Little Mondo

Christmas is long past, but I have intended to write about a gift I received from my dear friend and former co-worker, Kay. She is a proud member of the Frienzies group, and while we don't get to visit as often as we used to, we still have our monthly Frienzies get-together. She is a real gem. I hope everyone has a friend like her. She is so giving, caring, thoughtful - well, I am grateful to call her friend!

Kay has been a quilter since way back, and we found our common interest early in our teaching careers. She has made many, many quilts - some have worn out, and she's made replacements! She is prolific! And the trips we have made together to various quilting-related destinations! Oh my gosh! The stories we do tell! From lost keys to lost quilters, we have definitely had some adventures. Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and of course Ohio. We have been to a lot of places for a lot of fun quilting experiences.

Oh, yes, the Christmas gift. Well, I want you to see what she made me for Christmas! A little Mondo bag!

Of course, it is made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. Kay was the original KF girl in our group.

I have used this bag so much since receiving it. It is the perfect size for taking a project to Friday morning quilting with the Frankfort girls. I have taken it overnight both times I stayed with Mom when she had the cataracts removed. I just love it.

I'm holding the straps up here so you can see the shape better. The sunny window has distorted the color a bit, but you can still see its size.

Here is my original Mondo bag. I use it all the time, too. It has gone to the beach numerous times, and even just dashing over to my friend Cheryl's pool, it is handy to grab and go.

I made it with batiks - I had a package of Bali Pops, and just cut a gazillion 2.5" squares to make it. The pattern is offered in three sizes, I believe, and I have to think that it is popular with a lot of seamstresses. This post about my original Mondo bag gets the most frequent visits of any post I have ever done here on this blog. I think that when people do a search for 'Mondo Bag,' my blog post pops up.

Awhile back, Kay gave me another pattern for a big Mondo. I ought to get busy and make another one. She has a blue one in KF fabrics that looks very nice. But I can't do one, too, or we're likely to get them mixed up. Well, anyway, I just wanted to share my new little Mondo bag, and tell you a little about Kay.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Brown and Pink Quilt

My UFO for February is already done.

It's a rare day when I can actually boast that something is done so far in advance of a deadline. My procrastination generally wins out. But for whatever reason this project was calling to me, so I took it up and by gosh I finished it over the weekend.

I have tried to figure out when exactly I made this quilt top, and my blog is no help at all. I took about half a year off from blogging back in 2010, so I wonder if perhaps I didn't make this quilt top during that stretch. I have it listed in 2011 as a finish, but I don't see any posts about making it which is odd. The pattern is from an old Spring/Summer 2010 Quilt Sampler magazine; it was called Carefree Romance. Even though I don't seem to know the exact date I made it, I do remember that it was super fast and easy to make.

This link is about the first History Day demonstration that I did - I began quilting this quilt top that day. Thinking that this has taken me over 4 years to finish is somewhat embarrassing. I worked on it for a good while after that History Day event. Then it likely got put away until one of the Olympics came on. I seem to like having a project like this for times when there will be lots of TV watching.

I put it on the UFO list for 2015. I was tired of moving it out of my way all the time. It came up as the February project, so I put it in a portable frame on Friday morning. I took it to JoAnn's for our Friday morning get together. I knew I was really close to being finished, and through the remainder of the weekend I just finished it. Binding and all! Whoo-hoo!

End of story. Finally.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Frankfort Girls

Yesterday's post featured Sheryll's activity on Friday when we five Frankfort girls were together at JoAnn's. Today I will show you what the others were working on.

Sharon O. was binding this birthday wall hanging. She has two sons with children, so each family will get one to use. Festive, isn't it?

Terry had some vintage Dresden plate medallions that she was hemming for applique. I wish now I had asked more questions as to the history of these Dresden plates.

JoAnn was hand-quilting this lap quilt. I love the variety of repro fabrics.

This is a pile of blocks that JoAnn was discarding. If you look closely, you will see that the star parts don't intersect correctly. She said that all of them presented similar problems. It was so bad that she threw in the towel. I didn't grab them up, as I have enough of my own UFOs to take on anyone else's, so I don't know what she will do with them - unless they are already in the waste basket!!

I was hand quilting, too, and I will share that with you tomorrow. I actually have a finish to share! Whoo-hoo!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Master Quilter

One of our group, Sheryll, has been designated a Master Quilter. Congratulations!!

Now I do not profess to know all that this entails, but just the title alone should indicate a certain amount of awe at such a distinction! Sheryll has been sewing most of her life, I think, and has many skills. I love looking at her work, and she is an inspiration with all that she accomplishes. Here are some things she brought for show and tell on Friday morning when we had our Frankfort Girls get-together at JoAnn's house.

This is quite unlike anything else that Sheryll has made for her own use. Even her husband commented that this doesn't "look" like her!

A beautiful cheddar quilt. This is a UFO to cross off the list!

Another cheddar quilt! Sheryll worked on finishing the binding while we visited on Friday.

The rest of us worked, too, and I will get those ready to show you tomorrow!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Brief Absence

This is the first post I have been able to do since Sunday! This brief absence has been a result of my being at Mother's again for the second cataract surgery. It was a success! She is able to see perfectly from both eyes without glasses. Isn't that something for a 78-year-old? What amazing things modern medicine can do these days.

I was at Mom's Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon. Had a very important date with my hairdresser Tuesday evening. Had to go back to Mom's Wednesday morning (I'd forgotten my phone and iPad chargers, plus she needed to have prescriptions refilled and wasn't yet driving), and I taught Wednesday afternoon and evening.

No chance for doing any sewing. No chance to do any blogging.

I will just go ahead and show you the similarity in the stars I referenced in my last post. The Sawtooth Stars that people are making with Barbara Brackman and her blog look like this. These are the stars that Nicole has made. You can find her at her blog, Sister's Choice Quilts.

I was reminded of a quilt I've had bookmarked for ages in an old APQ magazine from all the way back in December 2001. Gracious. Here is the magazine front, and a picture of the quilt.

The construction for the Sawtooth Stars in the Brackman sew along is different from those in the magazine, but the stars look identical, don't you think?

I will be making more. I'm rather excited about it, too!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Seeing Stars

Lest I get so many UFOs done that I might run out, I have started yet another project. Geesh. I know. The last thing I ought to be doing is starting something new. Maybe I am incurable in the "let's start a project" department. Perhaps I will never fully grasp the "finish what you start" mentality.

Oh well.

I love following Barbara Brackman's blog called Material Culture. She has several claims to fame in the quilting world--quilter, fabric designer, and quilt historian are a few. She often hosts quilt-alongs with some historic purpose in mind. Because her fabrics are reproduction fabrics representing various time periods, she is currently hosting a quilt-along called Stars in a Time Warp. The gist is that she is encouraging quilters to make 6" Sawtooth Stars in a mish-mash of reproductions, thus resulting in a time warp of historic designs. You can click here to read the full details; my brief summary leaves a lot out, I'm sure.

Now I promised myself I wouldn't join a quilt-along this year; I have two from last year that still aren't finished. But what would be wrong with just making a bunch of stars? I have already made a bunch of 9-patches and a bunch of 16-patches. I wouldn't have to dig very deep to find a stash of churn dash blocks. So I'm not really doing a quilt-along; I am just making a bunch of stars.

Justifying.

Another blog I follow rather faithfully is by Nicole called Sister's Choice Quilts. Nicole caught the star-making bug from Barbara Brackman and has made lots of them. Look at the picture of her stars in this post she wrote about them.  If I can get her permission, I will grab her picture and post it here because it reminded me of a quilt I have wanted to make for a long, long time. I saw it pictured in an old issue of American Patchwork and Quilting magazine  It is from 2001, so I had to go digging. Have a look.

 Glossy magazine pages always have a shiny spot, regardless of the lighting, but I think you can still get a pretty good idea of how similar this picture is to the blocks Nicole had on her design wall. Definitely some differences in how the stars are made, but the resulting stars are surprisingly similar.

Well, let me just go ahead and show you the two I've made. Yes, I will likely make more. I seem to be losing the points of my flying geese units, so I need to figure out where I'm messing up - either I'm cutting inaccurately or my quarter-inch seam is unreliable. I expect to get this worked out by making more Sawtooth Stars.

Further justifying the start of a new endeavor and to reiterate: I am not doing a quilt-along. Rather, I am adding to my list of quilts to make in 2015 one that has been on my radar since 2001.*wink*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Goodies for a Baby Boy

A week or so ago, I shared here a baby quilt I made in the "race quilt" style with a jelly roll. The pic I used was a bit dark, so I've edited it to brighten it up a bit. Here's the improved view.

I had about a half a jelly roll left over from the quilt I made 2 years ago when Sharon's grandson Flynn was born. I even had the batting set aside just waiting on the birth or pending birth of the next baby boy in my circle of friends and acquaintances. I am going to a Super Bowl sale tomorrow at our local Ben Franklin to buy some flannel for the backing. Then I will get busy quilting. (I seem to be on a roll with machine quilting these smaller projects--strike while the iron's hot, I suppose!)

Even after making this quilt, a bit of the jelly roll remained, so I decided to make a matching changing pad. It's all finished and ready for the baby shower. (This pic is unedited, but it's all the same jelly roll.)

This changing pad measures a little over 21"x25" and will suit quite well for baby's needs. A bonus gift! Just the kind of surprise I like! I will wrap this up along with a couple of packs of diapers, and Voila! Gift is ready to go.

Happy Quilting, Friends!