...that I could let the birthday of my country go by without making something more in Red/White/Blue? Seriously now, how long have you been following along? I am a sucker for patriotic themes. There was this post, then this one, and this one, and ...well, you get the idea. I can't resist the red, white, and blue.
So this is what happened in the all-too-rare sewing time I grabbed yesterday. These are table toppers based on the pattern below, which was in my recent swap package with Randy. These won't get quilted in time, but they may just grace a tabletop for now anyway.
The colors in the photo on the pattern didn't grab me, but I knew I was free to take it where I chose--and I chose red/white/blue. Anyway, who can resist a pattern named "Box of Chocolate"?
There could be a lot of wasted fabric in this pattern. You construct it by making strip sets and then cut out the wedges with a 60 degree ruler.
Look at those leftover triangles on the sides. Something had to be done with those. So something was.
You can click to enlarge the photo and see how things were lined up to trim down the waste. All of my seams were pressed open, so it didn't matter which half I matched with what.
Stitch two of the newly trimmed triangles together and proceed to create another table topper from your scraps. It just reverses the fabric order. It will be almost as large as the original. I think my "scrap" topper is less than 1 1/2" smaller in diameter than the original. A nice save, I'd say. In the photo at the top, the one on the left is the original, and the one on the right is the "scraps".
I was stitching the details on at the reunion, but the Buttermilk Basin wall hanging was finished in time for the auction. Here it is hanging al fresco, awaiting its turn up for bid. My older sister bought it.
It calls for buttons in the sunflower centers, but when I laid them out, it made this look like a button sample card, so I opted for randomly placed Colonial Knots, instead. When I was choosing the binding, I was going through my plaid shirt stash trying to find something in red/white/blue that would work cut on the bias. Everything that matched was too large a scale for this little piece. Then I recalled that DH had just donated a shirt to my stash, and I had just washed it. I found it in the laundry and it was just what I wanted.
Have I mentioned before that I am a lazy quilter (I believe I have)? And do you know what this lazy quilter doesn't enjoy about quilting small wool pieces? ALL of the thread color changes!! It is not just rethreading the quilting machine--it is the tension check required after each change of thread color, brand, and weight. Nine different colors and three weights and brands were used in quilting this, and sometimes I would finish with a color, move on to the next one, and then see that I had missed a place with the previous color. Arrgh!
But I persevered and got it finished. Here you can see the back before buttons were attached and knots stitched. Other than the quilting, it was a pretty fun piece to stitch.
My sewing room has turned into a disaster area, so before it requires federal funding, I decided to do a little cleaning here and there. I have had to dig into the shirt stash a time or two lately--and always when I am in a hurry, so rather than being tucked away afterward, shirts were strewn all around the room. I was stepping over them to get anywhere. Last night, on another steroid induced sleepless night, I tore the shirts out of the closet and let the fun begin. I should have done the before/after photo thing, but I never think of it until after. This may not look very neat, but believe me, this is organized!! Shirts that have been deconstructed are in baskets by color or project, or there is that one neat shelf of folded blue deconstructed shirts. Most of my shirts are still intact, and I hack on arm or front panel off when I need the fabric. But I have found that I can squash more shirts into a cubby when they are rolled, so that is what I do. I don't have enough cubby space, so the purple shirts are down to the right side and there are some low level piles on the floor. Hopefully I can get more shirts taken apart and free up more space. I don't like having the floor piled up, but this is so much better than it was. I tossed a large box of shirts that I realized were just not great fabrics to work with, even though they are 100% cotton.
Up on a high shelf in the same closet I have a couple more piles. These are mostly teals and pastel stripes. I'll have to get the step stool to get to them, but it isn't that hard. It feels so good to have that done.
And while cleaning, I came across a bag of really small Kim Diehl fabric scraps, so now there is another one of these in the works.
Have another small quilt swap coming up. Just trying to decide how to quilt it. Oh, how did this post get so long? I didn't think I had that much to say. I'll be quiet now. Until next time, Janet O.
Haven't done much stitching--sprained my wrist a week and a half ago and couldn't use the rotary cutter until yesterday. Hand stitching was also painful, but I started doing that anyway a couple of days ago. The family reunion is Saturday, and this wall hanging must be finished for the auction!
Now I am at the "how am I going to quilt this?" stage--a decision I always find challenging. I did pick up thread today that I think goes fairly well with the background. My intention had been to hand quilt the background and do some machine quilting on the wool, but that decision was made for me when I slipped on the wet grass of our berm, wearing my "no traction" garden clogs and caught myself as I went down, with my wrist. One of my finer moments. Now it will all be by machine! But since I do have osteoporosis, I am just grateful it was only a sprain!
And then there is the mini Dresden quilt. The center circles are not stitched down (and they are NOT perfect, even though they are closer to perfect after using Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles than they ever would have been without).
I can't decide if the circles need to be a consistent color, but I couldn't find a color that contrasted with all of the Dresdens and yet fit in. I also don't know whether to bind the quilt in the purple you see on the side, or border it with it, and choose something else for binding. I'm leaning toward bordering it, but then I need to come up with a binding.
The little basket quilt made from leftovers of one of Mom's quilts, and part of Dad's favorite blue plaid shirt now needs a border. It has been hanging on my design wall for a couple of weeks like this, and I believe I prefer the fabric on the right.
It is a little calmer than the one on the left, and it is such a busy, scrappy thing that I think "calmer" will be good. I plan to bind it with a blue, if I can find one I like with it. Haven't yet.
DD#2 had a getaway with her hubby to Hawaii recently. She brought me these fun goodies (along with some delicious gluten free coconut macaroons--which are no longer around for a photo). The decorative box is made with woven orchid stems, which is so fitting, since I have half a dozen orchid plants. It will provide pretty storage for my empty quilting machine bobbins. I am going to put my collection of the row by row plates up along the top of my sewing room wall, kind of like a wallpaper border. So fun to have one from Hawaii! My only decision here is how I can best show off the pretty batik print, but I have some ideas.
My thanks to those of you that have added my brother to your prayers. He is still in the hospital. This is his third stay this month, and he has already spent 15 days there, most of them in ICU. He has had two heart procedures, and has struggled with infections and a flare up of another condition that troubles him. Hopefully tomorrow will find him out of ICU! DH and I celebrated our 39th anniversary this week by taking my Mom to the hospital 90 miles away to see him. It would have been Dad and Mom's 65th anniversary on the same day, if Dad hadn't graduated in December. But it was a good day. We were glad we spent it as we did. Until next time, Janet O.
Look at this beauty. I love those little baskets. This is Barb's half of our swap, and it arrived at my home Wednesday. Sorry I have been slow to get it posted.
It is beautifully hand quilted, too. If you followBarb(and if you don't, you should), you know Baptist Fans are her signature quilting pattern. I am so honored to have this in my home!
Not too long ago I won a giveaway on Barb's blog, so I know she does a package up right. This is what I found when I opened the box in which this quilt was sent. The quilt was wrapped up in that wonderful beehive/bee fabric (I do live in the beehive state). The pink bag contained this yummy treat from Barb's recent trip to the South.
The yellow tissue paper enclosed this great selection of CW charms.
And finally, there was this panel of vintage-style designs to use in friendship/signature quilts.
But there was a scary side to this swap. I sent my quilt to Barb on Tuesday of last week, and she had it by Thursday. Barb sent this to me on Wednesday of last week--we both used Priority Mail, but as of Monday of this week I had still not received her package. After being held hostage by the USPS for six days, when the little quilt was released, it could not seem to relax and lay flat. What I do when this occurs is just lay the quilt on a flat, waterproof surface (like a kitchen counter), and give it a spraying of water--but don't soak it. This will relax the fibers and then as it dries, it tightens back up just a bit and lays nice and flat. Thank you, Barb, for a most delightful and "Fun with Barb" swap!
Just want to share one other "little" thing. I've had a clip on a stand for a little while now, for displaying mini quilts. It comes in two sizes, and I had considered buying the smaller size to use for smaller quilts, but never actually did it. Just last week, while spending way too much money in a bookstore, I found this in their gift section--on clearance, at half price! How long do you think I had to ponder that purchase? It is even smaller than the one I didn't buy at the quilt shop. Here is the new one holding a 4" quilt.
I am having way too much fun with these little Dresdens. I had said I could see a little Dresden quilt in my future--welcome to the future. I can't stay away from them! The plates are just pinned to the blocks, awaiting my half-hearted applique efforts.
I had some "Wild Orchid" yardage and thought it might make sweet little Dresdens, but decided I wanted more variety. Luckily, a LQS had some mini charm packs and I was able to get two "plates" cut from each mini charm. Just playing with possibilities here. I'm pretty sure I want to use that plaid for sashing. I haven't used any of the black fabrics, and was wondering if it would be too glaring to use it as the cornerstones and Dresden centers. What do you think? Speaking of the centers, when I posted about my fear of appliqueing the circles, and chickening out and using wool, Sue mentioned that I might want to give these a try. So I ordered them, and will attempt "real" appliqued centers on this mini quilt. Thanks, Sue--I think. : ) (I'll let you know for sure after trying them.)
Had another swap in May. This is what I sent to Barb. I actually didn't start out making it for her--just making it to make it. But as I worked on it, I kept feeling like it belonged at her house--if you follow Barb's blog, you know why. I named this one "Honoring Abraham".
It looked really good at my house, but it will look even better at Barb's. I haven't received her little quilt yet, but when it arrives (we think it is taking the Priority Mail scenic route across the country), you know you will see it here!
I was behind on the little ornaments I am making from Dad's favorite blue plaid shirts. I missed the May birthdays of my oldest sister and DD#2. Got all 4 ornaments made and delivered this week, but only remembered to get a photo of these two.
For this year's family reunion auction I decided I would make this Buttermilk Basin free pattern, Spirit of America, from the Henry Glass website. I linked to this and a little pieced quilt pattern in my last post. (My friend, Gayle, has already pieced the other little design--you can see it here.I love it. She used one of my favorite color combos!)
Haven't started stitching this down yet, but it is all fused. The buttons are not attached. This was their audition moment. Real Life Update (I don't usually do this, I know). Today I spent 5 hours in my gardens, and my body is talking to me! The gardens were such a mess! Due to the shoulder issues I had all last year, they have been sorely neglected, and now I am paying for it. I should have taken "before" and "after" photos. I can hardly believe the difference. And I still have the largest bed to clean up and plant, but it will have to wait until next week sometime--preferably on a day that isn't in the 90s! May has been quite a medical month in my family. I've been on another course of steroids, for hearing loss again. My sister and I have been going to physical therapy together (for different body parts), my Mom had a mini stroke, and my brother was admitted to the ICU for heart issues. He will be getting a pacemaker next week. I am hoping June is a little kinder! Until next time, Janet O.
