)

Today, Feb. 9 - I had to venture into town early this morning for an 8 am appt. with my opthamologist. And, oh, birds were everywhere and singing sweetly! 

The poem The Birds Begin at Four O'Clock by Emily Dickinson

 

Dandy Boho Stars

Six inch (finished) Dandy Stars in Boho color scheme.

These have been leader/enders while sewing together tops.

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year) -

Feb. 7 - Physical therapist who comes to the house once a week is pleased with hubby's progress. His core strength has greatly improved and he is able to do a wider range of exercises. Maybe in a few months he will be able to use a cane (or nothing???) instead of a walker.   He is also finally gaining some weight and his gtube stoma is finally healing.  Celebrating forward progress. 

Feb. 8 (today) - 8am appointment with my dentist and dental hygenist. All is well! If I was a kid I suppose I'd get a smiley face sticker. I'll be 72 next month and I still have all my own teeth except for a partially false front tooth that chipped off when I was 14 and someone pushed my head into a drinking fountain at school.  

 

A Sixteen Patch Top

Sixteen Patch

It's a top! 

56 x 72

I made these 8 inch Sixteen Patch blocks a long time ago from some civil war repro and similar 2.5 inch width scraps. After I finished the set I put them into my Some Assembly Required (SAR) box. I got them out last month when the theme in my sewing space was "Browns and Blues" and webbed together the blocks but then never progressed past that point.  So this month I finally ended up with a top. 

This month in my sewing space the theme is "Free Range" - I'm free to do whatever suits my fancy. But I really think my theme should be "Piles". Since I moved my sewing machine upstairs to the dining room table to be near my husband as he recuperates I have been up and down stairs with multiple bags and boxes of scraps and fabric for the multiple projects I've been working on the last few months. Some things go back downstairs to the sewing space but then more things come up. I have piles around the dining room table everywhere. Piles, Piles, Piles. So, as I said, I think my theme this month is going to be PILES. I hope to reduce some of them and make room around the dining room table for a March quilting marathon. 

So the pile that was previously a webbed top is now a completed top and it can go back down to the sewing space and into the To-Be-Quilted pile down there. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the year)

Feb. 6 - Celebrating weight loss. What a surprise. Without even trying I have lost 17 lbs. since September.  I guess all that running up and down stairs with my sewing stuff may have some beneftits!