Weekend Finishes

After finishing my work quilting for the week, I was able to load the Colorblock 16-Patch Charity quilt on the longarm Wednesday evening. I used the last large piece of floofy Hobbs poly batting, so chose a quilting design that would work well with it - Butterflies. The backing is pale yellow floral. By mid-day Friday, it was off the machine, trimmed, and edges zig-zagged for Jennifer to bind. She had chosen the layout and headed up the group of four of us that put it together.  It finished at 80" x 70".



The Scrappy Flannel Charity quilt was on my design wall, and since I'd found a coordinating backing it was next to be quilted. It also has the floofy batting, which really shrunk into the flannel top, making it rather cozy. I played with freehand designs in the different fabrics. It was finished by Friday afternoon, and Saturday I found time after chores to assemble a scrappy binding from the leftovers box and finish it with a hem stitch, turning the binding to the top. Next time I'll use a different sewing machine as I like the buttonhole stitch better. Finished size 36" x 30".
 
Two of my eight 2016 Finish-A-Long projects done!






Today I made a lot of progress on the Churndash tablerunner, a "rescued" project that a quilter gave me. These must have been leftovers from a larger project. There were enough pieces for 3 churndash blocks, but it took some sorting as many of the rectangle pieces were too small. After putting the blocks together, I decided to use the leftover squares and strips to make a scrappy backing. I'll need to make a split binding to make use of a strip of the dark red for the binding.

I'm finding the Finish-A-Long helpful with keeping me focused on one project at a time, rather than getting side-tracked. I'm still looking at other fabrics and drawing blocks and quilts, as that is so much fun! Next week I'll be taking a 5-hour class on Improv Piecing which I'm very much looking forward to.

2016 Finish-A-Long List, First Quarter Goals

Oh my, how to choose. After pulling out about fifteen projects I had to scale back.

Clockwise from upper left:

Color block 16 Patch Charity quilt - quilt it, backing is ready, someone else will bind it.

Jelly Roll Race - top made last fall, needs quilting and binding. Backing ready.

Pinwheels quilt, top finished in 2015, needs quilting and binding. Aqua backing is on its way. 

Churn Dash Runner - rescue project, took apart problem blocks.

Scrappy Flannel - top finished January 9th, needs quilting and binding. Backing ready.

Stitch together a Bento Box quilt from a rescued jelly roll "gift" that was partially cut, sewn, wadded up and stuffed in in small bag. I un-stitched, pressed and cut sets already.
Christmas Chevron Table runner - cut, piece and quilt it.

Finish the remaining 4" pastel and bright basket blocks. I believe 100 sets were cut out several years ago. 40 are already finished, and the rest are in sets, with the basket handles already stitched down.

Friday Finishes

Small finishes this week - the second of two crochet charity scarves, several sets of quilt row pins, and four linen dish towels. After looking for reasonably-priced nice dish towels, some pretty linen/cotton blend at Fabric Depot caught my eye and I waited for a sale. The first towel convinced me that marking the mitre at the corners was worth the effort, and the next three were much quicker.

Thinking my new hem guide would keep me from burning my fingers, I found it was too small to be useful. My trusty Dritz metallic hem guide was more practical, and with the steam off made the first press, then pressed again with steam and without the guide for a crisp edge.

The quilt row pins were inspired by a photo on Pinterest. I tracked down reasonably priced floral pins at JoAnn's, and found number beads online. I did not pay attention to the fact that the "numbers" page did not include any zeros (they were on the "alphabet" page), and had to make a second order to be able to make a "ten" pin. It helped that both the pins and beads were discounted too. To fill out the order I have more snowflake frames.

The first few sets were fun, the next few not quite as much. I've learned to use a heavy hand with the glue, and check each pin before putting the sets into packages. Haven't used mine yet and gave a few sets away, so will see how successful they are. The beads came in varying quantities and I will make as many sets as I can. My other row markers are small squares of felt with machine embroidered numbers on them.

My goal this weekend is to make a list for the 2016 Finish-A-Long hosted by Debbie at A Quilter's Table and other bloggers. After looking at several other quilter's lists, I really like the idea of just focusing on goals for the first quarter of 2016, rather than listing all of my UFO's and PIM's.

Year End Finishes and Charity Sew-In

New Year's Eve found me finishing up two quilts, both with purple bindings.

Top before quilting

The largest was a queen Trip Around the World variation for my nephew and his wife. The design started with Bonnie Hunter's "Many Trips" block, and morphed into two simple blocks, and then just sewing it row by row instead of blocks.

It consists of 961 4" squares. I laid out all the blocks on my long studio table plus an ironing board, stacked each row up with a row label (31 rows each with 31 squares).  After stitching each row I checked each  against the printout and was pleased not to have any mistakes. 

All batiks for the top, all from my stash. The backing was also from my stash.  Finished size is 108" x 108".  Almost 20 yards of fabric used in this quilt!

Close up after quilting

 

The second finish was a One Block Wonder quilt. I had been gifted the fabric, and wasn't sure how to use it. I started looking at layouts on Pinterest and liked the swirling types of designs. This is a 60" x 60" quilt made from 3 yards of fabric. With more yardage a stronger spiraling design could have been achieved. My alignment of the repeats is off a bit, though the designs are small so there still is a somewhat symmetrical effect. It was fun to make and I have purchased a large floral design in blues and greens for another design.



 


Fabric before cutting



Finished Top
 

 

Close-up of quilting

Quilting was in the ditch and parallel to each side of the triangles, basted on the longarm and quilted on a Janome sewing machine. My walking foot guide wasn't quite wide enough to get to the center. The backing was a piece of fabric given to me by the same person.

Yesterday I attended my local group's Charity Sew-In, and I mostly worked on finishing up some of my charity projects. The binding for this little charity quilt was done by machine (also purple!), several burp cloths were finished, and a backing pieced for the 16-patch colorblock quilt the group had assembled at our last sew-in. I also worked on assembling blocks into rows for a 16-patch and Hourglass quilt.

Little Labels Charity Quilt

Christmas Series

I rarely make the same quilt more than once, especially not one after another. Making my first Bento Box quilt was so much fun that it inspired me to make two more.

Bento I is completely scrappy, using all different scales of prints, and the placement of values was not even a consideration. This quilt is going to get used and loved by the family. It uses 2.5" strips and  measures 48" x 60". Quilting is a snowflake pattern. It was sized to fit the backing fabric, a green flannel snowman print, and binding is a red and white diagonal stripe.

The second quilt is Baby Bento, made with small scale prints for my neighbor's baby A. It uses 2" strips and measures 35" x 35". I chose to limit the white prints to the center or middle rows. Quilting is a spiral done about 1/2" apart. Small quilts are my "learning" quilts, this was the second spiral quilting I've done. Next time I will try basting spray. Backing is a vintage snowman print, and binding is a sparkle red fabric. If I ever buy sparkle fabric again it will get washed several times before use.

 

Bento II is for baby A's parents. It is the same size as Bento I, 48" x 60", again with 2.5" strips and uses creams for the lightest fabrics, and the same placement of lights as in the baby version, although the block rotation is different. Quilting is a snowflake pattern, backing is the same vintage snowman print, and binding is a red and green wreath print (when you find 316" inches pre-cut in the drawer...)

 

 

Vintage snowman backing

 

 

 

Charity Sew-In and List Updates

Last Saturday my local quit group had a Charity Sew-in at our Senior Center. Several projects were worked on - one quilter who is working on downsizing her stash cut out 35 pillowcases. I was very motivated to get through some of my larger charity quilts, and pushed myself to finish sewing the blocks for the Brown/Tan charity quilt, School's Out pattern. One member really likes to iron, and as ironing is very hard on my hands, I brought the blocks ready for her. M. was working on laying out quilts, and I asked her if she would mind laying out these blocks. She was taken with it, and went ahead and sewed all the blocks together. I quilted the quilt today and hope to get the binding on over the weekend. The size is 85.5" x 74", fabrics mainly from a FQ collection purchased many years ago.  42 12" blocks.

The other two projects that I cut out and had ready to sew were the Pink/Tan Charity Quilt, cut as a disappearing 9-patch, and the FQ Prize Quilt - cut as a 9-patch with a large center. The Pink/Tan fabrics had come together as a collection when I was searching the stash for other fabric. A large piece of gifted fabric was enough for a twin backing, so that was my size goal. The pieces were cut as 5" squares with the center square for each block the darkest red, as that make s a nice accent when it is cut. As the 9-patches went together and were pressed, I did all the cutting to keep the size consistent. Four of us completed all the blocks at the retreat, and J. was kind enough to bring them home and sewed the top together. She dropped it off this week, and it's waiting for borders and quilting.

The FQ Prize Quilt was cut from a fabric bundle that I won from QNM. Most of the pieces were fat quarters; some smaller, and some had pieces cut out of them. As I pressed the fabrics I sorted by size, and cut from those groups, cutting 5" squares, 5" x 2.5" strips and 2.5" squares. It's harder for me to work with fabrics that were not chosen by me, and these were not my colors - chocolate brown, orange, green, and a few random things. A couple of small pieces that were too different in style and a light blue that didn't go with anything were set aside. Three of us worked on these blocks and K. offered to bring them home to work on.

And feeling good about using up some of these older fabrics...I won another set of fat quarters from a blog drawing last week! They are Christmas colors but not Christmas prints.

And the other finish - Summer in the Park. This started with 3 yards of Kona that I thought would be grey, but read as a taupe and didn't play well with blue fabrics. Size is 87" x 71". I watched the video on Missouri Star Quilts and then found a blog called England Street Quilts with good information about making a larger version quilt, as I wanted to make it a bed-sized quilt rather than a lap-sized. I do not use starch, and had to be careful assembling these blocks as the edges are all bias. Seams were pressed open.

Second Guessing

Many of my projects are from scratch – based on an idea, but without step by step instructions. This can be both freeing and daunting. What if I make the wrong choices? The article in the June/July 2014 issue of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine about Fidget Quilts for Alzheimer’s patients, stuck a chord, as my MIL is suffering from the disease. The follow up issue of QNM had some feedback from quilters who had followed the guidelines of the original article, and their mats had been rejected by caregivers. Small items such as keys or buttons could be chewed or pulled off . Before starting my mat, I contacted the head of the facility where my MIL is and asked about these concerns, and whether they would be interested in a fidget mat. The feedback was “yes please, red and pink are favorite colors of several of the residents, and a size of 1 ft. by 3 ft. would work well on their dining table.”

Having a color scheme and size helped me choose fabrics and designs. I began to over think the design, and finally took a step back and chose to keep it simple. After looking for squeaker inserts (now only available as dog chew replacements – not baby craft items), I decided to focus on textures. Red velour made nice hearts; white plush fur became kitty faces. A piece of wide satin pink ribbon made triangles to give windmill blocks some dimension. Continuous zippers made circles that open to a small cat print hidden inside. Floppy petals on flowers give movement. A simple pocket can be explored. Each side of the mat has six blocks and they repeat, both horizontally and vertically, so each end or each side have six unique blocks. Feedback has been positive.