Postcard from Sweden sQALrrel

I started the New Year off with having no set plans or projects; just to continue participating in the 2021/22 Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge and the yearly mmm Quilts Celebrating a Famous Canadian Birthday QAL which usuallly starts in April. Apparently now, I’m participating in two of Sandra’s QAL this year having just finished my Postcard from Sweden quilt. This one was really done under the auspices of a sQALrrel lead by madammmenabler my latest name for you know who.

I had just finished my flimsy for January’s CT UFO Challenge and had a few days to make another Brown Bear quilt for the darling Granddaughter before we left for the GP House, but what did my wondering eyes happened to see on IG on January 10th that Sandra was hosting another Postcard from Sweden QAL starting on January 16th. For a brief minute, I sort of shrugged it off having participated in the first QAL and thinking I didn’t need another one since I’m not a big fan of making quilts with solid color fabric. (You can see and read the details from the first PFS quilt Here.) But then my mind got to thinking of other possibilities this quilt could be made with like, Grunge or other tone on tone fabrics which I’ve amassed during the last months of 2021 but then realized that the latest Postcard from Sweden (PFS) quilt would be so interesting in Marcia Derse fabrics which I’ve been collecting for over ten years. I still had the pattern, fabric cards I made of the Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons and Peppered Cottons used for the first PFS quilt and the extra HSTs leftover which came in handy so rather than waiting to start on the official start date, I wanted to start right away to see if my idea of using prints would work. 

The color cards helped in in choosing which Marcia Derse fabrics were similar to the Shot Cotton/Peppered Cotton used before and I did not limit my selection to just solids but also included prints which I thought would add an interesting look to my second PFS quilt. (I might add thatI did this when I should have been working on the Brown Bear II Quilt of which I’m saying I took a brief “Paws”.) The original PFS quilt used 36 different fabrics but for PFS II I used 46 different fabrics since there were some Marcia Derse fabrics which I didn’t have enough of and used Shot and Peppered cotton HST leftovers of the same color number and mixed it with that. I did have to resort using one Lonni Rossi print for the one color I still didn’t have enough so there is one color number which uses three different prints which makes PFS II so interesting.

Even though the QAL did not officially start until January 16th, my blocks were finished by the 13th, right before leaving for the GP House with the Brown Bear II quilt in tow. I made my blocks one at a time to make sure the correct fabric was in the right place and the seams were pressed in the right direction. I normally walk over to the ironing board which is a few feet away to press but decided to purchase a TV tray to make an ironing station next to  my sewing machine in order to keep my blocks straight and to save time—what a difference.

Sandra “egg-couraged” me by saying that my PFS quilt would probably be finished by the 18th but only the flimsy was. It could have been done if we didn’t go to the GP House and although it would have been tempting to stay home it wasn’t enough for me to give up seeing my darling Granddaughter even though she had a cold/cough. Fortunately, we returned home with our health in check and the PFS II quilt was a finally finished on the 20th.

Like the first PFS Quilt, machine quilting was done with wavey lines, 1” apart and a CT Essential Thread in Magenta was used. While sewing this quilt, I was worried about the binding since I knew I did not have any yardage of a Marcia Derse fabric I could used but fortunately last year I inadvertently ordered a yard of V&Company ombré woven fabric in Magenta which worked well with this quilt.

A Finally Finished: Postcards from Sweden

My Postcard from Sweden quilt is finally finished so I'm happy to post since it seems that finally finishes have been few and far between for me this year. I know the linky party hosted by Sandra of mmm! Quilts isn't until next week (April 18th) but I wanted to post about it today for several reasons but mainly because it is a big finish for me.

Hubby and I took advantage of the glorious sunshine today to take photos at the walking path by the neighborhood playground and it would have been perfect if Windy didn't decide to tag along.

So far in 2018, I have participated or am participating in five QAL and I'm pretty proud that I have stayed on schedule with them despite having a few squirrels and one blogger (clue: she's hosting the Postcard QAL) distracting me.  I have to say my participating in the Postcard from Sweden QAL was erratically consistent, I was either early starting with the sewing of the HSTS, really behind in sewing the rows together due to a visit to the Granddaughter and then finally pushing to getting the top and the quilting done (an extra week was added to the schedule) during the past few days only to be early.  

The making of the Postcard quilt was made possible by:

• my stash of Kaffe Fassett shot cottons which have been waiting patiently for the right project to use them
• my Sizzie die-cutter--thank you 4-1/2" HST die
• my having a supply of 5" cardboard squares to make color cards and them little white labels to help keep the HSTs in order.  I only made one HST wrong but when you think about it, would anyone had noticed
• my big display board to make sure the HSTs were positioned right

The machine quilting was a breeze; I did squiggly quilting lines, just like the original quilt, in a lilac thread.  Needless to say but this quilt is so squishy soft.

As for the backing and the binding, it had to be Kaffe Fassett fabric and it had to be from my stash so despite not having a lot of Kaffe yardage in my stash, I had this purple somewhat paisley print which had most of the colors in the top.  As for the stripe binding, it was not my first choice, I was going to mix two fat quarters of other stripes since I didn't have enough of one but wasn't really sold on using them. I decided to check in my binding drawer to see if there was any Kaffe fabric in there and lo and behold there was yardage of the pretty multi-stripe.  (The rule of my binding drawer is that right after a top is made, I set aside the binding fabric in the drawer which then is not to be used for any other project.  I cannot remember which quilt top  I set aside this stripe fabric for and I'm hoping that I didn't need all of it.)

I just had to include another photo of my Postcard from Sweden Quilt because I love it so much.  My quilt measures 48" x 60" and it just the perfect size to cover the legs especially for the road trips which we will be taking one next week to Myrtle Beach.  This quilt is so soft thanks to the Kaffe fabrics and the colors just make my heart sing.  I will say my quilt is not as bright as the original Postcard from Sweden quilt. I used whatever Kaffe fabric came closest to the ones specified from the original quilt based on what I saw online and even though I don't know if they were on the mark I just love the combinations.  As I mentioned before, would anyone notice if my colors are off.  

And lastly, two more things:

If you read my last Throwback Thursday post, hosted by guess who, Sandra of mmm! Quilts, (you can read about it here where I recounted my memory of receiving a gift of a doll pattern from Amy Butler which may have been prompted by the outfit I was wearing, here are the lime green socks I mentioned.  After I posted, I remember that I still had the socks, maybe a little faded, and I pressed them for the photo--are they not cute and the wearer deserving of a free pattern.  They're now hanging in my studio and maybe one day I'll make a really big doll so she can wear them or I'll save them for Micah who I think will have big feet like me since at one-year old, she's at the 99 percentile for height.

And speaking of Micah, here is a photo taken by her Godfather, Chad, of Kamerad Arts, reminding me of how long I've been her  Grandmother. Thanks for all of her birthday wishes which were posted. BTW, see what I mean about her having big feet; at least she has a smile to go with them.  Hee, Hee, I should be receiving a message from her mother soon.

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday,  MMM Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday, Busy Hands Quilts, Finish or Not Friday

Miss Behaving or Misbehaving in March

It was a pretty good week of sewing for me: something I needed to do, I done did; I'm current with two QAL projects, I got to DREAMi! and still found some time and a way to start on two more projects.

The table topper for Micah's First Birthday party is on the way to be ready for the big celebration at the end of month.  The theme of her party will be Bees and I found the sweetest fabric by Timeless Treasures "You are My Sunshine."  The topper measures 27" x 39" and I just used a simple nine-patch pattern to showcase the fabrics and also because I didn't want to put in too time on something which may be on the receiving end of some party spills and crumbs.

My March blocks for the Classic Meet Modern Block of the Month Quilt Along hosted by My Quilt Infatuation are finished.  This month's blocks were the 10" Propeller block (left) and two 6" Sawtooth blocks and sewed together very easy.

All of the half-square triangles have been cut, sewn and arranged for the Postcards from Sweden from MMM quilts.  Since I used my stash of Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons with some Peppered Cottons, my quilt doesn't look at bright as some of the other Postcard quilts so I may be calling mine Postcards from Kaffe.  We have two weeks to sew the rows together and I'm hoping Sandra will change it to three weeks since we'll be spending some time with the darling granddaughter at the end of the month.

This is my DREAMi! project which is  another quilt from Christa Watson's Piece and Quilt from Precut book, Dot 'N Dash which I happen upon quite innocently (wink).  I was putting away some fabric and came upon the wonderful Robert Kaufmann's Quilters Linen in a color I call Steel Teal which I forgot I had bought less than six months ago.  I knew it would work well with some 2-1/2" strips I already had cut in shades of grays, teals, pinks, etc. to make the Dot 'N Dash quilt.  Since Sandra is the host for both the Postcards from Sweden QAL and the monthly DREAMi linky party, it's going to be pretty okay if I take a little time away from the Postcard Quilt to spend a little time working on the Dot 'N Dash quilt, right Sandra?

In my never-ending quest to carve out more sewing time during the day, I thought a new portable sewing machine, a Juki HZL 70HW-A to use either in the dining room or kitchen would help.  I already own a Janome Gold which is a sweet little machine but the only drawback is that it does not have a needle up and down feature which I kick myself for not wanting to spend the extra $100 for it.  I sew in my studio which is in the basement or lower level of my house and too often I am drawn to the laptop which is sitting on the kitchen desk and I find myself spending way too much time on Social Media, Blogs, computer games, etc. which could be better spent on sewing.  I thought maybe having a sewing machine upstairs would distract me from the computer.  Also, since there are the TV shows I want to watch in the evenings, I also can also sew then as long as I have Closed Caption on. Really, it's not because the sewing machine is noisy, it's just that Hubby likes to play his guitar while watching TV.

I'm thinking my idea is working out quite well.  Since the arrival of the new Juki, I sewed sixty-four 8"x 12" strip blocks made from 2-1/2" strips of Kaffe Fassett stripes and shot cottons which have been waiting to be made for awhile so I'm considering it to be an unidentified UFO project.  And yes, I'm still spending more time with Kaffe and am pretty sure this is going to be my last project for the year using his fabrics, maybe.

And I sewed a mega strip for a future Staggered Strips and Squares quilt using low volume fabrics with some black and white Cotton + Steel fabrics. Once the strip sets and blocks are cut, I can finish sewing the top upstairs.  

I think my Juki Jr. and kitchen table sewing is just what I needed to get more of my projects done.  And as for my Janome Gold, I'll be saving it for Micah, she doesn't need to know about the wonders of needle up and down until later. Hopefully, whatever March Mode I'm on, either Miss Behaving by staying on task or Misbehaving where the fun is, it continues.  I'm happy with doing both.

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday,  MMM Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday, Busy Hands Quilts, Finish or Not Friday

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And the QAL-ing Keeps Sewing Along

I'm still catching up with my QALs and have a finally finish: Micah's Come Calling Quilt/Playmat which I had planned to make in January for my January Scrap Attack and or Scrumptious Scraps QAL project which Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict is hosting for 2018.  I thought I should start and finish this quilt considering that it's February now and I will be seeing Micah this weekend for some grandmother babysitting duties while her parents get some serious download time.

At the beginning of the year, I was going to participate in the Scrap Attack which is more for organizing and precutting your scraps.  Last week, Sarah posted about the Scrumptious Scraps QAL (you can read about it here) and decided that this one was more to my liking since my project list for Scrap Attack involved using up certain scraps each month. I rather let sleeping scraps lie until I need them for a scrap project. The scraps I chose to work with in January were from several Basic Grey's collections which included leftovers from the signature wedding quilt I made for Micah's parents over four years ago.  Doesn't every baby need a calling quilt when they go visiting?  At least that's what I thought when I came up with another reason for making Micah another quilt. I think this is #9.

Here's a photo of the wedding quilt with the  gorgeous Basic Grey floral print from the PBJ collection.  I used whatever remnant I had along with the leftover strips used in the sashing.  I thought I share my signature block in this post since it still makes me laugh and it's the one I always use for other signature blocks.

The green and white gingham used for the sashing and the backing fabric which is from the last century were the only fabrics not part of the Basic Grey scraps.  I also wanted to use a plain fabric for the backing since Micah's mom tends to display the backs and not the front of the quilts and maybe because the backs are just that pretty.  This quilt measures 42" x 60" and hopefully this time I can snuggle with Micah and the quilt this time.

But then again, we may need to spend some time re-reading this book which I received from friends when Micah was born. I can't believe she's going to be one-year old next month and this time she might be reading the book to me.

Also finished this week, last Tuesday night to be more exact, were Blocks #3 (Nested Churn Dash) and #4 (Greek Cross) from the Classic Meet Modern QAL hosted by Kelly of My Quilt Infatuation.

This QAL started in January and each month, two blocks (maybe more if they're small) are made, which is a nice pace I can keep up with.  You can read more about the Classic Meet Modern QAL (here).  So far, two of the blocks are 24", one is 12" and two are 6".  I am finding out, no size is an easy size, my focus is just the same, and am finding that my seam ripper works well on all sizes. By the way, in case you're wondering, doesn't the blocks look wonderful against the white brick?  I just discovered photo backdrops and finally purchased one.  When I first received it, it looks like a velour blanket and the printing was pretty faint so I had my doubts but I'm very happy with the way the photos turned out. Now, I just have to make sure I put this away since I have a certain son who might think this is a blanket; it really does feel nice.

My top for the Squiggle QAL (you can read about it here) is finished and this week is the start of basting and quilting which is not going to happen until next week.  I'm really looking forward to doing some quilting with nice wavy lines to hide some of the over and under hangs of the triangle points.  This is what happens when you do not realize that the charm packs of Blueberry Park were not exactly 5" and were mixed in with the 5" squares I cut myself. Such a rookie mistake, I keep telling myself.

Today is the start of the Postcards from Sweden which Sandra from mmm!Quilts is hosting.  (You can read about the Postcards from Sweden QAL here).  For some reason, which doesn't happen very often, I am ahead of this QAL; I've already chosen my fabrics and cut all of my HSTs.  With some QALS, I find myself either ahead, on schedule or behind but in the end, but what really matters to me is that I finish.  Timelines are only a suggestion and sometimes I have a need to either start or finish another project off the grid which is what I'm feeling I want to do next week.  But then again I may just need some rest recovering from my very first babysitting gig in so many years.

I hope everyone is having a happy week and feeling some warmth, especially from the weather.  It's been way too cold in my neck of the woods.

Linking up with:  My Quilt Infatuation, Needle and Thread Thursday, Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop Friday, Busy Hands Quilts, Finish or Not Friday