Squirrel Quilt

I love scrappy quilts, and when Bonnie Hunter started posting her scrappy Courthouse Steps, it looked like an inevitable project for me. The never-empty box of blue/green scraps had been sitting on my sewing table, so I decided to make a small version from the box. I cut 36 center squares, half of a dark aqua and half from a green/yellow lemons batik. The blocks were trimmed at 8" square, so the finished quilt came out at just over 45" square. That meant the backing was scrappy too, since it was wider than quilting fabric. Quilting is slightly wonky, freehand grids 3/4" - 1" apart.

Wonky Courthouse, 45.5" square, grid quilting

The other finished charity quilt is the Big Plus, made with three 1-yd cuts of fabric. I drew it up in EQ and calculated three cut sizes, rather than just cutting squares. Cutting 5" strips, then sub-cutting 5" squares, 9.5" strips and 14" strips. I'll probably make this again, perhaps sized as a twin.

Big Plus, 63.5" x 53", quilted with Bumpity

Two More Quilts

Blue Squares Charity, 89” x 64.5”

I really like how this simple, just blue squares quilt turned out. Rather than make a light/dark checkerboard, the various values were laid out on the design wall in diagonal strings. It was a fun way to design.  Some colors in the photo came out very grey though all were blue or blue/cream.  Quilted with Leaf Carpet.

Blue-Green Offset Strings 90” x 67”

The orca print batiks were scraps from a friend's quilt (as were most of the batiks and backing in this  quilt.) I am so pleased with the finished quilt that it will now live on my guest bed. The Civil War reproduction quilt that had been on the bed is in good enough shape to move on to a new home. Quilted with freehand wavy lines across the width of quilt.

The blue/green batik tub mysteriously still has enough fabric for another quilt.

Finishes and Starts

Quilting - I'm starting on quilt #13 on the longarm. Still having some tension issues with thread, usually when I change weights. Here are some of the finished quilts:

Half-Rectangles 46" x 37.5"

Blue Strips for Justina 87" square

Double Trouble 60.5" x 49.5" Class Quilt

Rose's Quilt 76.5" x 60.5", charity

Charms Plus 80.5" x 67", charity

Purple Gingham 55" x 55", charity

Roses & Rails, 78" x 66", charity

Piecing - I've been cutting pieces for several quilts from a box of blue/aqua/green scraps, and as I kept pulling in new pieces to the mix, the box is never empty! As I cut, the pieces were sorted by size Most of the tops are twin sized, the size requested for two of the charities I quilt for.

First pull - Plaid-ish from Kitchen Table Quilting, a free pattern. It's squares and strips, and needed all values, so some darker prints found a home, and some purples were brought in. This will be a twin. All pieces cut and ready to sew. 

2nd pull - a bright lime paisley and a lime/blue batik were cut 6.5" for center squares, and strips cut for 3" finished Thangles, 8 per block. This will also be a twin, so 84 Thangle strips have been stitched, trimmed and pressed into 336 sub-units. There are some matched sets and some mixed colors in the half-square triangles. Cornerstones are scrappy. This will be a twin and it's ready to sew.

3rd pull - "bricks" cut 3" x 5.5", only six per block to make a rectangular block, medium to dark values. I played with the design in EQ8 as a column quilt, every other column is rotated. This will be a twin. 420 pieces cut and ready to sew.

4th pull - smaller "bricks" cut 2.5" x 4.5", eight per block for an 8" finished square. This quilt has some lighter values. Still cutting through the leftovers, size of quilt TBD.

5th pile - all the scraps too small for the specific sizes, including strings, gathering in the box for a future scrap quilt (or two.)

Knitting - cast on a new sweater, Gridlines by Susanne Sommar. It's an interesting construction, knit side-to-side starting at the center front. It has many options for length, neckline, and sleeve length. I'm using Svale by Dale Garn, cotton/rayon/silk blend, a light green DK weight.

Quilting Along

Quilt #2 - Baby Rails, scraps of 30's reproductions. Will keep on hand as a gift quilt. Quilted with Snapdragons  47.5" x 36"

Quilt #3 - Big Chickens, quilted with a new design drawn up in EQ8. I had previously designed a pattern that reminded me of chicken wire, but it went with the old machine. I like this design there are fewer passes. 60" x 55"

Quilt #4 - Lap Boxes, leftovers from a twin quilt. Quilted with Tracks.  60" x 51.5"

Quilt #5 (Purple Half-Rectangles) is quilted and needs binding, and #6 (Seahawks Charity Lap) is next to load. I'm branching out on threads, having initially worked with a cotton-wrapped poly on top and used some of the poly pre-wound bobbins that came with the machine. Poly or poly-blend threads are great for charity quilts, giving them a bit more strength. 

First Finish

The first finished quilt on the new longarm is bound, photographed and folded into the cupboard to be a gift quilt. Both the top and back are flannel - unusual for me. The top has large pieces so it's not too lumpy. The quilting pattern is Fleur dy Lys, the pantograph that came with the machine. It is  leafy without being leaves and was a good scale.

Flannel Baby, 55" x 36.5"

I've quilted two other quilts that need binding before being photographed. The garage is slowly being emptied out, books, fabric, tools etc. The sewing room in the house (2nd bedroom) is fairly stuffed, and there will probably be tubs of fabric under our bed before the garage has room for the truck.

Studio Update

Design wall in empty studio

 It was easier to use the design wall when the studio was almost empty!

Design wall in studio currently

It still works now, I just have to move to both sides of the machine and really take a good look. And then come back the next day and see what was missed.
Scrappy Batiks close-up

This was started from a group of orca print batiks that I was gifted, and my goal was to use large pieces. The blocks finish at 11", and because of the side strips it allowed me to cut four pieces from full WOF pieces. 

Chickens

Chickens Top, 60" x 55"

Plaid Chickens top, from a new pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. A glue stick was helpful instead of pinning the very small (1") pieces, and I also had to analyze best pressing options during assembly as they were not provided. I made labels for the pieces, as they were referenced both by size and by letter - and with two different blocks there was a lack of clarity.

The backing is pieced from a second set of matching fat quarters, maker unknown.

My new quilt studio is coming along. The floor went in last week, and this week the inside window trim is in progress. Left to come on the construction: a gutter and a doorknob. The first thing inside will be an 8' x 8' (96" square) design wall, attached to the wall. Previously I had a 4' x 8' wall (the board is being recycled here) and two 4' x 6' loose boards in my studio. Both were awkward to use as one was behind an ironing board and the movable boards were repositioned for access quite frequently.