Leader/Ender At An End

These Windmill blocks have been a leader/ender project for me off and on since October 2014! This was inspired by Kathie Holland at Inspired By Antique Quilts blog (which no longer exists). I sure miss Kathie!  The blocks finish at 4". They are going to need trimming before I start sewing them together, but I am finally finished cutting and sewing blocks. This is as far as I am taking this.

I purposely did NOT try to keep like colors apart from each other. This is the most "just throw it up on the wall" I have ever done. The lighting wasn't great at night when I took this photo, but all of the colors are a couple of shades of blues, along with deep reds and blacks--and a wide range of neutrals. There are "make do" blocks all over the place. One block has 5 different fabrics. Betcha' can't find it. ;)

The shapes are cut using one of the mini acrylic templates from a set of 12 by Bay Creek Quilting. Most of the set are jelly roll friendly.  This photo of the set was lifted from the Bay Creek website. The second from the right on the top row is the one I used here. You have to cut with all of your fabric either right side up, or all of it right side down--also, always face the ruler the same direction. I once cut a bunch facing the wrong way, and I included three of those blocks in this quilt. Can you see the 3 windmills spinning the wrong way?

About the only other sewing I have done since my last post involved using up leftover sashing strips and scraps from the purple Heartfelt quilt. I got the blocks (1 1/2" finished) assembled and now I am debating, "To border, or not to border?"

I have a lovely purple paisley I had wanted to use, but it has lots of red in it, and they just didn't do anything for each other.

So many things other than quilting have been going on, and during a minute here and a minute there, along with much help from family on their Sunday visits, this puzzle finally got finished! Hubby insisted I be in the picture. Love those sea turtles!

I also finally got my father-in-law's history printed up for the family. It has taken me a year to get photos and documents found and added to the history he had written when he was 70. It took the history from 25 pages to 160 pages! I hope he would be pleased with the final result. This Tuesday will be the 102nd anniversary of his birth. He has been gone for almost 15 years.

So many people are trying to do good things to help the situation in Ukraine--and the people who are fleeing. I have been trying to support the efforts of others, including DD#2, who is a "cookier".  She made these lovely cookies based on the Ukrainian eggs, or pysanky. She has made and sold hundreds of these cookies via her Instagram account and word of mouth. I can't eat them, but I bought some and delivered them to friends and neighbors. They are so pretty!

Chookyblue has been quite the social butterfly lately, with Zoom parties almost every week. So fun to visit, even if you can only join in for a short time. I caught the tail end of it this time around, but I was glad to have a chat, while I unpicked some seams that looked like I had done them in my sleep. I probably had!

I wish all who observe Easter a blessed day of celebration. If you would like to watch a brief, but thought-provoking Easter message, click the link #Because of Him.

Leaving you with another shot of sunset over the mountains. I was driving home the other night and about 1/2 mile south of my home I had to stop (in the middle of the road) and take a picture. I knew if I waited until I got home the color would be gone--and I was right. And yes, we have had a wet and snowy week.

You should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it.

Until next time, be creative, and be kind.

Janet O.

March Monthly Mini and More

Could not resist the alliterative title for this post.

My monthly mini is in the photo below, on the right. This is based on Pam Buda's "Glad Tidings" pattern. I couldn't finish the borders according to the pattern because I couldn't find fabrics that I liked in combination for the borders as written. The green I used in the quilt is a very old one, which I couldn't currently match, and I had used all I had in the blocks. This photo was taken in the "Christmas Corner" of my sewing room.

I had planned to make this my monthly mini last December, but was still trying to match the green, so I set it aside and made the quilt on the left in the photo above, instead. I finally faced the fact that I couldn't match the green and made do with a black Judie Rothermel print that had tiny red/green flowers printed on it, and I didn't use cornerstones. 

Since it is in holiday colors, I chose a holiday print for the backing, which you can see below. I really struggled to get photos that show the quilting well, since I couldn't get the sun streaming through the window at 9:00 p.m. This is the best I could do, with the Ott-lite on my cutting table laying on its side.

This finished at about 11"x14". I am linking this with Wendy The Constant Quilter, where you will find the list of mini-acs with links to check out their creations.

My version of Gay Bomers "Heartfelt" quilt has been delivered to my neighborhood longarm quilter. I just can't quilt everything I piece--there isn't time. 

It is about 86" square. You can see the ripples in the two lower corners. I did try to correct those, and they look better, but I didn't get a photo after the repair. I did not do any of the appliqué in the pattern, including the center medallion. I did my own setting and borders. After the fussy sashing and cornerstones I chose, I couldn't bring myself to do fussy borders. Except for the 4 corner blocks, each block contains different purples. At first I was worried that I would not have enough purples to use different ones in each block, but I had a box of purples left that I didn't even touch. (And I bought more yesterday.)

Yesterday was the final meeting of The Tiny Club at Village Dry Goods.  I have yet to get all the blocks made, but these are some of the ones I have made since my last post.

Can you believe all those tiny pieces in a 2" finished block? 

Wait until you see some of the blocks in the patterns we got yesterday! Lynn told me to let you know that if you have been waiting for the next set of patterns and rulers to be available, he will have them ready by April 7th and you can contact Village Dry Goods to get your hands on them.

Here is Lynn with one of the ways he is using his tiny blocks.

But that isn't an end to the fun I've had lately. Last week Chooky had a spur-of-the-moment Zoom session and I was able to pop in and enjoy the gals chatting and stitching for an hour.

I really need to get back into the routine of posting more than once a month, so I don't have such lengthy posts, but if you have stayed with me through it all, I thank you. 

Until next time, be creative and be kind,

Janet O.

I wanted to leave you with a peek at what makes me smile each  morning during the long winters. I have these at 5 windows in my home right now, but these two window ledges are the ones where they have been blooming all winter. Click to enlarge.