Sunday, January 17, 2021

Hearts are coming along!

The first ever PINK quilt!


The heart quilt is coming along well!  


The rough design started out like this. I keep
a small coil notebook labeled " Quilting Scrap" 
on my tool table.  It has a log of 
my sewing activities so I never misplace
a measurement  or musing !  It has 
really saved me remeasuring all the time!
I even jot down the location of small 
projects so they don't vanish into 
the museum of lost things!

 

!

Then I cut the 4 1/2" pieces for each heart half.
What a great display of pink!





Here are the proof of  concept blocks
 on the design wall. 
They turned out well but the corner
snow ball definitely gets tiny!
I hope it is forgiving!





And then I got sewing some more hearts. 
It is always an adventure when the design 
is "organic"!




Soon , there were more!
  Now, how to put this together.



A quilt of hearts all together might 
look too congested so 
I arranged them with a gap
 for a lattice between. 
Then I went to the
 " old cd rack of cool items", 
and TADA  star blocks!


I needed a nap one day so turned on 
MSQ and saw a wonky star tutorial. 
THEY ARE ADDICTING! So
after I made a bunch, I showed my 
walking buddy , 
and she made a bunch , 
but larger!  

Hers turned into this!




I kept sewing them up and 
really had a pleasant time.  Eventually,
they turned into this wedding quilt, 
that went off to GA, USA.


But I had sewn so  many that I 
had a stack in the 
"rack of cool items"







Unfortunately , not only are they
too large for the diminutive hearts 
in progress, the backgrounds are 
stark white. 

Sewwww, off to make some beige or tan 
based heart blocks!





They are petite but oh so adorable
 as spacers 
for the heart sets. 









A plan is forming for the stars 
cascading down diagonally
 across the rows. 









Nearly there! Just to figure
 out sizes and positions . 

It shouldn't be long. 

Sew on and stay safe!




What a cute little fella!

                                 



                        This little owl keeps track of my row pins!   


                        


Flower headed pins are great for labeling
rows and ironing directions.
Just draw numbers or arrows with a sharpie!

This little weighted owl
is a perfect place to keep them!
Easy to craft:

cut three curved triangle shapes,
join , turn right sides out.
stuff, add a heavy washer ,
fold in and stitch the bottom shut.
Sew down the top point and
stitch with pearl cotton
for beak.
Add yarn or fringe
and cute button eyes!

Friday, January 15, 2021

Love those squares!



 


This is one of my favorite quilt tops!

 The border on this quilt 
was also so much fun to make!
 
I absolutely love the effect created by color
family blocks.
 It works very well in random 
scrap blocks. 



So when I needed a special occasion quilt, 

this came together!

Since I am often an inconsistent sewer
 ( I blame this on my wandering mind),
 I use quilters fuse to 
help achieve nice, square  piecing.




I snip the rows so the seam lay flatter. 

The  interfacing adds a bit of stiffness, but the 

final quilt is not stiff at all.  The quilting seems to 
alleviate it.






I always have a few rectangles of the fusible on
standby for when I just want to sew and get 
quick and satisfying results. 

Stay safe and Sew on!

2020 review!

 


A look back at 2020 completed projects!
A Score of finished quilts for the year 2020!






 4 little Pincushions from beautiful 
embroidered  pieces



Added a Purell pocket to my travel bag!


Denim  quilt protector for when the Rent a Dog visits!


Jean leg scrap bag!










1 - Blue lattice   strip





2-Bali Strip


3-Pineapple




4- Log cabin


5- Beige Log Cabin


6- Red lattice strip


Back of #6


7 - Black lattice Strip


8 - Green lattice strip



Lattice quilts ready for gifting!!


9- Star wedding. 




Back of star wedding.



10- Summer strings


11-  Summer strings #2


Backs of # 10 & # 11



36 face masks


12- Thick and thin Congratulations quilt



Matching Baby quilt for #12




13- Winter warmer




14- Sampler for SIL




Back of #14


15- Cornerstone string




16-Lap comfy quilt




17- third big string winter warmer



18- Relocation Celebration!






19- Birthday flannel 65 years young




20-  Baby mountains


21 Repair, re-bat, rebind wool tailors quilt.



Monday, January 11, 2021

Hearts on the go!

My DIL asked for a PINK quilt!
  Who could pass on that !
  But what to do, what to do!!  

So first I thought of a great 





Found one on Pinterest. But then it may get
 too familiar with just one big shape .

Next I found this made from orphan blocks. 

                                     

Seems a bit busy for a child's room, but a
definite must for my stack of  "blocks in waiting" .


Then I found  cute free pattern from Diane Harris, for 



 My BFE ( Best Friend Ever)  sent me a package
 of 2 1/2" pink strips so that's decided.
 Small hearts with stars interspersed. 
Now I just need to start sewing.  I do let the design 
develop as I go so... ready set sew!!!!

Friday, January 8, 2021

Berries and Cream!


"Berries and Cream"


 The blue and cream square quilt really came 

together! I am calling it 

 "Berries and Cream" since it reminds me 

of jumbo BC berries with lots of 

whipped cream in a bowl.  

 It is finishing up as a top at 82" x 92".

   It was inspired by

 "Naturally Blue " created by Cheryl Filby for APQ. 

I, of course, made almost everything possible 

 out of scraps and added some rows and left out others.
 




It turned out great .  There are 15 extra blocks that 

can be used for a matching child's quilt.

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Hand me that thread friend!



Oh let me tell you about an old friend of mine! 

 It is my threaded needle caddy.

  It holds 10 needles threaded 
with about a 1 meter length of thread.

 One is kept well stocked with assorted colored threads 

and one just for the basic 3 colors

( black , white , beige) for quick jobs.


               


It is a real life saver  for

 some older sewers I know.