Design Wall Monday--Fat Quarters

 Design Wall Monday rolls around again. See more design walls on Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

Having just finished a big quilt top, I was ready for some piecing.  I rarely buy fat quarter stacks, but when I saw the Oh My Darling  line some years ago, I had to buy it from Connecting Threads.  It has waited all this time to become a lap quilt from a book I bought years ago at a local guild sale. 

The quilts are simple and charming, all cut from fat quarters  

On Saturday night we were babysitting our youngest grandson--who was already put to bed when we arrived--so I brought my mat and ruIers and used the kitchen counter to begin cutting.  The fat quarters were stacked three at a time and pieces cut.  I got the rest cut Sunday but there was a tragedy: I cut some pieces wrong not once, but twice!  So I am rich in 2.5" squares and short on longer strips.  I am not sure how to fix this, as the pattern calls for five different prints in each block. 

I've pawed through the fat quarter drawers looking for prints similar to the ones I miscut.  It remains to be seen if I can make it look intentional when put together.  The quilt is very scrappy so It will probably work!

Go Four It Quilt Top Finish

Go Four It progress! Some quality time in the sewing room has resulted in a finished top.  First there was a lot of MATH to see if the yardage I wanted to use for the border was big enough. 

Kansas Troubles fabric--I do love Moda fabrics. There was a lot of measuring and figuring and refiguring but the fabric was big enough to cut the border size I wanted, 5" wide.  I cut the strips  lengthwise so there was a lot of time with the cutting mat on the floor, as the cutting table was covered with the Bookshelf quilt pieces--I'll show progress on that project tomorrow.

Although I didn't plan this, the border fabrics from stash are very traditional in color.  I think that complements the center--they are "everything" blocks: pastels, batiks, prints, solids, traditional and modern. All the four patch blocks were assembled over several years as leader-enders, from 1.5" squares with 2.5" squares cut diagonally to put them on point.

I did have to seam together the borders strips for length, but I am not too fussed about that.  So glad this is a finished quilt top.  Stash fabrics will be assembled for the backing, and I will send this out for quilting. 

Go Four It Quilt

Nearly three years ago I finished a quilt top based on the Go Four It challenge in APQ magazine, inspired by another APQ magazine quilt by Edyta Sitar, with a final setting based on a Bonnie Hunter quilt, Daybreak. How's that for a winding road :)  

Goals this year being more finished quilts, I pulled out some magazines to look for border ideas.  The top is 51 x 66 or so.  The setting fabric is a Jan Patek fabric I chose as it was fairly non-directional.  I made the side setting triangles large so that the pieced blocks would float.  While perusing magazines, I saw a quilt that used a border design that extended the floating look even more, and sketched it out.  I cut  2.5" border strips with my GO cutter, and 4.5" corner squares. 

Liking it! I set the color blocks and light blocks to make chains in the quilt.  Can you see them?

All four sides attached.  I liked the way the corner square extended into the floating center. 

Closeup of the corner square fabric, a remnant left over from another scrappy quilt.  One of the grandsons toybox cars appeared when I moved the recliner to lay out the quilt :)

Considering this yardage from stash for a final border but will have to do MATH to determine if I have enough of it. 

Some of the first border fabric is in one of the pieced blocks.  I  love all the scrappiness!

Slow Sunday Stitching--an Old Stitch

 Slow Sunday Stitching--see more lovely work on Kathy's Quilts Blog. 

I'm between projects so am showing an old one that is getting a new life in a Bookshelf Quilt for my niece, Emma. 

Many years ago I started this large Beatrix Potter alphabet--it could even have been FOR Emma's nursery! She's about to finish college now...The thread count was high and my time short in those days.  I never completed more than this section.  At one point I had put it in a donation box but took it out--all that work, you know!  I showed it to Emma and she liked the mousies with the S.

I like another charming critter too...

Another mouse, I think, with the strawberry.  I noticed the outline stitching around part of the leaf behind the "P" is missing!  The characters are so awfully sweet. I'll have to be very creative in cutting apart the S stitching--or may have to use the P or L.  If I use the P I'll have to finish the outlining, lol. 

Emma also liked this little embroidery I did much more recently--only four years ago :)

These will be framed in fabric to sit on the bookshelves.  I have a lot of work ahead of me but will enjoy the creative process.  Really wish I had a design wall instead of a design floor.  I've been looking at the retractable design walls and may just have to splurge! 

Catching Up, Squirrels, and Sewing

The sewing room was broken down for multiple days after we had the window installation.  I didn't want to completely reassemble the room before our monthly cleaners came.  I'll show something pretty first!  The DMC cat kit stitch is finished.  I used some washi tape I had on hand to wrap the hoop.  The stitchery needs a bath and press before I install and finish it in the hoop. The surface embroidery in white was pretty fussy to do, but sure looks cute; love the whiskers and smile too.

Here's the room before reassembly. It did not take too long to fix up.

The groaning fat quarter drawers were reinserted once the dresser was in place.  The newly operable window is open,  yay. During the reassembly of the cutting table items and things in Hoosier cabinet there were a couple of squirrels released...

There was a baggie of some green 3.5" tumblers that had been hanging around for far too long.  I quickly scrounged up some more green scraps to cut enough to make some placemats.  I'll square off the sides with a border to make the placemat wide enough.   The late night pic is making these prints look a lot grayer than they are. 

I also found this kitted up block my sister probably gave me out of a raffle basket she won and would never make herself! 

Whoever donated it had included a handy cutting diagram with the instructions, which is very much appreciated! I'll enjoy playing with these pieces. 

Some B blocks for the Plaidish2 quilt got assembled  as leader-enders while sewing the tumblers. There is lots to do on the bookshelf quilt for my niece, Emma.  She was in town recently and we conferred over details.  That's the project box occupying the cutting table in these pics :)

We Have Windows!

 A long-awaited home improvement project has finally been realized--replacement windows are all in!

Window on the walkway to the front door....

Patio door next to the sewing room and kitchen. The house is so quiet now when the doors are shut!

I chose the small window grids on the front windows to emphasize the Crafstman look to the house.  It is a pleasure to be able to forget the builder grade windows we had for so long!  The 5 man crew was great and put in all the windows in two days. These are Anlin double pane windows.

Goodbye old window!  Next we will need to replace the old and/or broken window coverings.  We like the wooden blinds in some of the rooms, and will try to get a good deal somewhere.  

Oh! and I here's the pic forgot to show of the doll quilt top last post, just for a bit of quilty content!

I didn't separate my colors very well but I am not too fussed about it!  Such sweet prints from the Cheeky charm pack and my binding cuttoffs. 

We ended a busy day at work today with a  3.8 Earthquake, it was quite a jolt though centered probably 15-20 miles away.  I'll be working from home tomorrow as the doc I scribe for on Fridays has COVID despite being fully vaccinated.  He is not feeling bad, little cough/sniffles, headache, and has been working from home too, while isolating. Indoor mask mandates are being lifted by the State, though that doesn't apply to healthcare workers.  Maybe only for a few more months...

Design Wall Monday--Easy Breezy Blocks Play and a doll quilt

 Design Wall Monday--see more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Bonnie Hunter's Easy Breezy Blocks, a leader-ender from 2020-2021, have started being sewn together.  She did not give any particular setting for the leader-ender, but set hers with scrappy sashing and cornerstones. I'm using only a rectangle between my blocks for a lighter look.  I tried to figure out a way to make the blocks nest row to row but that did not work out on my first try and I had to re-press all the seams, ugh.  

Two rows of 8 EB blocks are completely assembled--13 rows are planned. Love all the scrappy colors and chains. 

A lovely 1/2 hour was spent at the local fabric store over the weekend.  I needed batting to move along more quilt tops, including one that's been hogging one end of my cutting table for a couple of months!  There were 20 and 30% off tags on many bolts and I picked up this dark red/maroon that would be a great binding fabric.  A couple of remnants also jumped into the basket.  How could I resist the under $2 prices?

I'm going to have to break down a lot of my sewing room this week when the new windows we ordered a couple of months ago finally are going in!  Not sure if they will start upstairs or down.  Either way, it is very exciting to change the northwest facing picture window to a functional one in the sewing room to catch a breeze!

Slow Sunday Stitching--Still Working on the Cat

 Slow Sunday Stitching--see more needle and thread projects on Kathy's Quilts blog. 

I've put in only a few stitches on the Cat cross-stitch this week--most of them when the grandsons went to bed when we babysat so their parents could go to a local comedy show.  I had forgotten to put the date on my phone calendar and when Elaine texted us "Are you almost here?", we were finishing up soup and quesadillas for dinner!  They made it to the show, though definitely exceeded the speed limit to get there :)

More White stitches added to the cat's face, around the little flowers in his chin and cheek.  I should be able to complete all the white in another session, and then add the applied embroidery the pattern calls for. 

Next I plan to play with a long, long completed set of cacti--25 years maybe more?  The Southwest decorating schemes were popular when we bought our house 30+ years ago. 

I need to get back to the Bookshelf Quilt I started for my niece, Emma, and I think these would look great framed and sitting on a shelf. Emma did grow up in Arizona!  

Easy Breezy Blocks Status Change

Last year's Leader-Ender project, Easy Breezy Blocks from Bonnie's Quiltville.com, need to get to quilt status.  I made my own setting plan and have had the fabric ready to cut for some time.  That day came!

One of the reasons I chose the setting I saw online was because of this Accuquilt die I own, 3.5x6.5" rectangle.  Bonnie's blocks were the same height size unfinished, and a plan was born.  

I'm making a large throw size and will have  8x13 EB blocks with the sashing between.  Some single rows of EB pieces will finish off some of the rows.  I did end up adding back in some of the blocks I made in reverse fashion, with prints for the rectangles instead of light fabric.  It will all go!

The setting fabric has these tiny blue circles.  It is a Windham fabric called Adele by Whistler Studios. Looking forward to seeing all these scrappy blocks creating a riot of color!