Slow Sunday Stitching--New Old Project

Slow Sunday Stitching.  See more posts on Kathy's Quilts blog.  

Most of my time has been spent on the assembling the current quilt with a deadline, but I needed to pick another embroidery project to enjoy when not at the sewing machine.  I chose from the WIPs-- how saintly, no? 

Poinsettias and Pomegranates are some of my favorite botanicals.  I finished stitching the pin keep some time ago (2 years maybe?) and have the scissor weight to finish.  I wish I had not centered the larger pin keep in the top third of the linen--there will be a lot of waste. These are so cute and may be a good snall project to take along to Sewtopia to finish with backing and stuffing.  

My Poinsettia bushes in the backyard are looking good. When the nights cool off in October or so, the top leaves will turn red.  The Plumeria bush only had a couple of branches produce flowers this year.

Their fragrance is so sweet.  Speaking of botanicals, we are so proud of our surrogate daughter whose recent completion of a Master's Degree in Botany has earned her a wonderful position at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens.  Shout out to Christy--Bravo!  Christy and our daughter Erica met on the first day of school in 4th grade and have been best pals ever since. 

Design Wall Monday--8/3/2020

Design Wall Monday is here.  See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog.

I've been shopping the stash to finish up all the lingering projects and squirrel projects. I finished off the binding for Dreamweaver and attached a label, the quilt also had its first bath;  I did not get to deliver the quilt or get pics of it yet with our son and daughter-in-law, perhaps next weekend.  There was leftover binding so I used it for a Guild baby quilt in progress. 

Looking back, I started this Houndstooth quilt THREE years ago.  Sheesh.  I could have cropped this photo better, but at least my pedicure still looks good--can't say the same about my manicure :)

Walking foot quilting with random spaced lines and then 3 step zig zag in an aqua thread.

Binding with a lighter print is a fun change.  I was annoyed at missing some of the binding while ditch stitching from the front, so added another line of machine stitching IN the binding.  I think it looks good, even if non-traditional. 

Backing with leftover flannel and scraps.   It finishes at about 40" square or so. Glad to have it off the list at last!

In the Squirrel category, I had a finished top that seemed too small to be very useful.  I bought the kit for the gingham plaid quilt at Sewtopia Boston nearly two years ago.  Shopping stash again for a border, I found a print that coordinated well with the teal green of the patchwork fabrics.

Pretty sure that was a quilting cotton I bought at Joann's several years ago.

Won't this make a cute picnic or beach quilt?  I've cobbled together a backing from leftovers and stash so that part is sorted. 

A Squirrel tablerunner also needed backing and binding.  I must have pulled 10 different choices for a pieced backing before cutting to the chase with a single fat quarter. 

I love the way channel quilting looks and chose to group together three lines across the piece.

I used a Hera tool to score the groups 1" apart, and the edge of the walking foot to space the quilting lines themselves.  Binding also got attached but I decided to hand stitch that down, a task for another day. 

Usually this time of year I would be showing how my entries did at our County Fair, but of course that was cancelled due to COVID-19.  Our County is still on a watch list, with more deaths and illnesses.  Scary times to be in crowded conditions.  There is always next year to hope for!

Finally Friday--with Finishes

Some weeks just crawl....I was very impatient with work duties this week, probably due to being grumpy about having to do a self-review of my performance and a goal setting exercise for work.  Honestly, at this stage in my career, I am not interested in starting a management position so my goals are just to get better at maneuvering in our new electronic health record system and see if I can be retired in a few more years!  I am a good employee, tho, covering shifts and willing to work with different practitioners at other offices when I can.   Of course, currently the only traveling I do is from our upstairs home office to the downstairs sewing room or dining room :)

There was enough downtime between patients this week that stitching was often possible, even quilting.

These two doll quilts got quilted and bound.  I used up some saved leftover binding pieces too.  Very simple in the ditch quilting for both.  My sister stopped by and snatched up the four patch one, but I've got plenty more of those four patch pieces to make another doll quilt for Guild donation.

The 30s print got a vintage piece of fabric for backing--the color is poor in the shot but it's a pretty blue. you can barely see how I quilted around the heart shape.  The yellow and black binding was leftover from a banner sewn for daughter Elaine's bridal shower 9 years ago!  Glad some of it got used up. 

Another languishing tablerunner was also finished.  A collection of shot cottons and leftover Essex Linen were combined to make a shortened version of the Scrap Lab Design Challenge tablerunner by Susan Ache in the Fall 2019 Quilts & More magazine.  A lot of different stash choices were pulled for binding options;  I had nearly given up when the ochre print from the fat quarter drawers suited best. I thought it was very Mid Century Modern in colorway and that DD Elaine would like it--and she did-- but thought it would not match her current very neutral color scheme and passed.  So now it is on our coffee table after being washed and dried. 

Mini gave it a good going over before it went through the washing and drying process. 

The back is pretty neutral.  I like making double sided tablerunners and placemats. 

Binding was also sewn together for  the Dreamweaver quilt and I attached it today.  It needs a label and a bath and then will finally go home with our son and daughter in law--after a year in process.  Looking back to July 2019, I was purchasing fabrics for the quilt and getting ready to cut 520 background squares!   Pics of the finish next time...

Design Wall Monday-Hearts and My Lupine Heaven

It's Design Wall Monday.  See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog. 

I felt like piecing rather than quilting on a hot day, and pulled out a couple of projects, one of which is a doll quilt from trimmings of 30s prints from another quilt; I had already sewn the HSTs into four patches.

I thought the HSTs looked like a heart set this way, and used a couple of 2" wide strips to lengthen the little quilt and feature the heart row. This will be finished for guild donation. 

A few leftover sets will make a cute start to a mug rug or bookmark.  I intended to make three hearts but the butterfly insisted on being included.  I don't mind :)

Still avoiding the Dreamweaver quilting job occupying the cutting table, I pulled out another project box needing piecing.  I took a class with Bonnie Hunter two years ago (just looked it up, yikes!) for her My Blue Heaven quilt, a free pattern on her blog.  I last worked on some of the star blocks in January, but had a lot of pieces cut and ready to sew.  My version has two color groups and I'm calling it My Lupine Heaven.  We get splashes of pretty purple lupine here after the winter rains, but it doesn't last long in SoCal. 

Revisiting my notes and checking the box, I was happy to find that all of the center blocks are finished and the border hourglass blocks started.  More cutting was required but soon I had a bunch of pieces ready to feed through the sewing machine.  I used Bonnie's specialty Essential Triangle Tool  to cut out the QSTs, which I purchased at the class.  For my smaller version, a 6x8 setting, I need 64 of the border hourglass blocks, which are separated from the center blocks by a plain border (not yet cut).

This is looking good!  Somehow the outer hourglass blocks seem to tame the busyness of the star blocks, and I think the plain border will too.  A lot more cutting is in my future as I have exhausted the 2 1/2" green strips from the precut scrap drawer.  I also have cut up a bunch of scraps for Bonnie's 2020 Leader-Ender project--a triangle free chain block she is calling Easy Breezy.  Mine will be the 6" finished size, she also offers a 4" finished size.

I had fun picking out colored 2" strips from the scrap drawers and cutting up odds and ends for the light rectangles. These can be set many ways--I may use a two color hourglass block as I did for the Chunky Churndash quilt (another free Bonnie pattern), it's such a great fool-the-eye framing trick. 

Now I really do need to get the quilting finished on Dreamweaver!

May Day Play

Happy May Day!  I was very happy to see the hind end of April--what a month of upheaval and angst!  There was a lot of quarantine stitching done and I finished up the month with a WIP/UFO of 30's fabrics. The pieces have been safely in their box since May 2017 and were happy to get some fresh air after all this time.  I chose another Kim Brackett design, Summer Breeze from Scrap Basket Surprises for these prints  First order of business was to get HSTs made into pinwheels, then borders around the blocks. 

A lot more cutting was needed for the outer border pieces and alternate setting blocks and then a whole lot of pairing and switcheroo before and after sewing.  I mocked up a layout on the cutting table with a few finished blocks.

Such cheerful colors and prints.  Next was layout and more switcheroo...

Mini is always ready to hold a block in place. 

Two days of moving blocks resulted in the final layout. Rows are stacked and ready to sew. The border pieces will be added after the center is assembled. There is binding fabric in the project box too.  I'm glad this happy quilt is occupying the downtime at home.  

I am working a bit more now as another technological method can now connect me to the doctor's telephone visit when a patient does not have a smartphone or laptop/tablet, or the internet connections don't line up for a video visit.  This makes the doc very happy--as he then has me to scribe the visit as usual and can just review later and sign.  The practice is also changing electronic health programs and now we have an hour of training assigned each day online.  Sigh. 

Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad, 62 years tomorrow, wow!

Design Wall Monday, 1/20/20

Several things on/off my design wall to share.  See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog.  

In the interest of keeping quilts moving along in the process, I worked on quite a few different projects in the last week.  

Make the Connection baby/lap quilt got borders added.  This is destined for guild donation. I'll cobble a back together and probably quilt this myself.  The pattern is free on APQ website, designed by Jo Kramer and her daughter for charity makes.

Binding was attached to the Sliced Cake quilt (Canoe Ridge Creations blog).   I did finish the binding but don't have pic of that.  No one specific that this one is destined for as yet. 

I finally decided on borders for the Chunky Churndash for my dad (free pattern on Quiltville.com).  Bonnie's design had three borders and corner stones and I just didn't want to do that, so added only a 3" cut border.  The top is now 72x84, which is pretty big for a couch quilt!  I'll be ordering a wide backing for it, undecided if I want to quilt it myself on my home machine or not...will likely send this out as my sister's longarm is not working.

Here you can see the gray is not a solid but a small brown print on the slate gray; this is a print from Betsy Chutchian's line called Eliza's  Indigo.  Darn those stray threads.  I had such fun making all the chunky churndash blocks.  I'm sure I'll make more in the future. 

I made a bunch of 3" HSTs from the leftovers of the hourglass blocks and decided to make a companion pillow for the quilt.  I have always liked the Oklahoma Twister pattern and quickly cut some light squares and laid it out.

I'm going to add some borders and additional HSTs to fashion another sort of Churn Dash.  Hope it works like my sketched idea.

Also finished were the last four green star blocks for my version of Bonnie Hunter's My Blue Heaven quilt--another free pattern on her site.  I'll be laying those out this week sometime, hopefully.  Good to be making progress on multiple quilts--there are a lot more waiting for attention too!

Design Wall Monday--9/2/19

Happy Labor Day! For Design Wall Monday, I'm laboring on another UFO that stalled out at borders, last seen on another DWM here  .  Yesterday while cleaning up the sewing room, I was folding up leftover yardage I used as bias binding on a tree skirt when struck by an idea.  I pulled out this Christmas quilt top from the closet to check if the colors would work.  This is a design inspired by a pattern called Barefoot in the Park by Loft Creations.

I quickly sewed on the corner triangles that had been patiently waiting since last November to be attached.  The aqua print initially was the only border I was going to add, but I bought too little of it and cannot find it anywhere.  It is a directional print and my fear was that it was going to bug me if I had to piece the border.  However, laid across the quilt in two pieces, I think my fear is allayed by the busyness of the print!  I played around with the border design to see how short the border pieces could be cut.  

The red striped border fabric color was what I was wondering about.  I think it works fine with the prints in the quilt. I like the 4 patch in the corner and added two more to shorten the aqua border.  Hmmm...

Just the 4 patch here...but wait, I'll try switching the borders.

I think I like this setting best, with the aqua border first, since it is a more modern print to go with the four patches and background print, even though I'll have to use more of it.  Opinions welcome!

See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog.    She's showing a darling butterfly quilt today, and real Monarchs hatching.

Rise Up and Planning

My doctor boss was out of the office on Monday and I feverishly sewed most of the day to get the Rise Up quilt top finished.  While the HSTs were all made, sewing them into rows was quite time intensive.  I used various parts of the Log Cabin Loonies blocks as leader-enders, pleased to be working on those again. 

I couldn't help myself, I had to make some single fabric arrows with the greens.  Can you spot all six?

Constructing the backing was frustrating as usual whenever cobbling together a lot of leftovers.  I had bought two 1 yard pieces of solid green, but naturally needed three.

At one point the backing was in timeout after a miscut. I had to retire to another room with caffeine and snacks until the backing decided to behave.  At guild, after show and tell, I handed the quilt off to my sister to longarm for me.  Meanwhile I will cut the binding and get it ready to apply before the end of the month deadline.  

It has been four weeks since my shingles outbreak and I'm feeling much better, even good enough to face the disaster of my cutting table scraps and clutter.  I sorted and discarded, filled a bag with strings and chunks to take to guild, and will shove the rest into the precut bins.  There was also a good look through the project bins and rewriting of the WIPS in this year's Bullet Journal.  

The list of 26 (!!) projects was in no particular order, but I do have some favorites and priorities on these pages--which are mostly quilts for  ME.  However, our guild is having a sew-in for baby quilts next month and there are a couple of good options for that from my list.  Primarily prepping fabric and cutting stands out for many of the projects.  Two quilts I "owe" as gifts are top of the list.  Quilt tops I've completed need scheduling time with my sister.  I know she wants me to get comfortable enough with her longarm machine not to need her there when I want to quilt; I'm not confident I'll ever be!

Three for September Wrap Up

The September challenge I set for myself, working on a different WIP for three days at a time all month, has been a great motivator and I have gotten some finishes that were long desired. I chose 10 projects and either moved along or finished 8 of the projects.  

#1 was the placemats for my nephew and his bride.  Goal was met of finishing the four placemats and mailing them to the happy couple.  

This photo shows the colors truer than the final shot with the aqua floral binding.  Nice to check off that fast finish for the first project, as I was already working on it, lol!

#2 was Garden Pinwheel, a quilt made from bonus triangles from the Rick Rack Road quilt here.  

I was stuck on the applique border.  Using the GO cutter after applying Steam a Seam2 fusible to the leaf fabrics was a big help in moving this quilt top along. 

Since I already had completed the back and binding, it will be next in the quilting queue. 

#3 was Jewels in the Curio.  I started this last year on National Sew a Jelly Roll Day, from a  Civil War Homefront Jelly Roll my mom and dad bought me years ago.  It is a Moda Bakeshop pattern. Goal was to assemble the finished Jewel Box Blocks into a top and work on the three borders. 

I finished the top and reassessed the border pieces that I needed were cut.  I also chose a neutral from stash to use for two of the borders instead of trying to cobble together scrappy ones, a decision that had stalled the quilt. 

#4 was Sunbonnet Sue Goes to the Orient.  Sue had stalled a number of times, having been started about 4 years ago with bonus triangles from this quilt I made in 2006.

After a cutting error when trimming Sue's linen background meant I had to add coping strips that looked like a doorway to me, I added the oriental lantern embroidery.  She is all finished now, with a facing on the back made from Japanese fabric my sister in law brought me from a trip to Japan. 

Simple quilting was all that was needed.

This sideways pic shows how the top facing covers the shorter side facing, eliminating bulk in the corners.  I made skinny channel to hold a bamboo skewer or knitting needle for a hanging sleeve.  So happy to have Sue finished at last, so many years after the original idea struck.

#5 was Zig Zag 9 patch, a quilt started from a block swap with an online Yahoo Group.  I assembled the top a couple of years ago...2012! (cough) a la Bonnie Hunter's quilt Rick Rack Nines, and it went to the quilter in 2017; the binding was machine sewn on in June this year and it has been waiting since then to have some missed stitching repairs and get a bath. I took it to the laundromat today and it is a finished quilt at last. 

Our CalKing bed is too wide for the zig zags to run vertically, but I still think it looks good.  The Baptist Fan quilting was my choice, and I love the texture.  So pleased to have made a bed sized quilt for US at last. 

#6 was Go Four It, a Leader-Ender I've been working on for a few years, based on Edyta Sitar's quilt in APQ magazine, with a twist.  Quilt MATH finally being worked out meant I needed to find a setting fabric for my layout.  Luckily I have found one.

The Jan Patek fabric I found at the Santa Barbara Quilt Guild show a few weeks ago is now washed and ready to cut.  I can finally turn this Leader Ender into a real quilt.  

#7 was two unplanned "squirrel" project tablerunners from a Kim Brackett book.  Inspiration struck to use charm squares instead of yardage and I assembled two tops before running out of steam.  Both are now finished. 

I chopped off the corner in this pic, but you get the idea.  This is from her Cross My Heart quilt in Scrap-Basket Surprises.  I had fun with the specialty stitches on my machine to add detail to walking foot quilting.

Above is the larger tablerunner, and below is the mini, from the same Prayer Flag charm pack that had languished in a drawer for years. 

#8  was the Medallion Star rescue quilt.  I inherited this early 90's top from my former boss, whose now ex-wife was clearing out her old craft projects.   I had chopped off some of the dated background fabric and made a new pieced border of my own 3 years ago.  

It became a sandwich and stalled during the quilting stage in 2017.  It has been stuffed under my cutting table waiting for more quilting for over a year.  I had spray basted the quilt and needed to iron it flat again before adding more quilting today.  While still not finished, it is very close to becoming a real quilt at last. 

 Walking foot quilting in the border chains...

...and surrounding the star points.  I have the four corner squares left to do in the burgundy, and a plan for the remainder of the borders.  Now September is over and I feel great about all the time I've spent in my sewing room this month. 

The two projects that didn't get touched were Barefoot in the Park, a Christmas quilt which is a layout, switcheroo and assemble the top job, and the other is framing the Mason Jar embroidery I recently finished.  I'll get to them :)  

I plan to revisit this "Three For a Month" idea in the future whenever I get overwhelmed again.  It was fun to touch each of these quilts and finish a few. 

Three for September: Garden Pinwheel update

Three for September:  I'm choosing a different WIP to move along every third day this month. Today is the third day for the Garden Pinwheel quilt.  Last night I prepped more leaves for the borders and did a rough layout on the quilt.

 Purely serendipity that a 9" strip for two of the larger leaves exactly fit the width of Steam a Seam2 sheets.  Gotta love that. 

Here is a closeup of the fabrics that make up the pinwheels and "stripes".  I love the scrappy look.

I think I prefer the partial border but will make it extend to halfway down the side.  This was all the leaves I had  cut by last night. I will frame two opposing corners as in the inspiration design. 

Of course I was closely supervised by the QC Cat, Mini.  She helpfully secured the pattern to the floor.  This free pattern was an insert from a 2008 (!) McCall's Quilting Magazine offer.  It is called Summer at Mom's and a quick online search shows it is available as a digital download from The Quilting Company.com.  The bright green HST border is very pretty but I will not be adding that, particularly since I already made the backing and binding.  

Lots more leaves were prepped this morning with the Accuquilt GO cutter, and I will fuse them down before the end of the night in my final layout.  My finishing plan is to assemble the quilt sandwich and quilt with a fancy stitch around the leaves, but that will occur at a later date.  I'm hoping it will turn out as nicely as I see it in my head!  

Then it will be time to choose another WIP to work on for the next three days :)