Slow Sunday Stitching

In my last post, I promised to bring you a full-on view of my recently completed quilt. It felt really good to finish a quilt as big as this one, and I hope you will agree that it is one meant for showing off. I don't mean showing off in  a bragging sort of way;  I mean, this top has been hanging in a closet unquilted for 13 years. It was well overdue for a coming out party.

I mostly quilted this on Monday-Tuesday, and then attached the binding on Wednesday. Each day since, I have been hand stitching the binding, and even at 96" x  114" it did not ever seem daunting. That's a lot of stitching, and I finished off the last bit yesterday in the car.

We spent the day in Columbus seeing Cate, and this was just perfect for finishing while heading up there.

I also promised to include details about this Thimbleberries pattern. 

Lynette Jensen's name for her quilt is Patchwork Snowflake, and as an homage to that, I've called mine Snowflakes at Dusk. The grayish tones in my background fabrics brings to mind a twilight evening with snow blowing on a northerly wind.

Jensen's blocks are made with a variety of colors; I opted to use a single navy paisley for mine. I am glad I made this choice, and believe it or not, I am actually considering making this pattern again -maybe a smaller version - and if I do, I will have a variety of colored snowflake blocks.

My backing does a great job of masking all manner of sins; some of my meanderings got a bit herky-jerky in places, but no worries! Mostly impossible to see!

None of the pictures here adequately show the pretty paisley I used for my setting and corner triangles. It shows up somewhat blurred above. See a clearer pic from the last post.

Yes, I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for the weekly Slow Stitching party. I've not participated lately, as I've not been doing much slow stitching (or any stitching at all, really). Check out what all the talented stitchers are creating!

Before I close, I will share one photo of darling Cate, who is 10 months old! Oh my goodness, she is so much fun; crawling fast, walking around furniture she can hold onto; crawling up the steps! My gracious, she is constant motion! And such a very happy baby.

Now you know why my quilting has lagged; I spend as often possible days, afternoons or evenings at our  daughter's house!

HappyQuilting, Friends!

Fresh Off the Longarm

Believe it or not, I actually engaged myself in a pleasurable couple of days of longarm quilting. Yes. After many weeks of procrastinating making a backing for a quilt measuring 96" x 112", I finally overcame my aversion to "mathing out" the best way to accomplish it. Gah, quilt math!!! How I dislike this part of the quilting process.

Back in 2009-10, I was a brand new retiree concentrating on UFOs before starting something new. My first brand new start in retirement life was this quilt. It's a pattern by Thimbleberries; I will seek out the book and pattern to include in my next post. 

Just look at how big this quilt is on my queen-size bed. Absolutely engulfs it! Our bed in Florida is a king, so it is destined to live on Moonrise Court. *smile*

Terribly dark pic; taken in 2010.

My backing fabric, bought years ago for this very quilt, was ample at over 8.5 yards. I even remember  getting it at an end-of-bolt sale. You better believe I freed up a lot of space when I removed it from its storage drawer! 

I don't know what sort of force took over, but I somehow found my way clear to tackling the big geometry problem of making my quilt top and that backing fabric come together for an easy longarm installation.  

Because the quilt is so big, I had to load it with the short side along the roller bars; the length of the quilt is longer than the bars, making this the biggest quilt I've done on the Tin Lizzie. This was another reason for my hesitation in quilting it - so big!! I thought would take forever to quilt. Honestly, though, it went relatively fast.

Now, don't for a minute think that the free motion quilting is perfect because it most definitely is not! There are several places where my motions are jerky and quite a mess, but they only show up in the border, and I will ignore them. They will be hanging off the side of the bed; no one will be inspecting them.

I had plenty of backing from which to cut my binding, and have been steadily stitching on that these past couple off days. With only about a yard left to do, I plan to bring you a full-on view of this quilt in tomorrow's post.

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Planning and Prepping

It seems doggone near impossible lately for me to maintain an interest in regular posting to this blog. I think it's because I have slowed down so very much in my productivity. There's a direct correlation between the amount of sewing and the amount of blogging. Consequently, if I'm not producing as much, I am not writing as much.

So, what have I been doing in the quilting room?

Preparing for a quilt retreat!

A week from today, I will join most of the Frankfort Girls (and a couple of extras) for a 4-day/3-night retreat at Needles n' Pines over in Nelsonville. It's the same retreat center we go to several times a year, and we always have such a wonderful time together.

Being productive is the name of the game at a retreat, so I should have a few things coming up for future blog posts.

 

I have cut one layer cake into 3" squares for a fun and fast quilt. I bought this layer cake last year while at retreat, and have had as a 2023 goal to make it into something. Wait till you see what I've come up with!

I will be tackling another 2023 goal while there - making a Falling Leaves quilt. I mentioned recently that I've always wanted to make a maple leaf quilt using fall colors, and now I am about to make it a reality. The parts are all cut - I've used only stash fabrics and scraps for this quilt. I have no idea how many individual blocks I will get out of what I've cut, but it will surely give me a whopping start. 

Yet another goal on the '23 list is using my stash of Effie's Woods fabrics in a quilt for my granddaughter. No, she doesn't need another quilt, as my daughter will tell me, but I can't help making 'just one more' for her. I seem to have accumulated quite a bit of this line thanks to my friend Jan who gave me all her remnants after she finished a quilt using Effie's Woods. I have picked up additional pieces along the way, so I will peruse my options for easy, scrappy-style quilts.

Lastly, I'd really like to continue tackling that '23 goals list by using my Winnemucca fabric. Click here to go back to read about the fabric I purchased last summer while vacationing out west. I have no firm plans as yet, but I do see either star blocks or churn dash blocks using this little collection. Or pinwheels blocks. Or 9-patch blocks. Or chains across a quilt with any of the above blocks. Lots of options still under consideration!

So, if asked what I've been up to lately instead of blogging, I guess I'd have to say I've been planning and prepping. Activity like that does not really translate well to blogging content.

Have a great week! It promises to be a hot, busy week here at my house.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Latest Finish!

My hope to have this quilt top finished on Thursday did not work out; instead, I have a finish from last evening (Sunday). The best laid plans...

Let me introduce Posies and Polka Dots, a quilt I am pleased as punch to share. (I'm feeling alliterative today!)

Just as pretty as can be, don't you agree? I love the Kona Snow for the background and the blue Moda Essential Dot just perfectly sets off my treasured fat quarter pack of floral calicos. I had to search the archives all the way back to June '22 to find my first post about this floral pack. Read about it here. I was making decisions about which light blue and white dot to use.

 

I don't know a lot about Japanese cotton, but I have used it a couple of times and it is the softest, most delicate, most supple-feeling fabric you can imagine. I can see why it is pricier than other quilting fabric. My purchase is the Pedicel collection by a manufacturer called Cosmo Textile. "Tiny floral" - a perfectly simple and accurate description. I imagine the details can be plugged into a search of eBay or Etsy - if you were inclined to shop for these pretty florals - perhaps they are still available at various outlets.

So, my initial idea to make stars was at some point changed to making 9-patches. I've been going with the simpler designs lately, so this decision does not surprise me. I like the setting blocks that create columns; I made five (5) vertical blue columns around four (4) vertical white columns. My quilt top measures roughly 84" x 76".

Completing this quilt top fulfills one of my goals for "23, so I am super-stoked to have it done. Now, another goal for "23 is to quilt these tops as I make them, and I am failing miserably in this effort. Since I am so very excited to have this done, I may have to get this one on the long-arm machine ASAP. 

I could still turn this quilting goal around.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Post-It Note Reminders

In my last post I shared the little trick I'd been using as a reminder of essential items on my to-do list.

Most of the quilts referenced on these little notes are ones that I definitely want to make. My reasons for wanting to make them are as varies as the quilts.

I've already made 'pine tree' - Alpine. My reason was that I wanted a memory of all the tree-covered mountains we've seen on recent vacations.

'Fall leaves' - I've got a couple of reasons for wanting to make this one. I have a lot of fall-colored scraps I could use (love using scraps!) and I love the fall-color in Ohio. Since I don't really have that many fall-inspired quilts, this one will be nice to add to my fall decor line-up. I'm feeling the need to get cracking on this one as fall is just a few weeks away.

Back in September of 2021, I actually made two leaves for experimental purposes - I like these! I could see a whole quilt of lovely leaves like this. I have these stored in a tub with a goodly stash of appropriate scraps just waiting to be transformed.

'Blue-gray-floral combination Irish Chain' - now that is a lot of information for a small note, but I needed all that in order to help myself remember the idea.

These three fabrics - a hefty amount of each - have been stored together for at least a year. I knew they were perfect together but it took me forever to decide on a pattern. After all, the perfect combination of fabrics requires a perfect pattern. And I think I found one in searching all the on-line sources of inspiration - yet another Double Irish Chain. I've made several DICs over the years, and this one will be different because I plan to use the little print as my background and the solids will be the chains. Somewhere I saw a picture, but I can't immediately locate it. I will keep looking.

'Winnemucca fabric' - This is simply to remind me to use the fabric I bought last year on vacation. We were headed out to Oregon to see our son and went through Winnemucca, Nevada. Needing a gasoline stop, we also looked for a local quilt shop. We found one and I bought a wonderful combination; once again I am searching for the "perfect " pattern for this fabric. It will probably involve stars of some sort.

I think I've swiped the neutral out for some other project, but the remaining 4 fabrics are stored together awaiting their future creation.

The next post-it,b'Blue dot...' has been officially named Posies and Polka Dots which is my current project under construction. You've seen progress shots in the last couple of posts, and if my week goes as planned, it will be a flimsy by Thursday.

The bottom Post-It Note references a calico layer cake I want to use. I bought it last year at Mae-Lynne Makers while on a quilting retreat at Needles and Pines, which means I took advantage of the retreat discount .*smile*

This method of plastering my sewing machine with these reminders really does keep me on track and focused on the projects I most want to complete. Yes, I get interrupted from time to time - especially with baby quilts! - but I have the notes just a glance away to reset myself.

Hope you are having a wonderful Monday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

July Collage and Happy Little 9-Patches

Busy, busy, busy in the quilting room the past couple of day, and what a joyous feeling of accomplishment! I will tell you all about my progress on Posies and Polka Dots after we review July's highlights.

TOP ROW: All three pictures across the top are from our 2-day mini-trip to Akron. We visited Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, home of Goodyear co-founder F.A. Seiberling. It is a magnificent Tudor-style manor, so beautifully preserved and maintained. Then we located the magical quilt shop of fiber artist Sue Spargo. Learning of her work has opened an entire new realm of needle craft to me. We topped off the day by having dinner with my first cousin Sam, who lives in nearby Hudson.

MIDDLE ROW: Mid-month, we took a day trip to our college alma mater. In the distance there is THE Bob Evans Farm, where the two of us met on a September Friday night, nearly 48 years ago. *wow* Center stage is our darling Cate asleep in Gramma's arms. And on the right, a hand-quilted finish - Fall Foliage.

BOTTOM ROW: Cate is crawling now, and seems pretty excited to be mobile, it appears. She also had her very first taste of a family delicacy - home made ice cream! Her initiation to this traditional summer treat was met with eager enthusiasm. Finally, one additional finish was the Kaffe Fassett panel that I turned into a lap quilt.

Now, let me show you these 9-patches! I began with about 40 total  - 20 with blue backgrounds and 20 with white backgrounds. Then I decided that I really ought to have a sketch of what I was attempting to achieve, so I drew this diagram. 

I need LOTS more 9-patches. Making those has been my task today. I have them all ready to stitch and press before day's end. I have also cut out some of the squares needed to make the HST setting blocks, the side triangles and corner triangles. This resulted in my needing to go to Etsy to order another yard of the blue - Moda Essential Dots, it's called - which will be here next week. I was gonna' be short about 7 inches. 

With the blocks I'd already made, it was plain to see that my quilt was not going to be big enough. That's when I decided I needed a diagram. My mock-up has 5 blue columns with 4 white columns. I also added a row to the top for more length. Making it bigger might have resulted in the hassle of buying more fabric, but I have made quilts too small for bed use, and that's no fun at all. I won't be sorry for this extra fussing.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Plans and Reviews

The project plans for August are taking shape, and I'm eager to share them with you. Mostly, the plans for the month will involve quilts I've had on my yearly goals list and projects "uncovered" when I went digging for that black/gray fabric back in June.

Let's just review those '23 goals, and see how we're doing...

The print is a bit small, but if you click on the list it can be enlarged. It is also linked to my original goals post back in January.

Our tendency as quilters is to fixate on how miserably we are doing at completing our goals, and I could certainly do that, too. However, I am pleased to say that I've been successful in staying on task as far as the goals list is concerned. Now, I may not be on track to complete very many items, but I am sticking to the list - mostly.

I attribute one simple thing to my staying on task - Post-It Notes. I often make the list and then forget the list - I post it in January and then - out of sight, out of mind - I don't see it again unless I think to go back to look at it.

This year, I wrote several of my most-want-to-make quilts on notes and plastered them to my machine. Works like a charm! I see every single day the things I most want to do!

In fact, two of those notes have been removed because they are done! These two notes have been removed from the front of my machine.

 Below is the pine tree quilt. It's inspiration was our trip through the Rocky Mountains and those never-ending, awe-inspiring vistas of jagged, tree-lined mountains.

Pine Tree Quilt, aka Alpine, was finished in late June. It still needs to be quilted, of course.

 The other "finish" took a bit of a turn and became two quilts. I thought I wanted to use my Wm. Morris remnants to make a diamond quilt. But when I pulled out the remnant tub, I realized that I mostly had darker pieces left, and I didn't think the diamond pattern would suit. So I put the Morris fabric aside, and pulled a gazillion floral prints. That became my diamond quilt which I started in Florida back in January-February. I finished the flimsy in April (I think) but I don't see a post about it in my archives. *smh*

To use the WM remnants, I decided to make economy blocks. This suited me, and I proceeded. I have no post that I can find in which I shared this flimsy - I don't even have it on my list of quilts for '23. (I tell you, I am failing big time at keeping this blog up to date and accurate!)

I need to get this flimsy out and do a proper photo shoot of it - I don't think this is the full flimsy, but it's the best I can find. *again,smh*

Anyway, I took one idea - WM diamonds - and turned it into two quilts. 

The one I'm currently working on is  Posies and Polka Dots. I last actively worked on this in November. Then I put it away for the holidays and the Florida months, and basically have only dreamed of it since. How nice to have this back under the needle!

The two pics above show different layouts - can you detect the difference? I couldn't decide which version I wanted, so I have spent a lot of time thinking about this while I make more blocks. I needed more of all three varieties, and that has been very satisfying to work on.

I have rambled enough. I do have an August wrap-up collage to bring tomorrow, plus I'll talk more about those Post-It Notes  -  and who knows what else??

Happy Quilting, Friends!