November Monthly Mini

True to my norm, I am posting my November Monthly Mini just under the wire. I will link up with Wendy, our faithful and fearless leader. Check out the link to see the other monthly mini makers (I love alliteration). Haven't thought of a name for it yet, but it measures 20"x24".

 

This was made up when I came across a bag of Sandy Gervais autumn and Halloween scraps given to me by my retreat buddy a few years ago.

She met me at a local quilt shop that is about halfway between our homes, saying she had something for me. Her trunk was full of boxes and bags of scraps and yardage she was cleaning out.  It was like Christmas for me.

 

It is a simple double 4-patch. I have always loved those. Once upon a time I actually made one that was large enough to keep someone warm. I need to do more of that.

 

I was so excited that my copy of Barbara's new encyclopedia came early. Wasn't due until Dec. 1st. It arrived on the 28th of November. DH ordered it for my birthday. I am enjoying perusing it. My old edition has been a favorite, and this edition is even more fun, with colored versions of each block included.

 

Hope all my U.S. friends had a good Thanksgiving, however you had to adapt your celebration this year.

We had a pie social on Wednesday in my youngest daughter's backyard. There were 10 of us, and we kept our distance between households. It was supposed to be in the 40s, so we were prepared for it to be cool. But just before we gathered, the sun went behind the clouds and a breeze picked up. It was cold.

We wrapped up and did our best to enjoy pie and ice cream in spite of the chill factor. We only lasted about 50 minutes, but we had fun and created a memory.

That evening on my walk, the sunset looked like the mountains were on fire. Love it when that happens.

Our actual Thanksgiving dinner consisted of only 5 of us--smallest ever! Last year I think we had 20, and we thought that was small.

In spite of the craziness of this year, there is still so much that fills my heart with joy and thanksgiving. Among those blessings are the friendships I have made through this blog. I think about you and pray for you, and I enjoy the visits, whether via email, texts, calls, or those rare but delightful visits in real life. Thank you all for being a consistently good thing in my life.

Until next time,

Janet O.

 

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.

Humble Quilts SAL--and then some rambling

I finally got my little version of the Humble Quilts fall SAL completed. Named by Lori, "50 Shades of Brown," I have chosen to call my version "Mud Pies." While using the hose in my Mom's back yard recently to water of few of her perennials, I found myself remembering that our sandbox used to be by that hose. We would sometimes employ the hose to create lakes and rivers in the sandbox. Occasionally we would also be found making mud pies, which could take on many shades of brown. Hence the name.

This photo may give you a better idea of the quilting. I really wanted to hand quilt this, but I accepted my reality and quilted it using the walking foot on my machine. Then I squirted it with water and let it air dry to give it a semi-crinkly appearance (my dryer is broken--repairs happening this weekend).

 

I was so grateful that Lori kept it simple for us this time around. I don't think I would have had the brain power to make anything complex. I couldn't even handle making it smaller, or making a duplicate, both of which have been known to happen with regularity around here.

In case you are wondering about the little display rack in the first photo, I will tell you what I am able. Last year I briefly joined a couple of miniature quilt groups on Facebook. But it all began to be too much for me--too many ideas, too many people, too much time spent scrolling through trying to keep up. I soon dropped out of them. But while still in them, one quilter posted a great magazine rack she had picked up at a thrift store and repurposed for miniature quilts. I absolutely loved it. Many readers asked her questions as to dimensions. I copied the picture with the measurements she shared and filed it on my hard drive. Out of sight--out of mind.

Last month hubby and I were helping an elderly friend paint his home, and as this man is still an active  woodworker, I recalled the great little quilt rack and asked if I could hire him to make it for me. I found the photo with dimensions on my hard drive and emailed it to him. He used red oak, and I told him to leave it unfinished--I will stain it. I love staining wood (but may not get to it for a while). He brought it to me last week. I think he did a beautiful job. I had him put a few less rungs on it so more of each quilt shows. I love it as is, but I know it will really be beautiful when it is stained.

I can't recall who it was that originally posted this in the Facebook group. I can't believe I didn't put that info on the photo. There are some of you readers that are in that group, I know. If you recall who posted this, please share it. I should be giving her credit.

 

Lately I have received some much appreciated fun mail. Sandi sent the cute soap, pretty scissor fob, and great quilt magnet. I won a giveaway on Wendy's blog and received the beautiful magazines and charm squares. Then Barb sent the sweet, wee quilt and lovely FQs. During stressful times it is such a delight to find a wonderful surprise in the mailbox. I also appreciate those who have sent a text or email to check in. My blog friends are amazing. I know I am really lax in my blogging. I am hopeful that it won't always be so hard to find time to quilt so that I have something to post. 

I almost didn't watch the presidential debate, the last one was so disheartening. But I joined it a few minutes late and was grateful that a small degree of civility was present that had been sorely lacking in the first one. Something that has really impressed me is that the two candidates in my state's race for governor have appeared in an ad together, promoting civility. Don't believe me? It can be viewed here, and it is gaining some national attention. Kind of sad that such a thing is so rare. It shouldn't be.

 

Not only is it election time, it is also Pumpkin Spice time! I got a giggle out of this. Maybe I just need a Pumpkin Spice oil change to get out of my mental funk.:)                                                        Has anyone else sat out in the wee hours of the morning with a few blankets and a warm drink to see how many meteors they can spot? That would be me two nights ago, for a total of 7 meteors in 35 minutes--starting at 2 a.m. It was magical. You have to take joy where you can, and anything involving the sights in the heavens makes my heart happy.

Spent an afternoon last week making soap, and when it has finished curing in 2 1/2 more weeks, I will draw a name from the comments and send them a few bars. I'd like to pay it forward on the fun mail. I may tuck in a few other surprises.

 

Until next time,

Janet O.

Mini of the Month and Humble Quilts SAL

Once again just squeaking under the wire with my Monthly Mini. Linking up with Wendy at The Constant Quilter blog for our monthly mini parade.

The inspiration for this little quilt began when I saw this post from Barbara of her mini last month. She showed a picture from the book Childhood Treasures that had inspired her mini and that sent me to my copy of the book. I didn't end up using the one that caught my eye that month, but decided it would be my mini for September--and here it is.

 

 

                                                    

This photo shows which quilt from Childhood Treasures inspired me. That print around the three sides of the doll quilt in the book made me think of a beautiful Jinny Beyer print called Mariposa that  had been shared with me by Pat at Amity Quilter blog (thank you, Pat). A couple of years ago she used it as the focus fabric in a Humble Quilts SAL.  You can see her finished product here.                              Since I don't have a doll bed, I figured I would put the border around all four sides, as this will probably be a wall hanging or table topper. 

I didn't get a great photo of the quilting, but maybe you can see it a bit in this photo. Haven't thought of a name for this yet. It has such a mix of fabric designers. I considered calling it "Jinny Beyer makes a Diehl to Di Ford," but that would be leaving out Howard Marcus, Paula Barnes, Jo Morton, and maybe more. I'll have to ponder it a little more.

I've been on a roll with the 2 1/2" 4-patch blocks with setting squares. I was just finishing piecing up my monthly mini when Lori at Humble Quilts blog posted her first step in her doll quilt SAL. She has since posted the second step, and the setting is remarkably familiar.        Looking forward to seeing the border that Lori says is next. It's not too late to join in!

DH and I had a whirlwind getaway last Friday and Saturday. It was good to get out and do something almost like we used to. Does it look familiar? It is a 5 hour drive from home and I have spent many vacations here--with my family as a child, with my children as a family, and now as a pair of "old people". 

 

Autumn is my favorite time of year, and I am enjoying the cooler nights, the changing colors, and the golden hue to the evening light. In a world that has been throwing us curve balls on a regular basis this year, I hope you are finding ways to create joy for yourself and others each day. 

Until next time, 

Janet O.

August Monthly Mini--Love Thy Neighbor

If you were around the blog three years ago you may have a faint memory of this--"Love Thy Neighbor."

Three years ago Maureen (pursuitofquilts blog), extended an invitation for others to join her in making a quilt titled "Love Thy Neighbor," and to consider using house blocks. This was in light of the troubles going on in Charlottesville, VA at that time. I made the top, but I didn't get it quilted. Now seemed like as good a time as ever to complete this little quilt. I can't think of what we could use more right now than love for our neighbors.

Once again, I finished it up with some hybrid quilting. It was machine quilted, except for the echo quilting around the hearts. The house blocks were hand pieced, which I rarely do. They were part of an "airport layover kit" sent to me a few years back by my friend, Annie. This is the second little quilt I have made from the blocks in that kit and this one finished at 14" square. You can see the quilting a little better in this photo. Linking this to Wendy (the constantquilter blog) for our monthly mini roundup.

I know you have seen this next quilt quite a bit, but now that I have the binding completed, I want to share it one more time. This is "Mom's Flower Garden," so named for a few reasons. First, Mom and I started making Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts at the same time 22 years ago, after I learned the technique of EPP and shared what I had learned with her. Second, most of the fabrics came from my Mom's stash, since the fabrics I owned at the time were for clothing construction. Finally, almost all of the blocks were appliqued to their backgrounds during the hours I have spent at Mom's side over the past 15 months. Since Mom finished her quilt within a year of starting it, she is happy to have lived to see the day that I finished mine.

 

 

I have to throw in one more glamor shot. After having almost tossed this UFO out a few years ago, I am just giddy to have it finished and to actually like it. When it was haunting me in its unfinished state, I wondered if it would even be worth it to finish it because I didn't love the fabrics anymore. Well, the principle of synergy is at work here, because when it all came together it was better than I imagined. 

We have been getting the smoke from the fires in California, thanks to the jet stream, and at times it has been so bad that we couldn't even see the mountains that surround us. That is why this view from my evening walk was so welcome. A windy day had cleaned out the valley and the mountains were clearly visible again. That is the moon just rising above the mountains and the clouds.

I'll admit that all of the divisiveness in the country has been getting me down. Those who are hijacking the BLM movement as an excuse for violence disrespect the cause and efforts of those who are trying to bring about positive change through peaceful protests. The politicizing of good health practices during a global pandemic seems crazy to me. And the vilifying of all police officers due to the heinous actions of some is unfair to those who bring honor to the uniform. How did all this hate and venom find such fertile soil in our country? Can we not remember how to love our neighbor?

 

Will you join me in seeing if you can find something kind to do for a "neighbor"? Keep it simple or get creative. Just reach out and brighten someone's day, somehow (I know many of you are already doing this). It will brighten your day, too. And couldn't we all use some day brightening?

Until next time,

Janet O.

July Monthly Mini

Look at me--posting my monthly mini before midnight on the last day of the month! I will be linking up with Wendy, our fearless (cheer)leader, at The Constant Quilter blog.

This month's mini came together mostly from leftover units and scraps kindly donated by Kevin at Kevin the Quilter blog.I did dig around a bit in my own scraps to come up with the sashing, border, and binding, but no actual yardage was harmed in the making of this quilt. It finished up at just over 13" square.

In my last post I received a comment from Lady Locust saying this made her think of Neapolitan ice cream. I liked that idea, so I am naming it Neapolitan. And with our temps reaching 100 these days, I could use a scoop of that about now.

This was finished with what I like to call "hybrid quilting". I used machine quilting for all of the stitch-in-the-ditch, and for the quilting in the outer border. Then I hand quilted down the center of each narrow sashing piece, and diagonally through the 4-patch blocks. I felt it needed a bit more, so I did echo quilting in the neutral triangles. You can see the quilting better in the photos below. You can also see very clearly that I drew no lines to follow on the hand quilting. I eye-balled it--so let's call it organic quilting. :)

Do you ever mix machine and hand quilting on the same piece? I have done it many times on my minis, but never on a large quilt. On the back you can see the machine quilting more clearly. And I see a space I missed. Can you spot it?

It is good to have an excuse to sew something fun in these monthly minis, since mask  making continues to consume most of my sewing time. Have now made over 300. Anyone need a mask? LOL

I have notified those whose names were drawn to receive the bag of HSTs (Dortha), magazines (Liz and Barb V.), and the stencil (Robin). As so often happens, several of those I originally drew have no email linked to their name, so I had to draw again (and again).
                      

We have been trying to have dinner on our deck most evenings. This is what I captured there the other night--the video quality isn't the best, but listen to the birds, and watch the swallows swoop. You might want to expand the video screen to see the birds better.

Find something around you that makes you smile.
Until next time,
Janet O. 


RANT: At the risk of changing the mood and ending on a downer, I spent 3 hours last night in the new blogger trying to create this post. This is not my first rodeo--I have used the new blogger on the two previous posts with minimal inconvenience and adapting. Last night as I typed, the letters would appear slowly, one at a time, taking a couple of minutes for one sentence to show up after I had typed it. A paragraph could take 10 minutes to materialize. Photos would actually drag and drop this time (which they wouldn't on my last post), but resizing didn't always work. One photo was so huge it covered most of my post. It wouldn't resize. When I finally deleted just that photo and tried to preview the post, the preview wouldn't load--even when I went away and came back later to see if it was completed. I finally cut my post short and hit publish, only to have half of my words--in random places--not appear, and only a couple of photos show up. I deleted the whole post and walked away. Tried again this morning and saw things were much the same. Just to get this posted without tearing out my hair, I reverted to "Legacy Blogger." I am hoping these are all just glitches and won't be regular occurrences. Even Legacy Blogger was a bit touchy, but nothing like my trial with new blogger last night. Anyone else have a similar experience?

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.