Quilt Stacks

Gosh, this past week has been a whirlwind! It seems that every single day has been go-go-go! Very little - actually, I cannot say there was ANY - sewing going on, much to my chagrin.

One bit of an accomplishment includes getting some Christmas out and placed around the house. In recent years a favorite little nod to my craft has been stacking red and white quilt tops on this bucket bench. Maybe 2024 will be the year that some or all of these finally get quilted. *sigh*

Here are links to the quilts in the stack. 1 - Red and White Ohio Stars 2- Red and White Stars 3- Confetti Stars 4 - French General Stars 5 - Scrappy 4-Patch

One quilt that is actually finished is Alpine which I've draped over the back of a chair next to the Christmas tree (which will be shown when it's fully decorated). I can't let myself get too discouraged with my longarm progress; I started and finished Alpine all in the same year! This year, in fact, so I have to believe that at some point, all the quilt tops will see a finish. *grin*

Short and sweet today, Peeps! We are getting ready to go to Columbus for a Christmas concert at Capital University. My cousin's youngest son will be performing!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Red and White Double Irish Chain

Finally, I have finished something in the quilting room. What with traveling and a plethora of summer activities, sewing and quilting have had to play second fiddle around here. This classic quilt will be one to be proud of, I do believe.

There's absolutely no prettier combination than red and white for a quilt, would you agree? This is my opinion - until I see a blue and white quilt, or a pink and white quilt, or a purple and white quilt.

Hmmm. Maybe what I like is simply two-color quilts. Do a Pinterest search of 'two-color quilts' and see if you agree.

 Do you want to see more? I took plenty of pictures, heh-heh. Evening light coming in the window casts some long shadows, but it's still pretty.

At present, I do not have borders on this quilt. I am considering adding them, though. I have plenty of both fabrics, so why not? I will chose an easy border, so just a bit of additional time will get the job done.

Here are a couple of shots of my progress. I pinned rows onto my design wall as I went; it is so very motivating to see it come together.

I made a few of the setting blocks over at Terry's house on Tuesday.  It was fun sewing with her in her sewing room.

So what to do next? After doing borders on this, I need to quilt about 3 quilts (or more!), and I am absolutely chomping at the bit to start something new!!

My laptop is fixed, at last! DH picked it up for me today. Maybe I can get back on some sort of regular posting schedule. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Finally a Flimsy! Red and White Stars

I am gonna' post a bunch of pics today, as I am sorta' in rush. I have a Frienzie engagement to go to in a little while! I love that our schedules are beginning to have "dates" filling in after the long, lonely lockdown!

Basically, I finished a quilt top and I've been writing about it for months, so you know, I just needed to "get'er done" - and now I have, so lemme' show you!

In the quilting room on the design wall, the quilt has a pink look, which is not very pleasing, in my opinion. Must be the lighting or shadows or something.This view, though, does show all the rows and columns. It's square, and I would have made one more row wide had I not run out of background fabric. So this is it.

In the bedroom, while dark, the color reads more true. The pinkish cast is gone. The size will suit just fine, and this will make a nice addition to the red and white quilts I bring out at Christmas time.

 Somehow I miscounted how many stars I would need, thus I have these 9 leftovers. I laid them on the floor and am considering just sewing them together like this. 

So, a finish for July! I have been starting lots of stuff, and finishing very little; feels good to add one to the flimsy stack.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Red and White Dreams

It may be a firmly held belief among quilters that the red and white quilt is the loveliest of all.

Sigh. 

Back in 2011, the American Folklore Museum featured this beautiful color combination with a spectacular exhibit called "Infinite Variety, Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts." Below is a widely distributed picture of the event and it's massive variety. Wouldn't this have been an impressive sight to see in person?

A quick search of Pinterest or hashtags on IG will surely bring up thousands of examples of red and white quilts to admire and enjoy. That is exactly how I came across a quilt that had me smitten from the very first time I saw it. I shared it last month when I listed my goals for 2021. 

 I did a little searching and discovered that it is actually a pattern by Cotton Way. Had I not already begun the effort to create replicas of these blocks, I would have bought the pattern.  I certainly have bought my fair share of Cotton Way patterns as well as her daughter's patterns, Thimble Blossoms. I probably should have just bought the pattern, but gosh, the blocks already exist in my possession - it's just a matter of hunting them down in the sizeable book, magazine, and pattern collection I already have.

Earlier this week, I just couldn't stop thinking about this quilt, so I began pulling fabrics for the someday (this year!) when I would make it. I teased a little with this picture. 

 Well, scroll on, for I have succumbed to the temptation of 'let's start another project.'

My neutral and one of the red fabrics.

 

More of the reds; lots of variety!

I have had such an entertaining day making two of the blocks in this quilt. Have a look. 

I found both of these blocks in the very helpful book by the late Judy Hopkins, 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks.

 

While I don't think I need to continue on this quilt until I finish a couple of more pressing projects, I am glad to have spent a wintry morning (and afternoon!) playing in the fabric and prepping for a much-anticipated quilt.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Red and White Quilts

This may or may not be a rerun post of quilts I put out each December for Christmas. I could go back to see my old posts, but who doesn't love to look at a stack of quilts, especially those that are red and white!?

It's a no-brainer, isn't it?

At the foot of our steps sits this narrow bucket bench. I don't change items on the bench ever - except at Christmas time. Because I have such a pretty collection of red and white quilt tops, I love to bring them out each December just to help out with Christmas decorating. What a great excuse to bring them out of the closet and into something of a "limelight." 

To see each quilt fully laid out click this link - I did go find a previous post. 

Or you could look at them in order from top to bottom here:

Chock Full of Charms

Stars and Stepping Stones - my design

Thimbleberries Christmas Confetti

Thimbleberries Hourglass Quilt

Red and White Ohio Star - my design

Jacob's Ladder - my design

I have probably said in previous posts that I want to get busy with quilting these, and all the other flimsies filling my closets. I am getting more and more comfortable with the long arm machine, and I am getting closer each week to dedicating more time to doing this quilting. I'm on the cusp...I really am.

 

Hope you are all having fun with Christmas preparations!

Happy Quilting, Friends!