June's Monthly Mini and Chooky's Churn Dash SAL

If I hadn't been dealing with COVID this week, I might have had this finished and posted on time. Here is my June Monthly Mini,  joining the other Miniacs with Wendy, The Constant Quilter. Check them out!

Back in April I made the center of this from leftovers of my version of Gay Bomers' Heartfelt pattern. I  couldn't decide--border, or no border? Since then I had given up on a border and had even cut the batting and was trying to choose what to use for backing. That was when I happened across the floral print stripe on a visit to Village Dry Goods. It is a Nancy Gere design, and I just had to have some, but I didn't have anything in mind for it. Back at home, as I looked at the quilt top, and then at the striped print, it just seemed to click--they belonged together. The leftover purple strips I used to border the stripe were not long enough to enable me to attempt mitered corners (not sure I'm sad about that--haven't done one of those in so long). So I used some leftover 9-patches, and surrounded them with a dark purple leftover, and trimmed the blocks to fill the corners. Then I machine quilted the whole thing, and squirted it well with water and let it air dry to give it more of a crinkled, vintage look.

The colors in the quilt seemed to be in harmony with the floribunda roses currently blooming in my garden. That is a purple rose in the center of the bouquet, but when it is in bud, it looks more red.

Aside from being late to post my monthly mini, I am also late on my monthly check-in for Chooky's Churn Dash SAL. I have not yet decided how many blocks I will have in my quilt, or how they will be set. I also have no idea how many "Double" blocks I will include. But I have 50 blocks cut--just in case. And 16 of those blocks are made, and shown below.

I have always loved Churn Dash quilts and have made several--but nothing larger than a baby quilt. So I am excited to make one large enough to cover a bed. 

It was fun to catch a bit of a Zoom with Chooky today. Just what I needed after a week of isolation. Always fascinating to see what we end up discussing, besides quilting, of course.

Sunsets lately have often been stunning. I'll leave you with one over the farmyard.

Until next time, be creative, and be kind.

Janet O.

A Belated Monthly Mini

I'm just going to pretend it isn't July yet, and post this as my June Monthly Mini, linking up with Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog.

This was Pam Buda's recent "Quilt Archeology" project and she called it Abigail's Doll Quilt.  It is based on an old doll quilt that she believes is a "cutter" from a larger quilt. It is originally a two color quilt. I bought the kit she offered on her website, and I planned to follow the two color theme, but you know me and two color quilts--love the look, but really struggle to make them myself. So, of course, I didn't.

 

 

 

This photo lets you see the quilting better. It is SITD around the triangles, and part of a cable pattern in the sashing. 

The backing is a piece that has been in the stash for a while.

 

The binding got stitched down while Zooming with Chooky and friends--such a fun time. I was on for a few hours in the afternoon, and joined up again for a couple of hours in the night. When you have a tedious step in a project that you have been putting off, this is a great time to do it. You listen, chat and laugh and before you know it, the task is completed and you didn't even notice how tedious it was.

My iPad only shows 9 people per page, but there were sometimes 20 of us on at a time, from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, USA--and probably more, but those are the ones I can recall from my time with them.

I've had the opportunity to Zoom with a couple of other blog friends this past month and I have to say, it's the next best thing to being there! Thank you, ladies, for your willingness to visit.

Yesterday I made a quick stop in an antique mall and looked through their vintage quilts.  This particular mall is crammed full and all of the aisles are narrow. There was nowhere to unfold the quilts. One in particular really caught my eye. I just took down the hanger and draped it over a pile of rugs. This is it.

 

Look at the dense quilting--the stitches are small and uniform.

Does anyone feel confidant in giving a time frame as to when they think this might have been made? I could find no label or signature/date in my effort to get a good look without being able to unfold it. 

Check out the beautiful Baptist Fans quilted to create a border around the outside edge.                                   

 

And the photo below shows the only stain I could find, without being able to open up the whole quilt. I am really tempted to go back and get this quilt. I keep telling myself I don't want to be a collector. But maybe it is too late for that kind of self talk. :)

 

Wishing my friends in the USA a wonderful Independence Day celebration this weekend, and I hope my Canadian friends had a lovely Canada Day--even if it was on lock down.

Be unexpectedly kind to someone today--they probably need it, whether you know it or not.

Until next time,

Janet O.

Oh, I meant to say that I got the follow.it widget all worked out, with help from their team. If you have been a follower via email, this post should still come through to your email. Please let me know if this is working for you.

 

JUNE monthly mini, etc.

I did have this almost finished in June, but the binding didn't happen until July. But here you have it. Linking with Wendy (theconstantquilter blog) for our monthly minis. Thanks for keeping us motivated, Wendy.

This is a very simple, straightforward little piece. Ten inches square with 4-patches finishing at 1". I had a bunch of little bits of red and blue binding pieces left by one of my machines over time, and there were many little red and blue strips in my scrap basket. I had been using these as leader/enders for a while, creating little 4-patch blocks. The muslin squares are from the backs cut out of the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks after I appliqued them onto the muslin background. Everything came from one scrap basket or another. I usually make a patriotic mini in June for our family reunion auction, but that was canceled due to Covid19. I guess old habits die hard.

The quilting on this is all straight line done on my domestic machine. I thought about quilting something in the white, but opted to leave them empty and just quilt around the 4-patches and the borders.

We went camping for a few days last month and I took along the project-that-never-ends, otherwise known as Stars in the Garden, from a back issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects.

Who knows, it may get done in my lifetime yet. I think when I get the two center flowers finished I might start assembling what I have so far in order to keep me feeling motivated. That feeling comes and goes every year or two.

We celebrated our 42nd anniversary in June. Since we can't do many of our usual celebratory options, we visited a nearby migratory bird refuge and then got milkshakes. I wish I had taken my real camera. The photos I captured on my phone don't do justice to what we saw, but this was one of my favorites.

Back in April I dipped my toe into the mask-making pool (after having said I wasn't going to make masks), and at one point I thought I was done with it. But as our area has had a surge of new cases, I have made more than I ever thought I would. Have sewn and distributed 190 masks to date, and have orders for about 10 more at present. I don't charge for them, but when people find out I am making them I get inquiries.

This is what is currently in the works, with another pile of fabrics ready to be cut.

I think the color and pattern of fabric people choose tells me something about their personality. It is interesting.

My quilting and blogging time always decreases when there is yard work to be done. Add to that Mom's needs and mask making, and I have really been lax with the blog. May not be changing soon, but I will do my best to keep in touch.

Until next time,

Keep your hands clean and your face covered,

Janet O.