Small Quilts Quilted

Before we get too far away from February, I ought to share the two quilts I finished at the end of the month. Both quilts will forever be memorable, and the reasons are not so pleasant. I was attempting to be efficient, and, well, it backfired.

I had a long piece of backing and these two small-ish quilts would fit nicely according to my rough calculations. I mentioned awhile back that I am near the end of the bolt for this backing fabric, so using the cut-away parts helps keep the random piles of fabric somewhat tamed.

First I loaded 4-Patch Delight, then I put Lunch Box Social onto the end of the piece. The quilting was fast and easy. I am so glad that confidence on the long arm has finally found me. And with confidence comes carelessness. I actually sewed over my index finger! No harm to the quilt or machine, but man-oh-man! I cannot recall ever feeling faint after an injury; this was a doozy! The pic below was taken the next day. This is what two needle-pokes look like.

After DH helped me bandage my finger, I went back to stitching. As I was nearing the midway point of the second quilt I made a rather startling discovery. I was going to be running short on backing. My rough calculations didn't work out very well. 

I had to remove the half-quilted quilt and add more backing fabric to allow me to finish it. It was doable, but geesh! Talk about a whole lot of bother. 

The photo above shows a bit of the seam where I added enough backing to allow for finishing quilting. I rolled everything back on and two passes of the machine had this little gem finished.

I have bemoaned my aversion to math in many previous posts, but this incident is a clear lesson for me. From the very beginning, if I had calculated more accurately and allowed the standard 4" that quilting generally requires, I would have saved myself a whole lot of aggravation.  

It wouldn't have done a thing, though, to save my finger.

So, now to share the actual finishes of both quilts. First, 4-Patch Delight. It was on this quilt that I stitched my finger. Special memory number 1.

Special memory number 2 - short backing; Lunch Box Social sure is a pretty little quilt, which makes up for my being a dunderhead.

That wraps up my February quilting. I needed to finish that old business before moving on to some really exciting new business! Yes, I have a new quilt started, and you will be seeing that soon!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Sunday Binding

Binding a quilt means that things are getting finished around here, and I am mighty glad for it. I actually have binding for two quilts to share today. 

Yes, they are small, but never mind that.

First to be tackled was my 4-Patch Delight. I made it at the very end of last month on a whim, and now it is quilted and bound! Hallelujah! 

I also quilted my recently finished Lunch Box Social finished back in December, and that is what I am stitching today. It is just 40" square, so the binding will go quickly. 

You may notice that the same beige/white dot fabric backs both quilts. Yes. Quite a lot of my recently quilted quilts have this backing because I bought an entire bolt of 108" wide fabric to expedite the backing of quilts. I am awful about measuring and piecing backs, so this has been a wonderful alternative. 

I have used nearly the entire bolt, and will have a new backing fabric to share soon. One has been waiting on reserve in my quilting room; it has a shirting look - white with tiny black flecks. I have also ordered two more bolts - grays and taupes - very neutral and hopefully will serve a lot of different looks. They are on delayed delivery; something to do with availability. All good.

See what the other Slow Stitching gals are working on this week by clicking over to Kathy's Quilts for her weekly party. I am joining in on the fun. I see some knitting, some EPP, some quilting, more binding (like me), and embroidery. All the slow stitching fun! 

Happy next-to-last-day of February! Hope you are having a great Sunday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lunch Box Social Flimsy

For years I have put Lunch Box Social on my yearly goals list, and for years I have failed to accomplish it. But no more! About a month ago I cut it out with the intention of making it on a sewing day with the girls, and while that did not happen, I did continue working on it through the past few weeks, and today have finished off the top by adding the outer borders.

The pattern is by Kim Diehl, whose designs I just about always like. This one has been around for awhile, like over 5 years, I'm sure, and ever since I saw the one my friend Terry made, I've wanted to make one, too.

And now I find myself wondering why I had such an attitude about doing it! Gosh, it was so simple! There are only 9 blocks needed, and while each block has quite a few pieces, they go together quite easily. I had definitely been making it a bigger job than it was.

The block is made with rather an ingenious method of construction. The center 9-patch measures out at 3.5 inches. Instead of triangles surrounding the 9-patch, you add rectangles. The triangles are formed when the anvils are added to the corners. How nice not to have too many triangles to fuss with. 

Diehl's design also calls for hefty sashing strips, and uses more 3.5 inch 9-patches for cornerstones. My fabrics were all pulled from my stash, and it's quite a variety of old and new. With the goal of scrappy-looking, I really used a lot of variety in the 9-patches. The consistent neutral background and the brown and pink stripe for sashing and block triangles, it really looks more ordered than it might otherwise.

In the last post, I referenced several near-finishes I have in the quilting room. This is one. Now, to check it off the list, and move on to the next one.

I am still fighting the sinus congestion, and I am not happy about it! I have never had a sinus infection linger the way this one is. Ugh.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Working on Lunch Box Social

The fun fabrics I've selected for my Lunch Box Social quilt have kept me quite content to continue work on it this week. It has come together quite nicely, and I am near to a finished flimsy already. All I have left to do is the outer border. 

All of the fabrics here were pulled from the stash several years ago when I first decided that I wanted to make this quilt. The most colorful fabrics were largely fat quarters, while the background and the sashing fabrics were 1-yard cuts. Because this quilt finishes at a nice small lap quilt size, the fabric requirements were minimal. 

Making the blocks seemed a daunting task, but after I realized that only 9 would be needed, I had a better attitude toward tackling this quilt. I was making a bigger deal of it than it really was, if you can imagine. Just do it, they say. Well, that advice certainly held true here. It was not hard at all, and broken down into parts and steps, the work was entirely straightforward.

Friday already! A productive week in the quilting room makes the days fly by. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Project Shifting

Currently, two quilts are under construction in the quilting room. Both have been mentioned here in recent previous posts, and the fun of it is, I can pick one up depending on what seems most interesting or most doable in the time I have to stitch.

Yesterday is a prime example of working on both. First, I made a few more Temecula Basket blocks and more setting blocks. I need to do some figuring to determine how big I want this to be; surely I am getting close to having a good-sized quilt.

When I was at a good stopping point on Temecula Baskets, I turned to Lunch Box Social. It was supposed to be further along than this after a full day of sewing on Friday with the Frienzies. 

Ahem. 

I did not do nearly as much sewing as I did visiting. 

Truly, those Thangles triangles are the only bits I finished on Friday. I hadn't even unpacked my bags as of yesterday. I was dreading the cutting of all those HSTs. So I faced the music yesterday and got 'em all done.

Perfect 2" HSTs all cut and pressed and ready for the next step in Lunch Box Social. Before I need those, however, I finished a step involving the 9-patches. They needed to be surrounded by this muted stripe. Easy-peasy.

Since this is a smallish quilt - throw or table cloth - I only need to make 9 blocks that are very involved. Then the top construction can begin. This should be coming together quite fast. Makes me wonder why I kept putting off making it - I think I can go back to a goals list for 2017 and see this listed there. *geesh*

Hope you are having the best Wednesday! DH and I are going on an afternoon day date - thrift store shopping and maybe more!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Lunch Box Social

 If you are a quilter, then you know about designer Kim Diehl. She has dozens of books, patterns and fabric lines. Her "look" is quite popular, and has been for over 20 years. I own many of her books, and have lots of pages 'tabbed' for someday quilts.

One I have long wanted to make is Lunch Box Social, ever since seeing my friend Terry's way back in 2015. Yeah, that's a long time for wanting to make a quilt, and I don't have any good reason for delaying so long. I am sure I've had it on my yearly goals list since then, too.

And now I am finally going to do it!

I mentioned earlier this week that we will be having a Frienzies Sewing Day - well, it's today. And I have Lunch Box Social all ready to stitch. I even did some advance sewing by making all the 9-patch blocks ahead of time. Easy to accomplish as there are only 17 needed, and it gives me a good start on making progress today amidst the chatting, eating and fellowship. All the fabrics have come from my existing stash, and - get this! - I used some of those 1.5-inch scraps I've been cutting! 

I trimmed all the 'niners'  and now I am ready for the next step. Looking forward to getting a lot done today!

And before I go to Frienzies, I am going to spend a bit of the morning with the Frankfort Girls. Two sewing events in one day - gosh, crazy busy, right? I love both groups and can't stand missing either, so I will split my time between the two.

Have a great Friday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!