My AMAYzing May

It’s always nice to begin a Boast Post with a pretty pic of my last finish for the month and to say that I had an aMAYzing May with five Quilt finishes and six flimsies. It always seems to me that there’s more time to sew when a month has thirty-one days. It also helps that I can finally sew more while at the GP House with the darling Granddaughter being a little more independent these days and who finally reliquished my cutting table back to me. This could be a long Post with all the activity this month but will try to show more pics with a little details to avoid this becoming a short story—this is what happens when you mostly post once a month.

Two of my Finally Finished quilts were the first and last quilt finished for May, made with my new favorite quilt pattern Fat Quarter Mixer by Material Girl Quilts and both using fabric collections by Bari Ackerman, Emmy Grace on the left and Country Lane on the right.

The first quilt finally finished was the Emmy Grace quilt which was bequeath to a friend who had shoulder and hip replacement surgery last year and I was late in finishing it. My excuse was I was waiting to see if she was going to have knee replacement surgery so this quilt could be a three-for-one present. All kidding aside, the Emmy Grace quilt was supposed to be my April finish for the 2023/24 Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge but was replaced with my Spectacle Squaretangle Quilt instead. I decided to finally finished this quilt because I was going to be seeing her since our hubbies are band mates and would see each other at a gig. Much to my surprise and it’s a good thing I checked was I did not take any of the customary photos of this quilt finished so I only have outside photos of this quilt outside the venue. I had already given to her and for some reason I checked my photo library on my iPhone and realized I never took studio or outside photos because of the weather so I quickly took it back. I really wanted to take Emmy Grace back home but thought it would be tacky but I do feel guilty about not having nice pics. Anyways, as I was machine quilting Emmy Grace I couldn’t believe how I could have forgotten about fun the Fat Quarter Mixer pattern is which is a free downloadable pattern and how easily it could be modified which I did for Country Lane. This quilt measures 60”x75” and I followed the pattern cutting instructions.

Because I didn’t have any nice pics of Emmy Grace, I decided to make Country Lane to make up for my photo lapse, which is a good reason, don’t you think. The Country Lane quilt is my favorite finish for May for a number of reasons. First of all, I finally used up my fat quarters and yardage of my Country Lane stash which I had since 2010 and has been on my list to use it up.  I’m glad I waited for the Fat Quarter Mixer pattern. As I mentioned before it’s a pattern which can be easily modified which I needed to do because the pattern called for fat quarters with 2l" of useable fabrics so two 10.5” squares can be cut but there was only 20.5”so my squares needed to be cut 9.5” (not 10” so I thought and it has to do with .5” seam allowance and the squares are cut 5” but the rectangles are 5”x9.5” cut, a little confusing for me but understood). It’s a great pattern to use for the large focal prints with accompanying accent prints and, best yet, you can make globs (a term I used when the same prints are next to each other and I tend to avoid but not with this pattern) which makes it look sew interesting. And lastly, it’s going to look wonderful in my Family Room since these are the colors for this room.

I have to mention the pieced backing which was made with the yardage of the Pepto Bismol pink print which I was saving for the backing. I ended up using some of it for the top and used up a little too much since I knew I had to used some leftover blocks/scraps for the middle section but realized I had to add a section for the bottom right. I was resigned that this would show after the quilting since I have already sewn a few “I Got A Secret” backing. But, boy was I surprised. As I was taking pics and not seeing the strip on either side, wonders of miracles and good quilting karma, I didn’t need the extra fabric. I bet though if I was quilting chicken and didn’t sew the extra width, it would have been needed and found out only after all the pin basting was done. And yes I did check the center of the backing to make sure the strip didn’t magically migrated to the center. Country Lane measures 54” by 81”. I would have liked to have made it wider but I didn’t have enough fabric. 

I am loving the Fat Quarter Mixer pattern so much, like I did the Turning Twenty pattern by Tricia Cobbs and Yellow Brick Road by Terry Atkinson of which I couldn’t stop making, because I have much loved fabric stash which would be perfect for this pattern. For my 2024/25 Dirty Dozen Challenge, I am adding a project list for just Fat Quarter Mixer quilts and I already have my fabrics lined up including my only other Bari Ackerman stash of Art Journal fabrics. I don’t think or hope I could ever get tired of how different these quilts will look with each of the different fabrics. It gotta be the globs. And the perfect quilt to make for giving especially with the horizontal wavey line quilting.

In other finishes to mention, the top quilts were made from one of my favorite patterns for baby and now baby boomer quilts to make which is a rail fence using 3.5” strips. The top quilt is Phoebe, fabric line by Wendy Slotboom with the wonderful floral used for the backing. This quilt is my May project for the CT Dirty Dozen Challenge. After it was finished, I remember I had the Woodland flimsy on the bottom which I wanted to finish because it was going to be gifted to a teacher aide at the Darling Granddaughter’s school who is due to have her first baby next month. Both of these quilts measure 40”x45” and were machine quilted with a combination of wavy and straight line. I do love this pattern and yes I made a flimsy with this pattern which you will see later in this Post.

My last finish is my 24” wallhanging made with Aneely Hoey’s Hello Petal fabric which I only had a charm pack and used a Cotton+Steel print for the outer border/binding and an American Jane navy/white print for the inner border. The flimsy was made last February after I came across it on the shelves under my big cutting/basting table, which is a story for another day about forgotten fabrics. Hello Petal is now finished and hanging nicely on the front door in the hallway. The little girls in the print is a nice reminder of the darling Granddaughter.

A quick rundown of the flimsies since I’m now bordering on writing War and Piece:

These two flimsies happened because I was looking in my American Jane for a precut bundle which I still can’t find.

I made these two 84” long flimsies despite this being the year of making small quilts.

Another rail quilt after finishing the other two and a small wallhanging with foundation pieced blocks using vintage Piece of Cake fabrics.

I’ll write more about these flimsies after they are finished and made possible with some sewing at the GP House.  They will definitely be on my 2024/25 Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge which this past week, I’ve been compiling. I’ll be sending the last few hours of May getting my Wensleydale quilt ready to be sent for some wonderful machine quilting by Nancy/Grace and Peace Quilting. I will need to confirm a confidentiality agreement with her about not disclosing my “I Got A Secret” backing for this quilt. Let’s just say that I wasn’t going to spend time matching seams. We’ll be heading out to the GP house this weekend and I have my project ready. But come June, my must have finish will be machine quilting my MMMagical Stars, aka Luminous Layers QAL quilt and I think the stars say there will be horizontal wavey line quilting. The Parade begins on June 15th, the Famous Canadian’s, aka   MMMquilts’ Dad, birthday. This definitely is going to be a fun parade of all of the wonderful quilts being made.

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation/NTT  

Spectacle Square-tangle

I had a busy April with the usual visits to the GP House and the Chiropractor but this month I also had appointments with the eye doctor, foot doctor, dentist, bone density scan and bloodwork as well as seasonal allergies/cold kicking in big time,  but most importantly was celebrating my Golden Wedding Anniversary which lasted at least a week it seems. The only quilting I did was finishing MMMMagical Stars Flimsy (Luminous Layers QAL), playing with fabrics (both old and new stash) and finishing my April project for the Country Threads Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge which will be my Spectacle Square-tangle Quilt. 

I have to confess that this project is one that I listed in March which I really wanted to do but other projects needed to be finished. The one project listed for April was my Happy Bubbles Quilt which I finished in January so I took a little liberty or que’ sera sera this month with choosing what I wanted to finish for the UFO Challenge of finishing one per month. I had a layer cake of Spectacle designed by Christian Robinson for Cotton+Steel purchased in 2018. I was planning on making the Chain Reaction pattern designed by Purple Pineapple Studio but I didn’t want to do connecting corners since I’m still recovering from the Happpy Bubbles Quilt which had so many connecting corners.

To sew the easy way out or should I call it sewopted, I thought a simple quilt with just 5” squares with the layer cake squares cut in half would be just right for this cute fabric collection. I used Alexa Abegg’s Heirloom fabric line for the red squares and cut additional rectangles from the backing fabric, which will be shown later in this Post, and yardage. This was an easy pattern which took some planning with the layout since there were so many directional prints in this fabric line. I had to first separate the rectangles into two groups for my rows, light and dark, and then making sure the red squares were sewn on the right side. I’ve seen this pattern on Pinterest and did some searching so I could give credit for this pattern and it is the Easy Bricks pattern designed by Amy Smart, Diary of a Quilter. It’s really a great pattern for layer cakes and I already have another one ready to be sewn together.

Here’s the backing fabric which is a cheater cloth of hexagons with the Spectacle prints which was purchased several years ago. I needed to add the back and white print (designed by Michelle Amore) on the sides which went well together and could make this a reversible quilt.

I was not planning on making Spectacle Square-tangle so long, since this is supposedly my year of sewing small, but I really didn’t want any leftovers, sew I say. It measures approximately 60”x90” and looks like a quilt made for an IKEA bed. I did a combination of vertical straight lines with one wavy line on the center of each rectangle/square row using CT Essential Threads in Natural. I was planning on using the red print for the binding but thought the black and white stripe would accent the prints better.

Today was a lovely day to take a photo of Spectacle Square-tangle hanging from the branches of the cherry tree in the back yard but it wasn’t  hanging right so the Master Quilt Holder had to hold a branch up this time. I need to figure out when his Anniversary of being my Master Quilt Holder is, but I’m pretty sure it’s not fifty years. I’m thinking being married is way easier than holding up my quilts since sometimes it’s a teeny, weeny bit stressful. (Insert an emoji winking with a halo here).

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation/NTT

Luminous Layers QAL

I was late, almost two weeks late for a very important Date!

On April 3rd, Sandra, mmmquilts announced the Luminous Layer QAL and as usual I am participating. BUT, I dropped the ball big time this year due to some mmmissunderstanding on my part. I have pattern tested several of Sandra's patterns as well as been given a heads-up on QALs in the past (something to do with being a QAL Rebel or not QALing well with others). Sandra sent me the Luminous Layer pattern in late February asking me, as well as two others, if we would pattern test. I assumed the other two were being asked to pattern test and I was just being given a heads up which I spent time choosing fabrics, prepared my usual QAL graphics for my Celebrating a Famous Canadian’s Birthday post and planned to follow the Luminous Layer QAL schedule for once. I also was busy working on some other projects like  Villa Rosa Fast and More Fun Blog Hop, March Country Threads UFO Challenge and most importantly the taxes, needed to be finished so I wouldn’t have been able to start Luminous Layers. Imagine my surprise when I read in Sandra’s post that I had pattern tested Luminous Layer and will be have a flimsy to show. I had NADA and was feeling really bad that I wasn’t prepared as I usually have been with Sandra’s QAL.

Last week after coming home from the GP House and recovering a few days from a Cold, I finally started working on my Luminous Layers flimsy. I thought I was happy with my first fabric selection made in February but decided I didn’t like how I was going to make the large star points so that changed the color way. My plan was to use Carrie Bloomston fabrics so I finalized my fabric selection from three of her collections: Found, Color Theory and Colorwash. I was hoping when I purchased Found back in January that I would be able to use it for this year’s QAL. I’ve always said that it takes me forever when I have to choose only ten fabrics and I spent days going back and forth with at least five different groupings/colorways in shades of black, blues, purples and pinks which I found too calm and finally decided on the above grouping since it had a little more punch. I should mentioned that I ended up changing one of the teal fabrics after this pic was taken.

True to my usual QAL Rebel behavior, I was planning on using larger patches like 16”x32” flying geese instead of the smaller HST but after I saw Joyfully Tracie’s version of Luminous Layers on IG with the smaller HST blocks I decided I would do the same. After all, I did have all the dies needed so I was able to die-cut all of the patches, with the exception of the 16-1/2” square on the upper left, using both my Accuquilt and Sizzix systems. I will admit that sometimes being a QAL Rebel is not the way to sew. 

I wasn’t looking forward to sewing Luminous Layers with all of the patches, both large and small, since accuracy sometimes eludes me but I am way happy with the flimsy finish. I think die cutting the patches helped, and the sewing just clicked. I just love this pattern of multiple stars and the fabrics giving the illusion of the center stars mmmagicically merging to create one large star. I thought this would  be considered a Super Nova, but no, there is an explosion with no stars remaining so I naming this quilt MMMagical Stars.

Here’s a close up of the center Star blocks which measures 32” square and could stand alone as a smaller wallhanging. The inner star block with the multiple stars measures 16-1/2” square and this is where I used flying geese blocks and square in the square blocks instead of HST. Otherwise, I pretty much behaved myself. I’m pretty sure when Sandra asks me to pattern test, it’s not to proof her instructions since there are other more trusted testers than me, but it’s to see how I might interpret her pattern in other fabric/colors. I tend to choose prints which will offset my lackluster machine quilting but will have some negative spaces this time with MMMagical Stars.

I wrote in my Rainbow Neighborhood QAL post year that I was looking forward to this years QAL and that I was sure it was going to be “mmmagically” fun and I was right. I am really proud of how this 16-1/2” star turned out and just so very happy the small patches sewed together so well, mmmagical I say. I actually know how I will be machine quilting MMMagical Stars and the binding has already been chosen. It’s nice that I will have two months to finally finish it to celebrate the Famous Canadian’s Birthday.

BTW, just a reminder that the Luminous Layer pattern is free this year and instructions will be given out weekly along with options on such as making flying geese blocks and using dies. BUT, if you can’t wait like a QAL Rebel, this pattern can be in purchased from Sandra’s Etsy Shop. Be sure to check out her post to see all the wonderful prizes to be given this year, unfortunately, her very beautiful cat Bella is not one of them.

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

Villa Rosa 2024 Fast and More Fun Blog Hop

Today is Day 6 of the Villa Rosa Fast and More Fun Blog Hop which I am one of the 28 Bloggers participating and it’s my day to present my quilt. Five new quilt patterns were designed for this blog hop and since I was one of the last bloggers to join, I was asked to make the 31 quilt (top left) to ensure the pattern was well represented in the blog hop. Before I present my quilt, I thought I would mentioned the following:

• You’ve probably have read the previous posts from the other Bloggers, read the story of Villa Rosa cards, seen the list of all the Blogger Participants and of  the wonderful giveaways and Grand Prizes, so rather than repeat this again, here is the Villa Rosa link for you to read and also if you want to purchase a bundle of these five pattern cards.
• If you leave me a comment, your name will be entered to win either a set of the pattern cards above, a chance to win a sponsor prize or be entered to win one of the Grand Prizes. One of the Grand Prize is an Electric Quilt 8 download and the winner will be selected on the EQ Blog so you will need to register there for this prize.
• Registration for the prizes closes on Sunday, March 24th. Please be sure to leave an email address so you can be contacted if you are one of the lucky winners.

So let’s get hopping—here is my version of the 31 quilt pattern: The Hungry Caterpillar.

This is only the second time that I’ve made a panel quilt and have only purchased a few which were novelty/kid prints. I have a nice stash of Eric Carle’s Brown Bear and Hungry Caterpillar fabrics from making several quilts for the darling Granddaughter, so I purchased the Hungry Caterpillar panel. The 31 pattern sews up fast as long as you have the right sized panel but unfortunately The Hungry Caterpillar panel was too small.  I could have altered the panel by removing the stripe border and adding strips to get to the right size but I didn’t want to because it was too cute as is. I added the necessary strips of the Adventure Land dots to three sides of the panels which made it a little busy and uneven. It complements the somewhat solid HSTs which I changed the orientation of them from arrows to a butterfly shape since I thought it was more fitting for the caterpillar theme.

I was afraid that my changes deviated too much from the 31 pattern but now that the quilt is done I think the changes are subtle. I had a love/hate relationship while sewing and machine quilting The Hungry Caterpillar. It wasn’t until I added the wide stripe binding, which wasn't in the plan and glad I did, that I finally loved it and in my mind I'm calling it Cater-thriller.

I opted to use white Aurifil thread instead of a variegated thread for the grid and straight line machine quilting since I wanted the quilting to be quiet against the colorful prints. The machine quilting was a little challenging with the backing being a blue fabric purchased many moons ago from Joann’s and I don’t know if this combined with the 80/20 cotton Pellon batting caused the big puckering and pinching resulting in my having to used the seam ripper too many times. I’m pretty sure it was during this time I hated the quilt. I was so relieved after the final line was quilted. The Hungry Caterpillar Quilt will be a gift for the darling Granddaughter who will be turning seven next week. This will be a wall hanging but would have been a wonderful playmat for tummy time if she was still a baby. She is growing up too fast and hope she will enjoy this quilt for at least several years.

I wasn’t too familiar with The Hungry Caterpillar story which was published in 1969 until the darling Granddaughter. My boys weren’t big fans though I do have a caterpillar memory spanning from when I was a young girl of maybe five to a mother of five-year old Demando. When I was young and playing outside with my friends, we spotted a bunch of caterpillars so we ran home to get empty jars to contain them. I was sad and very bummed that my mother did not have any. I kept this memory of my disappointment and vowed that I would always have an empty jar ready for my kids. When Demando was born, I started saving empty jars and had a bottom kitchen cabinet specifically for the day they would be needed. Several years later when I picked up young Demando from kindergarten, he was being real quiet sitting in the backseat. I thought he was sad because he was having a great time at the playground. When we arrived home and I turned around to talk to him, he opened his hands which had at least a dozen very tiny yellow caterpillars squirming. Even though I wanted to scream, I did manage to say “I’ve been waiting for this day” and walked into the kitchen and told Hubby that we needed a jar and without missing a beat he pulled one from the cabinet. After the caterpillars were settled in their jar and Demando was very happy, I quietly whispered to Hubby to get rid of the jars. I realized then this may have been why my mother didn’t keep empty jars. All kidding aside, I still have a cabinet of empty jars in the garage but I’m not saving them for bugs.

 

Thanks to Tricia and Villa Rosa for letting this big fan participate in the Fast and More Fun Blog Hop. I’ve been buying Villa Rosa cards for at least ten years now, at first from local quilt shops and now buying  them directly from Villa Rosa. I have at least twenty-five cards which I keep in a special binder. I also liked that Villa Rosa provides a link for you to keep an online list of cards you want and cards you own. Sometimes I get confused when I click on the Rose Cards link and hundred of cards appear giving me a heart attack thinking they’re mine but my cards are under My List—Phew! The 31 pattern is only the third Villa Rosa quilt I’ve made but I did make a version of the Clover table runner which I will post later since it was made for the Country Threads March Dirty Dozen UFO Challenge. If time permits, I hope to make the Gypsy Rose pattern (which I already owned before the blog hop) using a much loved stash of fabrics fitting of the pattern name purchased many moons ago.

After today, there are only two days left for the blog hop so here are the remaining bloggers for today and until March 21st. Happy reading and good luck!

 

Tuesday, March 19
Shout 4 Joy — https://shout4joy-shouting.blogspot.com/
The Darling Dogwood — http://thedarlingdogwood.blogspot.com/
Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting — www.knitbug2.blogspot.com
Quilts of Valor Foundation — https://www.qovf.org/

Wednesday, March 20 — First Day of Spring!

Grace and Peace Quilting — https://www.graceandpeacequilting.com/
Happy Cottage Quilter — https://happycottagequilter.blogspot.com/
Joyfully Tracie — https://joyfullytracie.com/
Patchouli Moon Studio — https://patchouli-moon-studio.blogspot.com/
Electric Quilt Company — https://doyoueq.com/blog/ (be sure to leave a comment here if you want to be eligible for the grand prize of an Electric Quilt 8 download

Thursday, March 21
Villa Rosa Quilts — villarosaquilts.com 

More Finally Finishes for February

My Plush Phase for backing flimsies continues with my two latest finishes; Baby Bullseye (left), a fairly new project, and Yellow Rose Double Nine Patch, a UFO of at least ten years. Of course, they both have stories or explanations.

I didn’t expect  my Baby Bullseye project which I started last November to be finished way so soon but I was motivated by my other two Peeps, who joined me in making another Bullseye Quilt, almost twenty-four years later (You can read about our first Bullseye Quilt here), who were finishing their Flimsies sooner than me. I was thinking that I was going to be the last one to finish her Flimsie but it turns out I was second, just like the first  time and it was Linda and not Mary who finished first. Did you notice my use of a modern word Flimsie—twenty-four years earlier, I called it a Top. It’s also a good thing that I now have modern technology in the form of a Blog Post, iPhone pics  and numerous Texts to refer to as I recap how the second QAL went, definitely something I could have used before.

After the pattern was purchased from Mary Etherington/Country Threads, and just like the first time, the guidelines planned which were the backgrounds were to be grays and low volume whites, no tans or beiges, modern prints and blenders and definitely no calicos since the Baby Bullseye was going to be modern and the size and number of patches to be exchanged before we met for a morning of merriments which always include good food and conversation. We each exchanged 30 squares of backgrounds and prints in two sizes and most notably there were no duplicates. One Peep did have not much of a modern stash but did provide the blenders which were definitely needed for a bit of calm in the blocks. We were a little bit more looser with the pattern, after all we are older, a littler more ornery with more quilting experience by changing the size of the blocks and one peep exchanging pre-cut circles and quarter circle templates to cut the circles from the folded squares which made the Baby Bullseye blocks less wonky. I will admit that I made a mistake with the Baby Bullseye pattern by not realizing that the backgrounds on Mary Etherington’s  Baby Bullseye  Quilt was not neutral but were different color prints which I love and wished I did. But in my defense, I did write if I ever were to make another Bullseye quilt I would use grays and low volume prints so my mind was already set. After the exchange was made, we each sewed our own way, texting each other with our progress. I would like to mention that my Baby Bullseye is almost true to the pattern unlike the Peeps. I think they were a little bit more ornier than me.

Baby Bullseye was so named because it is a smaller block with only two circles sewn on the background which would have been enough if we used the sizes given for the pattern. But because the sizes was increased for both the background and circles and after playing around with the first four blocks sewn, I thought a third circle could be added, especially after having the left over circles from cutting away the backs of the first circle after the second circle was sewn which was the perfect size for the third circle. I am going to narc on the Peeps now since they kept their circle blocks intact without quartering them so they made their flimsy with whole circle blocks which is why they were finishing before me. I should narc some more by saying one of the Peeps did not cut away her circles. Although I liked the look of the whole circle blocks and was tempted to do it myself,  I’m glad I quartered my blocks although it was a lot more sewing but  I do love the scrappiness which is eye candy to me.

I sewed 140 Bullseye block which was way more than needed but then I hadn’t decided on a layout. After deciding to sew them as nine-patch blocks and making twelve of these blocks, a sashing of a gray dot on black was definitely needed. If I could change anything, it would be the cheddar yellow cornerstones since it looks like post-it notes but thankfully with all of the eye candy it’s not too noticeable, right? While I was sewing the flimsy together, I did sing Baby Bullseye to the tune of Baby Sharks doo, doo, doo,  doo.

One of the big challenges for me to finally finish my Baby Bullseye was deciding how to machine quilt and if it was going to be a quilt or a throw. Before the blocks were sewn together I played with the idea of making it a rag quilt but decided that there would be too much fraying and decided to make it a patchwork throw. It helped that I purchased yardage of a Smokey Gray Plush Minky Dot last summer and also seemed to be in a Plush Phase right now, especially when you see the next throw. I did pin baste 3” apart since I wanted to avoid any shifting since the flimsy was almost as wide as the Plush and it seems like that took forever but was worth it. Machine quilting with straight lines on the black sashing and cross-hatched  wavey lines on the center of each bullseye block was a little challenging especially with the circle seams sometime flipping over and being careful not to sew over it. When I was sewing the circles onto the background, I wasn’t so willy-nilly with the seams like the first Bullseye quilt and tried to sew within a 1/4” seam allowance by remembering the flipping seams. I now know how my long arm machine quilter who did my first Bullseye felt and her frustration and quite possibly her Karma was paying me back. 

The Baby Bullseye Patchwork Throw measures 56”x74”and is a perfect lounge size for the couch which is where it will be laying for awhile before deciding if I should wash it. I do like the way it looks right now without the fraying but as Mary Etherington says it’s not a true Bullseye until you wash it. BTW, I never washed the first Bullseye Quilt which is still happily sitting on my quilt rack. To think the Peeps and I did the first Bullseye QAL together twenty-four years ago when we were just mothers of eight school age and young adults and now grandmothers of sixteen grandchildren between us (allow me a little sniffle and a tinge of envy here because I only have the darling granddaughter), I am grateful we still are friends with fabric who still quilt whenever we can. I think our grandchildren take precedent over quilt time now.  I did mention in a text to the Peeps that with modern medicine working on longevity that it may be possible to live until we’re 120 years old, we could do another Bulls-eye QAL in twenty-four years and maybe after that. And wouldn’t that be a fun project for the retirement home. I did insert three big laughing emojis.

Before I started working on the Baby Bullseye quilt, I finished the Yellow Roses Double Nine-Patch Patchwork Throw.  After the Granddaughter Quilt #1 was finished earlier this month, I was reminded of  this flimsie which was made at least ten years ago from a Henry Glass fabric collection called Possibilities and was designed by Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan which was purchased twenty years ago. I loved this rose print as much as the Sweet Rose print and after sitting in my stash then for ten years I finally made a quick flimsy with big plain and double nine patch blocks measuring 13.5” finish just to alleviate some quilt guilt. Thanks to Eunice, my quilt alter ego who remembers what I should be sewing,  I finally finish it by making it a patchwork throw by using a pretty butter yellow Mindy Dot Plush I had in my stash which was the perfect shade although it’s hard to tell from the pic. I’m glad this is a finally finish and looking forward to using it as a new travel blanket. With the Three Bear Throws finished in January and these two for February, I have now finished five Patchwork Throws/Baby Boomer Blankies which I’m calling a Royal Plush. BTW, Eunice has now gone from time-out to Jail and won’t be released for awhile since I have some new projects.

Along with a secret project for Demando who is recovering nicely from his recent hip replacement surgery, I have to start working on my project for the Villa Rosa Designs Fast & More Fun Blog Hop. My fabrics has been picked and ready for die-cutting, the pattern reviewed and I am looking forward to working on it because, surprise, it will be for the darling Granddaughter. Maybe that’s how I find time to quilt if I always say it’s for her. Insert Big Wink Emoji.

Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation/NTT