Little Quilts, Little Changes

My local quilt group had a request for more NICU-sized quilts two meetings ago, and I've been coming up with cute yet simple quilts. The last two batches have had an envelope edge (turned instead of binding.) Last week I picked up some fabrics earmarked for the little quilts, and I'm considering using my bias tape maker to make bindings. I've found the tool works fine with straight-of-grain fabric as well as bias fabric. The smaller quilts have pieced heart blocks, and the center quilt is a heart print. I'm hoping they will be available around Valentine's Day, but are cute any time of year.

NICU Quilts

 
The small changes have been helpful in the sewing room. I realized that my ironing board was too high for me, and with hand and neck pain any repeated work is not very comfortable. Lowering the table about 4" really helped. The other change was a new rotary cutting blade. It took me a while to find the packet of blades, but it was worth the hunt. I'd already replaced my old mat with a new one. And lastly I bought a sturdy stepstool for my studio, which allows me to make better use of the 8' x 8' design wall.

Today I pieced and pressed three bindings, two of which are for quilts not yet quilted. One binding went on the finished quilt below, which was made from a set of sample fabrics. A couple of extra fabrics and some trimmed down leftover 9-patches were added. I was able to photograph the quilt pinned higher on the design wall so there isn't a corner of the longarm in the way.

Floral Squares, 49.5” x 36” 

The Scrap Cats quilt was made with leftovers from a kit made several years ago. It's surprising how much fabric was leftover. The fabric line is XOXO The Cat by In The Beginning. My favorite fabric is the white "notepad" fabric with notes from the cat, such as "Put away that suitcase, you are not going anywhere. XOXO The Cat."

Scrap Cats, 75.5” x 63.5”

Fraternal Twins

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At last the two strippy quilts are finished, 64" x 41.5". The two hedgehog prints had been bundled with an odd orange strip that matched one of the colors for several years. It seemed like there was always "one more thing" to do. Pin, sew, press strip pairs, repeat. Choose a backing, a quilting pattern, thread colors. Find binding fabric, cut, sew, press repeat. It was a good way to use yardage with very little waste. The labels ended up being a project in themselves.




The charity organization had specific instructions for wording on the labels. In the past I've used a pigma pen with mixed results. They usually end up bleeding and looking blurry. I decided to use one of the alphabets on my Janome machine, and started testing. Working without a hoop really requires an iron-on interfacing to prevent puckers and shifting. Chalk helped keep the four lines of text lined up. I used the same grey fabric as the backing and a bright orange poly thread for contrast. Two or so hours later, the labels were stitched, hemmed, and sewn to the quilts.

2020 First Finish

Yay - Kira #2 with Birds is not only finished but also in its new home with a neighbor. I love the pale yellow batik print with birds, and it took a long time to find the right project. My neighbor has a pet parakeet and it seemed a good fit for her little girl.

Kira #2, 75.5” x 60.5”

Two lap strippy quilts are loaded on the machine for quilting. They're sewn together as one quilt with spacers as they weren't quite the same size. They are WOF strips and I left the selvedges on to make it easier to piece them together.

At the sewing machine is a simple twin quilt made of 2 charm packs and some green FQs that I won in a checkerboard layout. 

I've been crocheting washcloths with a cotton/linen blend from stash, and with some rough fibers in the yarn this is a better fit than a hat or cowl. I found some compatible cotton blend yarns for a colorwork sweater to go with yarn in stash that has been long discontinued, and need to swach both stockinette and the colorwork pattern in the round.

2020 Goals

Though I may shift back and forth between projects, if there is a clear deadline the finish is a more direct line. Currently none of my projects in progress have deadlines, so making a list will help me finish them off (I love crossing things off the list!)

My UFO list is a Word document with "in-progress" at the top, and finished at the bottom. For 2019, there were 41 finishes total- mostly quilts, and quite a few house items, ranging from table runners to quilted pillows. I've tried to document the quilts here as well as on my Pinterest board - Finished Quilts.


2020 Goals


Quilt the tops already finished 

• Kira "Birds" on the longarm
• Twin Boxes
• Twin Stacked
• Scrap Cats.

Assemble & quilt 99 Wonky courthouse steps blocks

Piece and complete quilts cut out

• 2 charity strippie lap quilts (hedgehog fabrics)
• Plaid-ish Twin
• Bricks #1 Blue/aqua/green Twin – 3” x 5.5” bricks
• Bricks #2, blue/aqua/green Twin– 2.5” x 4.5” bricks
• Charms & Green Twin - all 5" squares
• Brown & green “gingham” twin quilt, cut 6” squares
• Red/gold offset blocks twin 

Finish UFOs 

• red dahlia
• feather placemats
• quail applique block from Corinne (embroider red berries, quilt)
• chicken blocks

Basket for closet storage

I also keep a Quilting Queue board on Pinterest, and having images of the patterns helps me keep them straight.

Last 2019 Finishes

NICU quilts, 36" x 24"

Two preemie quilts, envelope edge turned then quilted with diagonal lines through all squares..

Kira 60.5" x 60.5"

Kira Christmas Quilt 60.5" x 60.5", will probably wait until next year to be gifted. Quilted with Spilled Ink.

One of a set of four placemats finished on Christmas Day. Pieced and quilted as-you-go with 2 layers of batting.

Friendship Star Runner, 52" x 26"

Friendship Star Table Runner 52” x 26”, quilted with Meandering Hearts.

As for 2020 projects, the first quilt of the year is on the longarm and the first rows quilted. Two lap-sized strippie quilts are in progress. There are a few UFO's to be reviewed, and three charity tops with backs hanging in the closet. Six twin sized quilts are cut out and ready to sew. 

The new patterns to try are stacking up - Just Kidding Around (goats in pajamas!), Koala Love, and the long wished-for Flowering Snowball templates. I'd love to do a rainbow quilt of just strip-pieced blocks.