9-Patch Exchange Quilt

The finishing borders are now attached to my exchange quilt, and it looks fantastic. This was a fun project we members of the Frankfort Girls sewing group concluded exactly a month ago when we exchanged our blocks. See this post for some details.

So, I made 40 9-patch blocks to exchange and then kept going by making 40 blocks to keep. When we exchanged and I had a total of 80 blocks, I went to work straight away to finish my quilt. The slow part has been the past couple of weeks in deciding border fabrics. I had one selected, but even though I thought I had enough, it turned out that I didn't.

No biggie! This is a scrappy quilt, and the second choice was equally pretty; I certainly had not a moment's stressing over it.

I spread out this quilt top in the guest room which has a double bed. I think it is apparent that the quilt is quite big on this bed, so without going back upstairs to measure, let's just call it a queen size. Here are some additional views.

What next?? I have a couple of commissions - t-shirt quilts I've agreed to make. I must get started on those. Then a baby quilt. Always, something waiting in the wings, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Daughters Making Quilts

Today's post comes from a mighty proud momma. It certainly appears that quilting has dominant traits in our gene pool, and both of my daughters are carrying on the hobby.

Both Erin (DD1) and Emma (DD2) have made baby quilts for their friends. I have written about both girls and their quilting escapades over recent years. I will link here. And here. And here. And here.

And DD1 is at it again. Her sister-in-law will be having a baby girl in late summer, so Erin's kitchen table shows full-scale quilt production activity. I visited her briefly on Saturday and took a few snapshots.

This will go together so quickly, and with Erin's artistic "eye" it will look amazing, no doubt. She says she plans to hand quilt it using the same big-stitch method she used on the last baby quilt she made - this new baby's older brother Jordan.

Here at the homeplace, I have just two more days of classes left in the semester. A bit of grading and submitting will finish things off, and I will be free-free-free for the summer! I am more than a little bit thrilled about this!

I need to get a solid "to-do" list going so I don't waste time with indecisiveness.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Happy Easter! He Is Risen!

My heartfelt greetings of Easter Cheer go out to all of you faithful readers! Rejoice!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Quilter's Planner Sew Along

When the year began, I wasn't particularly interested in participating in the sew along being sponsored by the Quilter's Planner. I had splurged on the planner, and really enjoyed the goodies that came along with it, but from previous experience with BOMs and quilt-alongs, I really did not have a very strong track record.

The top picture is my planner, which came with two cover options. Because I had some of the Bonnie and Camille fabric, second picture, I selected the one featuring their navy floral. My collection of it is limited, but the whole line is quite scrumptious,.

At about the same time I was getting used to using my planner, I was making the quilt you see above. It's a simple 9-patch quilt using an entirely different sort of fabric, this from Lecien called Memoire a Paris. I had begun with a whole fat quarter pack and plenty was left over when the 9-patch top was completed. Those leftovers remained folded ever-so-neatly on the cutting table, and while I was dreaming up my next project, the pretty QP January blocks began appearing on my social media feeds. Without even thinking, I grabbed some Memoire a Paris fabric and made the January block.

Ah!! I loved the way this block turned out! It is so soft and feminine and I could make a whole quilt using blocks like this! As impulsively as I made the January block,  I decided to use those leftovers to make the blocks for this sew along.

And I love making them! Each month I devote an afternoon or an evening to making two blocks, and because I adore this fabric so much, I just love doing it. Take a look at my additional blocks.

January only required one block, but February, March and April have each had two blocks. Above are the blocks for February.

These are the March blocks. You can sorta' see a glimpse of the quilt on the cover of the accompanying QP magazine.

And now I have finished my April blocks. I am enjoying creating this quilt, and I look forward to the blocks for the rest of the year. I may even go all rebellious and work ahead! *grin*

The fun is in the creating. I have no grand plans for this quilt, yet I know I am going to love it when it's finished. I am definitely loving the construction. All the creativity of fabric selection, fabric placement, designs and maybe even substitutions - I get a thrill from this whole range of decision-making. It may well be the part of quilt-making that I love most.

An additional fun element with this particular sew along is that the folks at Quilter's Planner have a Facebook group and an Instagram account; they invite sew along participants to share their blocks each month. I love seeing the vast variety of blocks - fabric choices certainly are all over the quilting spectrum. You might go online and snoop around for them to see what you think.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Border Auditions

I am making decisions about border fabrics for the 9-patch exchange quilt I finished up at retreat. Well, the center part was finished up. I left the question of borders to be considered, and after a week of such consideration, I have decided that borders will be added.

Now, how to choose? It's a totally scrappy quilt, so what colors? Here are two choices that I boiled it down to.

Choice 1 ~ This Buttermilk Print from Thimbleberries has aged long enough in the stash, so it gets some serious consideration. However, there is just one yard, and I would have to "math it out" to see if there would be enough. Just in case it would not work, I pulled a second option.

Choice 2 ~ Another Thimbleberries, and I have plenty. I like the first choice better, so let the figuring commence. OUCH!! My brain hurts when I do that!

Choice 1 wins out. I can do a 2.5" inner border, and a 4.5" outer border. I will use leftover 9-patches in the 4 corners, and that gets me to just under the limit on available inches of fabric. Whew!

I would like to get these borders on later today. We shall see. I also have to do some Easter dinner prepping - we are going to my sister's and my contributions are green bean casserole and broccoli-cauliflower salad. Plus there's laundry and a hair appointment to work into the day, as well.

Hope you all are having a blessed Good Friday! Easter is coming!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Blue Lagoon

Quilt retreat last week gave me the perfect opportunity to start a jelly roll quilt that's been on my list for several months. Blue Lagoon is a pattern in a book called Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam Lintott and Nicky Lintott.

I used a Minick and Simpson jelly roll (New Lexington, I think it's called; please correct me if wrong!) and a neutral that paired nicely with it. The construction was super simple and I nearly had the whole top stitched while at retreat.

The pattern in the book does not call for an outer border, however I have so much fabric in the stash, and this just seemed like a simple way to make use of it and get a larger quilt, too. The border fabric has been in the stash for years.

The strips were paired up and then matched with another pair, then cut into 2.5" units to make 4-patches. So easy - no thinking required. Stitch a 2.5" x 4.5" strip of neutral between them and you have the makings of rows. Sashing rows are even simpler - 2.5" squares and 4.5" strips.

Gracie approves, even though she has her disapproving face on. I think she was annoyed that I disturbed her nap to take the pictures.

Next up for me is to add borders to my 9-patch exchange quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jacket Progress

Bit by bit, I am adding embroidery - doing so as I feel confident about the design and stitches - on my old white jeans jacket. I carry it around with me, sometimes, in the event that I might take a moment to stitch. Sometimes I do; sometimes I don't; I'm sure you all can relate, right?

I want my embellishments to be multi-colored, so I put away the red and have begun some flowers. Yesterday I did stems and leaves - green. I tried a yellow flower, but it looks pretty sad, so I will have to rethink that, or consider adding more colors with petals or something.

As I've said from the beginning - we shall see.

This picture shows most of the stitching thus far. I like how that meander stitching turned out above the left breast pocket. It was free-hand, as is everything I've stitched so far.

It's Holy Week! Are you ready for Easter?

I am linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Happy Stitching, Friends!

Canter's Cave Quilt Retreat

Last week was a wonderful week of quilting and fellowship at Canter's Cave. Some gals stayed Monday through Friday, but I could only make it Tuesday through Thursday. Regardless of the length of the stay, the sewing was fruitful and the camaraderie was outstanding.

I will simply show the pictures I took, and give a bit of info of pattern and maker. I know I didn't take pictures of everything made. I think I am getting worse about recording details for blogging purposes! Oh well, what follows will give you a decent overview of our activity.

Sheryll finished off this quilt just as I was arriving on Tuesday. The black background makes the jewel tones of the chains really pop.

Terry worked on many mini quilts. (Say that 10 times real fast!) The one above features single chains across the quilt. She cranked out several more, but no pictures of those!

Jan came to camp with the appliqued center of this quilt finished, as well as a good portion of the pieced border blocks. The main push was finishing the top construction. This is an absolutely stunning quilt, and if she can get it quilted in time, the plan is to enter it in her guild's quilt show later this summer.

A special guest at camp this year was Anita, the camp director. She shared this barn quilt with us. The panels are all farm and country scenes, and the sashing fabrics are a great combination of Kansas Troubles fabrics.

Quilters I did not represent here were Helen, Becky and Susan. I do apologize, ladies, for ignoring you with my camera.

I worked on finishing my 9-patch quilt using the blocks that we exchanged a couple of weeks ago. I had half a quilt already done, and when I got the exchange blocks, I was able to move forward to the finish. I did find that I needed more background fabric, so if you look closely you will see a different background in that bottom row. Not an exact match, for sure, but with a scrappy quilt, I didn't figure it made too much difference. I hadn't thought I would add a border, but I am currently considering it.

After finishing her Nutcracker quilt, Jan went to work on her exchange quilt. While mine is set with a print setting block, Jan opted for an "X" block which gives the 9-patches an entirely different look. It will be fun to see how all the other girls finish their quilts.

After finishing my 9-patch quilt, I pulled out Blue Lagoon, a jelly roll quilt I planned on making last fall. I knew it would go together fast - totally doable at quilt camp. My jelly roll is a Minick and Simpson from several years ago - Lexington, maybe?

Most of the rows are sewn together in this picture. All the rows are made and I finished attaching all on Friday here at home. It is now waiting on borders. I will post pictures when those are attached.

Quilt camp is always tons of fun. Of course, this year will be memorable as I took ownership of my Featherweight (see previous post). Several of the regulars were unable to attend, or could only attend briefly. Maybe next April will be better for everyone.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

1951 Featherweight

I have a new baby! Through a very odd series of events involving my friend Jan and Ebay, I now own a Featherweight. Picture me doing a happy dance!

Most of the girls in the Frankfort Girls already have Featherweights. Jan, hoping to join the Featherwight club, had been all over Ebay scoping them out. She had watched a handful of them over the last couple months, and was outbid on several, but had become quite adept at watching and following and bidding and so forth. She ended up buying one, but rather than let those others she had been watching just go away, she asked me if I would be interested. YES! I have had a secret desire to come into ownership of one of these sweet little machines, and had just not seriously pursued it. The group is very knowledgeable about the value and worth, so with their advice and Jan as my personal shopper, I now own this beauty.

It is a 1951 model, which is called The Centennial. Singer Company was formed in 1851, and the insignia on the front indicates the years. The decals are in decent shape, with minimal wear. I am optimistic that this little darling will give me many hours of sewing pleasure.

Jan delivered it to me at our Canter's Cave Quilt Camp on Wednesday. Now you know why the photo above has a bow on top of the box. And here are the pictures of me unwrapping my little gem.

 Pulling her out of the case!

A notions box, complete with manual!

 The badge is blue, indicative of the Centennial model, 1951.

My Fifi - her name; yes, I have sewn on her and she purrs like a kitten.

Retreat was tons of fun, and I have many pictures to share. Hopefully, I will be getting that prepared for posting soon. Come on back for follow up!

Have a great Saturday!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Colorful and Playful

Having no clear direction for projects at the moment, I pulled out a tub of what I call 'modern' fabric, and just began playing. (I need to reconsider what term might more accurately describe these prints.)

I need to cut more variety of fabrics - yes, I have more variety - and mix them all up in a totally scrappy fashion. It's an easy block to create, and while the pattern called for using paper-piecing, I found an alternate that is normal piecing. I will provide all the details later.

On Sunday evening while watching Mrs. Wilson/Masterpiece Theater, I added some embroidery stitching to my white jeans jacket. The red on the pocket flap is pearl cotton (much thicker) and the meandering vine above the pocket is regular embroidery floss (thinner). I have free-handed everything so far, but I foresee having to create some patterns or drawings to transfer at some point. I don't think I trust my artistic eye to do the flowery stuff I envision.

This week is our Canter's Cave Quilting Retreat! I am so stoked to get some major quality time going on something! I have several projects packed, but what will I decide??? Come on back and see! I am not even sure what I will select at this point!

Happy Quilting, Friends!