Design Wall Monday - August 31, 2020

Good Morning Quilters!  The picture below is of my friend Bonnie on the right and me on the left, holding up a quilt I was finishing this week. Bonnie knows my BFF Dee, from St. Louis, Mo, so we held the quilt up together to say Hi to Dee and show Dee the quilt’s progress.

This quilt finish should get a trumpeters fanfare !! 

UFO Chapter 1:   This quilt was started when I moved from St. Louis, MO to Williamsburg, VA., about 17 years ago.  My dear friend Dee, who makes wonderful MODERN quilts, attempted to make me a “you are going away-I will miss you” quilt of nine patches.  She knew I was a traditional quilter and what could be more traditional than a nine patch?  As my departure neared, she came over with some nine patches in a box with other uncut blue and white fabric.  She was frustrated about which way to press nine patch seams so they would be opposite the neighbor nine patch when the two blocks were joined together.  So she gifted me the box, the idea she had, and said she would miss me.  I think she said something about not ever sewing a nine patch ever again, but I could be wrong.  

UFO, Chapter 2:  While living in Virginia, I decided to add smaller nine patches to the ones Dee made, and put together a quilt top of two sizes of nine patches, Dee’s 4.5”x 4.5” blocks and mine at 3” x 3”.....I avoided seam joining issues by inserting white squares between them.  I don’t know exactly when I finished the quilt top, but I would guess sometime around 2005.  I thought I would machine quilt it on my domestic machine, and so I had a long armer baste it for me in anticipation of me learning machine quilting.  I was wrong.

UFO, Chapter 3:  It sat in this unfinished state until I moved from VA to Michigan.  This move forced a reality check on just how many quilts I had in UFO status.  In 2020, I’m focused on finishing some of them.  I pulled out the machine basting stitches, and asked my long armer to quilt it with a nautical theme.  It came back from her in July.  She quilted it in anchors and waves, as it will be used on the couch at the cabin.  I like the quilting, much better than I could have done.

UFO, Final Chapter: August, 2020:  Binding......I thought I must have something in my stash to finish this off, but what?  After “shopping” in my stash for a while, I found one fabric that would work, but I didn’t exactly like the way it looked.....

The solid blue stripe blended too well with the nine patches, if I used it either straight, or on the bias.  I did like the checked stripe part of it.........Wait!  What if I used the back side?  

That will work!!  I cut it on the bias, and sewed the binding on this last week - before I could change my mind about any of it!  Yeah!  The label will be an easy addition and this will be a UFO no more.  I showed the binding fabric via text with Dee and she said either side could be the “right” side.  

What have you finished this week, or what have you moved along the line toward a finish?

Please link up and show us a picture to encourage us.  I ask only that you link back to this particular blog post and mention Design Wall Monday within your post.  Thanks!

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Design Wall Monday - October 2, 2017

Binding is the quilting project for this week.  I finished the binding on the green and white quilt of last week's post, and am now working on binding for a vintage top that I recently had quilted by a long arm quilter.  I bought the top from a friend a few years ago.

I like it because there is a half block on all the outside edges.  It makes it more interesting, don't you think?  I would not usually do it this way, but I like it.

I believe the pattern is a variation of "crossed canoes," with sashing and cornerstones.

Here's a picture of the quilt, (75" by 83") and I have one side of the binding finished:

Here's a quilt from the Quilt Index showing the crossed canoes pattern:

Maker, unknown, Crossed Canoes.  1850-1875.  From Massachusetts Quilt Documentation Project - MassQuilts.  Published in The Quilt Index, http://www.quiltindex.org/fulldisplay.php?kid=1D-FC=F50.

Most double fold bindings are cut at 2.5 or 2.25 inches, but for this quilt, I cut the binding at 2 inches.  The top is vintage, and I used a very thin batting, and I like to have the binding the same width on the front and the back of the quilt. The 2 inch binding is fitting it just fine.  Here's a picture of the binding:

And a close-up of a block:

Blocks are 6.5 by 6.5 and are not appliqued, but pieced of 12 pieces in each block, made 1/4 block at a time.

What are you working on this week?  I love to see what's on your design wall!

An InLinkz Link-up

Design Wall Monday - August 28, 2017

What a week!  So much happened, and none of it was quilty.  We moved my sister to Ludington, Michigan, from Flint, Michigan, on Tuesday.......to an independent living apartment .........My fairly new car - (just got it all paid for recently) - was in a fluke accident while I was out of town.....Maybe my hubby was driving it, but I'm not saying for sure.   I wouldn't want to embarrass him.  Then our daughter and her family had to evacuate their home in Texas (Corpus Christi) because of Hurricane Harvey.  They are home as of last night, but have no power yet.  The good news is that they missed the worst of the hurricane winds and rain.....so far their home is not flooded.  Wow, what a week!

So you will understand if this is a brief post because I did not do much quilting.  

Here is a picture of part of the 365 quilt block project from 2016, that Dee put up on my design wall for me while she was here last week.  There are so many different blocks, that there is no right or wrong way to arrange them.   The next step will be sewing all the blocks together.

There is another round of darks and another round of lights - it's a big quilt!  I may take apart the center medallian to use darker pieces in the outside triangles.....or I may leave it up on the design wall until it grows on me the way it is.  I also may eliminate the four outside corner big blocks, as I haven't made them yet, and I think I have extras of the smaller blocks to use instead.

Here is the original layout:

In contrast to all the excitement this week, I enjoyed a nice boat ride with my granddog, Charlie on Monday.  We both love to sit in the front of the boat, with the wind in our faces.  We turned toward the camera for this picture, but usually we are facing into the wind with abandon!

What's on your design wall this Monday?  I hope you will join in the parade of pictures of everyone's projects.  I love to see what you are working on.

An InLinkz Link-up

A Tulip Quilt for Sweet Alyssa

Years ago, we went on our first mission trip to Haiti, and a worker in our group was a sweet young girl, who was 16 years old.  In fact, if I remember correctly, I think she turned 16 while were were in Haiti.  Anyway, she has always held a special place in our hearts, and at the end of 2016, Alyssa got married.  The quilt that we are giving to her as a wedding gift is this tulip quilt:

The binding went on this week, and I love the flower quilting pattern that my longarm quilter used on it:

Here's another picture of it on my front porch bench.  It's a cloudy day, but it still looks bright and cheery draped over the bench:

We are rejoycing in the spring weather here in Michigan, and I do believe the snow is gone for good.  The birds are chirping their spring songs to me, and I am looking forward to seeing real tulips in bloom here soon.

Here's a picture of the lovely bride, and her sister, the matron of honor. Her veil was so delicate and beautiful, and she was so happy.  I love this picture!  Can't wait to put a label on this quilt and send it to her and her groom, to cuddle under.

Today is Monday, so I'm linking with Design Wall Mondays (Here)  and we will see what's on other quilter's design walls.

Also linking with Love, Laugh, Quilt's blog for "Monday Makings" (Here)

I Love Valentine's Day - Reprise

A few years ago, I started a quilt as a February "Valentine's Day" project, but stopped working on it when I ran out of the toile fabric.  Later, I bought more of the fabric, but then we moved, and the project got boxed up.  So this February, it's on the design wall, and I am putting rows together.  It feels so good to be moving a project along to the finish line.


I searched my blog, and found that I started this quilt in 2014.  Here's the blog post:  I love Valentine's Day

I have 9 blocks by 9 blocks made, and the quilt will be about 95" by 95".  Here's this week's picture:

I posted a picture on Facebook and Instagram, asking if people thought there should be a red border, a toile border, or no border.  I am binding it with the solid red, regardless of the border decision.  Now that I'm looking at it, I may want to make it into a king sized quilt for our bed, in which case, I will add another column, and another row, or do a border.  Lots of people like it with no border, which would involve 19 more blocks, but only half of them would be any work.  What do you think?

Colleen Lim, a friend from the Shipshewana retreat I attend, asked me about the pattern.  I made it up, and will write a tutorial on the measurements, tips, etc.   I will post the directions here for Colleen, and anyone who wants to make their own Valentine Quilt.  

Through the years, I've saved Valentine's Day cards from my husband.  This year I put some of them on the fireplace mantle in the living room, and the rest of them on our dressers in the bedroom.  I told him to "shop" in our home supply of cards, and pick out one to send to me again this year.  

It is a wonderful collection of cards through our long married life, and I love seeing them again.  Do you save cards from your sweetheart?

Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!  This little doll quilt is on my coffee table this year.

Today is Design Wall Monday at Judy Liquidara's blog, so I'm heading over there to see other quilter's work.  Judy has some cute little girl's dresses on her design wall.  (Here)

October 31, 2016

It has been a beautiful fall day here in Michigan.  We're enjoying the pretty fall leaves inside and out.  Here's a picture throught the living room window of the backyard, where the leaves are falling fast:





























Inside, my fall leaf quilt is on display on the railing near the front door, and we are enjoying it's beautiful colors.  The quilt pattern is "Third Weekend in October" and is designed by Ruth Powers.

I've been productive in my quilting studio - working on very simple things.  I've taken out my box of scraps, and have been cutting simple squares from the scraps.  While going through the scraps, I found several quilt blocks that were there from various sources.  Also in the basement storage,  I came across a bundle of dish towels that were purchased long ago, when I had plans to embroider them.  Yesterday, I fused the orphaned blocks onto the dish towels, machine blanket stitched around them, and made something out of nothing. Always a pleasure when I do that!

Here are my dish towels, ready to gift to new homes:

Hope you are having a beautiful fall day too!  Happy Halloween!

As usual, I'm linking up with Design Wall Mondays, to see what other quilters are working on.    (Here)  

Summer Time....And The Living Is Easy.....

Please forgive me for not posting lately.....life is just flying by, and I have been quilting, but not posting about it.

Here is a picture of a quilt top that I recently finished.  It's made of 9 inch squares, from an Ohio Star block exchange, and is 81 x 81 inches.  It's in the queue at my machine quilter, to be finished before the end of the year.  Sorry about the blurry picture.  I had to stand on a chair to get the whole quilt in the picture, and apparently, I'm not too steady handed anymore.  You get the idea anyway.

Close-up of the quilt:

I also made a little doll quilt by cutting down five of the 9 inch squares to 6 inches, and the doll quilt will finish at about 21 inches square.




I'm working on the 365challenge.com.au project, and new blocks come out daily.....but my life doesn't allow me to make a block every day, so I'm getting behind.  I still enjoy making the blocks, and I will eventually catch up.  Here's a block I have prepped to take to the sewing machine:

The finished block will be six inches square, and if I counted the separate pieces of fabric in this block, the answer would be 109 pieces, but of course, I am not going to count them separately... that would be crazy!   The fun with these blocks is measuring them when they are all sewed together, to see if they each measure 6.5 X 6.5 inches (unfinished size).  Then I know my 1/4 inch seam allowance is the correct size.  It's like solving a puzzle.........figuring out where the measurements are not coming out quite right, and they often don't.   This one is using little bits of leftover fabrics from other blocks, and was fun to plan out.

There is a ledge high up outside my office window, and while I sit at my desk, I can see a nest built on the ledge, under the shelter of the porch roof, protected from the rain.  It's a good spot, because not only was there a finch nest there this spring, now a robin has built another nest on top of the old finch nest, and the baby robins have just hatched.  Lots of feeding trips to the nest for the parents today.  Makes me glad my little ones are all grown up and have left the nest!

Traveling Again This Month

When people ask me how I stay busy in retirement, I just laugh...and laugh....and laugh.  I think I've been busy my whole life, and retirement doesn't seem to slow me down.  Yesterday we flew back from a visit to our daughter and her family in Texas.  I got to watch my high school senior grandaughter get dressed up for prom, which was a special treat.  I even sewed some sequins and beads in place on her dress Saturday morning.  She is so beautiful and it was a special time together.

Now I'm back home and playing catchup with the 365 Days of Quilt Blocks project.  

Here are a few of the blocks I've made lately.  We have moved from 3.5 inch blocks to 6 inch blocks, and from "dark" fabric choices to "light" choices.

Here are the latest ones, with my "inner critic" thoughts below each:

Wouldn't it be great to have an entire quilt of these little pink stars?  I like it a lot.

 I basted the outside edge of this block because the edges were on the bias.  I like the fabrics in this one.  Nothing I would change (for a change).

I like the card trick block, and would use a different fabric (or fussy cut it) for the lower left corner fabric.  Also the outside stripes could have been going all the same way.

This block made me realize that I could have made the corner pink fabric stripes all go in the same direction, but didn't think about it until it was too late.  Each block teaches me something that I could change if I made it over again.

There should be more contrast in the pinwheels, and that's what I learned from making this block, and no, I'm not making it over.   

I didn't plan on the flowers being on each of the hourglass blocks - but it just happened!  How cool is that!  I love quilty serendipities!

What are you working on this week?  

Linking up with the usual Monday Link-Ups:

Design Wall Mondays (Here)
Monday Makings  (Here)
Oh Scrap (Here)
Monday's Moving It Forward (Here)

May progress

Lots of trips were happening in April, and I am now catching up on the two free block projects I'm working on.

Here's some blocks I made this week that are part of the Splendid Sampler project:

There are blocks coming out every day on the 365 Quilt Block Challenge, and I will be caught up with them this next week.  Here's a picture of a few of them that I've recently finished:

What is on your design wall this week?

I'm linking with the usual blogs, where I like to see what other quilters are working on:

Design Wall Mondays (Here)
Monday Makings (Here)
Oh Scrap  (Here)

Churn Dasher Quilts for A Quilt Show

January has been very satisfying in that I finished, bound, labeled, and put sleeves on three quilts.  They are on their way to Virginia for a group display at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, in Hampton, VA February 25-28, 2016.  Here are the details about two of them.  I'll save the third one for next week's post.

The blocks The Churn Dashers exchanged were nine patches and snowballs.  I blogged about making my quilt (Here). On a comment on that blog post, Laura V. requested details on how I made my quilt, and today I will try to explain how I made this quilt and the measurements I used.  

To refresh your memory, here is the quilt I saw on the Quilt Index:

Here is my quilt, using the nine patches and the snowball blocks from the exchange.  It measures 82" by 93".

I also made a small doll quilt to match it, and here it is with my little dolls:

Details for the large quilt:

The block exchange was for 6 inch blocks, so the nine patch pieces were cut at 2.5 inches square, and finished 2"+2"+2" to be 6".  The requirements were to make them of dark and medium dark civil war repro fabrics.  The snowball blocks also finished at 6 inches square.

For this quilt, I made an additional block that has three 2 inch squares down the middle diagonally, and has four triangles - all of the dark and medium fabrics.  The background fabric is cut at 5" square, and then cut in half, to use on the sides of this block.  The block is then trimmed to 6.5" unfinished size.  You can see where I creased the two background fabrics to find the centers, to guide me in attaching them.

The outside border row background pieces are cut a little bigger than on the original quilt.  I wanted to have the stars float, and also save myself the grief of possibly cutting off a star point with the binding.  

The blocks are then arranged as per the picture of the original quilt, and sewed into strips, and then into a quilt top.   Here is a picture of the strips:

The doll quilt:

I divided the block measurements in half, and the doll quilt blocks measure 3" by 3" finished, with the completed top measuring 19" square with the borders. 

My binding was cut at 2 inches, and folded in half before applying.  Years ago, I started quilting with 2.5 inch binding size, and then moved to 2.25 inch.....and now I'm happy with 2 inch cuts.  I don't forsee making binding any narrower.  What size to do cut your binding strips?

I'm linking up with Design Wall Mondays today, to see what others are working on today.  (Here)

Christmas Giveaway Winner

There were 21 replies to the last blog post and I used a random number generator to select a winner from the 21 of you.  The lucky winner is Dee Fowler, and I will be mailing her Christmas table topper pattern to her today.  Merry Christmas Dee, and thanks to all of you for participating!

I thought you'd like to see some of the Christmas decorations at my house.

The front door has a swag of greens with two birds to greet you.

The second picture is of an old quilt that I display somewhere at Christmas time. This year, it's on the back of the couch, where you can see it from the front door. I love this old quilt that I purchased years ago.

The third picture is of a small churn dash doll quilt on the coffee table.  The knitting next to it is a cowl scarf that is my project right now whenever I am sitting in the living room.  I'm a slow knitter, but I enjoy it.

I thank you for your kind remarks on my blog.  They are appreciated very much.  Merry Christmas!

Beth Polidan's Truck Show - Part 2

Here are the rest of the hand quilted quilts and some quilt tops that Beth Polidan showed our guild at her Trunk Show: 

This is a quilt that Beth quilted with lovely straight and diagonal lines:

Close-up of the quilting:



Another quilt with a close-up picture of Beth's hand quilting on it:


Such tiny, even stitches!



This quilt was quilted with the Baptist Fan quilting pattern:



Close-up of a 16 patch block:



This is a quilt top that Beth owns and she bought it because it was so unusual. 
It is made of quarter circles hand sewed onto background squares.  But the quilt top was made with the same fabrics facing each other in four squares, which resulted in a big circle - but more work than just appliqueing a circle on a big square, because it was made of four pieces of fabric.  I wonder what the quilt maker was thinking?

Here's a picture of the whole quilt top:  It looks quite modern, doesn't it?

Next, dear to my heart, is a redwork top:

I liked this moose:

This is a lovely Irish Chain Quilt Top

And another quilt top Beth owns:

This top has lovely sashing:

A big thank you to Beth Polidan for sharing her quilts with us!!

I will close with pictures of the flowers at Guild that day.  Summer has been so beautiful here in Michigan:

I am linking up with Design Wall Mondays at Patchwork Times to see what other quilters are working on today.  (Here)