October Monthly Mini

I hadn't planned on making a Halloween mini, but when I was sorting through some Sandy Gervais Fall fabrics I've saved from years ago, I came across a small pile of Halloween themed fabric tucked in among them. And this was born. It is about 8 1/2" square. I think I will name it "Boo Who?" If you look closely you will see that much of the fabric has "boo" printed on it.

Linking up with Wendy (The Constant Quilter blog) where all good mini-acs go at the end of the month.

The hyper-quilting of the spider webs in the setting triangles makes the blocks poof out. On a normal quilt I might not like that effect, but for a Halloween quilt it somehow seemed appropriate.

I don't usually use holiday themed fabrics for holiday minis (I usually use holiday colors in my good old repro fabrics), but I couldn't resist seeing what I could create from these scraps that were passed on to me by another quilter. I added the orange for the setting triangles (from an old Primitive Gatherings line), and for the back I chose a piece from a bundle my Mom once picked up years ago at a yard sale. You can see it in the photo below.

Though this was not my "Baggie Challenge" mini, it could probably qualify. I have set aside a baggie of scraps that I intend to use for that, but it may be December before I get it made.

In the meantime, I am ready to start quilting my "Land That I Love" from Lori's (Humble Quilts blog) doll quilt SAL. And I have almost finished the piecing on Pam Buda's "Dear Prudence" doll quilt SAL (Heartspun Quilts blog).

My design wall is currently covered with this project--my version of Gay Bomer's Heartfelt BOW. None of it is sewn together yet.

The lighting doesn't show how purple this really is, but I think you can still see the pops of cheddar I had to add. Since I don't applique, I left out the center medallion and set my blocks on point with triple sashing and 9-patch cornerstones. Once those are all made and this is assembled, I may add a couple of borders to make it queen size. Such a novelty for me to make a quilt that actually covers a bed. :)

Funny story for you--are you familiar with Pinewood Derbies? Around here they are usually associated with cub scouts, but our church had one as an activity last Wednesday, and beforehand they had encouraged families to create derby cars together. They brought in a specialist with a fancy track that electronically determined the place of each car in each heat, and each car raced in several heats to determine the final place they earned. Hubby and I made a car together (the only old people who did). He cut and sanded a simple, aerodynamic wedge shape. I painted it, and he attached wheels and weights. We took 4th place against all the young people who entered cars in the "classic" division. No one had trouble telling our car from the others.

Until next time, I'll leave you with the view of the setting sun on the mountains as I was going into the church for the Derby.

Janet O.

September Monthly Mini

When I finished my two monthly minis for last month (seen here), I had just a handful of half-hex and thimble shapes leftover. They sat in a small stack on my cutting table for several days. Then one day, as I was cleaning off the cutting table so I could actually use it for its intended purpose, I saw that little stack and began to wonder. Could I possibly make a little quilt with those two different leftover shapes as my focus? I had to try. I knew I was going to try a strippy quilt. I just hadn't thought I would end up stacking those thimbles and half-hex shapes vertically.

This little quilt, with its one ray of sunshine, measures 13 1/2 x 10 3/4". It was amazing to me that the leftover shapes made exactly two stacked rows of half-hexes and one row of thimbles that were the same height. The colors aren't as balanced as I would have done if I was working with my whole stash, but that is part of the fun of this process--work with what you have. I found a Jo Morton print that had those two lovely stripes in the design. The biggest dilemma was that I had it in two colorways, and I struggled over whether to use the red or green. As you can see, the red won, but I went for a happy green Betsy Chutchian print for the binding.

This was actually finished very early in the month, and that is highly unusual for me! Linking up with our Monthly Mini Master, Wendy Reed at The Constant Quilter blog.

I quilted this on my domestic machine, going straight along the the seams between rows, and then with some very careful backtracking, I quilted between the stacked shapes. There is an egg and dart design quilted over the floral stripe and a straight line quilted down the narrow striped design.

Maybe you will be able to make out everything I just described if you click to enlarge this photo of the back.

I had hinted at a surprise/challenge in this post, but I didn't get all the details worked out before this post needed to go live (and I still missed September by 1 minute). Hopefully I can still get the challenge in soon.

Lately I have had much more time in the sewing room than I have had for years, it seems. It has taken a while for the sewing mojo to return, but the past two weeks I have finally got all of the blocks finished for the Heartfelt BOW with Gay Bomers, at Sentimental Stitches. I am not doing the center applique block and am playing around with other possible settings. Will share the results soon. I have also been trying to catch up with the Barbara Brackman Hands All Around BOM. I am still two months behind, but it is doable. However, now I remember why I don't usually sign up for these things!! LOL

And then there is Lori's SAL at Humble Quilts. Just caught up with that today. Doing it a bit differently, which you will see soon. And in about a week Pam Buda will begin her next doll quilt SAL. It is very cute and there will be no resistance here. You can see what we will be making here, and maybe you will choose to join in, too.

That's it for now, other than I hope you will enjoy a few photos of the Fall color as we drove over the mountain yesterday to my favorite "local" quilt shop. You should be able to click on any photo to enlarge it.

Until next time,

Janet O.

It has been such a hot, dry year that we had been told not to expect much color. I was surprised to see it this bright, but it was very much a treat to this autumn loving gal.

And this is the view out my sewing room window. I zoomed in so you could see the sprinkling of color better.

December Monthly Mini and Gnomes in the Dome

I had thought I had plenty of mini quilts for Christmas decorating, but it turns out I was short a few. Now I am short one less. Linking up with Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog for our Monthly Mini challenge. This has been the 3rd year--can't believe I have kept up. It is often the only thing I accomplish in a month, so I am grateful for the motivation to at least do this!

Just a handful of green scraps, some leftover Marcus Brothers aged muslin, and a chunk of red from the "smaller than FQ" storage, and this little cutie was whipped up pretty quickly.

 

I actually did follow a pattern for this, which you wouldn't think I would need for such simplicity. However, I was fascinated earlier this year when I saw this book from Primitive Gatherings, and the quick way to make a negative and positive 9-patch using two squares of fabric.  I had seen the method before, but had never attempted it.

The mini quilt on page 17 caught my eye and I decided it was time to give it a try. It really is slick, but especially when working this small it is important to get your seams accurate. And I always sliver trim the finished product, to make sure they are all the same size.                                                This little piece finished just under 10x12. That is a hair larger than the pattern, but I cut my borders just a bit wider.  I machine quilted the whole thing. I wanted to do some of the quilting by hand, but there just wasn't time.

I actually had another "keep someone warm" finish this month! On a socially distanced shop hop with a friend back in September, I was taken by the Timber Gnomies fabric line from Henry Glass. My youngest daughter loves the gnomes and I thought this might make a fun throw quilt for her--for Christmas!?! What was a thinking? I swore years ago (after frantic Christmas finishes) never to make quilts as Christmas gifts--save that for birthdays! But how hard would it be to whip up my favorite quick strippie quilt pattern? I must have a very short memory.

But I did it!

This quilt is based on Mary Johnson's "My Favorite Quick Donation Quilt" pattern. I have used it many times, but I always add borders, and sometimes extra rows. Makes a good twin size quilt that way--or a large throw. I am really pleased with the results, and my daughter does love it.

 

I did straight line quilting down each side of the black, inner border. Then using a longarm ruler, I quilted clamshells over the "strippie" portion. The borders got a large swirl, which design I "pounced" using a stencil. Very quick and easy to follow.

 

 

 

 Henry Glass offered a free strippie pattern for this fabric line, and I did download it, but it was a bit too busy for me. However, you could adapt it to your liking, if you prefer this pattern.

 

 

 

 My son was very happy to finally have his college graduation t-shirt quilt--he graduated over 5 1/2 years ago. And I was thrilled to have it finished for him!

And now for one last gnome (as if those Timber Gnomies were not enough). Here you see our resident Dome Gnome with my monthly mini and a nearly empty basket of holiday soaps. I fill a few baskets with packages of my handcrafted holiday soaps for gifting around my community as the holidays get underway. You see there are two lonely packages left. I know the Christmas season is past, but if you wouldn't mind some gingerbread shaped soaps at your house going into the new year, leave a comment that you would like to be included in the drawing. 

Are you a resolution maker, or not? As for me--not so much. I am more of a daily goal maker, working toward larger goals, so I don't make any dramatic changes to my plans for January.

I hope you have all had times of joy through the season, and times of bringing joy to others. I know you bring joy to me!

Until next time,

Janet O.

 

Okay--I have to do a little more weather geek stuff. Three days ago we had such a pretty hoarfrost. It makes the world look like a fairy land. I just want to share a few photos.

 

 

Feathery frost creating fluff on all surfaces.  I never tire of it. Hopefully you can enlarge the photos for a better look.

Drawing now closed!

Monthly Mini and the Beast!

This is my Fairy Garden Party, based on Bonnie Hunter's Garden Party pattern. You can go here to read how this quilt shrunk when I was making it at a workshop with Bonnie, if you are not already familiar with the story. And here you can see how the top came together back in 2017.

I am linking with Wendy for our monthly minis. She keeps us going with her encouragement and example. Follow the link and check out the wonderful autumn mini she made, and enjoy the links to the other mini makers there.

The quilting of this has had me stumped. It is small--as you can see here, with my hand in the photo. Sometimes I feel like things this small can look clumsy if you put too much quilting in them, especially if you don't use a really fine thread. Hand quilting was not an option, because the back side is wall-to-wall seam allowances.

I finally decided to stitch down either side of the green chains, and around the flower centers, with a little more quilting in the borders. (You can see that I forgot to get rid of the marked lines in the border before taking these photos.) 

When I started trying to stitch straight lines from point to point down the sides of the green chains, I had to keep weaving from point to point--there were no straight lines involved. Oh, well, I am so done with the quilting on this. I had the outer border almost completely quilted when I discovered the tension on the back was off (even though I had tested it before I started), and I had to unpick it all. But it is finished now and I am glad to cross this off the UFO list.

Also in the UFO department, I have made major progress on The Beast, my youngest son's king-sized college graduation quilt. It is all quilted!!

Maybe I will actually have it trimmed and bound in time for Christmas, since I didn't make it for his birthday (2 days ago).

The random number generator chose comment number 26, so my lovely friend Kris (who blogs at Lavender Quilts) will be getting a package of my herbal soap when it finishes curing in a couple of weeks.

Hope you are finding beauty in the world around you.

Until next time, 

Janet O.

Twenty-two years in the making!

I began stitching the hexagon flowers for this quilt exactly 22 years ago next week! I know that because back then I was a volunteer for "The Festival of the American West" in our valley, and that is where I was taught English Paper Piecing.

This just came back from the quilter and I love what she did with it.  

I told her I wanted it to look like someone had hand quilted it, and I believe she got the feel I was looking for. In the photo above right you can get a better idea of the quilting, and on the left you can see the fun floral backing I used.

I cut the binding today. I will get it attached and start sewing it down within the next couple of days. So happy to see this finally getting completed.

Fun Fact: Monday I was watching an old movie "The More The Merrier" (starring Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea) while I made more masks. It is an old rom/com about the housing shortage in Washington D.C. during WWII. I happened to be glancing up at the screen just as they were showing an apartment building lobby filled with people on makeshift beds and one of the men had a quilt this same style over his. For just a second I wished the film was in color so I could see what one of these looked like in the 40s.

Yes, I did mention there that I was sewing more masks. Now that more and more stores are requiring them, and we are being told when school resumes in the fall kids will need to wear masks, I figure there is still a need. Have distributed more than 200, have 50 more made and ready to share, and another 50 or so are cut out waiting to be stitched. I don't enjoy changing thread colors, so I select a few masks that could all look good with the same color of top-stitching, and I make those masks assembly line style. When they are made I choose another thread color and sew whatever masks I have cut out that look good with that thread. You can see the super hero masks are at the top of the pile.

My good quilting buddy, Kevin H., sent me a bag a scraps and leftover parts earlier this summer. I started playing with them and making plans for a small quilt almost immediately. I incorporated many of the "parts", like the 4-patches and the HSTs.

The top has been finished and basted for weeks, but I haven't started the quilting yet. Thanks, Kevin, for a fun diversion from my self-imposed focus on UFOs. This may turn out to be my July monthly mini once it is quilted.

I was on my evening walk one night last week when a quilting friend called to me from her yard. She had just finished assembling a top using a bunch of Lori Holt fabrics with a few other fabrics mixed in. There were a lot of bonus triangles leftover and at first she thought she would do something with them, but after beginning to press and trim a few, she decided they were smaller than she wanted to use. Many of them would finish around 2", or a little smaller. She asked if I knew anyone who would want them, and I told her I could probably find someone. So here they are--they pretty well fill a 1 qt. zipper bag. They would make a cute little quilt in happy fabrics. If you want them, say so in your comment.

Speaking of little quilts, another blog friend sent me some copies of that great classic magazine, "Miniature Quilts." I already had 2 or 3 of them, so if you are interested in those, let me know. Thanks for the magazines, Randy!

Finally, one of my favorite border designs to quilt is the rope. I wanted to use it on the sashing for "The Beast," but I didn't have a stencil for it that was big enough, and I didn't want to freehand it on a king size quilt. I get most of my stencils from Quilt Creations International. I already have this stencil in 3 sizes from them, but I checked to see if they had any larger sizes. They had a 2 1/2" listed, which isn't much larger than the 2" I already have, but it was just large enough. I ordered it, but when it arrived it was only 2". Turns out they had mislabeled it on their website and in their catalog and no one else had caught it. They decided that it was a popular enough design that it wouldn't hurt to make it in 2 1/2", which they promptly sent me in just over a week. So now I have an extra 2" size. Anyone interested?

Enough housecleaning. I hope you are all finding things that give you joy in the midst of all this craziness. Whether it is quilting to your heart's content, peace and quiet in a daily devotional, tending to living things in your garden, curling up with a good book and losing yourself in another time or place, sipping a wonderful lemon peach herb tea (it really is yummy) as you enjoy a sunrise or sunset, or baking up a storm--maybe you are lucky enough to have family in your "bubble" and you get to hug grandkids--whatever your source of comfort and normalcy, I hope you are staying safe and not letting it all get you down. We will get through this!

Until next time (when I'd better have a monthly mini ready),

Janet O.