March Merry Makes

March was a way too busy month for me since it involved participating earlier this month in Villa Rosa Designs Fast and More Fun Blog Hop. This in a way was timely since the quilt I made ended up being a birthday quilt for the darling Granddaughter who just celebrated her 7th birthday. But i did have two other projects needed to be done this month which were the March project for Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and the secret project which I mentioned Demando had requested.

As a participant in the Villa Rosa Blog Hop, I was given five pattern cards and one of them was the Clover Table Runner designed by Tricia Lynn Maloney/Orphan Quilt Designs which I had to make since it is such a clever design even though I did make a slight modification by not adding the side borders.

It just so happened that one  of the five projects which I could choose for the March UFO Challenge was to make something with my Green scraps leftover from previous projects which was perfect for the Clover Table Runner. Coincidentally, I needed to make another table runner for Demando,  so this crossed another item off my To Do List.

These greens made my heart sing. I just love all of the different shades which was perfect for the pattern. I machine quilted with wavy vertical lines with a CT Essential Thread in variegated greens. The green stripe binding and backing was found in my stash as well as the scrap piece of batting. After I made this runner and looking at the runners made by the other participants, Wendy/Pieceful Thoughts, Nancy/Grace and Peace Quilting and Tracie/Joyfully Tracie, I realized I made my runner wrong; there were supposed to be a double row of the squares and not a single row. I don’t think Demando needs to know this, right?

Since I still had a day left in the month, I decided to make another Clover Table Runner and this time add the double row of squares but making it bigger and again not adding the side borders. I used a charm pack and yardage of Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket which has been in my stash forever. I machine quilted in straight and cross hatch lines using a CT Essential Thread in Caramel. The pieced backing was made with a scrap of 1934 yardage and a Debbie Mumm Classic print and the black and gold check print for the binding was happily found in my stash. I am just loving making runners which could be used for a table, a chair, hung from a wall or on a door and can be made in a day. It’s especially nice when you can find all the fabric and batting needed in your stash. 

Last, but not least, is the secret Demando project which is a birthday quilt for his girlfriend who absolutely loves purple. I made this quilt using a version of the Rambling Rows pattern and my stash of purple fabrics spanning over twenty years. I used prints from my Lonni Rossi and Kathy Davis stash and newer prints recently purchased within the past few years. It was fun mixing all of the shades of purple. I did have to purchase the backing and was glad to have found the purple pin dot print for the binding in my stash. I machine quilted using a CT Essential Thread in Violet with all wavy lines. I usually combine straight lines with the wavy lines and I am loving just the wavy lines. I agreed to make this quilt even though this is for his girlfriend whom I like. I figured, since Demando’s Godmother, a dear friend of over 45 years, also loves purple and has asked me to make her a purple quilt, if I need to retrieve this quilt from the girlfriend, I’ll just send the Godmother to her house. Just kidding, I have plenty of leftovers to make her own purple quilt.

One last photo of the lovely Purple Quilt which I have not named but maybe I should call it Demando’s Delight. I need to take some time off before our next trip to the GP House. I have taxes to do and closets to clean but I am rebel ready for Sandra/mmmquilts Eighth Annual Luminous Layers QAL which starts on April 3rd.

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation/NTT

Sew-vember

I only had one project that was a must sew this month and thankfully was an easy finish for November’s Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. I already had the strips cut from Lily & Loom’s High Sea fabrics for several years for another strip pattern but since I’ve been on a Rambling Rows kick, I couldn’t resist making another one.

I purchased the High Seas fabrics years ago when Craftsy sold fabrics. I decided to make a smaller version of the Rambling Rows quilt since I also had a three yard piece of the dark blue whale pattern which would be perfect for the backing. I added several Basic Grey Grunge and print fabrics to the mix because you can never have enough variety.

A different variation to the Rambling Rows pattern was to only use the dark whale print for the rectangle blocks in two widths. 

The High Seas Rambling Rows quilt measures 48”x64”. This was an easy make with the usual wavey and straight line machine quilt with the blue gray Aurifil thread. Only two problems, the first one being that I did not follow my rule of always buying yardage for binding when purchasing a precut bundle. I was happy to have found the  triangle check in the perfect shades of blue in my blue stash.

The second problem was that I did not noticed until after I pieced the backing that there were numerous brown stains in several areas. This coupled with piecing the batting which I don’t like to do made me decide that there would be only one person who I would feel comfortable giving this quilt to and who also is my favorite person to bequeath one is the darling granddaughter..and don’t I alway make her a Christmas quilt? I’ll be bringing it to the GP House this weekend so she can muck it up so I can wash it and hopefully these brown stains will wash out. Not an affiliate link but the Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray is a wonderful laundry tool.

No glamour outside photo High Seas because of the below freezing weather we had for the past few days; neither  the Master Quilt Holder nor I weren’t ready yet to brave the cold weather. I should mention that the High Seas Rambling Rows quilt was finally finished until last weekend due to some other projects not planned or maybe took precedent over like a “Dreamii” which replaced the “NO” in Sew-vember.

First project to interrupt High Seas which I thought would be okay since this is a Mary Etherington/Country Threads pattern is the Baby Bullseye. There were several days of pulling and cutting fabrics and definitely will be a Post for another day. I will mention that the Peeps and I who did the original Bullseye Quilt almost twenty-four years ago are back together to make this one.  We did exchange fabrics again with the rule of modern prints and no calicos even though it’s popular again. I will also say that we were a little bit more “ornery” or loose with the pattern which may be due to the fact we were twenty-four years younger and less experienced than we are now. This is definitely going to take me awhile to finish and I can’t wait to finish this quilt and write a Post about it since I need to “narc” on the Peeps.

While I was sewing my own busy-ness with the Baby Bullseye blocks, karma came knocking with an e-mail from Sandra, mmm quilts asking me if I wanted to do a pattern test which if you read any of my previous posts, I don’t do well but I have a lot of fun. Here’s a sneak peek which I will post my finish once Sandra does the pattern release of Sunset Strip in early December.

Demando reminded me that he needed a Christmas table runner so after High Seas Rambling Rows was finished I spent some time digging in my Christmas stash for prints he would like. I thought I would make him a Winter quilt using Holly Taylor’s Moose, Bear and Pine Cone prints in quiet colors of forest greens and maroons but No, he wanted cheery and bright and really liked the red trees which I think is an Anne Kelle print so I relented by making the above one which measures 18” x 40”.  I love the combination of this print with Stacey Hsu, Victoria Findley-Wolf, Cotton+Steel, etc, all of them scraps which I love plus using scrap batting. I like to mention while digging through the Thimbleberries, Basic Grey and Sweetwater Christmas stash, I now have two more Rambling Rows quilts I want to make.

While I was digging through the Christmas stash, I came across leftover blocks and scraps from the Hoot and Loot Quilt which I thought was made last year but instead in 2020. Is it just me but the last few years seem to blend into just last year. 

I thought I would be making this for the GP House where the Hoot and Loot Quilt resides for Christmas but I realized, unexpectedly, that this would be perfect to hang next to the Tannis Keene quilt. During my sewing blitz, I managed to set aside some hours to take down the Fall Quilts and put up the Christmas/Winter quilts. I had decided that I couldn’t hang the Tannis quilt on the double front doors because I didn’t have another quilt which would complement it in color and prints so I left it out and was going to give it to Demando who was just over yesterday to pick up his Christmas runner. I forgot about offering this to him and glad I did because late last night I realized the Hoot and Loot Quilt would be perfect and it’s the same size as the Tannis Keefe quilt. I don’t have a pic of the two together in the front hallway as the lighting is just too dark. I am so glad my subconscious but conscience Quilt Mind who knows when I need to sew the right thing. I came up with a name for my alter-ego who I’ll refer to as Eunice, a combination of you and nice and means Victory, sew fitting, don’t you think? Oooh, does this mean, I would be refer to as Medieval….sewing Medieval would not be a problem for me.

I thought I would close this post with last night’s flimsy made during the waning hours of my Sew-vember. During the merry decorating in my living room which has several Cotton+Steel Christmas quilts, Eunice decided another Cotton+Steel Quilt but instead a chair runner size was needed. I made this with 4.5” squares from the Cotton+Steel scraps and measures 20”x72” which will fit perfectly on the chair, no folding needed if it were a quilt and a lot quicker to make. I’ll be quilting this upon my return from the GP House unless Eunice and her pals, the Studio Squirrels, decide on  another project.

Another August UFO Finish: Ole Glory Flag Quilt

My Ole Glory Flag Quilt is my second finish in August for the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge.  This quilt is one of my oldest UFOs I’ve listed for this year’s Challenge and was started over twenty years ago after 9/11 when many quilters were making patriotic quilts. Also worth noting for this UFO is that this is the oldest one I worked on during the years of the Challenge and that it wasn’t just a Flimsy which needed to be machine quilted but one that needed the blocks sewn with over twenty-year old fabric. Fortunately, I still love these prints, since many of the red/blue/white and patriotic quilts in my house have these fabrics/prints.

When I was gathering projects in mid June in anticipation of my annual participation in the UFO Challenge and looking in a cabinet which contains mostly kits and some UFOs, I came across the Ole Glory Flag Quilt project box which contained a few pieced blocks, foundation paper patterns, fabric yardage, cut patches ready to sew onto the foundation paper with a layout and some notes. I decided to add this project to this list since I thought of it while I was working on my Wensleydale Quilt which also had foundation pieced blocks with a similar diamond pattern.

I started sewing the blocks in July while I was at the GP House which turned out to be good timing since this ended up to be one of my August UFO projects.  I did not have a printed pattern for the quilt but I remembered how it looked, so I thought. There were three different types of foundation blocks for the flag quilt; a diamond shape with four points, a square with two points and a rectangle with points. After looking at the few diamond blocks which were already sewn, I realized before I started sewing the blocks that color placement of the fabric was important for each foundation piece so that the reds and blues points alternated around the Moda Georgetown flag print. I also decided that I was not going to make an almost 72” square quilt but instead make a wall hanging measuring 36”x45”. Once I decided on the new size, I had to determined how many of each block type  needed the red patch to be on the upper right or upper left.

After I finished all the foundation pieced blocks, I thought I should find the actual pattern for the Flag Quilt. I had mentioned in a July post that this was a Sandy Gervais Flag Quilt project but could not find the pattern online nor in my pattern library. After thinking about it, I finally remembered that this was a pattern by Jodi Barrows and was in her Blocks by the Square book published in 1999. This block was designed to be used with her Square in a Square ruler which I instead designed the foundation pieces using Electric Quilt’s Sew Precise software so the blocks could be more accurately sewn.

It turned out to be a good thing I found this pattern because I realized my original layout was wrong with using too many of the flag prints and I needed a plain rectangle block for the center row. I looked through my bins of Sandy Gervais fabrics and couldn’t find the right fabric so I then looked through my Navy Blue bin of older and traditional fabrics and found the Sandy Gervais I Pledge Allegiance print there and it was perfect. BTW, when I first thought this quilt was a Sandy Gervais pattern, I was going to name this quilt, I Pledge Allegiance #2 which I will show you why later in this post.

When I was digging around the Navy Blue stash, I found another Sandy Gervais print for the outer border. The light fabrics for the inner border and plain blocks along the sides were found in my older stash of light prints which I also found a lot of oldies but goodies. The flimsy was finished last week and I couldn’t decide how I was going to quilt it because I didn’t want any machine quilting on the flag print. I was thinking that I wouldn’t be able to finish it by the end of August.

While at the GP House this past weekend and looking at a pic of the flimsy, I saw how I wanted to do the machine quilting. I did vertical straight line quilting spaced 1/2” apart on the center row and then horizontal line quilting spaced 1/2” apart on the  rows which did not have a flag print which resulted in the plain blocks with the I Pledge Allegiance print to have grid quilting. I also quilted in the ditch on the outer star points and inner border.

Here are some close-up shots of the quilt backing which is yardage of a Joined At The Hip print, the machine quilting which I used a CT Essential Thread in Caramel and a shot of the blue border print which I also used for the binding, so you can see it had red dots which may not be noticeable in the other photos. I want to mention that some of the photos of this quilt are too yellow/gold and the photo in the lower right corner is the most accurate.

Also worth mentioning again is that the Ole Glory Flag quilt uses fabric I pulled over twenty years ago from my stash and I do remember that I included a light print which had trains (you can see on the top diamond block) in recognition of the Chinese immigrants who help build the Transcontinental Railroad.

Here is why the Ole Glory Flag Quilt was originally going to be named I Pledge Allegiance #2 is because the above quilt is a Sandy Gervais I Pledge Allegiance pattern which I finished over twenty years ago. This quilt is 64” wide and 38” tall and includes the entire Pledge and stars I hand embroidered. I think this quilt may have been one of the reasons why I didn’t finish the Ole Glory Flag Quilt since once I finished this, I may not have wanted to work on another flag project for at least another twenty years. Just kidding, since then I have done quite a few more quilts in red, white and blue and several flag quilts which I may have alluded in previous posts was because it was the color and or theme of my Family Room. I realized while I was working on Ole Glory and wondering if I’ve made too many flag and patriotic quilts, I had a “Duh” moment—I reminded myself I was born on Flag Day and may have not mention this in my posts for several reasons. Like the fabric I buy with Roses because it has my name on it, I can say the same for Flag prints and patterns. 

One last pic of the Master Quilt Holder holding Ole Glory from behind a tree which is a great way to photograph a small quilt without him having to stoop. I thought this was going to be a quiet Post but it turned out I had a lot to say/explain about this over twenty-year old UFO and that a lot of memory muscle, searching for pattern facts and rediscovering old fabrics went into the making. Now when I start a new project, I take a lots of pics on my iPhone so I have a record of when I started, a pattern pic and the fabrics used but I also should include some written info since I never know if one of my current projects is going to be a future UFO finished by the darling Granddaughter who is becoming quite a Quilt lover.

The Big Easy Quilt #Tula

 

It’s only the first nine days of the month and I was thinking that this Post title should be the Mary Month of August. Ever since Mary Etherington posted on August 1st that #10 is the number and Pink is the color for the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge, I’ve been almost behaving myself with focusing on two of the projects I listed. I had already made two flimsies first, which will be shown later in the post, before starting the Big Block Quilt #Tula which was a flimsy made a year ago in July, 2022. My first priority in the UFO Challenge is to always finish a flimsy. If you’re wondering about how I came up with the name for this quilt is that I made a Big Easy Quilt #1 with Carrie Bloomston fabrics almost three years ago, you can see it Here. Since this is my second version or #2 made with Tula Pink fabrics, I thought #Tula which sounds like two, would be more fun.

The Big Easy Quilt has 16” blocks made up of either 2.5”strip, 4.5” squares and strips, 8.5” squares and 8.5” x 16.5” bricks. I drew the blocks on my trusty graph paper just like I did for the first Big Easy Quilt based on the large focal prints and accent fabrics in my Tula Pink stash. 

I love making big blocks especially with fun and beautiful fabrics. I used various collections of Tula Pink fabrics and the above blocks include some of my favorite prints.

I wasn’t planning on machine quilting the Big Easy #Tula quilt yesterday but somehow managed to prep the flimsy and backing, baste, machine quilt and bind it in less than eight hours which worked out great since we’re leaving tomorrow for the GP House. The machine quilting was wavey lines two inches apart, done while listening to Hawaiian Ukele music, with Aurifil #2415 Pink on the top and #2605 Gray on the bottom. I thought using pink thread would be so appropriate for Tula Pink and it is the color for the August UFO Challenge. The backing was a wide-back multi dot print found in the backing vault and the binding is the Tula Pink Tent Print in Pink/Orange. The Big Easy #Tula quilt measures 64” x 80".

As mentioned earlier in this Post,  I made two flimsies prior to finishing the Big Easy Quilt #Tula which you can see above. The Flag Quilt flimsy on the left was one of the projects listed for August  and I was lucky to have started working on the blocks last month. I will write more about this quilt after it is a Finally Finish which I hope will be by the end of August. The Strip and Brick quilt which is based on GE Design Koby Quilt was not on any list and I was inspired to make it after I found yardage of a print which was designed by Country Threads and never knew I had. I’ll reveal which print it was after this too is also a Finally Finished, and again, hopefullly by the end of this month. I did jokingly asked Mary if she would like some of this fabric

And the last piece of the Mary-ment to this Post is while having a text exchange with Mary about the dog fabric in the middle which lead to her discovery as to it being a 5 yard piece, I ended up receiving yardage of it. It is a dec weight/canvas fabric and I just so happened to have in my stash the colorful fabrics on the left and right, also dec and linen weight which would go well with dog fabric. I’m thinking this would be great for a tote bag and when I do make one I’ll be sure to make one for Mary.

One last pic of the Big Easy Quilt #Tula reclining on the front porch bench. I wish a high back chair, like a throne was available instead. The Master Quilt Holder had a hard time holding up this quilt during photo taking; I’d forgotten that a 64” wide quilt is hard to hold up without fingers showing especially if it’s also 80" long so asking him to move one of the wing back chairs from the living room was out of the question. I think he might be making one of those quilt holders for photo taking that I’ve seen on other quilters’ blogs. I did confess to him finally that such a holder could be used but then I’m still holding out for a clothes line in the back yard.

We’re going to be busy at the GP House this weekend since The Master Quilt Holder and his fellow band mates will be performing at the Illinois State Fair on Monday, August 14th. This and spending time with the darling Granddaughter will leave little time for quilting which is fine since I need to take a break.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation/NTT

An Oh My July: FALLoween II, Flimsy Frenzy, Etc.

With a busy July which included three trips to the GP House, attending two of Hubby’s band gigs, a day with my Peeps whom I haven’t seen for  many months and other activities which I don’t usually do like baking cookies from scratch, I had a pretty productive month with one Finally Finished, Five Flimsies, one Test Block and working on two twenty year old UFOs. And did I mention making Spider Balls which I wrote about in this Post. I thought that this Post would only include a brief mention of my FALLoween II quilt which was my Finally Finished for this month. It was included in my July projects for Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and am always glad when I can cross a project off this list. After I sent this pic to Mary Etherington/Country Threads  and she asked about which pattern I used, I realized that I should include some details about this quilt.

Last year, I was having a sewing fling with my lovely stash of Sandy Gervais Fall fabrics which mostly are from her MODA days and are 10-20 years old. I made two flimsies: FALLoween I and Fallowween II. FALLoween I (pictured above) was one of my first finally finished for 2023 and you can read the details Here. Right around the time FALLoween I and II were made, I was experiencing problems with my Juki 2010Q so machine quilting was delayed until the arrival of Jinny Janome. FALLoween I was quilted first. Since I wanted Falloween II to be finished sooner than later, I added it to my Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge for 2023/24 and as luck would have it, it was drawn to be finished this July in time for Fall.

I did mention beforehand that I have a lovely stash of Sandy Gervais Fall fabrics and after the FALLoween I flimsy was made, there was enough to make FALLoween II which is a another version of the strips and bricks pattern I like to make. The rail blocks are what I like to call the Ernie strips which are 2.5” and were cut either 8”(f) or 16”(f). The brick blocks were made with focal prints cut 4.5”x8.5” and framed with 2.5” strips. A sample of these blocks are in the upper right corner of the above pic. For such a simple pattern, I did have to spend some time on determining the layout of the blocks and the colors, plus making sure I had enough fabric to make it work. This quilt measures 56”x 72”.

I remembered after the flimsy was finished and feeling a little disappointed with the way it looked, I’m happy to say after machine quilting it with an CT Essential Thread in variegated greens with straight and wavey lines, I am liking FALLoween II now. I used yardage of a Robyn Pandolph green stripe fabric found in the backing vault but did looked in the Fall stash to see if I could make a pieced back.

While looking in the Fall stash, I came across some 2.5” strips and yardage and remembered that a FALLoween III quilt was planned. I decided that I didn’t need another quilt but could make table runners instead.

While at the GP House this past weekend, I made two runners, which are two of the five flimsies made this month, the left one measuring 32” x 66” which will be for our primary house and the one on the right measures 20” x 36” and will be for the GP house. I had leftover fabric to make some placemats but decided to wait. I am glad once the table runners are machine quilted that it will be nice have them ready for Fall decoration.

Here are pics of the other three flimsies made during July. The top quilts, Wensleydale and Mazed were mentioned in my last Post and I will write more about them once they are a finally finished. The bottom quilt is Razzle Dazzle which is a Fat Quarter Shop pattern which came with a bundle of Ruby Star fabrics. I had die-cut the pieces in May and thought by sewing the flimsy in July I was working on a DREAMi project and feeling a little guilty but realized that this was one of my July projects I listed for the Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. This quilt plus Wensleydale can be crossed off my July list as flimsies count as a Finish.

Here is the test block I did for Sandra Healy Designs which I used Alison Glass fabrics. While I was sewing this block, I realized that I could used to make a pillow to go with the darling granddaughters new bedroom ensemble. I’ll be sure to post a photo once the pillow is made.

While I was searching for possible projects for the Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge, I came across two twenty year old UFO projects. The top pic are the 4” block exchange from a quilt guild I used to be a member and the bottom pic is a Sandy Gervais flag quilt. Once these projects are finished, it will be a post for another day.

I’m a day late with my July post because I lost track of the days thinking I had a few days left. So, I’m posting after Midnight which makes it August 1st and this means another new number will be drawn for Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. I think I’ll take it easy and only work on one project because there’s some house projects, like finally organizing some closets I really need to do.