Where did everybody go?

This is my last little quilt for this year's Simply Charming Every Other Month SAL. It seems that the participants have vanished into thin air. Never mind, I need closure (which is not evident if you peek in my UFO closet), so I am finishing up. When the SAL began, I went through the book and chose the 6 quilts I would make through the year. For December I chose to use the pattern named "Lucille's Sewing Basket." Yes, I switched it up a little, but stayed pretty true to the pattern.

 The basket blocks are 4" finished. They were all made using a holiday charm pack that had been gifted to me by DD#1. Though the quilts in the book are designed specifically around charm squares, this is the first time I have actually used a charm pack in making one of them. I wasn't going to use black sashing (it has been a frequent sight in my quilts lately), but it just insisted on happening. The setting triangles are from a Kansas Troubles holiday print that matched color-wise and theme-wise. I wanted to use a dark green, but didn't have enough of an appropriate shade. Maybe I can bind it in dark green--do you think? Whatever color I use, I think it needs a dark binding.

What is really fun about this little quilt is that I started the piecing with my new baby--as yet unnamed.

I have been trying to find a featherweight for a couple of years, and recently Kristie (CowgirlQuilter blog) offered to sell me this one. Isn't it sweet? DH bought it for my Christmas. The night it arrived I pulled out the parts that were cut and ready for this little quilt and did a bit of piecing. Then I carted it off the next day for a regular maintenance call, so it will be ready to go under the tree. Thanks, Kristie! I love it!!
And thanks to my friend, Annie M. (no blog) and her thoughtful and timely little gift package, I had a 1/4" foot, manual, bobbins and needles on hand. I was set to go!

How is everyone doing with finishing up their handcrafted gifts? After cutting it awfully close last year on getting three quilts ready as Christmas gifts, I was planning on a "no gift quilt" Christmas this year, with one exception. That exception is all ready to be bound.

I have said before that my mother gives me the scraps and leftover units from the quilts she makes. This quilt was made from some of those pieces. The quilt she created using these 9-patch blocks is currently hanging behind the sofa in her living room. It has a lovely appliqued border and is hand quilted. With the leftovers I have made her this table topper to go on her nearby dining table. The 9-patch center is just cross-hatch quilting, like her original (but mine isn't hand quilted), and there is NO APPLIQUE in the border of the one I made (big surprise there, right?). I did have fun feathering the border, though.

It will definitely be a white Christmas in my neck of the woods. I hope you have a lovely Christmas, whatever the color!

Until next time,
Janet O.

Auditioning

My guess on Pam Buda's layout for her Nabby's Dowry QAL was pretty close. In fact, after my last post, I had played with the blocks a little more and had ended up putting that center block where Pam had hers. My other blocks are willy nilly though, because I am trying to get a balance with these bright blocks, if possible. If my design wall could talk it might tell you how dizzy it is getting from the frequency of rotation with these blocks as I play with my options.

Still not sure I've got it right, but I wanted to show you the lovely batik that had just arrived when I was in a LQS Friday. I had already seen Pam's layout, so I knew I needed setting triangles, and I thought this might be just the thing. What do you think? Does it overpower the blocks or compliment them?

I need more black batik for the other two sides, and if I decide to use the new fabric for the setting triangles, I am thinking I may use the new stuff for binding as well. This is very much out of my norm, I know, but I do love playing with the vibrant colors of batiks.

This week I whipped up my next Simply Charming Every Other Month Mini SAL flimsy (I'll link up to the appropriate month when the post becomes available). The green and gold 4-patch blocks were made with leftovers from all of the St. Patrick's Day stuff I made earlier this year. I wanted to use them in the Bits and Pieces pattern in Tara's book, and I wanted to give it a "Fall" feel by using other Fall colors in the sashing. I was searching for a good stripe in my stash, but the cupboards were bare, so I made my own.

Instead of the sashing cut at 3 1/2", I cut two strips at 1 1/2" and the center strips at 1". My sashing is 1/2" narrower than the pattern, but I thought making the brown or orange wider might make either of those colors too dominant. I think after quilting this one it will be bound with the same brown as the sashing.

Gidget and I had some quality time quilting up this little table topper for my sister-in-law. She chose the fabrics to match her kitchen and selected the design from the table toppers I showed her that I have made. She wanted hers a little smaller than my original, so I made this just over a foot square.

 I've never made feathers this small before--kind of challenging, but fun to do. If I could just turn in my eyes for a younger pair I wouldn't need to focus two Ott lights on the quilt when I use matching fabric and thread. Anyone else have that problem?

As I type I am listening to the wind and rain outside my open family room door. It sounds wonderful. Apologies to all those who have been experiencing flooding, but here in Northern Utah we have just endured the hottest summer on record, and in our little valley just below the Idaho border, it has been a very dry summer, too. So as I get ready for bed, I am singing away with Eddie Rabbit, "Well, I love a rainy night." : )

Until next time,
Janet O.

A Successful Swap and A "Simply Charming" Quilt

Way back in April of this year Maureen (Pursuit of Quilts blog) and I decided to do a summer block exchange. We settled on 6" finished churn dash blocks in CW repro fabrics, with 2-3 fabrics per block. Value placement didn't matter as long as there was contrast within the block. We agreed to making two identical sets of 4 blocks each of the three summer months and to keep one set and send the other off to each other. We have been keeping the results under wraps until we had all of the blocks exchanged.  You can see Maureen's quilt in the making here. Mine is below. I just made one more block for this setting.

It was such fun to get a new package of blocks each month and to see the variety of fabrics used. We only duplicated fabric once, and that was in the last batch--the upper right and lower left blocks. And, if you can believe it, our blocks are the same size!! This is my first block swap ever, but I understand that doesn't always work out.
DD#1 is trying to adopt and while she was visiting earlier this month she indicated that she would like baby quilts in CW fabrics. The light went on in my head. These were on a design board in my sewing room, so I took her in and asked what she thought. It was not my original plan for these blocks, but I am thrilled to have them end up as a baby quilt.

During the swap some other little goodies from Maureen found their way here with the blocks. There is a sweet little thread catcher (purple!!), that I have placed next to Gidget, and a wonderful hexie pincushion, which is currently doing duty at my cutting station.
Thanks for the delightful swap, Maureen! It has been a pleasure!

I finally have the flimsy ready for the Simply Charming Every Other Month Mini Quilt SAL. (BTW, where did everybody go that was participating in this?) I will post it now, because I won't get it quilted before the link closes. This is also for DD#1. It is part of her birthday request. Her birthday was in March, and she wanted two table toppers, but since one was a Christmas table topper from plaid shirts, I wasn't rushing to finish that one when I knew she wouldn't be using it for some time. I chose to do Coal Miner's Tunnel this time, but to make it a runner I removed one of the braid widths and made it just a tad longer. Hope you like it, Angie! : ) I get to deliver this one in person when we fly to NH for a visit in October!

This little project has been languishing for some time. It was a SAL back in May at quiltsbycheri blog called A Piecework Sampler. The blocks are only 3 1/2". As we neared the last couple of sets of instructions I lost my steam--had too many irons in the fire, like most every other quilter. But, happily, I found enough 3 1/2" orphan blocks to fill in the blanks. Cheri's setting called for bordering each block before adding sashing. The blocks have been laying around my sewing room for months and that bordering thing just wasn't happening. So while cutting sashing for the swap blocks above, I decided to just sash these and be done with it. I will be much more inclined to sew this up now.
I was going to link you back to Cheri's blog so that you could see her original setting, but the pictures from those posts are all missing. : (


If you are only interested in quilty content you can stop reading here. I just wanted to add a word about something that has been in the news a lot lately, that is a subject that affects our family deeply. If you saw this story on CNN's website recently, or this story from the CBS Evening News, or any number of other stories I am finding when I Google the subject, you are getting introduced to what life is like for the individuals with this rare form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome. This is what my youngest grandson has and we are watching the developments on this issue with great hope and interest. Ben is such a precious little guy. Here he is on his first day this year at his preschool for kids with special needs. Gotta love him!!

Until next time,
Janet O.

A Patriotic Parade!

There is so much R/W/B happening around here, I thought I should have a parade and show it off.
First up is my 3rd version of the Primitive Gatherings Picnic Quilt. I am naming this one "Independence Day Picnic." Ever since I made my first quilt from this pattern I have envisioned doing it in R/W/B. When Lisa came out with her Old Glory line, I knew that was what I would use. I've added rows and borders to make it cover a bed.
The center is all stitched together, but the borders are still just pinned to the design wall

 Next in the parade is my Simply Charming Every Other Month Mini Sew Along entry. I made Teresa's Treasure, but I wanted to make it look patriotic. So I split the "bricks" into two bars and made them red/light and I fussy cut the stars. I'm naming this one "Bars & Stars."

Then there is a project I think I started 2 years ago. I made the blocks and set them on point in a runner. I liked the blocks on point, but felt the red setting triangles dominated the whole thing. So I unpicked it last year and this year I have finally reset them very simply, basted the whole thing, and it is now ready to meet Gidget. I would like to have it on my hutch before July 4th. We'll see if I make it.

 Finally, take a gander at that cute little flag charm. Isn't it great? This was the latest addition to the bracelet we received as participants in Julie's (Me and My Stitches blog) Charming program. I love to make minis, but nothing like Julie creates. These charms just make me smile!
(My apologies to my international readers for all the flag waving going on here.)

There is more happening, but I can't show it yet. So until next time,
keep stitching!
Janet O.

p.s. I'll leave you with the view out my sewing room window a couple of nights ago. It isn't patriotic, but it sure is pretty.

Help, I'm stuck!

Last year I had printed out a few free applique shapes from a couple of websites and had grand intentions of making my second attempt at fused applique by creating some cute Easter thing with them. It never happened. So today I dug out those shapes, pulled out my repurposed, Kool Aid dyed wool and started one of those "design-as-you-go" projects (I prefer that to "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants"--sounds more intentional, or dignified, or something). I got the blocks made, but am struggling to decide how to set them. I'm keeping it simple, but I'm struggling with color options for the border/sashing.

Is the black border too overpowering? I'm trying to stay with the colors in the wool, and since I have already used them all in the block borders, I didn't know what to do for a main border. I would probably bind in purple or pink. I will admit that I was influenced by the Little Buds I have been working on--all of the color against black is so striking, but does it work here?

 Should I put a narrow black sashing between the blocks?

Or should I stick to the tan for sashing/borders (but not necessarily this tan--it was just handy). I could bind this in the pink or purple--or even black.

If you have any other suggestions, I'm open to them. Just remember I don't want to complicate it (for once). I want a border, and I would prefer it not be pieced--the sashing is optional. What would you do?

I realize I have overlooked sharing this runner. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but was sending it to DD#1 in NH for her birthday and I didn't want to post it until she had seen it. After she had seen it I forgot to post it. I call this one Patches of Fall. She wanted Fall colors and I made this from the Simply Charming book (with just a few additional blocks) and will eventually link this up for the next  Every Other Month Mini Sew Along. 

Can you believe it? That's all I have--of course I just barely posted, so that explains it. : )
Until next time (which won't be so soon),
Janet O.

SAL Times Three!

I have the blocks for row 3 of the Temecula SAL all made.

Row 4 blocks are cut and on design boards awaiting stitching. By the time you read this I'm guessing they will have posted row 5.

I've sewn up a handful of little 9-patch blocks for the SAL Cheri will be posting next week. She says there will be three little quilts, using a total of 52 9-patches. I only plan on doing the two smaller quilts, so I didn't do that many. I do have my limits (yeah, right).

My Simply Charming Every Other Month Mini Sew-Along quilt is finally quilted. 

It just needs the binding stitched down by hand and I have bartered with a neighbor to do that for me on a couple of little quilts. I'll be dropping it off to her tomorrow and picking up another one she just finished.

Lately I have been repurposing wool clothing from thrift stores, getting ready to do more wool applique. Thanks to advice from my friend, Gayle (whom I have yet to meet, though we are less than 1 1/2 hours away from each other), I have had wonderful success felting and then dyeing some of the wool with Kool Aid. Wednesday I had three large stock pots on the stove, each with a different color of Kool Aid, and I felt like a mad scientist, or a wicked witch stirring my cauldrons. : )

This shows you some of my results. On the right are the original wool colors and left of them you see the results after a Kool Aid bath. Sometimes I am just trying to muddy a "too bright" color and others I am trying to change completely.

I brought home another bag of thrift store wool today and a fresh supply of Kool Aid. Can't wait to try some new color combinations. I also need to get prepping the wool for the first little project I want to try. I've done two snowmen blocks from my class with Lisa Bongean. Now I want to make the little pattern we were gifted at the dinner/trunk show, but I needed some navy blue wool. Took care of that today, so other than a million other projects in line ahead of it, and no time to get to it, I have no excuse for not getting started.

I want to show you something in my sewing room. This Bernina is about 60 years old. It was my Mother's machine and the one on which I learned to sew. Mom made most of my clothes on it when I was little and I made most of my clothing on it when I was in high school. About 10 years ago Mom got a new machine and wondered if anyone wanted this one. I jumped at the chance. It runs just fine, but I haven't had a place to put it in its cabinet until recent changes in my sewing room, which I will save for another post. See the pretty spool pin doily on it? That was a sweet little Valentine surprise from my friend Mary (who lives two states away, but I have met her).

And just in case you think it is "Springtime In The Rockies," this is the view from my house this week, with three more storms in the 7 day forecast.

Stitch on,

Janet O.

Always running behind!

I've "joined" way too many SAL/QAL programs and I'm not keeping up. Can anyone relate? Or, more to the point, can anyone not relate?
Valentine's Day is past, but I just got my two Valentine colored minis to flimsy stage, so I thought I would share them anyway. This first one is for the Simply Charming Every Other Month Mini SAL. How's that for a mouthful? : )
I decided to start with the first one in the book and do it in Valentine colors. At least I had the top finished within the designated month, but it isn't quilted and wasn't ready for the holiday. Oh, well.

I used it on my dining table on the big day anyway.
When I made this, I had cut plenty of little squares from my red/pink/cream fabrics. I was playing with a way to use up the leftovers when I came across something on Kathleen Tracy's blog that gave me an idea. She'd made a little runner using Valentine colored 9-patches on point. I didn't want a runner, but I took the 9-patch idea and ran with it. I found this great French General red print for the setting triangles and border

I'd like to get these two little pieces quilted up before I put them away for another year. So I spent a few minutes trying ideas on Gidget. On the top is the pattern I think I will put on the "Charming" quilt.

I'm not sure about what to do in the other parts of the second little quilt, but those setting triangles are crying out for me to try my hand at filling that shape with feathers.

Next up for "lagging behind" projects is the Temecula Judie Rothermel 25th Anniversary SAL. Friday they posted row 4 of 5. Saturday I stitched up row 2 and cut out row 3 (yet to be sewn stars). They are supposed to be sewn together into rows with sashing, but I can't decide on a sashing fabric. I'm not buying anything for this and I can't find one that clicks for me in my stash--but I haven't finished combing through it. I'm sure something will come up. It has been fun to use a couple of charm packs of some favorite lines and also to dig into my Homestead Hearth scrap bag to make these blocks. I'm hoping to get rows 3 & 4 finished before 5 is posted this Friday.

You may recall that as I did my Barrister's SAL blocks in thrift store shirt fabrics last year, I was also making a set in Christmas fabrics, to which a couple of blog friends donated their Christmas scraps. I was about 1/3 of the way through the blocks when I decided I just couldn't keep up with both sets. The Christmas blocks got set aside.

This year I have decided to join John'aLee in her Rancher's Daughter SAL. She is posting 1 block a week, along with stories about growing up as a rancher's daughter. I already have 24 blocks made from last year's SAL, and I will need 49 blocks to make the throw size quilt I have planned. So my plan is to choose two of the blocks each month to make up and add to my pile.

These are the first two blocks for January. I realize I may get some duplicate blocks, but I don't think it will matter--especially if I switch up the fabric value placement. I have yet to begin on February's blocks.

Finally, we come to my BOM for the year. I haven't made a single block! I am going to use the Scrap Basket Blocks patterns that Lisa Bongean posts randomly on her blog. There are currently 12 of them, but she says there are more to come. I am making them out of the repurposed shirts you see below. I am anxious to get started on this project, but I really need to make some serious headway on Easy Street before starting another big project.

That is all for now. I am going to start typing gibberish if I don't get to bed right away.
Janet O.