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.
Whichever it is, I am halfway through. When this photo was taken I still had 6 blocks to assemble to finish the row, and they are now completed. If you could see my design wall now, there wouldn't be that unfinished row at the bottom.
I am grateful that I had these logs on hand (sent from Karen @ log cabin quilter blog) so there was something I could sew while the rotary cutter was still off limits. It is exciting to be making good progress on a large quilt, even though I haven't felt like I can do all that much.
I decided to make it 12x14 blocks, and this marks the halfway point.
The other project that has received what little sewing time I have been able to scrounge is "Sophie", from Edyta Sitar's book "Little Handfuls of Scraps". This is my April mini for Wendy's mini-a-month SAL.
This was easy to put together using mini charm squares and leftover strips that I could trim with scissors. Even the binding strips were leftover from another little quilt.
After completing the stitch-in-the-ditch with my walking foot, I really wanted to hand quilt the diagonal lines, and even gave it a try. But I had not used a good scrap of batting for hand needling. After trying to pull the first few stitches through, I could tell it was stressing my shoulder, so I backed off and did it all by machine.
I have been playing with a new-to-me thread, thanks to a blog reader, Joyce L. She introduced me to DMC Machine Embroidery thread, which is recommended for miniature quilt making by mini quilt maker extraordinaire, Sally Collins.
I only knew DMC for its embroidery floss, but was pleased to learn about this thread. It is 50 wt., 100% cotton, and comes in a wide variety of colors. It is very fine--even possibly a hair finer than 50 wt. Aurifil. This means it doesn't add bulk to seams (very important in mini quilts), and it looks more to scale when you machine quilt on mini quilts.
This zoomed-in photo shows it in comparison to the other two threads I use for most of my piecing and quilting.
I have done a lot of piecing with it, and a little bit of machine quilting, along with some binding. It works beautifully for piecing, as mentioned above.
I had no trouble with the little bit of machine quilting I was able to do before my shoulder surgery, but since then I have only been able to quilt with my walking foot. I do like the way it seems to melt into the ditch when doing SITD on little quilts. Heavier thread stands out and looks clunky, but this thread rivals the Aurifil. Since I haven't done a lot of machine quilting with it, I have not been able to gauge how linty it is. Mettler fills the bobbin area of my quilting machine with lint, if I use it for very long. I never have that trouble with Aurifil. It remains to be seen where DMC will fall in that continuum.
The only negative experience I have had has been with binding by hand.
I did quite a bit of the machine quilting on this little quilt using the DMC thread, and it gave me no trouble. But when it came to the hand binding, the end of the thread really frayed as I stitched.
It surprised me, because I haven't had a cotton thread do this before. It seemed more a "poly" characteristic. But it wasn't a major concern, as the thread never actually broke.
However, as I did the hand binding on the little "Sophie" quilt, shown earlier in this post, the thread broke not very far into the stitching process, and the ends looked frayed, as above. It isn't a deal breaker for me. This thread is much more reasonably priced than the other two, and it is available in some colors that the other two are not. It is another great tool in my quilting arsenal, and I will just not use it for hand binding anymore.
I will end with a couple of photos my oldest daughter sent us of their recent visit to a tulip farm in Oregon. Wish I could have been there.
Until next time,
Janet O.
This is not one of the two projects that has a looming deadline, but it would not stop calling to me, and it is pretty apparent that I had no ability to resist. Hopefully now it will leave me in peace and let me accomplish what needs to be done!
Since that is a mini orchid I realized that it didn't give a very good perspective on the finished size.
This should help.
The 9-patches finish at 3/4". And talk about not making a dent in the scraps--this little thing seems to create more scraps than it uses!
Here it is by my Fairy Garden Party (that still needs quilting), made by shrinking down Bonnie Hunter's "Garden Party" design.
Aside from this distraction, I have been working on getting the rows of the Legendary: Sasquatch quilt sewn together. But when I stepped back from the design wall and skimmed over the block arrangement, I realized something wasn't right.
Sasquatch is walking on air! I know there are many legends about Sasquatch, but there is not one that I have heard involving air travel. I had to get his feet firmly on the ground. So I ripped off the little strips of background fabric from the top and bottom of the Sasquatch block and attached one wider strip to the top. Mission accomplished.
One more row of trees to sew together, and then I can do the sashing between rows. I am debating with myself about adding borders or not.
And for your amusement, when I mentioned on a previous post that I had found upside down raindrops and I was leaving them that way, this is what I had found.
Look between Sasquatch's thumbs and fingers. I was not about to disassemble his hands to correct them.
I have been admiring lots of log cabin quilts online, and decided it was time to dig out these strips for half log cabin blocks.
This was a project Karen Beigh passed along to me when she decided she didn't want to finish it. She had already assembled a few of the blocks. I have only added one to the pile, but I am anxious to make many more! I may even cut more "logs".
My thoughts and prayers have been with those that are facing severe weather. Hoping you are all safe and warm!
Until next time,
Janet O.
Ruth (country log cabin blog) copied 
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.
