RSC17 week 52

GIFT REVEAL

This was the first year I have given Quilty gifts, kind of a last minute idea.  I decided to make quilted baskets like Joy at The Joyful Quilter. I started by making three stip panels, one for each basket.  The first was for my granddaughter in her favorite red, blue and yellow colors.  

It turned out to be much more work for me than I thought.  I kept having to make changes because I measured wrong, etc.  Here is the saggy finish.

When this was done I decided that the other two, for my daughter and her SIL, a former quilter, would be carryall bags, lots easier.  The one for my daughter, in her favorite turquoise, went very well.

The back was a green print like the handles.

The last one in purple and turqouise was a really big hit with SIL.  She loved that I had unknowingly backed it with her favorite fabric, which she had donated to me when she quit quilting to take up paper crafting.

I'm looking forward to 2018 to work on my monthly Scrap Attack goals, which are all UFOs.  If you have not heard about Scrap Attack, it is a fun way to have a monthly goal.  It was a great idea from Sarah at  Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  

Wishing all of you dear friends a Blessed and Happy New Year.

Meanwhile, you can see all the cheerful happenings at

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at

   soscrappy  and

Oh, Scrap! at 

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Scrap Attack, 12/28/17

The Scrqp Attack plan came just in time for me to tackle some much needed work on my encroaching fabric stash.  Here is the evidence.

June, 2015 This was the state of this fabric storage area back then.  I had just obtained the blue stacking unit and thought it was the answer to my problems.  

Obviously I was way off course.  I started buying fabric online with every sale I found.  Here is the result now, a whole wall full two layers deep.

So here are my Scrqp Attack goals, all UFOs, some of which are stacked in a pile on top on the right side.

Quilt and bind all the following:

1. Rail Fence Star
2. Balloons
3. Houses
4. Sizzle Strips
5. Improv blocks
6. X Block
7. Gentrification
8. Spinning Curves
9. Stars Large and Small
10. Beth's Quilt
11. Trim all scraps
12. Geese Migration

AHIQ, 12/27

BATIK IMPROV QUILT

I made this quilt top using half a drawer full of batik strips that I had no use for.  My daughter saw it and asked if she could have it.  Since I have not made her a quilt since she was 14, it's about time because her daughter is now 16 and I've made her two Quilts.  

I cut each paired strip set into 10-inch pieces and added the orange bits here and there to spark things up.  

Thanks for the AHIQ challenge this year.  I did enjoy working on the challenge steps on another top, but have not done the lettering yet.  Still debating on how to get that done. 

Looking forward to linking up again. Happy New Year!

Please have a look at Ad Hoc Improv Quilts doings at  Kaya's blog,  Sew Slowly, or Ann's blog, Fret Not Yourself. 

RSC week 51

MY OLDEST QUILT

For this Christmas weekend I'm showing you a quilt with red and green appliqué. It was the very first quilt I ever had.

As a new bride I was decorating our first home in California and chose rose colored shag carpet for the bedroom (this was back in the mid 60's of course).  I was buying antique furniture and came across this quilt for sale. Because it was perfect for our bed and knowing nothing about quilts, I enjoyed using it.  I grew up in Rhode Island and, to my knowledge, had never seen any quilts.  However, blue and white woven coverlets were common there, made in the New England textile mills.

I knew this quilt was old and guessed it was from the 1930's.  I began reading about quilts and realized that mine was older.  The colors were older dyes and the red, made using harsh mordants, has begun to disintegrate.  The green appears to be blue over yellow.  The appliqué was done with blanket stitching.

 

 A few years later I ordered a free sample copy of Quilters Newsletter, about a dozen black and white pages. It might have been their first issue in 1969. I sure wish I had it today.  It showed a drawing of my quilt block, called a Harrison Rose variation.  William Henry Harrison, a military hero and the Whig party candidate, was elected President in 1840.  Harrison died after only one month in office and his memory was honored in the Whig Rose or Harrison Rose quilts.  

In addition I found that there were hearts quilted in the muslin areas.  These were used for brides' quilts.  

Overall, each row of blocks  is different.  Some have extra flowers added.  Each of the three appliqué borders has different flowers, as if the makers were down to their last red scraps. The fourth side has no border except the muslin, often used with pillow shams covering it.

Because I bought the quilt in the  San Francisco area, I like to imagine a young bride from a modest home setting out with her husband in a covered wagon, with families who were seeking a new life in the West.  What stories that quilt could tell!  

That also began my search for other antique quilts, many not in perfect shape, which needed a good home.  I have many now, including a collection of doll quilts.  It was not until 1980 in Spokane that I took up quilting, and now have another home among all you wonderful quilt bloggers.

From my home to yours, may these days of celebration bring love and joy to you all, and may God bless you richly.

Join me in the fun of checking out the wonderful things folks are doing at

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at

   soscrappy  and

Oh, Scrap! at 

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

RSC17 week 50

MANY COLORS

The fact that Christmas is coming quickly did not deter me from starting three quilted gifts.  I've never tried the pattern before, but believed every word Joy at The Joyful Quilter told us about how easy and fun this project is.  If I find out differently in the coming days, she is the one to blame.  

Here are the three stacks of strips I gathered for piecing each one. 

So far I have finished the piecing on two of them and working on the last one.  Then the real challenge begins for me, to assemble these gifts ASAP.  

That's all I've been doing this week, so I'm sharing an antique quilt from my collection.  It goes so nicely over my wing chair and adds more Christmas cheer.  It is a Courthouse Steps log cabin variation from around 1900 and is made of heavier fabric, perhaps for draperies or winter dresses. The closeup gives you a feel for the texture.    

It was given to me by a woman who wanted to know the age of another quilt and then offered it to me for free, to give it a good home.  It joined my other old adopted quilts and is truly loved.

I hope you all have a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Meanwhile, you can see all the cheerful happenings at

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at

   soscrappy  and

Oh, Scrap! at 

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

RSC17 week 49

PLAYTIME

This week has been playtime for me.  In other words, neglecting the finishing quilting and binding on three quilts while getting into some new projects and having fun with them instead.  Does that sound familiar to anyone?   

I don't have any set deadlines right now, no promises made that I can't keep.  But last week I awoke one morning and a Project Linus quilt idea popped into my head full blown.   I had a layer cake stack of animal prints which I had bought for fussy cutting.  They are not in my usual bright colors.  However, a roll of Grunge strips inspired me to do a quilt with those and the animals.  Turqouise and warm orange are included in the prints.  

To make it as quick and easy as possible, I decided on a row quilt, where ther is no seam matching and anything goes.  Here is my first idea laid out on my design floor.

In this case the white pieces act like another bright, versus beige.  So it will be quite lively for a child.  Finding backing fabrics won't be a problem. My bulging stash will breathe a sigh of relief to lose some weight.

  I'm calling this one Waterfront Property.

The other project is my RSC17 or RSC16 neglected blocks, houses and little boats.  As I mentioned before, I've been making some trees for my neighborhood.  Finally I decided to use these three blocks in a row quilt rather than just the house blocks alone.  I even found some cute ocean fabric which I had bought to use with the boats.

The layout here comes right off of my graph paper mockup.  I haven't named this one yet.

The end result has been playing with my blocks and having a good time.  Even if I work on the WIPs I will still be cheered by thinking and planning for these fun row quilts.  

I'm not doing any Christmas Quilting projects this year.  I don't need the pressure.

Join me in the fun of checking out the wonderful things folks are doing at

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at

   soscrappy  and

Oh, Scrap! at 

Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework