Merry Christmas

I received a marvelous present from my husband.  It's a Something Blue quilt kit! I can't wait to dig into this one!  Here's what it will look like:

I already have a couple of quilt kits waiting for me to do, but I think I will tackle this one next. It's not as complicated as Beauties of Joy, but still a lot of paper-piecing and directions to follow.  I think it looks way more complicated than it is.  I haven't done this many curves yet, but I can sew sleeves, and collars and necklines, and those are curves too, so it can't be any more complicated than those!

I have a few things to finish up before I start, but it's always exciting to get new quilt kits and fabrics!

Quilting Drew's Asteroid Quilt.

As of late, I have been working on getting the Asteroid quilt quilted.  It has been going together so easily, I'm not sure if it's because Dianne is such an excellent pinner (which she is!) or if it has to do with the fact that I am getting so much better at quilting (which I am!) or if it is because of the fusible batting I am using.

I never had Dianne pin a quilt for me before, and I learned a few things from watching her,  She uses a LOT of tape.  She totally smooths out each and every layer so not a single wrinkle is in sight.  She also tapes the batting to the floor, not just backing.  The quilt sandwich stayed put for the entire pinning session, and I was most impressed.  I will be following these steps in the future!

The batting used for this quilt is FUSIBLE batting, Hobbs 80/20 Heirloom.  I never used fusible batting before.  No, I take that back!  I used the batting scraps from the Asteroid in the Kitty baby quilt I just made.  It was smaller, so I sewed the strips together that we had trimmed off from The Asteroid quilt after it was pinned.  I actually ironed that batting to the baby quilt top and bottom, and I was not impressed with how it looked.  I decided I would never use it again!  However, Drew's Asteroid quilt was NOT ironed.  The batting felt a bit "tacky" and was stuck together when we unrolled it to lay it out for pinning.  I thought something was wrong with that batting.  I don't recall ordering "fusible" batting (it came in the mail from Connecting Threads.)  That unironed fusible tacky batting must keep the batting and top/bottom from sliding around.  The more I quilted it, the more I liked it!!  I'll have to re-think that "never again" part...

I have been stitching in the ditch around the stars and shapes in the pattern quilt top.  I may or may not do some decorative quilting when I am through with the "stabelizing" phase of the quilt.  We'll see how it looks and how much time I have.  Here's how the quilting looks:

 

Emergency Baby Quilt

Monday night when I got home from a  Quilt Guild meeting, my Hunny reminded me of a Baptism we need to attend on Sunday, which was only 5 days away.)  Yes, I remembered.  Oh, and by the way, "do you think you could whip up a baby quilt that we can give as a gift?"  ARGHHHHH!

But I can do it.  I have an idea for a cool baby quilt from a picture I saved from the web. Since this is for a girl baby, my cats will all be pink be pink.  It will look something like this:

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It said on the web that this quilt will finish off at 41".  That's all I had to go by, I do not have a pattern.  Just the name of the quilt (Cat Nap), it's finished size, and this picture.  So I started doing the math. Trial and error in the beginning, but then REAL math for the corner triangles.  Starting with a 25" center square on point, add a 2.5" border, so it is now 29".  The formula for corner triangles, is finished block size divided by 1.414 plus 7/8" for seam allowances (round up to the nearest 1/8"), which will equal the size of the square you need to cut in half on the diagonal for 2 corners.  SO! 29 divided by 1.414 is about 20.5", plus 7/8"would = 21 3/8".  I used  a 22" square just to be on the safe side, yes, it was a little larger than necessary, but I could easily trim it to size and leave that quarter inch seam allowance for sewing on the final border.  The head is a 7.5" square, the shoulders is a 3.5" square cut in half on the diagonal, and the ears are 60 degree triangles cut at 2.5" tall.  Paws are 3" x 5", rounded off on one end and appliqued on after the border was sewn.  There, that's my pattern!

I went off to the fabric store to get some fleece for the backing, and decided against an outer border.  I whipped up this quilt from start to finish in just 4 days.  Here is my version of Cat Nap, front and back!

  

The original quilt had claws on the cat too, which I decided to leave off.  Claws on kitties make them mean or mad, which is cute, but not for a baby.  (my opinion).  I also used circles of a reddish pink batik for the eyes, and added black pupils in the circles.  I think it's very cute!

Cute eyes

I basically did this the same as I did the seasonal Skinnies, applique the pieces, and stitch all around.  I added more quilting then on a skinnie though.  Also, I free-motioned the  whiskers and mouth before I added that square to the quilt so black thread wouldn't show on the back of the quilt.  I didn't want to use the applique stitch for the eyes and noses, the curves are pretty tight.  So I did a very small zigzag around them, and that worked perfectly.  All done in less than 4 days.  I'm pretty proud of myself!

Player Piano Mouse

One of  Author quilt blocks will feature a book by Dr. Dachman, Player Piano Mouse.  I have had fun making this block, both the mouse and the piano keys.  It's a little wider than most of our other blocks, but it can be trimmed down and help to even out a short row.  (Not all of our blocks are turning out to be 10 1/2" square!)  You'd think with paper piecing, all the blocks will end up perfectly, but that's not the case.  Some are 10 1/4" or some other measurement.  One turned out to be only 9.5" wide, an inch too short.  We could add on an extra book to each short block to bring each block to the 10.5"  but we talked it over and decided to "square each row" to 60" rather than dink around with tiny individual variances!  So here is "Player Piano Mouse."  I used musical themed fabrics for the two books, too!

Football

One of our blocks in the Author quilt is about a football coach and his trials and tribulations as he pursues greatness for his team.  I found a paper pieced pattern for a football, and decided to use it.  Here it is:

Bias on the Bottom

I have finally finished the Whirligigs quilt top!  I still have to sandwich/pin/quilt yet.  But slow but sure wins the race, and finishes quilts.  Here's how it looks:

I put a small HST in each corner as a little accent, but it's hard to see.  The Delectable Mountains border turned out really well.  I was worried that they would stretch out when I sewed them on, but I remembered my rule:  "Bias on the bottom."  When you sew, it works better if you put the stretchy(ier) part on the bottom, and the strip of plain border on top.  The pressure foot pushes along against the top piece, but if there's no bias or seam, there is no stretch. The teeth underneath just grab the fabric and move it along and it all goes together beautifully.  That little rule made the difference is sewing that border.

Argyle

I have been thinking about making Aidan a quilt for a couple years now.  I recently asked him what his favorite color was, he said blue and then asked "why?"  I told him it was so I knew what color underwear to buy him for Christmas!  He said he had a different idea, maybe it was for a quilt!  Big smiles here for both of us!  We both understood what was really being asked. Aidan knows how to read between the lines! I asked what about a second color, you know, for "contrast" in the "underwear".  He said Red.  Now, I have to really look for, and buy, some red and blue boys underwear to wrap up a Christmas!!  But in the meantime, I will be working on his Christmas quilt!

I had bought, some time ago, a fair amount of blue plaid flannel fabrics, with a snuggily cozy blue flannel quilt in mind just for Aidan. Aidan is the kind of kid who likes a snuggily blanket!  I had a pattern in mind, and plenty of fabric to do it, but was just too busy with other quilts. Then I changed my mind when I saw the Three Dudes Quilt, and I thought, THIS is for Aidan!  I kept this in the back of my mind too.  Now I have some time (not really!) and have been re-thinking what to do for Aidan.  I found ANOTHER new pattern, and thought THIS ONE would be perfect for Aidan, and I have gone back to the original idea of my plaid flannels.  I have even made "the first cut" so the quilt is officially started!  This one will go fast, and I think it'll be just perfect Aidan.  Here is picture of the quilt, a pattern named "Argyle." (I don't have the pattern, but I can easily figure it out from this picture.)

Just picture this in reds and blues.  Blue borders, a very light gray instead of white, blue plaids instead of green solids.  Here are the first 4 blocks!

This is a really simple pattern, 10" blocks, no seams to match in the blocks.  You'd have to match the red and blue diagonal lines when you put the blocks and rows together, but that's not too bad! I'll be able to chain piece this, so it should go really fast!  I'm on a mission!!

Gravity

I had to put Whirligigs away, it's about 95% done.  I am waiting on the mailman to bring me a little more black fabric, such a tiny amount I needed, a mere 4.5"  WOF.  I guess because I made it bigger, that little bit extra caused the shortage.  Or, I hadn't planned on 44 delectable mountain blocks either when I calculated yardage.  That's what I get for changing the plan!  Anyway ...!

I just got out a different UFO (I have so many to choose from!) and got to work.  I chose the Gravity quilt because I had quite a few of the color blocks already finished.  So I have been busy working on this one while I wait for my Whirligig fabric to arrive.  Gravity is a rather large quilt, and as of right now, it has no name on it either.  I have no particular recipient in mind for it.  I just thought it was pretty when I saw it.

Gravity is made from Anthology fabrics by Robert Kaufman.  These are solid colored fabrics, and the fabric is very very nice, almost like a linen.  Anthology fabrics come in 303 different colors!  Wow!  This quilt will be fun to quilt, I'll have to think of what color thread to use.  And how to quilt all these spaces.  More fun awaits!  But until then, here is my progress on the Gravity quilt!

As you can see, it's a rainbow quilt, with a black/gray background, all done in diamonds and triangle shapes.  I have a couple of specialty rulers to make this easy, the "Sidekick" and the "Hex and More" from Jaybirds Quilts.  I love those 2 rulers and have used them for other things besides this quilt. This was originally a Block of the Month from Jaybirds, and I signed up to do it.  I have all the fabrics now, and just have to finish it up.  I am liking this project!

Delectable Mountains.

I have been working on the Whirligig UFO as a part of my quilt guilt 2016 UFO challenge.  I had gotten a lot done already and as I gazed upon this beauty on my design wall, all done except for borders, I decided, It's too small!  I had enough extra fabrics to make  more blocks, and so I did, I added an extra row, so the quilt is now 5 x 5 instead of 4 x 5.

I also started on the borders.  Also with leftover fabric, mostly scraps, I made 44 smaller delectable mountain blocks that I had been thinking of doing.  Eleven per side.  I think it will look  fantastic!  Here's my progress!

As I gazed upon the new improved version, I decided I really really didn't like one of the blocks.  Dull and boring in color, and so I ripped it out and made a new block, a red one!  Can you tell which block I ripped out?  Maybe that gray one in the 3rd row?  Or perhaps the brown one in the 4th row?  No.  Actually, I might have replaced that gray one... it is also a little on the boring side.  But I didn't have enough fabric left to redo one in any other color!  My delectable mountains used up every possible scrap of any decent size!  Ok, which one, you ask.  The olive green one in the 2nd row is the ugly duckling!  Puke green if you ask me!  And so now my quilt looks like this!  Better, eh?

Scrap Overload

I have been working on multiple quilts (the Mystery quilt, Asteroids, Rainbow Kaleidoscope for the quilt guild presentation, whirligigs, plus miscellaneous things --cow, etc.)  Needless to say, my sewing room is in need of a serious cleaning.  I should put things away from one project before I start another, but nooooo.  Isn't there an old saying about a cluttered room is the sign of a gifted mind?  (THAT's MY story, and I'm sticking to it!)

Anyway, to say that I am a scrap hoarder is an understatement.  Ever since I learned that paper-piecing can use the SMALLEST scraps, I've been keeping almost everything!  And my scrap bins overfloweth!

I have decided to make an actual quilt with those scraps, and this may take years and years to do.  I am cutting squares in various sizes, the smallest being 1.5" square.  If a scrap cannot make a 1.5" square I am tossing it out!  I cut the largest square I can from a scrap, the largest being 3.5" (3" finished,) a 2.5" square (to finish at 2") and 1.5" (1" finished.)  I plan to sew scraps together (as in the picture above) and then arrange them in some random combination to make a 12.5" square (finishing off at 12").  These will all be sewn, not strip piecing, so it will take some time.  I am making it a goal to sew one "square" a day (16 one-inch pieces in a 4x4 arrangement) or a 16-patch of 3" squares, or a 4 patch of 2" squares, or whatever it turns out to be.  When I have a significant amount of squares, I will make a quilt and call it "Scrap Attack."  A have enough scraps to make about 100 of these kinds of quilts!!

Whirlygigs

Now that I have finished piecing Asteroids, my design wall is empty.  I have a UFO that is about 3/4 finished, so I decided that shall be next.  Up onto the wall it went, and I finished the remaining 8 blocks in record time.  Here it is:

I like this one!  It is full of colors and was easy to make.  I don't know what I will do with it once it's done, but that's not really important to me.  I just love making quilts!  I have to sew these 20 blocks together, and put on some kind of border--  first a small 1 or 2 inch black border to frame it, then something with the colors from these blocks.  I have a lot of good size pieces of each color, so I could get a little creative.  Maybe something like I made for Anna's Painted Lady.  I was also thinking of a "Delectable Mountains" type border, as that could repeat the angles of the whirlygigs.  I don't want it to be too big or flashy though.  Time will tell.  I'll keep you posted!

You can find the pattern for Whirligigs in this book
Midnight Quilts by Lerlene Nevaril.

 

Asteroid Top is Finished

I have finished the mitered borders on Drew's Asteroid quilt!  It looks really nice.  In retrospect, I wish I would've used more burgundy and less white.  The batik border helps a lot, but I still think there is too much white to suit me.  Also I am worried that the burgundy will run when it's washed and all that white will turn pink!  I will have to send along a box of Color Catchers, and print up a wash-in-cold-water label!  Well, here is the finished top:

  

OH!!  It just occurred to me--- MY DESIGN WALL IS EMPTY!!  What's next!?

Mitered Corners on the Asteroid

I have finished the Asteroid quilt top for Drew, and now I am working on those final borders.  Because I wanted those white stars on the edge to be "finished," (my brain needs to see a whole star here!) I have some adjustments in the border to do!  I had to make a paper-pieced pattern with the star points "overlapping" the borders.  I suppose I could have just appliqued a triangle over the top of the border and called it a day, but I think it looks more "accomplished" this way.  So the border will be pieced in three sections, and the ends will need to be mitered because of the double border.  Here's a pic of how it's going to far...

The fabric I am using for the outer border is a burgundy/red batik with black/gray swirls that look like tire treads, and match really nicely at the seam lines.  The seam lines aren't that noticeable.  It will also help bring more burgundy into the quilt, which was looking a little too black/gray/white than I wanted.   Another interesting thing about this batik is that when you iron it, it smells wonderful!  Like sandalwood or some spicy woodsy smell.  Someone must've stored it in a wooden container, like a cedar chest, although it doesn't smell like cedar.  I think I bought this piece of fabric last summer on a shop hop. Since this quilt is for a boy, I'm glad it's not a "girly" smell, like roses or perfume!

I think this quilt is shaping up nicely. 

Cow

Because of my skill in paper piecing, I have been "volunteered" to help with a community service project--a larger wall hanging similar to the Harry Potter bookcase but without the magical objects.  The book titles will be titles of books by Wisconsin authors, and a few author autographs have already been collected.  This will hang in a local library.  One of the books is titled "Holy Cow It's Me," by Louis Landau--an autobiography about a rural veterinarian in SW Wisconsin.  I have been looking for a paper piecing pattern of a cow, but most of what I could find are silly looking cows, or cows for kids.  But now I have found a REAL looking cow pattern on Etsy, and I bought it and have sewn it into a 10 1/2" square.  Here it is!

One block done, thirty (?) to go!

Medallion Tutorial

After my Kaleidoscope Medallion presentation to the Quilt Guild last Monday, I have decided to put that tutorial here on my blog.  I hope you like it, and can give it a try sometime!

Rainbow Medallion

I have been working on my presentation for the Quilt Guild on Monday.  I have put together another Medallion, using rainbow colors.  I'm excited at how it turned out.  I love that these medallions are a little bit mysterious and you don't know how they will turn out, but it's almost impossible to make an ugly one!   Here is a picture of all the pieces on the design board.  I will sew them together after I do the presentation.  (I must be partial to rainbows!)

 I have written a tutorial which I will include in this blog.

Just needs Borders!

I've been working on last month's UFO. My Quilt Guild started a UFO Challenge whereby we pick a number once a month and then everyone works on a UFO from their list that corresponds with that number.  Last month my project was the "Asteria" quilt, or "Asteroid" quilt as I call it.  (It's for Drew, and a 12 yr old boy would prefer a more masculine name.  "Asteria" sounds pretty feminine to me!)  Anyway, this month, instead of starting work on a new UFO, (I should be working on my Gravity quilt,) I decided to continue working on the quilt I already have up on my design board.  I really got  a lot done last month going from a pile of fabric to where all that it needs now is the outer borders.  I have fabric for that, and am excited to get this top done!  Here's my progress:

I really do need to put this away for now though.  I have to give a presentation to the quilt guild at the April meeting, and I am going to demonstrate how to make a medallion quilt (Ricky Tims) and I have to make a sample!  So the borders on Asteroid will have to wait a few weeks.  Just need to have it finished by the end of November!

What Have I Done!?

My fabric for the Brilliant Beauties of Joy quilt arrived.  OH MY!  A 25 page instruction booklet, TONS-O-PAPERPIECING PATTERNS, and a huge stack of rainbow color fabrics.  I am highly intimidated!!  Maybe, this time, I have bitten off more than I can chew!  It's an EXPERT level quilt, and I feel I am up to the challenge, but I'm really afraid to get started!  I know how to follow directions, and I know how to paper-piece, but this will be a huge undertaking!  This is gonna take a LONG TIME to do!

 

I will have to add this to my UFO list.  I have so many quilts in the works right now, I need to finish some of them before I start this!  This will consume me, I know it will!

Asteria Progress

One month ago, my quilt guild met for our usual monthly meeting.  We were given a challenge, to list our UFO's, from 1 to 12.  If you did not have 12 UFO's, then you just repeated the list.   A number was then drawn from a hat, and we would work on whichever UFO corresponded with that number.  Thanks to this challenge, Asteria is not longer a pile of fabrics stacked in a  box!  It's up on the design board and taking shape!  Here's my progress, one month's worth!

Seeing it small like this makes me wonder, "where is all the burgundy!?"  The quilt is supposed to be burgundy and silver.  It looks pretty white-ish to me!  Too bad you can't see the silver specks and shimmers in those whites, grays, and blacks!  Anyway, there are still quite a few blocks to fill in yet, and they DO contain burgundy.  Also there is a pretty burgandy/black/gray batik print for the final border.  BURGUNDY binding!  This is going to be really pretty when it's done.

Critical Error

Well, live and learn!  Yesterday I spent all day making 32 V-block units for Asteria.  I was soo proud of them, finishing them from cutting to trimming, all in one day, and they are perfect!  My back hurt from leaning over the cutting table/ironing board all day (pass the Aleve, please).  I was so happy to call it quits around 11 pm!  But I was DONE with V-blocks!  Or so I thought!

This morning, I put them next to their neighbor blocks, and WHOA!!  HOLD THE PHONE!  They didn't match!

Silver points are supposed to be white!

I had accidentally reversed the colors!  My stack of V-blocks are useless to me!  A whole day of work, WASTED!  My back ache and hard work was all for naught!

Today I will start over, doing it right.  Thank the Lord I have enough fabric of each color to weather this mistake.  I will save the 32 V-units and label them for the future, but I am so mad at myself I could scream.  In fact, that might help!   AUGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEHHHHH!

The First Cut

I have started Asteria.  I laid out my fabrics, and admired them for awhile.

It's always hard for me to make the first cut into beautiful fabrics.  I have calculated the yardage and did the math, and there was PLENTY of math because the pattern is for 12" squares.  The finished quilt would be so HUGE, 106" x 106".  Gahhhhh!  I redesigned the blocks at 75%, so I will be doing a 9" block instead.  My quilt will be 72"-75", depending on how wide I make the final border.  So, time to get started... where's my rotary cutter!?

There are 8 different blocks, some 9" x 9", some 6" x 9", and one is 6" x 6".  I have finished all of the #1 blocks, and all of the #8 blocks.  Here is my progress so far.

  

Looking Good!

Asteria

I am about to start a new quilt, Asteria, which I plan to give to my grandson Drew in November for his birthday.  Long ago, Drew commented that if ever I would make a quilt for him, he would like it to be in burgandy and silver.  I saw the pattern long ago and downloaded it, and then "built" it in EQ7.  I have colored many versions of this, and here is what I **think* is the final version.

It reminds me of a Medieval Coat of Arms, knights of old, a crest on a battle shield, and castles.  Bob thinks it looks more like space ships and stars.  Either way, it's a good quilt for a soon-to-be 13 yr old. 

Most of the fabrics have silver metalics in them, although the burgundy is plain, mottled, with no silver.  The whites and grays all have silver speckles or is patterned with silver.  I extended the eight white "stars" beyond, into the border.    The pattern cuts it off at the inner border but my eye needed those points to be finished somehow!  I always like to see quilts with some design element extending out into the border.  I think this looks really nice.  I'm not sure how I'm going to manage it, but I'll give it a shot.  If worse comes to worse, I'll just have blunt ends to the stars and the quilt can stay inside the borders the way the pattern wants it to be!

 I hope Drew will like it!

Another Pan in the Fire

Now with Isaac's quilt finished, my design wall is empty.  I have any number of gorgeous quilts in the works, and I should work on them, right?  I love all my projects, but the UFO's are piling up!  The only problem is, there are soooo many beautiful quilts out there, and I am a hopeless addict!  I saw a tee shirt today, it said, "I will clean my house today.  Oh, wait, there's some fabric!"  That's EXACTLY me!  But if we just change it a little:  "I will sew on one of my UFO's today.  Oh wait, there's another beautiful quilt!"

And so (really, I couldn't help myself!) I bought it.  It's an "Expert" level quilt, but I think I can rise to the occasion!  It is called "Brilliant Beauty of Joys" and it looks like this"

I promise!  "I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER QUILT KIT/PATTERN UNTIL I FINISH ALL THE ONES I ALREADY HAVE !!"  This is the LAST time I will do this, I SWEAR!

(What's that sound??  Is it laughing?  HYSTERICAL laughing??)

Birthday Banner

My daughter is having a birthday at the end of the month.  I am leaving on Friday (in 2 days) too visit her and her family (including my brand new grandson, Isaac!)  While I'm there I will give her an early birthday present, this Birthday Skinny to hang on her wall:

      

It's an interactive banner.  Dianne can remove her "Mommy" name badge, and insert one of her family member's names on THEIR birthday.  There's a "To You" badge for a random person, if they ever want to use it too.  I love making these Skinnies, they so much fun.  This one I designed myself.  I had found a Happy Birthday fat quarter and the light bulb went on!  Happy birthday to the most wonderful daughter in the world!

Isaac's Stained Glass Baby Quilt

You know me!  I never have just ONE quilt going at a time!  Besides the Mystery Quilt, I have also been working on a quilt for my new little Grandson, Isaac, not even two weeks old.  Isaac will be getting his new quilt next week.  I've been working on it for a few weeks now, and it is finally finished.  I know that babies like bright colors, and I have heard that black is a good contrast with bright colors for babies (especially yellow and black.)  I've always wanted to make a Stained Glass quilt, but all that edging in black seems tedious, so this baby quilt is just the ticket!  Not tooo big, but big enough to get the stained glass effect.

I had a new panel of dragons, and some dinosaurs left over from a previous project, and I thought they looked good together.  I have plenty of bright colors in my stash, and as I looked through my scraps and stash, I noticed that I also have a lot of polka dots and circle-y fabrics.  So I decided to use those, with the idea of eventually quilting it with my circle template.  A cute theme of Dots and Spots!  Here's the progression of the making of this quilt:

The START!  Laying out the dinos and dragons.  The size of the quilt
was determined by the fact that my dragon panel had 10 dragons on it.
 I used 9 of the ten, making a 3 x 3 quilt of 14" squares.
 The finished quilt will be @ 50" square.

All fabric is cut and placed, sampling borders.  This particular
border seemed too busy for quilt, and I decided to use it as
the binding instead.

Nine finished blocks

With a plain black border to match the sashings, the quilt is pinned.

I made the polka-dotted binding strip is a little wider than usual.
The quilt is FINISHED!

The quilting circles show up better on the back, a soft green flannel.

I can't wait to snuggle up with my grandsons!