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.

Coming to the end of the line.

In mid-January I decided to see what was left of my little flimsies. I have made major progress on these little quilts starting about Fall of 2015. Then I made 2016 the year of finishing the minis, and a whole lot more were completed. So this was all that awaited stitching from my mini pile (we aren't talking about the big quilts hanging around the house somewhere--just step away from the closet).

You have already seen three of these finished up in the past couple of months.

Here is a fourth.

 

Quilting was kept very simple and very free hand, except for the wavy line around the outer border. I did mark that.




Now I have two more basted and ready to go. The Buttermilk Basin pumpkin banner is leftover from a batch of basting last year. I just noticed that all three of these involve wool applique, and they represent 3 of my favorite designers--Kim Diehl, Lisa Bongean, and Stacy West.

The top quilt will be a mix of hand and machine quilting. I have made this before and I completely hand quilted the first one. Don't feel a need to do it to this one. I will machine quilt the other two.



And I also finished off the little Buttermilk Basin Noel pillow from a kit I picked up at the workshop with Miss Stacy last year.
You can see it there at the bottom of my little sewing room tree, which proudly displays ornaments all year, made by friends and family (including me).






So these are what I still need to get basted and ready to quilt. Once I get to that stage, they usually move along pretty well (with the exception of the pumpkin banner seen above).   

One of these days I have to gather my courage and actually decide how to finish those two bitty ones at the bottom.



Julierose, you will be receiving the Primitive Gatherings "Be the Good" pattern from my last post. Please send me your snail mail so I can get it on its way.

Until next time,
Janet O.

I wanted to share last night's reflection of the sunset in the West onto the snowy mountains in the East. Wish I had been able  to avoid the telephone lines in the photo. This was taken from my kitchen window, and by the time I could have run downstairs, outside, and down the road to see past the tree on the right, the moment of wonder would have passed.