Design Wall Monday - November 18, 2024

 Good Morning Quilters!

This week I have been binding quilts that are recently back from the longarm machine quilter.  The hourglass quilt is now bound and ready for a label.  I thought I’d put the number of pieces in it on the label, so I calculated the number.  It’s 40 blocks by 40 blocks square, and the blocks are two inches each.  With the combination on hourglasses and half-square triangles, the total number of pieces in all the squares:  4,624.  

Here is the quilt with the binding on it:

The back of it to show you the quilting design:  It really pleases me, front and back.  A quilt that wasn’t from a pattern, and just sort of “evolved” over time.

The second one receiving its binding this last week was the strippy brown and pink quilt made from lots of different four inch squares.  It would take too long to count how many pieces of fabric are in all of these different squares.  The binding is made from the ighter small print that was in the setting triangles in the quilt.  All of the fabrcs in both of these quilts was from my stash of old fabrics.  

The blocks were made as part on an internet free project:  365 blocks in a year in 2016 by Kathryn Kerr of Australia.  Size details about this quilt:  There are 207 blocks that are 3 inches square, and the entire quilt measures 79” by 92”. 

The machine quilting is a small feather design in one stripe, and in other stripes and triangles, an orange peel.  Then she quilted two simple squares in each pieced block.  I really like what she did.  Beverly Irvine quilted both quilts.  Close up of the quilting:

Here is a picture of the quilt full on, as held up last week at the quilt retreat:

And here is the matching doll quilt, in a doll bed with my little sock monkey, and his tiny sock monkey.  

Here is a snapshot of the doll quilt, which is 17” by 28”, with 20 three inch squares.  

There are two more lap sized quilts recently back from Beverly, that need to be bound, and that will be my task this coming week.  

What are you starting, or binding, or finishing, or working on this week?  Please click on the link below and show us what you are doing.  Thanks for joining in.  I know your days are busy, and I appreciate your blogs very much.

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Design Wall Monday - November 11, 2024

:Good Morning Quilters!   And Happy Veterans Day to any of you who have served your country, or are married to someone who has served your country.  Thank you for your service.

Yesterday I got back from a four day retreat with a room full of quilters.  One of my friends there, Bev Irvine, returned some of my quilts that she machine quilted for me.   So now that I am back home, I am working on getting them bound.  

At the retreat, we have “Show and Tell” on Friday night.  Here are pictures of my part of the show.  Three quilts that are finished except for the binding, two large ones and one doll quilt.

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The binding on this one will be either the light fabric or the brown print.  Probably the lighter fabric.

This one will be bound with the navy print that is the same as the inner borders.  

 

What are you working on this week?  I will be reading your blogs and looking at your pictures during breaks from binding in the next few days.  Thank you for participating in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party.  You are appreciated.  

Click on the link below to join our own weekly “Show and Tell” .

 

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Design Wall Monday - July 8, 2024

 Good Morning Quilters!

My enthusiasm for quilting was high this week.  I finished sewing together all the hourglass blocks for the final border of the quilt that has been on the design wall for weeks.  The quilt top measures 80” x 80”, with blocks that are 2” finished size.  Here it is, and I will use the dark navy from the quilt as a binding, to repeat the color again at the edge:

Next, I pulled out a UFO box and looked at what was in it.  All of my UFO’s have sentimental stories it seems, and this one does.  The box was filled with three bowtie blocks projects and some of the fabric to complete the same.  The first one involved a bright gold/red leaf print that used to be a skirt that my Mother made for me in Junior High.  I picked out the fabric before it was made.  And my memory of it includes a fabulous mending job that my Mom did to fix it after I tore a big gash in the skirt.  (I was a tomboy and was busy trying to do all that my older brother did). I was very impressed with her mending skills.  Here is the fabric, very typical of the mid 1950s:

When first starting quilting, I cut the skirt fabric into bowtie block pieces, but my sewing skills were not there, and I stopped working on it.   There were 14 completed blocks and lots of pieces cut for more.  Here are those 14 on my design wall:

There were some other blocks made where the gold/red leaf fabric was paired with another print.  I decided this week that these were too busy for my taste now, and took them apart.  My plan is to complete all of the blocks with the solid red alternating fabric, for a bright quilt.  I have fabric for about 50 more blocks.  It was fun going down memory lane about my skirt, and I like the plan of completing this UFO.  

The other 2 bowtie projects in the box are another story, and I will save that for another day.  What are you working on this week?  I hope your enthusiasm is high this week too.  I really appreciate your participation in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party, and I hope you will join in again this week.  

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Design Wall Monday - June 17, 2024

 Good Morning Quilters!

What is on your design wall?  As most of you know, I am recovering from knee surgery that happened two Mondays ago.  Everything is going as planned and I will go to the surgeon’s office to have the stitches (actually staples) removed in two days.  My progress has been great in all areas except getting back to my design wall.  So my design wall looks the same as it did two weeks ago.

This week will probably be the week that I get back to making hourglass blocks so I can finish the left border.  We shall see.

On June 15th, we celebrated 61 years of married bliss.  We ventured out of the house that day to go to a graduation party, and on the way there, we stopped at a drug store to buy me a cane.  I am recovering enough from a borrowed walker to move to using a cane.  Anyway, when we got back into the car after purchasing the cane, hubby looked at me with a grin and said “Happy Anniversary”.  lol. 

Actually, a cane is probably a needed 61 year anniversary present in a lot of cases.  I must report that he also bought me flowers and candy, and has been a great nurse while I’ve been laid up.  I am blessed to have such a great hubby.

What is new on your design wall?  Or what are you working on?  Please link up below and show us.  Reading your blogs and seeing your pictures makes us happy.  Thanks for joining our Design Wall Monday Linky Party.

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Design Wall Monday - June 3, 2024

 Good Morning Quilters!

When you read this post Monday morning, I will be in the hospital getting a brand new titanium knee.  Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 AM, and I will be in surgery for about 2 hours.  It is going to improve my mobility when I am healed, but I will not be sewing for a few days.  Please pray for a speedy recovery for my body.

This past week I did sew some more hourglass blocks and now three of the outer borders are complete.  Here is my design wall picture:

I looked at my pile of hourglass blocks that are made, and calculated how many more I need to complete the fourth border.  I need to make about 150 more hourglasses.  Here is the progress picture from a few days ago:

What is on your design wall?  Or, if not a design wall picture, show us what you are working on today.  Just click on the link below.

Thanks for participating in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party.  I appreciate all of you.  And thank you for your prayers for me this week.

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Design Wall Monday - March 18, 2023

 Good Morning Quilters!

This week has been a productive week for me - quilt wise.  Remember when I showed you a challenge quilt that some friends are making that was all hourglass blocks?  (Here). The blocks finish at two inches.  Here is my progress on my version:

My version has a combination of half-square triangles and hourglass blocks - all finishing at two inches.  I am not sure how big my quilt will grow, but I made progress in sewing block sets together of 36 hourglasses.  6x6 units.  Some more in progress here:

Also, besides making progress on this quilt, I started on the flowers and leaves on two of the four borders on the bird quilt that I talked about last week. (Picture here) I am making the top and bottom borders exactly the same as each other, and will make the two side borders the same as each other also.  On the original quilt, all four borders have different amounts of flowers and leaves - some with many more flowers than others.

Here’s my beginning on two borders:

I think it is going to be faster as I’m doing the same flower twice in a row, and sometimes I learn a better way to do it, as I compare my work with the first one made to the second one.  I have 10 more bird blocks for the center of the quilt, and I am happy to be starting on the borders because they are full of flowers and leaves.

Penny Lane thanks you for all the nice remarks about her, and she says Thank You.  

I also relayed to Elise all of your kind remarks about her.   (Elise and her quilt)  She is still sewing together her blocks into a quilt top (at her home).  I hope to get a progress report from her tonight.  I will keep you updated.

Design Wall Monday Linky Party is below, waiting for you to join in.  (I just read that the English “rule makers” have given us permission to end a sentence with a preposition.  It makes me happy because I no longer feel like I’m breaking the rules when I use one to end a sentence with).  Of course with our hobby of quilting, there are no rules, and I like that very much!

Thanks for joining in and showing us your work, or play, or anything related to quilting.  I appreciate you. 

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Design Wall Monday - January 29, 2024

 Here are a couple of pictures of my progress this week:

More hourglass blocks are being cut to their 2.5 inch size so they are ready to sew into the hourglass quilt.

More rows sewn together on the “Two Step” quilt that I had planned to get all sewn together by the end of January.  The first ten rows are completely sewn together and off the design wall, and this is as far as I am on the second ten rows.  Revised completion date is mid-February.  My self-imposed deadlines are easily moved.

The reason that not much got done is that our daughter visited us last week and we had a great time with each other.  She went home Friday, and I miss her already.

What are you making?  What deadlines are you meeting, or moving?  Join our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below and give us an update.  Thanks so much for joining in.  There were so many beautiful posts last week.  I appreciate you.

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Design Wall Monday - January 15, 2024

Good Morning Quilters! 

We have glorious snow here in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  It is a winter wonderland outside, and is perfect quilting weather.

Pictures taken through my bedroom windows yesterday morning.  The poor pine trees are carrying a heavy burden.

Inside, on my design wall, I have half of the rows sewn together for the “Two Step” quilt.  (Info Here).  It is my January UFO goal, and so half finished is good for January 15th.

It is just a little too big for my design wall, with the blocks finishing at 5 inches square, and being 20x20 blocks when finished.  

I’m also busy making hourglass blocks for the challenge hourglass quilt.  (Info here). I need lots of these, and am using up some old fabrics that I hadn’t any special plan for.  They will be very happy in this quilt.  Here is this week’s progress on my lap:

These hourglass blocks finish at two inches square.  I intended to work on some appliqué UFOs also, but that didn’t happen.   Maybe it will happen this week.  

What are you working on?  Please join our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below, and tell us all about it.  I am interested in seeing your pictures of the snow in other areas too.  I do love the snow.

Please mention Design Wall Mondays in your blog post, and also link back to this post.  Thank you very much.  

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Design Wall Monday - January 8, 2024

 2024 - HERE WE COME!!

This is a new year, with new resolve to finish some of the UFOs that are in my possession.   This month I am sewing together 400 blocks to make a king sized quilt top.  I blogged about it recently (Here)   The pattern is named “Two Step” and is on the cover of a Barbara Brackman book.

My quilt will be 20 blocks across and 20 blocks down.  I plan to sew two rows a day, for ten days in January, and then it will be a quilt top.  Here are two days of sewing……forty blocks in the first two rows, and forty blocks in the 3rd and 4th rows.  It is interesting that all the center squares are the same size, but look bigger or smaller in comparison to other blocks because of the light and/or dark fabrics surrounding them.  It’s an optical illusion.  It is a very enjoyable project so far.

The two rows on the left haven’t had the joining seam pressed yet, and the two rows at right have been pressed.  They are temporarily hanging from my fabric storage cabinets until the design wall is empty.  

On the design wall is the hourglass block quilt that I am making (which wasn’t even on my UFO list).  The girls at the last retreat I attended showed an antique quilt and challenged everyone to make their own version.  My version has a combination of hsts and hourglass units, because I want to use up some of the  1,200 hsts in my stash that were from a group hst exchange.  Picture of original vintage quilt is (Here)

My quilt progress so far:

Someone said it reminds them of an old Dutch quilts, and that pleases me very much.  I love vintage Dutch quilts.

Since I think I know where I am going with this quilt next, I will take it down from the design wall to work on the next part——which will be six blocks deep of hourglasses all around the outside.  The hourglass blocks need to be made, and sewn into rows of six. That can happen “off design wall”  while the January Two Step…….“2 rows of 20 blocks each for 8 more days”  quilt progress takes shape on the design wall.  

I am so enthusiastic about completing some of the projects I have started over the years.  Have I told you that my UFO count is over 50 projects?  And that I love them all.   January always fills me with hope.  How about you?  

Please join in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below and show us what you are working on this week.  I hope you have January enthusiasm too.  If you don’t, I hope some of mine rubs off on you.  January is a good month to start things and finish things!

Hugs, Judy

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Design Wall Monday - January 1, 2024

 Happy New Year!

We get to start a new year, all fresh and unblemished.  The last month of any year lately causes me to plan and plot how to get more of my UFOs completed.   I’ve also done some sorting and thinning out of some of my stash.  It’s always exciting to look at all the projects I want to get completed.  I love them all.

Here is the current design wall picture.  Several friends are all working on a version of an old hourglass block quilt.  My version has hourglass blocks, but also I’m using a lot of hsts that were from an exchange I was in a few years ago.  Here is the center of hourglass blocks and part of the next ring of hsts.  After adding 8 more rows at the bottom, I plan on another border of indigo, and then hour glass blocks all around the outside.  We shall see.  This is one of those quilts that evolves and tells me what it wants.  

All the blocks finish at 2 inches square.  I also made two more blocks for the Jacob’s Ladder quilt that I plan to assemble in February.  I have 10 more blocks to make before then.  These blocks finish at 6 inches square.

It will be fun to get these Jacob’s Ladder blocks up on the design wall.  What’s on your design wall?  What plans do you have for 2024?  Please join in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below and show us,  Thanks to all of you who participate.  

  

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Design Wall Monday - December 18, 2023

 This week was semi-productive in my quilt studio.  I put some things away, and got some more things out.  hehe. I found some old hourglass blocks that I will cut to 2.5 inches unfinished size to use in the Hourglass Quilt that I’m making.  Here is a picture of three of them, untrimmed:

This crumpled, hand stitched, partially completed quilt top has many issues, and this will be a good use of what I can salvage from it.  I am resewing all seams on the machine.

Here is a picture of my design wall, showing a beginning of my version of the Challenge Hourglass Quilt.  I am using 10 rows of hsts on all sides of the center hourglass blocks.  I will then put another small indigo border around the hsts before continuing on with an outside portion of hourglasses.  I will be able to get lots of hourglasses from the old partial quilt top.  Win,win.

Also, four more Jacob’s Ladder blocks were made.  Pictured here:

Christmas is coming, and I am preparing at my own pace.  As I age, I am much less stressed about getting everything finished on time.  Christmas will come whether I am ready for it or not, right?  And as an older person in our family gatherings, the gatherings are usually in one of our kids homes, not in ours.  Changes happen every year, but celebration of the birth of Jesus is the constant center of the holiday.  And of course, the most important part.

Yesterday we went to see a children’s Christmas program, and it was so special.  Image a group of children singing carols loudly and enthusiastically and acting out the Christmas story.  Priceless.  

Thanks for faithfully joining our Design Wall Monday Linky Party.  You are loved and appreciated.  Clink on the link below and share your blog post.  

Merry Christmas!

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Design Wall Monday - November 27, 2023

 Good Morning Quilters!

Well, I succeeded is getting the “Splendid Sampler” blocks sewn together, and it is now off the design wall!  Yeah!   But….

The new development with this quilt is that it looked very small when sewn together.  It needed to be bigger.  Luckily, there was more of the green alternate blocks fabric in my stash.  So more green hst blocks were made and I intend to add a few rows/columns to the outside.  Here is a picture of it as it is right now:

So now it is too big for the design wall, and I have it laid out on the family room floor until the extra blocks get sewn to it.  I am happier with the size now, and it will soon be a top to be sent to a long arm quilter.  Yeah!  Sometimes quilts take many turns before they get finished, and this one sure did.

The next project is a civil war era fabrics hourglass and hst quilt, and I made a start on it this week.  Plus I’ve made some additional hourglass blocks.  

And a small start of sewing the blocks together (2 inch finished size).  This is a 12 x 12 inch start.

I mentioned last week that I have 1,200 two inch finished size hsts in my stash, and several of you asked how that happened.  It is kinda amazing, isn’t it?  Well, I used to be part of a group of quilters in Virginia that has now disbanded.  For quite a few of our semi-annual meetings, we exchanged groups of hsts with each other.  I have kept them together for such a time as this,  They are a great memory of my time in that group, and I am looking forward to using them in the upcoming quilt.

Just as soon as I get the Splendid Sampler sewn together and off the floor.  

What is on your design wall this morning?  Or what is on your design floor?  Thank you for joining in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below and letting us know.   I appreciate all of you who faithfully join in each week.  You are special.

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Design Wall Monday - November 20, 2023

Good Morning Quilters!

At my recent retreat, several people (me included) were smitten by a vintage quilt, and I talked about it last Monday.  I have decided to make a modified version of it.  Several of you have asked for more details, so I am providing my plans here.  If you would like to make a copy of the original quilt, or make my modified version, please join me in making lots of hourglass blocks.  Here are two pictures, the whole quilt and a close-up:

The quilt has 39 blocks across and 43 blocks down,  all two inch finished quarter-square triangles (also called hourglass blocks).  So the total size is 78 x 86 inches.

There are many ways that you can make the hourglass block, and I googled “hourglass block instructions” to find many good instructions and videos on the internet, if anyone needs help making them.

My version of the quilt is this:  I plan to make the majority of my quilt with two inch finished hsts (half-square triangles) because I happen to have 1,200 of them in my stash that need to be in a quilt. 

My plan is to make a center medallion and also a  border midway into the body of the quilt - both out of newly made hourglass blocks, and then make the majority of the quilt with the hsts that I already have in my stash.  I am making some hourglass blocks this week and forming my quilt plans in my mind.

Also, my design wall will be helpful in planning this new project, so I am sewing the blocks together of the quilt that is on the design wall right now.  This new project provides me incentive to get the old project sewn together and off the design wall.  A win win. Here’s the project on the design wall right now (blocks from The Splendid Sampler of a few years ago) with most of the rows sewn into strips:

  

It will be fun to see this new project come together, and good to use some of the1,200 hsts from my stash.  What are you starting this week, or working on, or finishing?

Please Join in our Design Wall Monday Linky Party below and show us.  Thanks for linking back to this blog post from within your blog, and also mentioning Design Wall Mondays. 

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