Progress on several fronts

Aside from my Mom improving (which is the best progress of all), I have actually gained ground on a few projects. It has only taken me two weeks to have something to post, but it is progress.

This is what became of the homespun HSTs I was using as leader/enders in my last post. This is a design (or a variation of it) that I have seen on a few blogs, and on Pinterest. My HSTs finish at 1".

I don't think I will use homespun in a mini again. The seam intersections are too bulky with the heavier weave, and it made this top go wonky in several places. But I love the look of the plaids.

In trying to trace the source of this pattern, the earliest reference I could find was on 
quiltsalott.blogspot.com. It was a gift to Janet from Kathie Holland (formerly of Inspired By Antique Quilts blog). Janet received it from Kathie in November of 2011.


Ruth (country log cabin blog) copied 
Kathie's soon after she had posted it.










Kathie posted another one (below, left), unquilted, in Oct. of 2014.

















Then earlier this year Marian Edwards (marianedwards.dreamweaver.typepad.com) made the one on the right, above, for Lori's mini quilt swap. She posted hers in May. I asked Marian where she found the pattern, and she said she got the design somewhere on Pinterest.

If anyone knows the original source of this little quilt design, I would appreciate you letting me know. Maybe it was just Kathie being inspired by an antique quilt, but if there is a pattern source, I would like to know about it.

Another mini that is getting attention is the little 9-patch that is a reverse in the value placement of the one I made for Kris (lavendarquiltsblog) for a swap earlier this year.











Current work in progress on the left, Kris' quilt on the right. I have 5 more 9-patches to make, and then the setting triangles. The 9-patches finish at 3/4". That is as small as I go!    

I have also made a few strides on the half log cabin quilt.

Only 2 more rows of blocks to make, and then I can begin to square up the blocks and make the rows. It has been fun to watch this grow, however slowly. I may add a border. I wouldn't add one, but I want it to be plenty big for a Queen sized bed.        

I have been trying to be so good about not buying new quilting books and patterns. I have ample inspiration in the ones on my bookshelves, in my drawers, and all of the great stuff on the internet. But Jen Kingwell's pattern has tempted me for some time--and Kim Diehl has a new book of many of her small Whatnot patterns.  I am not that strong.
                    
When I held my blog anniversary giveaway, the runner-up winner never got back to me with her address, so I finally drew another number. Debbie (with the horse for your favicon) was selected. Email your address to me, Debbie, and I will get the pattern, scraps and soap sent your way.

We are plagued with wildfires here in the West. Air quality gets bad, but it makes for beautiful sunsets.

DH and I are headed to a Scottish festival this weekend. I know my maiden name is Scottish in origin, and according to my DNA test results I am 39% a Scottish/Irish/Welsh mix. I may come back playing bagpipes or step dancing, or something. But I won't be eating haggis!

Until next time,
Janet O.

Just a Quick Note

...to let you know that I am changing my email address. If you are trying to contact me via an address saved in your system, it will not work. My profile page shows my new email, and my comments are linked to it as well. 

Mostly family time going on lately, but I did stitch up the last little English Ivy block from the class I took with Marsha McCloskey last September. These blocks finish at 3".

In the publication "In War Time" by the American Quilt Study Group I found a photo that has inspired me as far as a setting for these blocks goes. It won't be an exact replica, but will be "inspired by."

And I did end up finding a coral print in my stash that did it for me. The brown fabric went down in flames, as far as the popular vote went (I agree). Blue got a lot of support, but there was not enough of the only blue that seemed to be the proper tone.

Coral was definitely the favorite, and after an email from Roxanne I was encouraged to revisit my stash. I found a tonal coral that had been folded too small and was passed over the first time around. It is in the final stages of being stitched down on the back. I am happy with it--and this will be finish #30 of small quilts for this year.

 



Now, back to family. Only have these two here for 4 more days!

Until next time,
Janet O.

 

What Do You Think?

I finished the quilting on this little HST quilt.

Some of you had asked to see what I brought home from HMQS. Well, here is the haul--a couple of bloc-loc rulers, some silk thread to attempt quilting on some very tiny quilts, little bits of fabric and LOTS of Primitive Gatherings patterns. Then there is that 1" clamshell stencil, which I put to use on this quilt.

The clamshells look upside down to me in the first photo, so here you get the proper viewpoint. : )

Now for the binding, and that is where I need help. I wanted to use that orangey-coral color to bind it (give it a little pizzaz, right?), but I have no yardage of any of it. These HSTs were gifted to me, so I have no more of the fabric than what you see here. I searched the repro stash and was surprised to see that I couldn't match it.

What next? I pulled out  a couple of scraps I had of one of the blue prints in the HSTs, but there wasn't enough. I had no other blues that seemed the right shade for this, unless I went almost navy, which I didn't want to do.

I found a brown that blended well enough, but appeared rather blah.

If I pieced every scrap I have left of the border fabric, I might be able to bind it in the same fabric, but that would foil the plans I had for those leftovers.

As a last resort I went to my non-repro stash and found the perfect color, but in a rather large print for the scale of this quilt. It is across the top. Would you do me a favor and enlarge this photo and tell me what you think? Is it too much? Should I go with the blah brown? Or should I keep searching? I am so ready to finish this and move on, but maybe I need to be patient. I would appreciate your input.

Come to think of it, I have moved on--I have been ditch stitching on this basket quilt whenever I have a few minutes and can stay awake to stitch.
This quilt was made with scraps from one of my Mom's quilts.

I can't wait to put feathers in those setting triangles, and I think I might put feathered wreaths in the setting squares.

My blogging may be hit-and-miss for the next couple of weeks because these two happy people are arriving tonight and will be spending two weeks with us. I am so excited!!
They are making a cross-country move from New Hampshire to Oregon and will be stopping with us along the way.

The only down side to this is that I will most likely not be meeting up with my New England blogging friends again, but what a blessing it was to meet Vic, Grace, and Cyndi. There were others I had hoped to meet on future visits, but since I don't get out much, other than visiting family, the odds are against us now.

Now if you live near Eugene, OR, there may be someone knocking on your door sometime, wanting to meet you, and it may be me. : )

I drew a name from those who had asked to be included in the drawing for the snowman patterns and Janet Drennan came up as the winner. Congratulations, Janet! I will be waiting for your snail mail so I can send the patterns your way.

Until next time, 
Janet O.
(In the meantime, enjoy the view.)

Going the wrong direction, going to Graduation, and going to HMQS.

I am supposed to be reducing my pile of little tops. That was my goal as this year began, and I had been doing quite well. But the past couple of weeks has seen me add 4 more flimsies to the pile. You've seen the first three in recent posts. This is number four.

This quilt was assembled with gifts from friends. Most of the HSTs (which finish at 1") were from a bag of leftover small quilt parts that a friend gave me, and the border fabric was a gift from a blog friend, after I had admired it on her blog.

I love how it worked out. I think this fabric is the perfect border for the little HSTs. My thanks to Kim (no blog) for the HSTs, and Pat (Amity Quilter blog) for the border fabric. Now to decide how to quilt it!

It was a busy weekend. Friday DH and I were in attendance when our oldest son (child #3) received his Master's Degree.

It was just after I began this blog five years ago that he received his Bachelor's Degree. Since then his hair is longer, mine is greyer, and DH's hasn't changed. He never ages.

DH and I spent Saturday in the Salt Lake City area, about 90 minutes south of home. He dropped me off at the South Town Expo Center and I attended the Home Machine Quilting Show, while he did some test driving of cars.

The place was humming with activity. I didn't take any classes this year, but it was very fun to meet up with wonderful quilters, see beautiful quilts in the show, and shop some great vendors!

The Doans, of Missouri Star Quilt Company. Such genuine, down-to-earth people. A real treat to visit with them.

Visited Sandra Starley (Textile Time Travels blog), quilt appraiser, who always has a booth of yummy vintage goodies to peruse. I enjoyed studying the red fabrics in that signature quilt on the back wall.

Someday I would love to see Sandra's entire collection of quilts, but I don't know if that is even possible. Every time I see her there are "new" vintage quilts in her possession.

  
Irena Bluhm had a few of her beautifully painted quilts on display in her booth. She was very sweet to pose for me.

Jenny Pedigo, of Quick Curve Ruler fame, standing by her most popular quilt design. She is a very gracious lady, and an amazing quilter. Even though I am not a modern quilter, I have learned many quilting tips and been inspired by her beautiful designs on her blogs (Sew Kind Of Wonderful and Jenny's Doodling Needle).

This was the first time Primitive Gatherings has been to this show. I was excited. My friend, Jami, happened to have dropped by to shop when Jake agreed to a photo for my blog. This was my first stop in the morning and my last stop before I went out to catch my ride home. They received the bulk of my HMQS budget.
Jake and Amy were very helpful and patient with me. Thanks for coming to Utah!

I saw this sweet machine being used to demonstrate a product in a booth, and I wished I could bring it home with me. There seemed to be a purple glow coming from the booth that I couldn't resist.



After spending the bulk of my time in the vendor mall with my list of items to find, I took a quick trip through the quilt show. 

This was the top award winning quilt.

Read the description and then click on some of the small photos below to get a feel for it. The background appeared to be printed or painted. The buildings seemed to be printed on fabric and attached to the quilt. The people and animals were pretty incredible.

This quilt caught my eye. Love the colors and design. It was very well made.

Here we have  the entire selection of minis entered in the show.

These are the same quilts from the other end of the row. You can see the blue ribbon hanging from the top prize winner in this category.

I was a bit surprised by the selection, but I must admit that the quilting lines were so straight, and evenly spaced, and the use of color play in the threads was a nice visual addition.

It was a long day and I was happy to spend a few minutes relaxing at home that evening with my newest long-term project. This is a quilt I posted about years ago. I designed it for my youngest son as a memory quilt from his time as an LDS missionary in Brazil. Everything has meaning to his experiences there. He has been home almost 7 years, so it is about time I got this going.

I finally had a longarm friend baste it for me last month so I could get started on the hand quilting. Expect this to be with me for a year or two. I am not the fastest hand quilter on the block and my back doesn't allow me to spend too much time on it at once. 

Had a busy, full Mother's Day with family gathered for dinner, and Skyping with those too far away. I'm exhausted, but fulfilled after a jam-packed weekend, and ready to tackle another week. 

BTW, my 5 year blog anniversary is coming up very soon. Stay tuned. : )

Until next time, 

Janet O.