Goodbye March

What a whirlwind (emphasis on 'wind') month this has been! The Spring Dreams Sew Along has been my main focus both here on the blog and in the sewing room. What fun it has been and - a bonus! - productive, too!

Besides the Sew Along, I have been occupied with fixing minor issues with the long arm, then quilting a gift, and finally, finishing the gift. The collage for this month shows the highlights.

Top Row: The original Spring Dreams quilt; I just adore how it turned out. It truly is a dreamy quilt, and very indicative of spring with its soft green sashing and flower-like pops of color. The middle picture is my scrappy version of Spring Dreams, and it is just table-topper size, or wall hanging. The final picture shows my continued work on the appliqued panels for Lake Effect. 

Middle Row: The Lulu Lane Spring Dreams quilt; my impromptu quilt came together super-fast, and I (almost) love it as much as the original! The next two pictures are from the wedding for our neighbors' daughter; you see the happy couple as they exit the altar, and then the group of dear friends with whom I play cards (Dorothy, mother of the bride, me, Cheryl, Rhonda, Mindy). We did have masks on! We removed them for the photo! 

Bottom Row: And the latest of the Spring Dreams quilts - Patriotic Dreams. I used mostly fabric from my mom and grandma. The size is suitable for a patio table, which is how I hope to use this. The final two pictures show my work on Meadow Lily, the gift for the bride and groom (collage center). I will be so incredibly happy if I ever get to the point where I am proficient on this long arm! At present, it still intimidates me, frustrates me, and unnerves me. I need to buck up, take charge, and master this thing! I did finish it, but not without some aggravations.

What a fun month March has been, even with the long arm headaches. And I have a lot to look forward to in April. The Frankfort girls will spend a week away at a quilt retreat over near Nelsonville, OH. Gosh, I can hardly wait. After having last year's retreat cancelled, this is a much-anticipated event! My intent, too, is to make significant progress on the long arm machine. I have a commission to finish and a couple of others that I want to do - for me!

I hope March has been a good month for you, dear readers! We now can anticipate April, warmer weather, sunnier days, and the rebirth of flora and fauna! Hallelujah!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Bridal Quilt

 I will stop in today for a quickie post just to share the fully completed quilt I gave to our neighbor's daughter for her very recent wedding. You all are probably tired of seeing pictures of this quilt, as I've bemoaned several issues with it over the years. All that is behind me now as it's in the hands of John and Dorothy, our neighbors and parents of the bride.

The quilt is already old, if we go by when it was started - that would be 2006. I was excited to work on it and eager for the finish, until I made the decision to increase the size. If you note, the quilt is quite narrow on that queen bed, and I figured that adding a row to the width would make it more suited to most beds nowadays.

Well, I did not have enough fabric to do that, so I went completely cold turkey on this quilt. Boom. Into the storage tub it went, and stayed for at least 10 years. At that point, I couldn't even remember why I stopped working on it, and just assumed that I'd sewn some parts wrong, and had a lot of 'unsewing' ahead of me.

In 2019, I finally tackled fixing things. It was at this point after being unable to find errors, that I recalled my plan to increase the size. Well, pfht! Make it according to the pattern, and be done with it!!

And so I did, and now it's quilted, and now it belongs to Sarah and Jason.

The pattern is Meadow Lily by Thimbleberries, from the book At Home With Thimbleberries Quilts. The blocks finish at 10 inches, and the quilt dimensions are 72 x 92 inches. I just love that special border feature on the corners. Those partial lily blocks really give the quilt presence.

And, that's a wrap! A quilt done and delivered. Feels mighty good.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Sunday Binding

Slow stitching for real this Sunday, and it is NOT Lake Effect, for a change! The quilt - Meadow Lily - which came off the long arm on Thursday night is getting its final side of binding tacked down today. Then, I plan to drive over to the neighbors' and drop it off for their daughter and new son-in-law.

A little over a week late on the gift. Not too bad, I guess. My track record is improving, at least. I have another quilt intended as a wedding quilt, and that couple has celebrated an anniversary and a baby. *geesh* Still needs to be quilted. Then bound. *double geesh*

Room for improvement, eh?

Of course, I am linking up with the weekly hand-stitching party over at Kathy's Quilts. Today's installment of Slow Sunday Stitching talks specifically about binding, so it is fitting that I am posting this today.

Have a great Sunday, dear peeps! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

A Quilted Quilt, At Last

 I do hope I can count on you fine readers to celebrate my completion of this quilt. It was to be done by a week ago for a wedding. I missed that deadline. One week late on a wedding gift isn't too bad - the couple will just be returning from their honeymoon. I hope to deliver to the bride's parents this weekend.

Let's look. Pictures galore, but you know I am excited to have a quilt fresh off the long arm, right?!!

The quilt went onto the long arm frame on February 28 (or thereabouts). So for nearly a month I have procrastinated over this quilt. I had a bad experience about 2 weeks ago when I had to pick out a whole pass of quilting. That increased my reluctance to try again. 

I am short on time today; I will provide more details on the pattern, the making, the setbacks, etc. soon.

Have a great Friday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Silent, But Busy

 I don't seem to find much time to blog these days, but I do find time to sew and quilt. That's about the best I can do while everything is weird for the present. Remodeling unheaval, DH's continued mysterious ailments and virtual classes - all these have kept this gal off her computer and away from her blog!

Sharon and I found a day this week that we could sew together. She was here Tuesday and we both felt very accomplished as we finished out the day. I have a new finish - a former UFO - and she began stitching the rows together on her dotty Kaffe quilt, Kites. (see previous post)

This is Meadow Lily, a Thimbleberries pattern from way, way back. I do not recall the publication date on the book, but I know I started this quilt in 2006. It earned its UFO status when I decided to make it larger than the pattern called for only to discover that I would not have enough fabric to complete it. 

Back in 2017, I tackled and finished twelve (12!) UFOs with a whole lot of satisfaction. That was a huge accomplishment; I did not have very many more UFOs left in storage. Meadow Lily was one of those 3 or 4 remaining, and it has nagged at me quite a lot since that big, productive year. It became a goal for 2020 and it is done! Well, at least the flimsy is done; quilting it is another goal. Yes, it IS satisfying to finish such an old UFO.

 

I spread this flimsy out on the bed Tuesday and began taking pictures. Sharon started to say something, and then stopped; it was as if she wasn't sure she should mention it. And then I saw what she'd just seen. 

How on earth did I NOT see this mistake? Incredible. I have not yet decided if I want to fix it. After all, it is such a great representation of this crazy, mixed up, coronavirus year we are having. It might get to stay the way it is simply to salute 2020 - maybe. I still may take the seam ripper to it and turn that little flower bud around the right way. It wouldn't take long at all. So I am still in the deciding process.

Early this week, I graded the biggest assignment of the entire semester; whew, I am always so relieved when that is done. I have rewarded myself with that sewing day with Sharon, and a few hours here and there with some additional projects. It feels like I might get back to more regular blogging since that big assignment is past.

Sharon did some great sewing, and I will be bringing you an update on it. I traveled to a quilt shop in DH's home town not long ago; I plan to share it, too. I do have some planned posts, so come on back! I will try not to be gone so long from here on out.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

from At Home With Thimbleberries Quilts

 I showed just one of my Thimbleberries books in the last post - I am making Meadow Lily; look back here to see the quilt. 

I sat down yesterday to look at the rest of this book and discovered that counting Meadow Lily, I will have made five quilts from this book, a good indication that it was a good buy. I'm sure I've had the book for 20-25 years; I should check to see if I can figure out something more precise.

 

In the meantime, I thought I would do a bit of reminiscing about the other quilts from this book. 

First, I will share Harvest Mix, a lap quilt that has 'fall' written all over it. I still love the look of this quilt now as much as I did when I made it.

One of the pics in the book has Harvest Mix folded over the back of a sofa and it looks so amazing - I tried to select fabrics that were very close to those Jensen used in hers, in the hopes that I could achieve that perfect cozy feel. 

 

Another quilt featured in this book is Nine Patch Criss Cross; I have actually made this pattern twice. Here's one made with four fabrics, as the pattern is designed.

And below, the same pattern made years earlier in three fabrics. This one has been used and laundered quite a lot. This quilt is special because my late grandma hand-quilted it for me.

And finally, take a look at Yo-Yo Table Topper, a fun little quilt I bring out at Christmas time. 

 

This quilt, too, has been used extensively and has the dripped candle wax to prove it. I don't dare launder it or I will be restitching those yo-yos. 

When a single book can result in 5 quilts there's a good purchase. I wish I could say that about all the books I've purchased. (Are you nodding in agreement??)

When Meadow Lily is finally a flimsy, I will be sure to bring you a finish pic.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

2020's Single UFO

 The 2020 goals I published back in January had only one UFO listed - to finish a Thimbleberries quilt begun in 2006 called Meadow Lily.

I have gone back through the blog to see how often I have spoken of finishing this quilt, and I am embarrassed to admit that it's been more times than I care to count. But by gosh, I am doing it now. At long last. 

The setting blocks are all completed, so finishing simply requires making those lily blocks. Here are the ones done so far.

The quilt is very pretty, and I am making it almost exactly as pictured. The main colors are green and purple with a background of tan/beige. I need 18 full lily blocks for the center and 4 partial lily blocks for the border. 

 

The pattern is is this very vintage Lynette Jensen book, At Home with Thimbleberries Quilts.

Progress is slow with the craziness of school and kitchen construction, but I am steadily plugging away at those lily blocks. I hope to have a flimsy by the end of the month.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Considering UFOs

In addition to the new projects I shared yesterday in my quest for what to work on next, I have two UFOs that I might return to.

I have both of these quilts on my goals list for the year. This should present me with some sense of urgency since the year is half over already. Maybe it has, just a little.

When I rooted through some of my project tubs yesterday, I came to this one labeled "Meadow Lily." It was begun in 2006; I made a mistake which sent it into a 13-year time-out. I hate dealing with mistakes, sometimes. Maybe enough time has passed and I can now figure out how to fix and finish.

 I have made all these setting blocks - easy blocks, and they look pretty good.

I have only one of the lily blocks finished. I do not know what mistake was made, or what I will have to do to fix things.

I am guessing that when I sort through this little stack of pinned pieces, I will discover the error. I hope I have enough of the fabrics for making corrections. We shall see.

The pattern is from this Thimbleberries book, published in 1997. I return again and again to Lynette Jensen patterns, even after all these years.

The other UFO is by another designer whose patterns I have made often - Carrie Nelson. This is from 2004, and I worked on it at Sherrie's Veteran's Day sewing.

Six Degrees became a hostage in time-out because that center medallion section did not fit somehow or other. I don't recall precisely. I suspect that my quarter-inch seam allowance is too wide. I hadn't learned, probably, about scant quarter-inch.

The pattern is shown made up in rose, burgundy and green. My plan apparently switched the green to blue. I like these colors and fabrics that fill this tub. To like a project after more than 10 years is something, isn't it?

Above is the center medallion. I pressed it, and found that the center of each star was big, so maybe that was what dissatisfied me way back when. I think it would be fine when quilted, so I probably should have kept going on this quilt.

All these parts - in various stages of completion. I wonder how it will look? My curiosity is getting the best of me.

Now, in addition to the three possibilities shared in the last post, I have these two UFOs to add. Five really promising quilts; I am leaning toward Six Degrees. I am also leaning toward Larkspur. Hmmm.

Decisions; decisions.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Amazing Find

Thursday night I went digging around for a project to take with me to quilting on Friday morning with the Frankfort Girls. I didn't have anything immediately ready, unfortunately. I rooted around for awhile and came across a tub containing a UFO that I haven't touched since 2006.

I remember putting Meadow Lily away because I'd made a mistake. Stops me every time. But after 10 years, I don't even have a clue as to what the mistake was. So I took it with me Friday morning to see if I could sort it all out.

This is the quilt from the picture in the book - At Home With Thimbleberries Quilts. Are you surprised that I'm doing a Thimbleberries? I have done so, so many of them over the years, and I continue to go back to these patterns because of the great instructions and fast construction.

Take a look at the progress I made so many years ago. It amazes me that I had so much done. I wish I didn't let mistakes affect me so.

So many flower units are made! Why did I give it all up because of a mistake? All the setting blocks are made, too. I shake my head at my lengthy denial.

The photo below is likely where I will find my error. In the bottom of the tub are all the little yet-to-be-assembled pieces. It looks like what I would have been last working on.

I have not yet totally figured it out, but my guess is that I sewed a whole batch of HSTs on the wrong way to the little brown and background unit. I could spend a few Friday mornings unsewing these, if that is the case. I find that I am rather eager to get back to this quilt. I still like the fabrics and the pattern. With so much of it started, it seems ridiculous not to "get 'er done."

But Meadow Lily will have to wait. I need to spend today working on Elisa's quilt. Yes, I am still plugging away on it. I am so bad at procrastinating. Or maybe I should say I'm good at procrastinating and bad at diligence! *hah!* I would love to have it finished before the end of the month, and with some diligence, I could.

Happy Quilting, Friends!