Sew Along Update - Week 4

How is everyone doing with the Spring Dreams quilt? Are you finding it as addictive to work on as I am? It seems to go together so fast that "making just one more block" takes no time at all.

It seems prudent to say here as we are now almost a month into the sew along that rushing is not the objective. We are enjoying the process - the many processes - involved in quilt making.

Take your time to find the fabrics you want. Whether you are restricting yourself to your fabric on hand - your stash, as it's known, or whether you are off to your local quilt shop (LQS) to touch and dream and consider all the myriad options, or whether you are loading an online shopping cart - all of these options for fabric choices comprise a process that is an enjoyable one.

And speaking of considering options, perhaps you also want to factor in your individual need. Maybe you need a baby quilt in the near future. Maybe you want to make a quilt to fill a design need in your home. Maybe you want to use up some of a burgeoning stash.  Sometimes, the need is to simply make a quilt that requires very little thinking and planning - just cutting and sewing! Hey, enjoy those processes, too. *wink*

To inspire you in this sew along, scroll through here for pictures of the quilt tops finished so far. First, let's have a look once again at the picture of Helen Philipps' quilt which is serving as our inspiration.

Click for source.

Helen's quilt is a table topper. Perhaps that was her need, or perhaps she was using up leftover fabrics. Or perhaps her need was to make a little quilt fast. Who knows? I certainly don't, but regardless, she made a pretty quilt that I wanted to imitate.

My particular need was more desire than need: make a quilt that looked like Helen's using fabric from my existing stash. No buying! It was such an enjoyable quilt to make! It makes me so happy just staring at it. This original Spring Dreams quilt is 72 blocks (8x9). Strip-piecing the 9-patches made for a very fast finish.

As Sharon was beginning the sew along, her desire was to use some favorite fabric in her stash - Paris Flea Market by 3 Sisters/Moda. She selected a complimentary polka dot fabric by Robyn Pandolph for the sashing, and came out with this breathtaking beauty, so whispery soft and feminine. Her quilt contains 16 blocks (4x4); she was limited by the sashing fabric and made her quilt as big as that fabric would allow.

While working on my first quilt, I thought it might be fun to limit myself to using only the scraps I have recently been cutting and sorting. That became my rule: totally scrappy, no yardage. When Spring Dreams was done, I began work on Scrappy Spring Dreams. At just 9 blocks (3x3), it was so very fast to make.

It was right about this point in the sew along that I was nearing obsession. (That's a good thing, by the way.) After browsing in an LQS, I was inspired to use my Corey Yoder collection (tucked away over a year ago). The CY tub had enough fabric for another full-size quilt, so I jumped in and made Lulu Lane Spring Dreams.

Currently, my need is to have a patriotic quilt, and I am working on that one now. I envision it being in the range of a lap quilt, but I will be flexible concerning size. It will end up being determined by my sashing fabric.

One thing I hope you are NOT doing is concerning yourself with hurrying. I know all too well how limited one's time can be, and it's hard to show a lot of progress if you also have a job and a family and additional obligations. In my case, I am not working this semester, so I am free all day, every day (this pandemic!), consequently I am finishing these quilts rather quickly. My speed is just that - my speed. You do your speed, as fast or as slow as that may be. Just enjoy!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Another Tangent

 I shopped on Tuesday at our local quilt shop, Old Town Fabrics, in Chillicothe. Sharon met me there and we really cased the joint! I had a few specific things I wanted to investigate, and all the new fabrics were really enticing. I took my time and soaked in all the goodness! (And bought just a little bit, too.)

But the most exciting thing to come out of that trip to the fabric store was a wonderful light bulb moment while I was checking out Corey Yoder's newest line. You see, I still have fabric from her early lines left over from when I attended a class she taught, and another class taught by Carrie Nelson, in which I used CY fabrics. My idea is to use my remaining fabrics from Lulu Lane, Flower Mill, and Sundrops in the quilt along we are doing. Won't this make a fun, spring-inspired quilt?

And when I looked in the tub, well, hello jelly roll! I'd forgotten about you. It will make the construction of yet another version of our quilt come together in no time. I was so stoked to make 9-patches that I went straight to work on them. So far, I've used only the Lulu Lane Jelly Roll and yardage.

Look closely at this pic and you'll see the neutral Lulu Lane yardage for additional background in the 9-patches. It's as if this were meant to be, I tell you.

Here are my first 20 blocks all stacked up and clipped together in groups of 10. I plan to make a pretty big quilt - so this will be my work for awhile longer. I am not rushing, but I am eager to keep going.

I have to show you these 2 blocks - mistake blocks. I am so used to making 9-patches with 5 darks and 4 lights. That has been my preferred "look" for years. The opposite is used in our quilt along; it requires 4 darks and 5 lights - and I am forever checking myself to be sure I'm getting it right. 

I missed on these two. Corrected now. Sewing continues.

If you are trying to let me know that you are sewing along with us, there might be some issue with my email link. A friend told me today that she was unsuccessful at contacting me, so I will have to dig in further to see what's up with all that. Technical issues give me fits; I am slow to figure it out.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Quilt For a Sister

I recently gifted a quilt to my sister, who came shopping in my closet of quilt tops. You may recall that I blogged about it here.

So here are some pics of her bedroom update with the quilt adorning the end of the bed. Looks pretty spiffy, wouldn't you agree?

This was her son Will's room, and since he's been out on his own for quite awhile now this room got an update. Nice! I am so glad one of my quilts gets to help out in the refresh effort.

The quilt was started in 2014 when Fat Quarter Shop hosted a sew-along called Wishes. I made a block a month until October, then stopped. In 2017, I finished the quilt top as one of my UFO completion efforts. Now, in 2020, it is quilted. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Simple Friendships 2 Quilt Along

Yesterday, author and fabric designer Kim Diehl posted her final installment of her mini-quilt-along on Instagram and Facebook. It has been a fun ride, and I am happy to show you my finished top today.

Every Monday for the past 5 weeks, we have been given instructions for a couple of blocks. It has been fun using her signature fabrics/colors as well as learning a few tips and tricks that she has shared along the way.

Last week while we sewed at Terry's, most of us Frankfort girls worked on these blocks. We decided early on that we would be a mini-group doing a mini-quilt-along for a mini-quilt. Sounds good to me!

I have a tub-full of remaining fabric, as this barely made a dent in the little Kim Diehl collection I've hoarded. I believe I will peruse her books - I have several - to see what I want to make with the rest. I may have a hard time making up my mind, as just about all her designs appeal to me.

Next up for this mini-quilt, is spray-basting and big-stitch hand quilting. I believe I can add that to the growing number of projects for my baseball-watching evenings.

To read more about the quilt-along just finished, visit either site above for directions over the past five weeks. The patterns are all in her book Simple Friendships II.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Week of Quilting With the Frankfort Girls

What a week we have had! Sewing at Terry's house! Every day! While her DH is away on a hunting trip, she has had tables set up in her family room for us to come and sew all day, every day.

I have been able to make it over each day except Tuesday when I went to the APQS demonstration. My focus for the week has been to catch up with the Kim Diehl quilt-along, Simple Friendships 2. It is a mini quilt and we are in the fourth of its five weeks. Nice and short, in other words. I now have all my blocks made and await the final week's instructions for finishing. All the blocks are in her book, Simple Friendships II from Martingale Publishing.

Week 1 blocks

Week 2 block

Week 2 block

Week 3 blocks

Week 4 blocks

Others in our group have also been working on this quilt-along. Sheryll, Helen, Terry, Jan and Becky are all making Simple Friendship blocks. I will try to bring pictures of some of their pretties in an upcoming post. There are several other projects under construction at any given time, and those, too, I will do my best to photograph for you.

Since my blocks for this quilt-along are finished, I have moved on to the June blocks of the Quilter's Planner quilt-along. They are cut out and waiting for me to stitch today.

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!

Home On Break

Our DD2, Emma, has been home on break between semesters, and I have loved having her here. She has been so helpful, and cheerily so; I marvel at what a wonderful young lady she has become.

One of the big jobs she helped me with is tidying up in the sewing room. I have no pictures to show you, but surely all of you seamstresses and quilters have a fair idea of a messy sewing space! In addition to all the various sewing projects I had laying around, I did the Christmas wrapping in there, so all the paper and gift bags were cluttering things up. Emma sorted and folded fabric, lifted heavy tubs and ran the sweeper. Oh, how I love the space when it's tidy.

I also needed laundry done, so she did the heavy work of lifting baskets, sorting and running up and down steps. I folded. We got four loads done last night. What a great feeling.

She also did some cooking for me, and I do have a picture of that.

We found a recipe on Pinterest that we really like - One Pot Cheesy Sausage Pasta. It is fast and delicious. I think she might make this for the roomies back at her apartment. She said she'd probably not go with Polish sausage, but instead use chicken. She has always been a chicken lover. Besides this dinner, she also made some dishes for holiday partying, and learned some valuable kitchen knowledge (She didn't know the difference when a recipe lists 1T or 1t. Can you believe that? Where did I go wrong??)

Someone else has been awfully glad Emma was home. Gracie gets lots more cuddles and attention while Emma is here.

After we had the sewing room tidied up, I felt energetic about getting more projects going. So I used Emma's strong arms and back to pull fabrics for me. Those quilt-alongs that I have been pondering have just kept niggling at my brain, and so I decided to get fabric squared away for two more.

Tell It To The Stars required real effort, in that we had to find the last 3 fabrics in light, medium and dark color variations. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out. There isn't going to be much contrast, is there?

Tone It Down is the quilt-along that is being featured in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. There are 6 or 8 bloggers who are doing the quilt, and each one is, of course, putting her own spin on it. I've looked at everyone's blog examples and have decided that mine will be patriotic. I have pulled as many of my reds, whites, and blues as I could find. I am sure I will need to pull more - especially the whites, which are really creams and beiges, - but I think I will like the result.

Emma left for OU today around noon. She was scheduled to work this afternoon and evening, and classes begin Monday. We went to breakfast together, did some shopping, then her ride picked her up and off they went. Sad to see her go, but so grateful for the wonderful time we spent together while she was home.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Feeling Industrious

I'm feeling industrious, but I know that I still have to take my time. Daggummit. Sitting at a sewing machine or leaning over a cutting table puts too much stress on a newly fused spine, so I have to work back to that gradually. If I do misbehave, (and I have) I feel it in the very low tailbone area. Owie!

Instead, I have been reading blogs and have found in just a very short time, several quilt alongs that are starting this new year. They all look like fun, and the quilts will look spectacular. I wonder if I could keep up if I tried to join in?

Let me tell you about them. Maybe you'd like to join a quilt along. You never know.

1. The Fat Quarter Shop's blog, Jolly Jabber, has a project called Wishes Quilt Along. The blocks will be big at 14" square, and the first one is available on the blog now. A 9-minute video will walk you through all the steps in constructing your first block. It looks like lots of fun, and I'm seriously considering joining in.

2. Monique Dillard at Open Gate Quilts is offering a quilt along called Blogger Girls Block of the Month II. I watched her '13 version, and wished I'd joined in - it was so pretty. This one looks to be just as wonderful. The 13 blocks for her quilt measure 6", and the finished quilt will be 59" square. There are some very pretty setting blocks and sashings that form interesting secondary designs. Also, 5 other bloggers are doing the quilt along with her, and they will each feature their different looks on their blogs. It's so very tempting!

3. Judy at Patchwork Times has a year-long quilt along that she's calling Tell It To The Stars. The directions for the first block are online, now, and it sure is a pretty thing. Blocks for this quilt will be 12" finished. I need to read through her blog a bit more carefully. Somewhere I believe she said she'd list yardage needed, and I have not located that. Regardless, I would love to join her quilt along, too!

4. This next one is from a magazine, but a lot of bloggers are participating. American Patchwork and Quilting magazine is doing a quilt along called Tone it Down. If you get this magazine, it is introduced in the February 2014 issue. Directions are in the magazine, which is currently available. It also gives you a list of all the bloggers who are quilting along, and each one, of course, will feature a uniquely different look.

5. For several years a couple of bloggers have hosted a quilt along called A Year of Schnibbles. The second year and current activity is being called Another Year of Schnibbles. This is a nice quilt along because Schnibbles (patterns by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilts) are small-ish, and you can participate - or not - as you have time. I have made 3 with them. Remember these?? They are all from 2010. I will direct you to Pink Pincushion, where you can read up on the details, if you are interested.

Sunday Best.

Darcy.

Tagalong.

So there are a few of the quilt alongs I've come across in my perusal of various quilting blogs. I am sure there are lots more out there.

This post has been long on words and short on pictures, so I will finish off with 2 cute pet pictures. These are from Christmas morning.

Rocky, DD Erin's cat, was thrilled with the boxes and wrapping left in the aftermath of the morning's festivities. He has personality plus.

Steve is loving all over his new squeaky toy. This lumpy football-shaped toy has been tons of fun, as we have been kicking it all over the house and he's been eagerly chasing and chewing it.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

My Lone Star Is Finished!

It is with great relief and a dose of pride that I introduce you to my completed quilt top, Broken Star. It is a variation of the Lone Star, and is the quilt I worked on in the Lone Star Quilt Along with Sue at Quilt Times.

I resewed 7 of the 8 the green points by hand, and for the most part, I am satisfied with the results. I still have some puffiiness and excess, but when it is sandwiched with batting and quilted, I think it will all look okay. Then, a washing will just make it look crinkly and wonderful, as a freshly washed quilt is supposed to look.

Here's a closeup of one of the redone points. The easing is very evident on this particular point.

As I said, I don't think this will be too bad of a finish when quilted. Given that I began this quilt about 20 years ago, when I was so inexperienced with bias edges, I think this is just how it's going to have to finish.

I am so grateful that Sue wanted to do the quilt along. It did keep me focused on finishing this thing!! It sat in a tub in the sewing room for so long, and I would not have tackled this without her cheering me on along the way.

If you want to read about the long, long journey toward this quilt's eventual finish, just type 'lone star' or 'quilt along' in the search box at the top of the right sidebar. There should be plenty of back story that can be pieced together.

Yeah, it's gonna be just fine. Here's one more look at it. Whew! It's my last finish on the goals list for 2012.

Happy Quilting, Friends!