A year in quick review

I know I haven't posted in a long while.  My mom has been asking about it.  So here is a quick post with some of what I've been up to in the last year.

This quilt is Radical Rose and Reel - pattern by http://collectorwithaneedle.blogspot.com/  I finished handquilting it in May 2022.

Surprisingly it wanted green binding.

I always like to quilt in the date and my initials :0)

I finished this quilt just this week.  I took some pictures of it out in the yard today.  There is no pattern - it developed as a way to use my collection of 1 1/2 inch squares.  It had been tucked away in the ufo bin for a long while.  I decided to finish it and gift it to my sister.  I hope she likes it!

I machine quilted it with feathers and straight line quilting.  It should be nice and cozy with a flannel backing.  

Extra long to cover tall people!

This is another project I finished recently from the ufo bin.  A little table topper project from a guild night.  I quilted similar machine feathers on it.

This quilt was made in a week!  My second oldest daughter wanted to make a T-shirt quilt from her camp T-shirts.  I did most of the cutting, she did all of the sewing.  I did all of the machine quilting in just one day.  Lots of whimsical free motion quilting.  The backing was brought around to the front for binding - a super quick way to get something bound. 

Last week I also made a new bike bag for myself.  I had an old bag given to me as a gift - I had used it for years.  It was time for a new one - with zippers - so I don't lose important stuff...

 There have been other projects worked on in the last year.  I will try to share them as they become finishes.  Thanks for still being here!

Happy Quilting!!

two finishes

Hello again!  I am excited to have two completed quilts to share.  

The first one is my Hospital Sketches quilt.  This was a Block of the Month that Barbara Brackman did over on her blog Civil war quilts.  I loved appliqueing the blocks and designing my own border.  

I also loved handquilting it.  It took just over a year to quilt.  It helped me to get through Covid by giving me something to look forward to working on each day.  I quilted rather unpredictable free flowing feathers from small feathered rosettes at the intersections between the blocks. 

I love the texture that handquilting gives.

As always, I quilted in the year and my initials.  I will miss working on this - it was such a fun project at every stage.  

My next finish was machine quilted.  This quilt doesn't really have a name.  It is assembled from 6 inch blocks made from a variety of library books 7 years ago.  They sat forgotten in a ufo bin for a few years.

Then I saw a picture of a setting online done by Carrie Nelson and I knew it would be perfect for these blocks.  

I enjoyed making all of the flying geese for the setting.  The quilting was fun and fast.  I quilted diagonal rows of feathers over the blocks and straight lines intersecting over the flying geese.  The final narrow border got some feathers as well.  

I had a hard time choosing between red and blue for the binding fabric.  In the end I went with blue.  This quilt is for the sunny sitting room upstairs.  With its flannel back it will be cozy for winter naps :0) 

Yesterday I taught only in the morning and with half the house empty with people away I knew I could get away with minimal cooking.  It was the perfect opportunity to use the kitchen island to thread baste the next quilt for handquilting.  This one is Radical Rose and Reel  a pattern by Dawn at Collector with a needle.

This is the third quilt I've basted on this island.  It really works well.  Maybe I will put the first few stitches into it tonight :0)

Happy Quilting!!

a small gift

I made a fun little project recently.  A gift for my cousin's birthday.  I used an applique shape that I had drawn for a previous project and outlined it with some big stitch quilting.

I love the background fabric.  All different names for Jesus from the Bible.  I knew she would appreciate that.

I finished it with a red zipper :0)  (red lining too but I didn't get a picture of that)

I also spent an afternoon getting this "6 inch blocks with flying geese quilt" basted for some machine quilting.  So far, I have done a bunch of straight line quilting in the ditch alongside the geese.  I'm hoping to put some kind of free motion feathered design over the blocks but I am still figuring that out.  Free motion feathers are fast and fun.  I put flannel on the back of this quilt - it should be good for snuggling under.

I've also been playing with scraps and making these Peony blocks.  I'm not sure where this is going but its been fun so far!

 I actually started a job a couple of weeks ago.  I've gone back to teaching - working as a substitute teacher mostly in Home Economics classes.  (they don't call it that anymore but I do)  I'm not sure how this will affect my time for sewing.  So far I still seem to fit some in everyday :0)

Happy Quilting!!

A finish - Totally Tulips

 I finished the quilt for my youngest daughter.  From start to finish in less than 6 months is super fast for me :0)  This is my version of a pattern called Totally Tulips by Missouri Star.  It was fun to piece and I also really enjoyed machine quilting it.  The color scheme was all my youngest daughter's choice - I'd have never chosen it but I am very pleased with the end result.

With a mix of straight line quilting and feathers it was quick to finish.  I was stuck for a few days about what to quilt in the flowers and after doodling around I came up with this branched feathered design. I was aiming for fun and whimsical.  

It is a really long quilt.  I make them long so they stay tucked in at night!  It was hard to get a picture of the full quilt.

The sunlight highlights the texture

Here it is on her bed.  

And with a happy recipient :0)

 I should make more quilts with larger pieces - I discovered that they are more fun to machine quilt.  

Happy Quilting!!

Keeping busy

I'm posting about a longtime UFO today.  This is my Trailing Vines quilt started many years ago.  A year ago I was working on handquilting it. Sometime around May I switched to working on a different project and this got left folded up and crammed in a basket.  I was worried it might be getting some permanent wrinkles so I pulled it out to lay flat on the floor for a couple of days.

I really like this quilt.  I loved working on the applique.  But, I am not loving handquilting it.  For one thing its huge, its also really, really heavy and to outline the leaves I am constantly turning my hoop.  And then after all that effort - its hardly noticeable...

I'm done the first 6 panels.  Only 7 more to go.

Also I need to quilt the sashings.  I will finish it eventually.

This quilt - Hospital Sketches - has been way more fun to quilt.  I love quilting feathers!  It's lighter, smaller, easier to turn.  I'm hoping to have it finished in a few months and then I will get back to Trailing Vines.  

I whipped up a couple of coasters for a quick gift for Sinterklaas.  I hadn't used fusible web in a very long time but the piece I had still worked.  I drew them myself and I hope my parents use them.

A fun quick project between the long term ones.  

Happy Quilting!!
 

A fun challenge

I was invited by Lori of Humble Quilts into a challenge to do something with an antique quilt block.  It began in Houston last year at the International Festival.  We met up together with some other quilters and Lori gave us each a quilt block to do something with.  Shown above is what I made.  

And this is what I started with - this Lady of the Lake quilt block.  I was initially drawn to it because I loved the pink fabric.  The navy fabric was rich and wonderful too.  

I made the tough decision to take it apart.  It was very wonky and the white shirting print was damaged and stained.  I had mixed feelings about taking out stitches that had been there for a 100 years or more.  As I snipped I wondered lots of unanswerable questions.

How old was the seamstress?  Did she enjoy sewing/making quilts? Did she live in the city or on a farm?  Did she make any completed quilts?  What did they look like? Why did this block remain as a set of unfinished blocks? What would she think about me taking out her careful stitches?  The thread was really thick - thicker than the handquilting thread that I use now - was that all she had?

After it was apart I shopped in my stash for similar reproduction fabrics.  I had this shirting print that was almost exactly the same.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to use much of the original shirting so I was really happy about that.  The pink and the navy were a little harder to match.  I used what I thought was closest.

I love star blocks - I couldn't resist. I had only triangles to work with so it was a good way to use them.  I made one star that was mostly the antique fabric and the other stars I assembled with what remained mixed with the reproduction fabrics.  

I played around with the setting :0)

I decided fabric this old deserved to be handquilted.  I got a good start on it.  
 If you look closely you can see the one pink triangle that I pieced from scraps to make it work.  This was such a fun project - it was really wonderful to get to sew with these beautiful old fabrics.  Thanks so much Lori!  

Will somebody one day in the future do something similar with one of my ufo's??  

Happy Quilting!

Fall stitching

2020 has been such a busy year for me.  My time is just not my own.  Finding time to post continues to be tricky but I am definitely stitching whenever I can.

In our new house there is a lovely window seat area and I want to make a few cushions for it. I purchased a couple of soft cushions and covers from Ikea in this gorgeous dark teal color.  

 I was pleased to find a few fabrics in my stash that matched well.  I remember buying the Laundry Basket Quilt fabrics from Edyta Sitar herself in her booth at Quilt Festival last fall - a fun memory.

Fairly simple quilting.  Maybe I'll be more adventurous with the next cushion.

I finished outlining all of the applique on my Hospital Sketches quilt.  I was excited to start adding the "fun" quilting in the background between the applique.

I had a little feathered wreath stencil to use in a few places.  Next will come feathers to connect them.

Outline quilting is hard to see in a photo but it's there :0)

My applique project is coming along well.  I finished my 12th block.  I'm planning a layout for 13 blocks so only one more to make.

Why use one pink when you can use 3?

Happy Quilting!!