Marvelous Mini Flimsy and some sundry things

I have stolen sewing moments here and there and put together my Temecula Marvelous Mini Monday SAL blocks. I made my own setting, as you will recognize if you follow Temecula's blog. I really like the blocks on point.

I had to make 2 extra of the "easy block", one extra sampler block(I made a friendship star), and another one of those supposed-to-be-36-patches-but-mine-are-49-patches blocks. I toyed with bordering it, but so far it will stay as shown. 

While in the sewing room, I also finally finished stitching the two blocks that I had partially assembled in my Midnight Flight class with Bonnie Hunter a couple of months ago.

I am liking these blocks more than I thought I would, but there are so many ways they can go wrong, and I have tried a few of them already.
This layout takes more brain power than I possess at the odd hours I usually find time to sew. I hope I can eventually at least make a lap quilt or throw from this pattern.

This is a Buttermilk Basin Banner that I started quilting near the end of last year. Then Dad passed away and this hasn't seen the light of day until this week. Seemed to be the right time of year to finish it off.
Finally sewed the machine side of the binding on. It is pinned to the other side awaiting some hand stitching time. That is why the edges look wavy, and the corners appear to be curling in on themselves.
 

















You can see the quilting best on the left. What do you quilt on a pumpkin banner border? Pumpkin seeds, of course!

You may recall the little quiltlets I made for my daughters from the leftover bits of my Mom's last quilt. (you can see her quilt in this post.) Mom had named it her Happy Quilt.

After the difficult summer my brother has had, with three heart procedures, I figured he could use some "happy".

I am out of the yellow fabric that formed the setting triangles, but I can make the center section using bits that were still left after I also made a quiltlet for me last year. So this will be handwork to keep me busy for a little while.


When I get the hexie flower finished and appliqued, I will audition other fabrics from the quilt to see if  something else works to set it on point, or if it will stay a small, straight-set square. Then I will hand quilt it, as I did the others.



My prayers are with those who have been devastated by storms in the south, or are anticipating them, as well as those dealing with the fires in the west.
We are looking forward to the arrival of DD#1 and her daughter tomorrow, as they escape the smoky Pacific Northwest. We are smoky, too, but not quite as bad.  Angie and Maggie will be here the rest of the month, so I may be playing more than I am blogging. But I will be back. :)
Until then,
Janet O.

Love Thy Neighbor

In her latest post, Maureen (pursuit of quilts blog) suggested that in light of recent events, she felt compelled to make a quilt using some house blocks that were under construction at her place to create a quilt with the theme "Love Thy Neighbor".  She invited any and all to join her.
Just so happens that I had some little house blocks awaiting placement in a mini quilt I had planned. Well, plans change. This is what I am doing with them.

The blocks finish at 2 3/4", so this won't be terribly big, but I think it gets the point across. I will border it with something, and I think that will take it a little beyond 12" square.
But can you see that I ran out of sashing fabric? That soft green is a Paula Barnes fabric. I was working from what I thought was a generous scrap that would do the job, but the last bits just were not large enough. Even if I piece them I will only make about half the sashings I still need. No other green blends with the greens in this quilt well enough, and I do want the green all the way around the outer edge. An internet search came up empty.

Anyone have any of this fabric I can buy? I really only need 1" WOF, or 2" from the longer edge of a FQ, but I'd love to buy yardage if anyone has some they are willing to sell. I do love this soft green.








I used the heart block that was in the Temecula "Box of Chocolates" mini, shown here. But I had to redraft the block so that it finished at 2 3/4", and I wanted the hearts to float just a bit. I think it will work when I have it all sewn together. 

And speaking of Temecula, they didn't post a finish for their Marvelous Mini Monday SAL this week, as many of you know. Just another block. And now I am more curious than ever about how the blocks will fit together. How do 19 blocks play well together? And 10 of them are sampler blocks--the newest rests in my hand.

I had several tell me they couldn't find the error in my Midnight Flight block, so here you go. See the black triangles in the red circle? See how they point away from the purple, and all the other ones point toward it?


Here is the corrected version.

Much better! 
It is a tricky block to lay out.  I am glad I am only doing a throw size. :)

You often see mountain views on my blog, but lately I haven't really been posting them. So here is one for you. 

This was the view over the weekend when a fire erupted on the other side of the mountain. As we sat out on our deck with a grandson Sunday evening there was a light ash falling from the sky. Not the view I prefer, but interesting, nonetheless.

Almost forgot--in trying to come up with another snip of that green Paula Barnes fabric, I sorted through my scrap basket. My scrap basket is small, as scrap baskets go, but I have decided it is time to replenish it with new stock. From time to time, when kind bloggers share their scraps with me, I set them aside until I decide to purge my basket. It is time. So if you are interested in a pouch full of this, let me know. Keep in mind that I have mostly been making mini quilts, so the scraps are not large--and these are all CW repros in this basket.

Finally--are you chasing the eclipse, or do you live in its path? We are set for a wild adventure trying to brave traffic jams and crowds to see it in its totality. I'll let you know if we even make it. :)

Don't forget--do you have the green fabric, and are you interested in the scraps? Thanks!
Janet O.