Design Wall Monday - April 30, 2018

Today is the last day in April.  Last night was a beautiful full moon, and I saw it was called a Pink Moon.  According to the internet, called that from one of the first spring flowers, Wild Ground Phlox.  Phlox cover the ground like a pink blanket, and these lovely flowers are native to North America, and are often blooming during April's full moon.  I can imagine seeing a field of pink phlox in the moonlight.

Here's a picture of a pink doll quilt that I have on display on the design wall.  Not phlox, but will have to do as my celebration of a Pink Moon.

I'm working (playing) away on the triangles for the Jane Stickle quilt.  I have 12 more to go, and one corner kite.  It's exciting to be near the end.  Here's my progress this week:

and

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What have you been working on?  Lot's of good ideas were out there last week, and I know you will amaze me again this week!  Thanks for linking up:

Please link back to this particular post somewhere within your post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.  Copy the web address at the top of this post as the web address to use for the link:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/04/design-wall-monday-april-30-2018.html

Can't wait to see all the pretty design walls!

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Design Wall Monday - April 23, 2018

Thanks for all the nice birthday wishes last week!  I had a great birthday, and went out to dinner with family at night.  

What is on my design wall this week?   Nothing, but I can post pictures of two Jane Stickle Quilt "kite" shaped blocks that I made during the retreat last week at Shipshewana:

For those of you who aren't familiar with this quilt, it has 225 different blocks, and these are two of the four corners.  I am trying to finish my quilt this year, and I have been working on it for a long time.

Here is a picture of the quilt, from the Bennington Museum, in Bennington,
Vermont.

I sat in front of it in awe, for an afternoon years ago, and I have been in love with it ever since.

What is on your design wall today?  Your projects always give me good ideas.  Thank you!

If you are linking with Design Wall Mondays, please link back to this particular post somewhere within your current post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

Use this web address when you fill out the "link" information:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/design-wall-monday-april-23-2018.html

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Design Wall Monday - April 16, 2018

Today is my birthday, and I am celebrating being 75!  I have had a fabulous week, as I was on a quilt retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana for five days, and just got home last night.  While there, I finished four small quilts/doll quilts, and had a great time visiting with all of my friends who gather there each year.

Here is a table runner kit that I almost threw away. It was partially finished, and was giving me trouble.  It is made of loosely woven homespun fabrics, and when I tried to quilt some straight lines through it, I made puckers and pulls......so I set it aside for quite a while.  Recently, I decided what to do to rescue it:  I took out all of the quilting on the homespun, and added a border of small hsts that were given to me a few years ago, by Jill Shram, who sat near me at a previous Shipshewana retreat.

I liked it a lot better with the small triangles as a border, and I gave it minimal quilting this time, to avoid the previous trouble with the homespun fabrics.  Quilting is just around the apples, and along the border.  I have named it "The Apple Pie Table Runner"  and it will be on my dining table in the fall.

Here is a closeup of Jill's little left-over triangles that are now part of the table runner.  They finish at one inch.

Thank you Jill!  

This retreat, I visited my friend Rebecca Haarer's antique shop, and bought an old ladder, for displaying doll quilts in my quilt work room.  If you are in Shipshewana, Indiana, I recommend stopping at her shop; there are lots of antique quilts, and other goodies there.  

Here is my new display ladder, with the doll quilts on it that I brought to the retreat for show-n-tell night.

What have you been working on?  I can't wait to see.

I say this every week, so here are the details again: 

If you are linking with Design Wall Mondays here, please link back to this particular post somewhere within your current post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

Use this web address when you fill out the "link" information:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/design-wall-monday-april-16-2018.html

and not the generic address for my blog (http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com)

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Design Wall Monday - April 9, 2018

This week wasn't very productive - I trimmed some small hsts that someone gave me, and tried to arrange them into a doll quilt.  This is what I started out with:

But it didn't speak to me, so I looked for another alternate square.  The white with polka-dots seemed too similar to the pinwheel blocks.  I auditioned another fabric and liked it better:

I made the doll quilt, and it measures 20 inches by 18 inches, with the pinwheel blocks at 1.5 inches square....meaning the hsts are 3/4" by 3/4" square.  No wonder my friend gave them away to me......I must learn to say no.

Here is the finished top with mitered corners.  I shall bind it with the same plaid.

So, while I wasn't very productive in the quilting department, I scored some points with hubby Sunday when I made a turkey pot pie, and an apple pie.

What have you been doing?  I hope to hear from a lot of you today, as I will be sitting at the hospital with my sister all morning while she has surgery, and I will need the distraction.  (minor surgery, so not too stressful)

Design Wall link-up instructions are the same each week.  Please link back to this particular post somewhere within your current post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

Use this address when you click on the "link" button:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/04/design-wall-monday-april-09-2018.html

and not the generic address of http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

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Design Wall Monday - April 2, 2018

The Making of A Doll Quilt

Since I squared up so many "spare parts" hsts lately, I was in the mood to make a new doll quilt.  Here is the finished quilt, and notes on the process:

The picture I used for inspiration:  I liked the four spots of red, and I liked that the center one was not red, and I liked that it used a lot of hst's - which is what I want to use!  I'm not sure what size the vintage quilt is, but I wanted to use the 1.5 x 1.5 cut size hsts on hand.

First, I sorted through my shoebox full of 1.5 by 1.5 hsts.  I sorted out some red and light hst's and made four 4-patches of hsts, and chose a 5th non-red middle four patch.  Four patches finish at 2 in. by 2 in.

Then, I sorted out blue and light hsts to make the rectangles using 6 hsts.  Here's a picture of eight sets on a chair, right next to my sewing machine:

When I sew these, I sew three seams in a chain piecing - sewing the top two together, the middle two together, and then the bottom two together without breaking the thread.  

Then I press them all open, and sew the two remaining seams connecting the top 2 to the middle 2, and then those 4 to the bottom 2:

They nest together without pinning, and the process goes very quickly.  

After the rectangle is sewn together, I found that the last two seams were flatter pressed open.  I had to clip the little connecting thread from the first chain sewing to press the seams open.

Note:  You may notice that some of the original seams on the hsts were pressed open, some not, because they were made at different times, and are in the "parts factory" as is.  It didn't seem to make much difference which way they were pressed, but the last two seams on the rectangle definitely needed to be pressed open.

Then, using the design wall, I put up the parts as I made them.   I didn't pay much attention to which way the triangles were going, as the original quilt maker didn't either, and I didn't want to think too much while making this quilt.

Next, I intended to cut some plain white muslin for the four bigger plain squares.  But a piece of shirting was on the cutting table, and I used that.  With the four 3.5 x 3.5 squares, the setting squares,  the hanging triangles on the back, I found that little piece of shirting was just enough.  I also had to make some partial four patches for edge pieces, at the middle of each side of the quilt.

Here is the layout:

The batting is a small piece of flannel, and I followed the vintage quilter's quilting pattern, keeping it very simple.  

For the binding, I looked through my drawer of bits of left-over bindings from large quilts, and found some dark navy that I could use.  It was double fold, cut 2.5 inches wide and was half as much binding as I would need.  I cut it to 1.25 x 1.25, and used it as single fold binding, and made it work.

For one last step, I made some tea, admired my work, and had a cup of tea. 

Then soaked the little quilt in a pot of tea, to age it just a bit.  The two glasses are on top of the quilt for weight, to keep it under the tea.  The cloth hanging over the edge is muslin with the loose tea in it (a big "tea bag").

Sophia Grace and Rosie are very pleased.  It measures 13.75 in. x 13.75 in.

So what have you been up to this week?  Yesterday was Easter Sunday, so I didn't get much sewing done, but I had a great time with family, and I hope you did too.

Design Wall link-up instructions are the same each week.  Please link back to this particular post somewhere within your current post.  I appreciate it so much when you do.

Use this address when you click on the "Link" button:

http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2018/04/design-wall-monday-april-02-2018.html

and not just the generic: http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

We had 42 link-ups last week!  Very much encouragement and new ideas!

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