A Phoenix Quilt

If I know my mythology correctly, the phoenix is a bird that is born from ashes, from waste. Since the 2.5" blocks in this quilt were technically just left over and piled up in a heap, I can consider the quilt something of a phoenix.

I sewed the center of the quilt together yesterday and I am just so pleased with it. The blocks are just a smidge over 6" square. I have made this  quilt top 7 blocks by 7 blocks. It  will get at least two borders, possible three.

We had a beautiful late November day yesterday, so I took it oustide to photograph. It was windy, so I don't have the very best shots, but these will do.


The setting blocks are Westminster fabric by Phillip Jacobs.

My thanks for November 30:
I am thankful for my grandmother. How many women my age (55) can say their grandma is still living? Not many. In just a couple of weeks, Grandma will turn 96. She is the original quilter, and I attribute my fondness for the craft to her influence. I am so fortunate to have benefitted from her expertise.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Table Runner Progress

A couple of posts back I showed you the table runner I was making out of some orphan blocks I had. I didn't have a pattern; I was just making it up as I went along. I needed to do the math to figure out the size of the corner triangles.

Here's my table runner, again.

 

I was perusing some blogs Wednesday afternoon and came across a quilter who was making a very similar runner. Take a look at Quilting and Other Craft Therapy.  Deb is on a mission to finish off a lot of UFOs, and she's doing something called the 100 Day Hustle. I will have to read further, but I did like her purple table runner, and it gives me an idea as to how to approach borders, which I hadn't yet considered. So, thanks, Deb!

 

I also spent a bit of time laying out my Kaffe Fassett blocks. I am really anxious to sew this together.

 

 

 

It's not going to be a very big quilt - more of a lap quilt, I suppose. However, I could possibly add a lot of borders, so maybe it will be bigger than I think. I certainly have plenty of KF fabric to use if I do want to make some big borders! The stash is plentiful!!

 

My thanks for November 29:

I am thankful for regular willing communication from my kids. They are good about staying in touch, whether with a call or a text, just to say hi.

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

 

 

 

Flying Geese Units Galore!

When a quilter makes the decision to start a quilt made of stars, that usually means there will be a significant amount of time spent constructing flying geese units. For many, this is tedious work and often fraught with potential wonkiness. Dreaded work, these geese, but we forge ahead and try to make the best of it, knowing that the end justifies the means.

I recently started making a quilt that calls for 30 of these stars.

It's the cover quilt of this book by Lynette Jensen of Thimbleberries.

 

 

 

Work is commencing on the flying geese units, too. I try to break it up into steps or stages, and don't think about the enormity of making all of those units in their entirety.

 

 

 

I took all of my geese to JoAnn's yesterday to cut off the triangle of the one side. Got that accomplished, and am now ready to apply the other side. Slow and steady, one step at a time, and I will get them finished off. Once this step is done, the remaining star construction is easy-peasy.

 

There are other ways out there of making flying geese. I have seen others do them and have read about them, but have not personally tried them. I can see myself doing some experimenting, though. The alternate methods do seem rather foolproof.

 

 

The age-old question of keeping or tossing those triangles that are cut away rears its head at some point during this process. Look at the great little half-square triangle that results if those ends are stitched. Wouldn't a whole pile of these work great in some yet-to-be-determined quilt??

 

I'm keeping them. (I could show you the box full of similar triangles from previous quilts.) I will sew them together. Red and white quilts are pretty special, so this is a no-brainer, isn't it?

 

My thanks for November 28:

I am thankful for a well stocked freezer and pantry.

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Frankfort Quilters at JoAnn's

Today we met at JoAnn's for our regular bi-weekly get-together. Let's see what we've been up to, shall we?

Hostess JoAnn was binding this wall-hanging.

I believe I've shown JoAnn's progress on this wall hanging in previous posts. It is modified from a larger pattern that included both pieced blocks and appliqued blocks.

It may look like Sheryll is playing in the buttons, but in fact she is selecting buttons to adorn some kitchen towels she is making to give as Christmas gifts. These towels are really pretty.

I enlarged it quite a bit, so there is some distortion, but these are really pretty, and quite appealing. I imagine the recipients will be quite pleased!

Terry was also binding. She had recently finished quilting this Ohio State quilt.

It's extra-long, can you tell? I sure do like it!

Sharon had finished another stocking, and brought all 3 to show us.

Isn't this wonderful? Such detailed work! Charlie's stocking is now ready, and joins his two cousins' stoockings.

After showing us her finished stockings, Sharon got busy on some handwork. This looks like fun!

I've been doing a lot of hand piecing lately, and this looks like some of my stuff. It is Sharon's, however; she is making a fall-ish wall hanging.

I will show you what I was working on in tomorrow's post.

My thanks for November 27:
I am thankful for being retired and having the freedom to participate in such fun activities as my quilting group.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Some Progress

It has been a very quiet day around here. The kids are all gone off to their lives and DH and I are left here with a dog and a cat who don't require much attention. I will say, though, that as deer gun season began today, the dog is quite a basket case, as he is frightened of the sound of gunshots. And since we live in a very rural area where lots of hunters are out, we do hear a lot of gunshots.

So we let him come inside and hang out with us. He IS supposed to be an outdoor dog, though.

Progress on my handstitching blocks has been replaced with some machine sewing.

I grabbed some leftover Park Avenue fabric to make some side triangles. I now have to figure the math for the corner triangles. I am going to consult this tutorial I saw on Pinterest before I cut those.

http://reannalilydesigns.blogspot.com/2008/09/set-on-point-tutorial.html

This tutorial assumes the block in position 1 is a 12.5" block. My blocks are just a bit bigger than 6" square, so I will have to do some math. I think I can handle it.

I was pretty excited to go digging through the Kaffe Fassett tubs this afternoon in search of a fabric to set together my 9-patch blocks. This is what I came up with.

Does everyone consider all Westminster fabrics as Kaffe Fassett fabrics? I do. I know they have various designers, but I call them all KF fabrics, actually. Just my quirk? Maybe.

I also pulled out fabric to make the remaining 4 9-patch blocks. Then I will be on my way to having a nice little KF quilt top completion!

My thanks for November 26:
I am thankful for a forgiving, loving Lord who knows my needs better than I do.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Busy Hands Are Happy Hands!

And my hands have really been happy these past few days!

I have hand pieced many, many blocks out of scrap fabrics since about Wednesday. My Thanksgiving responsibilities were relatively light, so I just made sure I always had a little kit of handwork nearby, and I was able to visit and stitch to my heart's content!

I also stitched during all the tv football games.

So let's take stock of what's been finished, shall we?

I have 21 of these 9-patch blocks using Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I have decided that I will make 4 more, to total 25, and then set them into a quilt with alternating blocks of some KF fabric from the stash. I have already made several blue KF quilts, so maybe this one will be bright red or purple or pink...we shall see. I will then add some borders. It will be a very colorful, bright quilt when finished.

These were all made from leftovers from the Great Granny squares I made back in September. Pretty cool.

These 3 blocks are much more country-looking, also from remnants in my sewing room. I will use these in a table runner, and will possibly give it as a gift for Christmas.

These 2 blocks I think I've shown you already, but I will dig around and find the fabrics to make one more 9-patch, and then these, too, will become a table runner.

These are 3 singletons. I am undecided as to how to use these. Maybe I will just keep them around and see if I can come up with an idea or two. I have more fabric of the brown and blue, so I could make more of those. I think I could come up with  more 30's prints, so I could add there, as well. I think that pretty blue and white on top is going to be a loner, though. I think that was the absolute end of that fabric.

My thanks for November 25:
I am thankful for the time I am able to devote to my stitching and quilting.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Whooo-Hooo!!

26-21

I hope you'll allow me to celebrate a really big victory for our Ohio State Buckeyes! We are ecstatic about today's win over that team up north!

What a great season -- with NCAA sanctions, a new head coach -- we overcame adversity on many levels. I am definitely a satisfied customer!

And now I will head back to my tv; there's much more football to watch today, and my hand piecing is prepared to get me through. I'll show all of them to you tomorrow.

Go Bucks!

 

The Original Pinwheel Quilt

A week or so ago, I shared here the blue and green pinwheel quilt I made from a Thimbleberries pattern. (I have been meaning to tell you what book this quilt was in, but I can't find it. Buried most likely in the sewing room.)

Well, Grandma made this quilt for my sister Sandy 10 or 12 years ago, I would guess. When I was at Sandy's on Thanksgiving, we took a moment to get this picture.

Sandy has always had a fondness for red and white, and asked Grandma to make this for her. It is wonderfully soft and loved - it was delightful to spread out on the bed. Washed and used - the best kind of quilt!

And, just for the sake of comparison, I will show you mine one more time. If you'd like to read the post about my version, click here.

My thanks for November 24:
I am grateful for my several groups of girls I regularly hang out with. Frienzies (Kay, Sharon, Sherrie, Pam, Lyn, Susan and Hettie), Book Club (Vickie, Marlise, Wendy, Sharon, Debbie, and Kelly), Card Club (Dorothy, Cheryl, Sally, Mindy, and Rhonda), Frankfort Girls (Sharon, Sheryll, Terry and JoAnn) and Y-Gradale, a group with a large membership. The fellowship I enjoy with these women is priceless.


Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Holiday Hand Stitching

We have been on the road a bit this week. To celebrate Thanksgiving with as much family as possible, we left on Tuesday to pick up DD#2 at OU in Athens. From there we headed north to Coshocton, DH's home town, to visit with his dad. We headed home on Wednesday and turned around on Thanksgiving Thursday to go over to Hillsboro to have dinner with all the fixings at my sister's. We also stopped by Grandma's before leaving town. Today has been very relaxed here at home. No great interest in anything at all resembling Black Friday and retail endeavors. Hopefully, tomorrow will be equally stress free.

With all that time on the road and visiting, I usually carry along some hand stitching. It's nice to be able to keep busy, and you know that stitching hands can't be eating hands, so I stay out of the goodies!

I dug through some piles in my sewing room and came across lots of leftovers from recent projects that hadn't been cleaned up. No big surprise there - I rarely clean up after ANY projects! But I decided that I could make some blocks and decide later what to do with them. Here's what I have done so far.

Just like a good turkey feast will leave lots of leftovers, so too, does a lot of quiltmaking! These were all just "parts" that needed to be pulled together - for exactly what remains to be seen, but at least I've got blocks and not piles of miscellaneous scraps.

I have a nice little stack of Kaffe Fassett 9-patches. These are all leftovers from those Great Granny squares I was making earlier in the fall. I made a whole lot of extra 2.5" squares for the express purpose of making these. I love 'em!

After finishing the Thimbleberries 9-Patch Criss Cross, I had partial 9-patches left over, so I put full blocks together, and now have these 2 lovely blocks. What will I do with them? Here's the original post, if you want to see the 9-Patch Criss Cross.

These 2 blocks are leftovers from leftovers. The first time I used this fabric was when I made this strippy quilt in the summer of 2011. Then I pulled out leftovers to make a Great Granny square. Then I made a block that caught my fancy on Pinterest.  So I guess I've delved into this wonderful Breath of Avignon fabric 4 times, now!

And just when you thought you'd seen the last of this Jacob's Ladder fabric, I up and find these renegade blocks that somehow got buried near my sewing machine. I plopped them into the stack of handwork and stitched up yet another block.  The original Jacob's Ladder post can be found here.

 I do love to do handwork, and even today while here at home, I found myself gravitating to that instead of the sewing machine. Very nice; very relaxing.

My thanks for November 23:
I am so thankful for quiet days at home with few pressing matters beyond cleaning up a turkey carcass.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Thanksgiving Greetings

I hope all of you have a blessed Thanksgiving. We will be with a few members of my side of the family as my sister is having us in for noontime dinner with all the fixings.

My thanks for November 22:
I am thankful for Mom, Alan, Beth, Neal, Kyle, Laura, Donnie, Sandy, Tim, Abby, Will, Mark, Ann, Anna Rose, Mary Jean, Carol, Monte, Vince, Weston, Kevin, Adam, Erin, Emma and Grandma. While not all of us will be together today, we will keep one another in our hearts. I will also remember those who are no longer with us, especially Dad and both Grandpas.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Just a Star

I've done just a bit on the star quilt. What with traveling and visiting and prepping foods for carrying in to my sister's on Thursday, I've had precious little time in the sewing room.

Looks like I could have done a better job of pressing!
 

One done, 29 more to go! I will chain piece those. I just had to make one, though, start to finish, just to see what it would look like!

My thanks for November 21:
I am thankful for holidays and special occasions that bring families together.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Word Verification

This is a post about comments. I like getting comments, and I try to be diligent in commenting on the blogs that I read because I figure they probably like getting comments, too.

The problem is, though, the occasional spam comment that slips through. And that is why people add the "Word Verification" step on their comments.

I have waffled on this issue. I personally don't like going through the word verification process when I comment on blogs, so I totally understand how that turns away potential comments.

On the other hand, I have received some rather disgusting comments when I have turned off the verification step. That is somewhat unsettling. Those comments can give a gal the creeps!!

So I must weigh the pros against the cons. To verify or not to verify? That is the question, Macbeth.

For the time being, I am going to risk getting the unwanted spam comments, in favor of omitting the verification step. Hopefully I won't get spammed too terribly bad!

A few posts back, I listed 4 likely options I had for what to work on next. I chose to work on the t-shirt quilt. Well, I also went ahead and cut out the parts for the red, white and black quilt. I am making this pattern from Thimbleberries.

The quilt pictured is Pam's retirement quilt. I am making this same pattern using my red-white-back fabric grouping. I will have red stars. Where you see gray here (side and corner triangles) I will use black. I have a really pretty floral that I will use in the setting blocks. When I have a bit of it done, I will show you a picture.

 

Here's another look at my fabrics.

 

My thanks for November 20:

I am grateful that we are able to visit family over the Thanksgiving holiday. Today we are off to get Emma at OU, and go on to Coshocton to visit with DH's side of the family.

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!