Design Wall Monday - April 26, 2021

Good Morning Quilters! April is almost over, and we have had our last snow storm.  I think we have.  The house finches have nested on the ledge over the front porch, in their usual spot.  In 2016 I wrote on my blog about them, and there has been a nest in the same spot almost every year since then.  The nest building activity has almost finished, and soon there will be eggs.  I get a good view from the computer desk in the office which looks out onto the front porch.

The LeMoyne Star quilt UFO that I started working on again in early February is now a quilt top!  Yeah!  Here is a picture of the completed top on the design wall:

After I finished, I decided to stitch around the outside edge very close to the edge, because some of the outside edges may be on the bias.  I tried to cut all of the edge triangles so that the outside edge side would be straight of grain, but I wasn't sure that all of them were.  I really enjoyed finishing this quilt, as I learned a lot about LeMoyne Star blocks.  I relied on a Youtube video by Edyta Sitar (video here)  The quilt kit is from Moda's Collection for a Cause series - Warmth and part of the sales of each kit go to support Habitat for Humanity.  The quilt kit was issued in 2012.

What do you think the quilting design should be?  I would not want custom quilting, just an overall design, but something that goes with the vintage look.

What UFO will be next?  I think two are calling me.  One is the oldest UFO I have - the Jane Stickle quilt.  I have all 169 blocks made, and all 56 of the outside triangles made.  I just have to assemble it and get it quilted by someone - not me.  It has been such a labor of love that part of me doesn't want it to end.  Crazy, right?

The second UFO is one my friend Dee and I have both wanted to make - it's a free pattern of an old quilt that is online (Here) and is a patriotic flag quilt.  I love the quilt, and the reason it's just a pattern and some fabrics in my UFOs is that there are six flags in the pattern - each with 48 appliqued stars. 

I would like to make it as the original quilt was made with hand appliqued stars......but that's a lot of stars.  Dee is going to machine applique her stars, and I am still deciding what I will do.

What is on your design wall this Monday?  I am very happy when I see your linkup pictures and can go to your blog to read about your pictures.  Please provide a link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your blog.  Thanks!

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Design Wall Monday - April 19, 2021

Good Morning Quilters!  My birthday was Friday, April 16th, and I turned 78 years young.  Through the miracles of telephone, text, email and Facebook,  I received birthday greetings from friends near and far.  It was such a blessing.  It’s so amazing to hear good wishes from so many.  I even received two birthday cards in the mailbox.  Hubby took good care of me, as always, and I had a wonderful day.  He said on my birthday morning, “Today, you can do anything you want to do.....all day long.”. He gave me a smile, and said “Oh course, that’s what you do everyday.”  lol.   

I got sidetracked this week with another project (I know you can relate) and worked on it using some extra fabric from the main quilt on the design wall.  I’ll explain.  The Lemoyne Star quilt is a kit from Moda, part of their Collection for a Cause series.  Here are the parts that are not yet sewn together as it is on the design wall today:

The kit had instructions to make the square within a square blocks by sewing across a diagonal line on fabric laid over the four corners of the block, and then cut off the excess fabric underneath.  Since there are a lot of square within a square blocks, each with four corners, I had 168 leftover cut off triangle pairs.  This kit was a half finished UFO, and before it got put away years ago, I had made all the square within a square blocks, and had also sewed the leftover triangle pairs into hsts.  These “extras” were staring at me in a baggie as I worked on the main quilt.  I needed a break from the LeMoyne Stars, and sewed them into hourglass blocks.  Here is the progress on them so far:

They trim up at 4 inches, and finish at 3.5 inches.  Here are the rest of them on the ironing board:

What are you finishing, or what distracted you into another project this week?  Please link up below are show us.  Thanks for participating.  My only request is that you link back to this post from somewhere within your post, and that you encourage  your readers to come and see other blogs at Design Wall Mondays.

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Design Wall Monday - April 12, 2021

 Good Morning Quilters! 

(1) Last week I asked what you thought about whether I should add a border to the Drunkard’s Path quilt or not.  I thought you’d like this conversation I had with Maggie (Makingalather.com blog):

Maggie: “I think the drunkard’s path block can certainly stand on it’s own.” 

Me:  “Thanks for your input.  The Drunkard’s path quilt can stand alone, but I am thinking of a small border to ‘frame’ it.  I just thought of a joke:  The Drunkard’s Path Quilt can’t stand alone because it is drunk!  Therefore, I will be adding a border.  Lame joke, I know.”

Maggie:  “It was a great joke.  LOL”

So it is settled, I will be adding a border to the Drunkard’s Path quilt.  I will show it to you when the border is added.

(2) Things are moving along on my design wall this week.  First, a picture of the top left side of my design wall, showing blocks and rows all sewn together...

And here is a picture of the bottom right side with blocks in various stages of completion pinned to the wall.  If it continues to go together well, it should be a complete quilt top by next Monday morning.  

(3) Here is the latest embroidery block, partially finished:

(4) And finally, a picture of my two doggies.  They are sleeping on a old very worn quilt.

  

What’s on your design wall?  The dogs aren’t interested, but I am!  And lots of other quilters want to see your progress.  Please add your blog post below and also provide a link back to this post from somewhere within your blog post.  Thanks for being a part of Design Wall Mondays!

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Design Wall Monday - April 5, 2021

 Happy Easter!

This season of my life (I’m turning 78 this month) is teaching me what bitter sweet means.  While I feel life is deeper, sweeter, and more tender than when I was younger; it also is a season where I grieve good friends who die suddenly.   This is one of those grieving times.  Last week I lost a dear quilter friend who was part of the Churn Dashers of Tidewater Virginia group.  Her kindness to me has been an example of how to be a friend and she will always be remembered with love.

The Drunkard’s Path quilt top is finally sewn together, and I am debating adding a white border to it.  It is 60 inches square now....Maybe adding a 5 inch border on all sides.  What do you think?  It will be lap quilt size, either way.  See below two pictures of vintage quilts, commonly seen with and without a border.

As I was making the Drunkard’s Path blocks, I remembered a story about my father that I thought you would enjoy. 

My Dad became a Christian while on an army ship, traveling to Europe to fight as a soldier in WWII.  After he was wounded, he returned home, went to college on the GI Bill, and later became a pastor and also a school teacher. 

When he came home from WWII, with his new faith, he was earnestly against drinking.  I remember that he took Life Magazine (a popular magazine in the 1950s) and cut out every page advertising drinking in the issue.  He taped them all together and rolled the paper into a scroll.  He spoke at schools and churches for a temperance organization.  This was in early 1950s and I was 7 or 8 at the time and my brother, Jerry, was 2 years older than me.  He would have us stand on the stage and dramatically unroll the scroll of liquor advertisements - Jerry at one side of the stage and Judy at the other side, holding the long scroll between us.  Then he would begin his talk about how all these advertisements in just one issue on a popular magazine was so bad.  It made a big impression on me as a little girl.

So I had this memory as I am making a Drunkard’s Path quilt.  The temperance movement was probably the reason for this block’s name.  Also another block, the T block, is said to be named for the temperance movement.  

What is on your design wall this Monday?  It seems like we are all getting a lot of UFOs finished during this pandemic, which is comforting during the sorrow going on.  If you join in, be sure to mention Design Wall Mondays and how much fun we have seeing the linkups each week.  Also a link to this post from somewhere within your blog post is necessary.  Thank you so much.

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