Another Visitor

 

I didn't do a lot of sewing last week and may not have a lot of time this week. I did get a donation quilt top loaded, quilted and binding added. I used a gray thread on the top and did my usual meandering.

 I didn't make this quilt top. This is the third jelly roll race quilt I've come in contact with. I do not like this pattern. Every one I've seen is wonky. This one was a challenge because I think the person cut the strips themselves and did not cut them accurately. There is a little bit of bunching, and squaring it up afterward...well, I hope no one measures each side cause all four will have a different measurement.

This quilt makes me want to send Barb, my long arm quilter in California, a huge I'm Sorry card for all the wonky quilts I sent her and an even bigger Thank You card for the miracles she preformed on some of my wonky quilts. I could never do this as a profession.

I did a little bit of yard work this past week.

My peonies were in full bloom this week. The flowers are huge. I love the color. I have three plants in the backyard but both last year and this year only one plant has bloomed. Is there a secret to growing them?

This was my visitor.

Not the best picture - I shot it through the screen door. She stayed there for a couple of hours. When it got too hot she moved to the other side of the yard to lay under the dogwood tree. I shooed her off when she started nibbling on the tree. Bella slept through it all.

Two New Starts and a Potential Third

 

I couldn't stand it anymore, I really needed something to piece. So instead of starting one new project I started two...and one is almost done.

First up, years ago I won a quilt kit at a silent auction, Daphne by Shabby Fabrics. The kit included all of the blocks, the finishing kit AND the back. I paid the same amount that the pattern only is currently listed at. I decided I'm going to take my time making this quilt as I really want to keep my momentum of getting quilt tops quilted. So here are the four corner blocks stacked and staggered.

My favorite block: Jacob's Ladder.

Second up, at the last Quilts for Kids meeting I picked up a fat quarter bundle of flannels. It was an old fabric line by Connecting Threads. Since it was kind of an odd assortment of colors and patterns I went with my favorite quilt pattern: Atkinson Design's Yellow Brick Road. This is the only pattern I have ever made more than twice. This may be my 5th or 6th quilt using this pattern. It is just such a quick easy pattern that can make any group of fat quarters look good.

Here are the blocks laid out on the design bed. Sorry about the the fuzzy picture and bad colors, it was rather late at night when I took this picture. This is not the final layout.

I'm going to sew together two sets of four rows then decide if I want two small quilts or one large quilt. I'm leaning toward one large one. It (or they) will be donated back to Quilts for Kids.

I really need to stay focused so I can get this quilt top finished and get two other donation quilts quilted cause I really really really want to start this project.

I don't have a Spring themed wall hanging and I've been wanting one forever. I saw this pattern and thought it was perfect. I'm only planning on making six flowers. The flowers are large - roughly 16 x 8. I also wanted it to be very bright and cheerful so I purchased Riley Blake Design's Strawberry Honey by Gracey Larson. Love the colors. Can't wait to get started.

On other news I won a great bunch of wool patterns from Janet at Rogue Quilter.

Check out Janet's blog, she makes fantastic miniature quilts. Make sure you take a close look at her FMQ and hand quilting. Very inspirational.

I also bought another rug for the entryway. I decided that last one was way to light / gray. 

The colors in this one are perfect... yeah there's a "but"...it is a little bit more contemporary than what I wanted... yeah there's a "however"... I think I'll be keeping this one.

Oops

 

So maybe my April UFO didn't get finished until May 1. The main thing is it is finished.

 Simple meander quilting. Machine stitched both sides of the binding. I may regret the all white quilt back. Oh well.

May's UFO Challenge is #9 on my list, the Christmas Ornament wall hanging. I made one years (and years and years) ago in a class. There were enough scraps to make a second wall hanging.

The first one:

The stuff for the second one:

I thought I had already started putting the top together. I thought all the fabric was together. I thought wrong. This version was supposed to have a black background. I think I used the fabric in my Scooch Over 2 quilt. The off white fairy frost doesn't have enough contrast. Unless I can find a good back ground fabric in the next week I may trade out this UFO for another...with 16 unquilted tops and 7 project in process I think I'll be able to find a replacement.

This afternoon I finished another quilt.

I started quilting it last night...lots of in the ditch with my walking foot. Then a little bit of FMQ around the dinosaur at the top and machine stitching both sides of the bind down. Quick finish. The size is 30 x 39 inches. It will be donated to the local Quilts for Kids.

The pile on the little table next to my sewing space is getting smaller but still has a ways to go.

Have you heard Google Feedburner is going away. 😭 I follow most of my blogs via email/Feedburner so I'm really not happy. I like to read my email via my phone, sitting on the couch, while I have my morning coffee and Bella pretends to be a lap kitty. I've been slowing adding the blogs I follow to my side bar and unsubscribing from the emails. Grrrr. On the bright side maybe I'll comment more.
 

Quiet Week

 

This past week was on the quiet side. The only piecing on the sewing table is my leader ender project and I am truly using it as a leader ender project. Seems kinda strange not working on a new project but I'm really trying to finish up things, even if they are little, and check them off the list. 

Little is the key word.

The disappearing 4 patch is 8 x 10 inches. The seams and points are so wonky all I did was quilt it in the ditch around the blocks and add single fold binding. I hand sewed the binding the next day.

For just sewing add scraps together I like how this little table topper turned out. Quilted it using my walking foot and added the double fold binding one night then sewed the binding down the next day. It is roughly 9 x 13 inches.

I am really pushing my April UFO Challenge finish. I finished loading the Christmas table cloth on the frame today.

At 64 x 77 inches it is one of the largest quilts I have quilted on my frame lately. It will really push the limits of the Juki and me. I'm going to meander quilt it as when I get toward the bottom of the quilt I'll have about 3-4 inches of quilt in the last pass. Anything larger than a meander is pushing both our limits.

So. Should I continue quilting my 20 odd quilts that need finishing or start something new?
 

Trying to Focus (again)

 

I've been feeling a little scattered again lately so decide to focus on a project until it was done!

First up was a quilt top I picked up at Quilts for Kids last month. It just needed a back, quilted and binding. I got the back pieced, the quilt loaded on the frame and I actually quilted it all in one day. Truly amazing. Even more amazing...

...was how close I came to running out of batting. Yikes!

The quilt is done and donated. I'm getting pretty good at meandering. I really need to try some different FMQ designs.

At the Quilts for Kids meetings JoAnne always has lots of donated fabric, panels, pieced blocks, yarn, fleece, etc. I normally pick up already finished tops that need quilting. However I have a number of tops I've made that need quilted and donated so I wasn't going to pick up anything new.

Famous last words. The bag has two panels (and one back), a polar fleece kit, and a fat quarter bundle of flannel (I see a couple of Yellow Brick Road quilts in my future). All quick and fast projects but I really didn't need to pick up anything new. Oh well.

JoAnne also has a free table with odds and ends that can't be made into quilts but that people have donated. I also picked up these.

I'll turn this into a mini quilted wall hanging.

This is a very old Creative Circle kit. The hardware was also on the table separate from the cross stitch so I made sure I grabbed that fast. Again quick projects but I already have a ton of quick projects. I think I'm a hopeless case.

I did finish quilting and binding one quick project.

The last three mugs rugs are done. Now I have a set. So happy.

I forgot to show my cross stitch and blackwork progress last week. Here's my blackwork.

I got all of the garden layout completed and I'm now trying to get caught up on the flower fillers. The numbers are the week that flower filler will be released. I think I'm on week 6 and week 16 was just released. So I have a little bit of catching up to do.

And here's my cross stitch progress...

 

Huh, no picture. That's because there has been no progress. I really wanted to get the blackwork garden layout completed, so I've ignored the cross stitch project.

I didn't sew a stitch...

 

But my friend Angela did.

I took a road trip last week to the San Francisco bay area to visit Angela and Stephanie. I had a great time!

Angela loves crafts and recently learned how to knit (I've tried to get her into quilting with no luck😄).  She wanted to make a tote bag for her knitting from fabric that she's had for years. Sew with a little bit of fussy cutting, and a whole lot of make-it-up-as-we-go (no pattern), this is what she made.

The front.

The inside.

Her daughter really liked the tote and wanted one also...but no pocket...or inside ties...or lining. She wanted a reusable grocery bag.

Another make it up as we went. I think both of them turned out great. Angela as already bought fabric for two more.

Angela has a vintage quilt that belonged to her mom. It is hand pieced and quilted similar to a crazy quilt.

All of the pieces are turned under, based with a white thread, then "quilted" with a feather stitch.

I think it is a "summer quilt" as there is no batting. Just the front and back.

I've never seen anything like this before and just love it.

Stephanie and I meet up and went to the Vacaville Outlets. Lots of shopping but not much buying. We also found that the Cloth Carousal which used to be in Winters had moved to Vacaville. Their new location is great. Large with lots of light. I was low on solid black and they had a remnant at a good price. I know, boring purchase.

I also got to meet and spend time with Roy. He is such a sweet boy and reminded me so much of Fred.

Then I came home to my demon cat who destroyed the batting for the Xmas table cloth quilt. Grrrrrr.

Exploding Flowers

 

I finally finished my Exploding Heart quilt top. I love how it turned out!

I tried to hang the quilt for it's photo op but I can get better pictures on the design floor.

 It is an easy quilt just very time consuming to make. I would consider making it again which I rarely do. My favorite part is that I used really really really old floral fabrics from my stash. 

I'm going to swap out my April UFO Challenge with another on my list.

I'm supposed to quilt the green swirl quilt I made eons ago (August 2015). I decided I want a different, more gender neutral backing fabric since I plan on donating this quilt. But I don't have anything suitable in my stash - dang, have to go shopping. The quilt is on the long side and would be perfect for a teenage boy. I had previously made a backing with a rose floral flannel (not prefect for a very teenage boy). So I'm going to quilt the Christmas table cloth instead. I have the backing made and the batting all cut out so I should be able to finish it quickly.

I'll give an update on my cross stitch/blackwork projects next week.

And because she is so cute (I'm not biased)...

 Bella pretending to be a lap kitty.