UFOs dropping like flies--kind of.

This is Bonnie Hunter's Smoky Mountain Stars free pattern, which I made entirely from men's shirts and named Rocky Mountain Christmas. Last time this was on my wall (years ago) I was struggling with whether or not to use the bonus triangles the stars created to make a sawtooth border.

 I finally decided it was too busy and distracted from the simplicity of the stars, but I put it away without attaching the borders that were already cut. How lame is that? Now it is bordered and we are both happy!

Currently on the design wall is another Bonnie Hunter pattern--her mystery from about 3 years ago--Orca Bay. It only needs the final border pieced and attached.

I made this one entirely from men's shirts, as well. I had planned to name it Sunset over the Rockies (Yes, I love my Rocky Mountains), but ended up going with Sunset over the Men's Department, instead. Bonnie's borders are always piecing masterpieces, but I run out of energy by the time I get to the border--and I like some calm areas for the eyes to rest, so I just used straight borders. If you enlarge the photo you can probably see that there is a small plaid design to the orange border. I had to fussy cut it so that the stripes of the plaid would match when I sew the pieces together (yes, I HAD to do that!!). Good thing it was a very large shirt!

Of course, there is still the small stuff happening. This is the piece I mentioned in my last post that I was going to quilt with an all-over design. It didn't happen. I had every intention, but I just couldn't do it. Those 9-patches were crying out for straight lines criss-crossing through them, and those snowball blocks wanted their own design. So "Herald Angels", a flimsy from 2012, got custom quilting, in spite of my plans.






My pictures usually load straight, but this one wouldn't. You can click on it to see the quilting, and just ignore the thread nests and toe-catchers. I was trying straight line quilting using rulers on Gidget, instead of my walking foot on my Pfaff. It was a new experience--one I will try again, but selectively.

That is it for the UFOs this post. Now for the new stuff.

A few months ago, on Diane's blog I saw the cutest little quilt for a cat lover. She gave the link and I ordered it immediately, thinking I would make it for my Mother's birthday in February. But time got away from me and that didn't happen. I consoled myself that there was Mother's Day in a few months and I could shoot for that. When I started this little thing last week I could not stop.

Cat Nap. Finished at 9 1/2" x 11".

The pattern called for just a little knot for each eye and a knot for the nose. I had to add a little more detail to the face and ears. I finished the binding last night, and I couldn't wait until Mother's Day. I dropped it by my Mom's today. She was so surprised, and really loved it. She has been a quilter for about half a century, and is a cat lover, so it was ideal for her.
It is paper pieced, and I used all scraps from my Mom's quilts to make it, except the cat fur fabric (thanks, Annie). I machine quilted the border, and SITD, but hand quilted the cross-hatching in the background.

Somehow I got talked into doing a trunk show for a local "Small & Miniature Quilts" guild. Do you all have a friend or two to whom you just can't say "No"? My reaction was, "What, me? Who am I to do a show, and I don't keep most of what I make, anyway, so what would I show?"
Somehow my protests didn't work, so now I am scrambling to make some of those miniature quilts that keep dancing in my head. Luckily, the show isn't until May!

"Scrap Baskets". The basket blocks are 2".
This will finish at 9", with a tone-on-tone brown binding.

This little basket quilt is waiting for feathers in the setting triangles. You can faintly see the white line I have drawn to keep my feathers out of the binding zone. I have done SITD around the baskets and blocks. I am trying to decide whether or not to quilt on the wavy line through the sashing with a matching thread.

Another Rocky Mountain photo for you. On my morning walk a few days ago the clouds were dark and the mountains were white. The wind was whipping at the peaks and you could see the snow whirling in the air against the dark backdrop. Enlarge the photo for a better look.

I know we have had enough of winter, but I love nature cloaked in white.
Until next time,
Janet O.

On the Wall

Rocky Mountain Christmas (aka Smokey Mountain Stars by Bonnie Hunter) is back on the design wall. I intend to at least get it to flimsy stage in the next 2 or 3 weeks, amid all of the other projects. I won't be quilting it until much later this year, but I want to have the top ready. Right now I do have all those corners sewn to the squares, but the squares and borders are just stuck to the wall. I wanted to make sure I could get enough border cut from the shirt I wanted to use. It was only an XL shirt. I have made the quilt a tad larger than the pattern and I wasn't sure if I could get enough 5" strips from the shirt. I made the border 4" instead and I could have still cut 1 or 2 more strips. I had to fussy cut them in order to match up the plaids when I piece them. Maybe I am the only person who would have done that (no, I think I know at least one other blogger who would do the same. Do you know who you are?) but I had to do it. : )

I'm not sure which was the leader/ender and which was the real project, but today Pink Lemonade by Lori D. got assembled along with Block #1 of Marti Mitchell's Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown. The name "Pink Lemonade" doesn't seem to fit mine  because my yellow isn't anything like lemonade. I've been trying to come up with a name for it. Cider Squeezin's comes to mind. Have you ever had cider from an apple press? I don't know--I'll have to give it more thought.

I'll leave you with this shot of the cloud cap over the mountains out my back door. The alpacas came to the fence after I took this shot and I took a couple of photos of them looking me right in the eye, but those turned out blurry, of course. 

Janet O.

What now?

Well, the Tree of Life quilt in my last post had been on my design wall for so long that after taking it down and finishing the borders, the room seemed strange without it. What goes on the wall now? I wish I could show you, but it is a gift for someone who reads this, so I won't be showing it until after Christmas (and she knows who she is). I will say that it is a quick pattern and I am loving the result. I will probably make another one in the future.
I spent much of last night cutting out more blocks for John'aLee. I was going to make one a week, but like Freda, once I had the fabrics out to make one, I figured I would cut them all. Once they are cut it is hard to not just get them sewn up. Tonight I made another one.

I really like to try and make each star unique. Gets the creative juices flowing. I have five more blocks cut and hope to have them all in the mail by the end of the month.
In the meantime I am also working on a Christmas quilt for the family room. After digging up the entire strawberry bed this afternoon and separating plants and replanting, my back was really talking to me. So this evening I sat on a heating pad, deconstructing shirts, while watching the world series game. Apologies to my friends in Texas, but I have a SIL from St. Louis, so we have been cheering on the Cardinals, and what a night they had!

These are the shirts I took apart while the
 Cardinals kept crossing home plate!

Anyway, back to the shirts. I am planning on making Bonnie Hunter's Smokey Mountain Stars, but I want to only use red and green plaid shirts, along with the tan background color. My dilemma is this, should I make the centers of the stars one color and the points another? Should I make some all red stars and some all green stars? Or should I let the red and green fall randomly? This is Bonnie's quilt below (which I love), but if I am just using two colors besides the background, I can't decide if I should control the placement of the color more, or just let the chips fall where they may. Do you have an opinion (you know you do)? Please share--I love brainstorming--even via blogs!

From Bonnie Hunter's free patterns. The link above
will take you right to this pattern.

This is uncharacteristically short for me, but the heating pad calls.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.