Progress

I have finished this little quilt and it has gone to its new home.

It was made with leftover Rail Fence blocks from the Little Temecula quilt I copied here.
You can see the quilting a little better from the back.

And I have the quilting done on the first of my four little "Temecula Blessings Baskets" quilt to actually get quilted. I'm trying to decide what color to use as binding. What would you use?

Maybe this angle gives you a little better view of some of the quilting patterns used--the backing on this is that same black fabric as in the border, and I can't get a shot from the back that shows the quilting well. Maybe that is a good thing--I really struggled quilting this one. Sorry, Randy. This quilt will be going to Randy as a "thank you" for the quilts she has donated when my daughter has held her fund raisers for Dravet Syndrome.

I've also made progress on the quilts for my grandsons for Christmas. They don't read my blog and their mother has already seen these photos, so here are the cut pieces laid out ready for sewing.                                                                                                                                                                      

This is for the oldest grandson and big
Star Wars fan. Not happy with it. I have found
another S.W. fabric that I think I am going to be
subbing for the bigger strips. This quilt will
have a "starry sky" print border all around.

This is for the middle grandson who is a
baseball nut. He loves all sports, it seems,
but especially baseball. There will be a border
all around this in the black tonal houndstooth
print that makes some of the narrow strips.

This is a crib quilt for little Ben. He loves trains!
When I get the black binding on it that red
stripe around the outer edge will be covered up.
This one is already partially sewn together.

All of these quilts are made using MaryQuilts.com favorite quick donation quilt pattern, found here. I have made these a little bigger and varied the fabric placement a little. This is a great pattern for a quick quilt, whether a gift or a donation.

I continue to plow ahead with Orca Bay (SOTMD). Hope to have a flimsy by month's end. Now I need to get plowing on the 5 Sow-Along blocks I have yet to make.

There seem to be a lot of November birthdays on the blogs I follow. I was a November baby, too. My friends have long tried to teach me to celebrate all month long, and I am seeing the value--especially when your birthday gets swallowed up in the Thanksgiving festivities. DD#2 gave me tickets  to a Gary Morris concert, which DH and I enjoyed Saturday night. Monday I went to brunch (crepes and hot chocolate made with Nutella) with a friend and DD#2 (DD#1 would join us if she lived anywhere nearby). Later that day I was doing some grocery shopping and I spotted a fall bouquet that I loved. I don't usually buy myself flowers, but in the spirit of celebrating all month, I did. Doesn't it look nice with my Fall table runner (which, by the way, I bound but never quilted)?

So to spice up the birthday a bit (as if having it on Black Friday this year isn't spicy enough), I will be posting a little giveaway that day. Tune in then for the details. Nothing fancy--just a little treat for my quilt blog friends who make my life a little more spicy.

We have had a lot of snow lately. This was the view to the west a couple of days ago.

 And this was the view to the east.

But we are warming back up this week, so it is melting away on the valley floor now. Just so long as it is back by Christmas. : )

Until next time,

Janet O.

99 and Counting (see the end of the post)

If these blocks look familiar it is because I made them last summer for a table runner and asked for opinions on a straight set or "on point". On point was favored and I proceeded to assemble it. Didn't get it past the flimsy stage and it has been kicking around my sewing room for a year now. I was planning to have it quilted for this summer, but every time I thought about tackling it, I couldn't do it. As much as I prefer these blocks "on point", I just didn't care for all the red in the setting triangles (you can see it here). I thought about piecing new setting triangles, but finally I just unpicked it and did a straight set. Maybe I will have it quilted for next summer. If it ever does get quilted I will be binding it in red.

During a recent family camping trip I took some hand quilting. The little sampler finishes at 7" and you may recall that it used up the bits and pieces leftover from the mini quilt I made from Kathie Holland's triangle trimmings of her 9-patch blocks on point. Did you follow that?

I had one basket block leftover when I made my little basket quilt (bottom of the linked post) inspired by this free pattern from APQ, using leftover fabrics from a quilt my mother made last year. It has been about 4 years since I did any hand quilting and it was a refreshing change.

I finally got around to my version of the "Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown" BOM. I hadn't made a block since March. I got the next four cut and three of them are sewn up, but I am struggling with the fourth one. I will say that paper templates are not my favorite method for constructing blocks. I often measure the template and then cut it out using rotary cutter and rulers instead. If I can't get the seventh block to work I may have to design my own. The three blocks on top are the newest ones.

Since I am not using the true "Ramblin' Rose" fabrics (just some rose fabrics I have picked up over the years), I have chosen to call this "Random Roses in Jamestown".

As I did my usual pawing through the remnants at the LQS recently I found a 3/4 yard piece of "Just Train Crazy" fabric. It caught my eye because my youngest grandson is crazy about trains. I picked up a matching black (I think blacks are hardest to match) and at home I found the blue and green in my stash. This is the favorite donation quilt pattern of Mary at Maryquilts.com. I have made one before and I think it works up fast and cute. You can get the instructions here. The strips are just clinging to my design wall--I haven't started stitching them together yet. I'm thinking this will be a great quilt to use with Leah Day's train tracks quilting design. I got enough black for the binding, too.

Earlier this week I received an unexpected squishy in the mail from Ruth. I had just sent her some extra pins I had and she gifted me with these fun items. There is a cute little portable tissue pack cover and a cheery trivet made from yo-yo covered bottle caps. How clever is that? And look at the cute little quilty card. Thanks, Ruth. I didn't expect a trade, but it was fun!

Oh, here I am with another long post. It has been two weeks and there is so much to squeeze in. I've had questions from several people about how I finished my little tumbler flag,

 so I made a tutorial. You will find the tab for it at the top of the page under my header. There are many ways you could do it, I'm just sharing what worked for me.

Finally, this is my 99th post, and although that is small compared to many of you, I think a little celebration for my kind followers will be in order when I hit the 100 mark. Stay tuned.

What's on my bed, and on my wall, and in my hand, and under my needle, etc.!

On My Bed

"What's on your bed?" Bonnie asked (it's a linky party). And I had actually just stripped my bed that morning and was getting ready to put on a lighter quilt. I think I have shown this quilt once, almost a year ago. My Mom made it from a pattern by Mabeth Oxenreider that appeared on the cover of a quilt magazine years ago. As has happened before, I bought the magazine because I fell in love with the scrappy quilt on the cover, but it was my Mother who ended up making it before I could get around to it. It doesn't always work out that I end up with the finished quilt. I'm glad it did this time!
Mom only hand quilts her projects. Look at these stitches--this is where I learned to quilt!

Speaking of tiny, when I posted about this quilt of 5" finished baskets I commented that I thought once the parts were all sewn together the sashing pieces would be long enough that I wouldn't need cornerstones. Well, it is all sewn now, except the borders, and I do need something for the corners.

On My Wall

 Here's the tiny part--Carol (of Brown Quilts) suggested little baskets for the cornerstones. I laughed about it at first--they would have to finish at 2". But with Carol's encouragement, I took on the challenge. This is the first little cornerstone. The others are cut and ready to put together. I love it! Thanks, Carol!

In My Hand

I am almost finished quilting the largest project I have put under the needle of my new toy so far (how long do you own something before it is no longer considered new? Just wondering.)--and it is only a crib quilt. It was made using the Quick Strippy Quilt Pattern from Mary Johnson. I needed something to practice on using an all-over design. I'm using the loopy design with stars inserted (think March FMQ Challenge). I know you can't really see the quilting here, but I was more interested in sharing the pattern. Turns out there is a baby shower this Saturday for a relative having a baby boy. Perfect--if I can get it bound in time. As I have said before, I am the World's Slowest Binder!!

Under My Needle

I have completed a pile of practice sandwiches and a few table toppers and wall hangings, but this is the biggest project. I am beginning to see the wisdom of the "slider" products that make the surface on which you are pushing the quilt around a little less resistant. I can imagine it will make a big difference on a bed-size quilt. I will have to look into those.

Just Laying Around Somewhere

I got this book in the mail yesterday and I am very happy with it. After my trying experience with feathers in the February FMQ Challenge, I was intrigued when I saw a reference to this method somewhere.

The book does not disappoint. It is full of diagrams and ideas. I haven't tried the method yet--my machine is kinda busy, but I think it looks more doable than many other traditional ways of doing feathers. But the feathers still look traditional. And how cool is it that Sally Terry is coming to the Home Machine Quilting Show next month, being held only two hours away? Are any of you coming? I'm still trying to work out getting there, but it sounds wonderful!

Also in yesterday's mail was a squishy with fabrics from Grace. We did a little swap. She sent some lovely repro fabrics (especially purple--love it, Grace!!) and I sent batiks. Always fun to exchange with others.

Okay, when I started this post Randy hadn't yet posted her Sow-Along Bonus Block, so I need to hurry and get the last batch of blocks made in Christmas fabrics before I get too far behind. Once I start slipping behind on something I have a tendency to give up, and I don't want that to happen.

Until next time, 

Janet O.