RSC16 week 28

GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT

With the hot weather upon us, using these watermelon colors seems to be keeping me cool, at least in my mind.  The luscious colors are really dripping with cool.  

Each month I seem to be starting off with my sailboats because, truthfully, they are the fastest to make.   This is one where I found the HSTs already made from some other project, so it almost felt like cheating.  On the other hand I don't have a Parts Deptartment full of orphan blocks, like Magpie Sue's.  

I really had a good time making this 16-patch block.  My scrap box of rose, pink and lime is not very full this month, so I dithered around until I came across a bunch of polka dot pink charm squares.  I've never been fond of them, but for this block they made it so playful I could not resist.  I think it's now my favorite 16-patch.

These dots also remind me of watermelon seeds, the little white ones.  I even found some wonky green melons.

This week I also entered the OMG July Monthly goal at Red Letter Quilts, which is to quilt and bind my two Pinwheel Row quilts.  So that is my major undertaking for now.  I'm using my walking foot to do a mix of straight and wavy lines (It's not always clear which is which.)  

For my Twinkler star I found some gorgeous flowers like the full blown rose, so that will be my focal point.  

My wish for all of you dear friends is a fun and satisfying week, whatever that includes.

I'm linking up this week with 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at soscrappy 

Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts 

One Monthly Goal at Red Letter Quilts

Brave Quilter at Pink Doxies
Have a look at all the interesting things that are going on there.

Sew Cute Tuesday bonus post

My favorite quilt was made about 25 years ago.  I was trying to get the effect of light shining through stained glass.  I call it Shekinah, the light of God's presence in our midst.

The other effect I worked on was fading out to the edges, which involved lots of time at the design wall, testing out each triangle to make crosses and stars based on the color arrangements.

I machine quilted it in one week for a show deadline.  It now has the place of honor in my small apartment. I enjoy seeing it every day.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

Sew Cute Tuesday, March 1

MODERN HST PROGRESS

The Modern HST Sampler is a challenge I am enjoying very much.  I've completed each of the four  blocks and learned a lot about HSTs.  The method I like best is definitely the Easy Eights.  I used that for the Stepping Stones block, even though there were two extra blocks. 

As you can see, I've used the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors of the month, blue with purple for January and brown with pink for February.  I loved the brown batiks I dug up, which blended the two colors so nicely.

My calendar is marked with the dates for each new block pattern because I'm so excited to be doing them.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday with Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts.

Sew Cute Tuesday February 16

SAME OLD WINTER

Now would be a good time to visit quilting buddies in Austrailia or New Zealand, I think.  Here in WI we have the same snow we had in December with just a few added inches.   Fortunately we have been spared the bad storms of you folks in the South and East.  A few flowers would do my heart good right now.  I miss my hubby on Valentine's Day.  He loved giving me flowers or a spring plant. 

But I did get something, the satisfaction of some small quilting finishes.  I loved doing the Modern HST Sampler Lantern pattern in brown and pink, the RSC16 colors this month.  I did add a light in the lantern.

 

The batiks worked very well in this color combination because they blend together quite naturally. 

 

A HAPPY SOLUTION TO A PESKY PROBLEM

I have a slight hand tremor, which gets worse under stress, such as rotary cutting, etc. This causes slipping when trying to cut or mark fabrics.  I do have good solutions for my rulers, but the marking is difficult.  I saw a sand board advertised, but all the sites on Google no longer are selling them.  So I found the easiest answer.

I bought a pack of three 9 x 11-inch fine 400 grit sandpaper sheets and they happen to have non slip backing.  So when I firmly set the sheet on my cutting board it stays put, and so does the fabric when I mark it. So simple and cheap!

All in all it has been a productive week, if you measure it in single blocks rather than multiple quilts.  I really ended up learning a lot.

I link up with RSC16 at soscrappy and Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

Monday Making, December 29

I hope everyone had as happy a Christmas as I had with my family.  We laughed and laughed, which was so special for each of us.  

My secret gift was for my daughter, the table runner made from a Connecting Threads kit. which I ended up binding on Christmas morning.  I had to give it to her when I arrived so it could be the centerpiece of her table.

She was delighted and my SIL got some great photos of it on her big dining room table.  She was especially happy that I had used the African-style valance fabric on the back, which she had seen on the two other runners I made for friends at Thanksgiving.  

The backing also made a perfect binding.  I machine quilted all the outlines, using my walking foot.  For the center squares I did a simple four-petaled figure, using a pale olive thread along with maroon in the bobbin.

Now  for the end of the story: 

I love the elegant fabric so much that I ordered a larger kit from the same line, naturally on a great sale deal.  I will not make the kit, but will have three yards of this precious stuff, three yards of black and many other fabrics.   So I am one happy quilter, looking forward a new year of fun, fabric and friendships.  I wish the same for all of you!

Sew Cute Tuesday, December 8

COVERUP TIP

When I saw dust on the thread about to go through the needle in my machine, I realized THIS IS A PROBLEM!  It was obviously being picked up when passing over the machine surfaces.  Occasional dusting would not take care of this.  I needed a machine cover NOW. 

I have enough going on without taking the time to stitch up a cute colorful cover.  What did I have on hand?  Lots of green type fabric grocery bags, taking up room that could be used for more stash.  After pawing through a pile of them, I found this larger black plastic fiber one.  The size worked, so with my kitchen shears (NOT my Ginghers) I cut it down to size and voila! It fits perfectly and only took one minute.  Not very colorful, so I will have to do something to deck it out.  Maybe Christmas lights?

I'm working on a secret gift now, so that's it for now.  Have a good time quilting.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.  Come see what everyone is up to.

Sew Cute Tuesday, November 24

FRUITS AND VEGGIES

This weekend I finally completed my matched pair of Fruits and Veggies table runners.  I started out with giveaway fabric pieces and added gold sashing strips.  The piece was so wide that I cut the whole thing in half lengthwise to make two table runners.  That was posted on Sew Cute Tuesday Nov. 3.

Then I realized that I knew of two lovely women who deserved a thank you gift for Thanksgiving. So I scrounged through my stash and found a yards-long valence with an African motif in fall colors.  It was also wide enough to use for backing and binding. 

Even the batting for both was made from leftovers.  Recently in one of my online shopping sprees I had bought a 1.5-inch wide roll of Heat Press Batting Together, which worked beautifully on the Warm and White pieces. 

I worked like crazy over the past few days to get them done for yesterday's giveaways.  Both friends were really surprised and delighted beyond my expectations.  

Best wishes to all you dear friends for a very blessed Thanksgiving.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.  Please check out all the great projects there.

Sew Cute Tuesday, November 3

FRUITS AND VEGGIES

On the giveaway table at our quilt group I found these strips of fruits and veggies fabric, already cut about 8 inches by WOF.  I cut the harvest gold strips to finish at 1.5 inches.  My first idea was a tablecloth, but it would have to be bigger.  So why not two table runners?  

 

I plan to do a 2-inch gold border, but they will be too wide for table runners, I think.  As pictured, they are 19 inches.  Should I cut them narrower?  I look at pics of table runner patterns and they vary in width.  I'm thinking of cutting off about 3 or 4 inches from each.

  I plan to give one as a thank you to the dear person who finished hand quilting this Amish style quilt I could not finish for my son before he died in April. Now I love having it on my bed and snuggling under it.  This photo was taken of us when she returned it to me at our meeting.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com and Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com.  Please visit and see what folks are doing.

Sew Cute Tuesday, August 31

A SIMPLE QUILT FOR A LITTLE GIRL

I took this pinned quilt to show at our group meeting this morning.  I thought you would enjoy seeing how easy and cheerful it is. I start by buying kiddy fleece blankets, size 50 x 60, on sale.  This becomes the basis for my theme and color scheme.  I love the cute candies on the pink fleece. 

The top is only a couple of charm packs and white Jellyroll strips in between, each row just staggered.  No picky piecing for me.  The pink border made it very close to the size of the fleece blanket backing, where you can see the machine stitched edge.  I will cut that off and bind it with the green, which is from a whole Jellyroll that I bought for bindings. 
So, no pieced backing, no separate batting and I am going to machine tie it with a wide zigzag at zero, which make a neat little bump. Will do those in pink, in the center of each block.  I use a walking foot and there is no problem with lumping or anything on the back.  What could be easier?

This quilt will be a charity quilt for Project Linus, which is one of several local groups to receive our quilts twice a year, the next one in October.  I know it will make some little girl feel special.

      I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   Please join me there.

Sew Cute Tuesday, August 25

A LOVELY GIFT

I was fortunate to win the giveaway by Summer at Easy Quilter last week.  She sent about 90 flippy corner HSTs,    All are in wonderful oranges, blues and greens.  After I pressed and sorted them I started playing with design ideas.  I love the windmill block and there will be plenty of blocks for sure!  Here are three possible color arrangements for the blocks.  I decided I like the center one with mixed colors.  When looking at this photo I saw the little white windmill in the center, a nice surprise.

I decided to work in a row by row design. The samples of strips possible are the next step I'm working on; two ideas are below.  Tomorrow I'll begin piecing the blocks and continue from there.  It's all I can think about right now.  Thank you so much, Summer.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.   See you all there!

Sew Cute Tuesday, Eat Healthy

At our Monona Quilters meeting last week I picked up a pile of similar pieces from the giveaway table.  When I got home I realized that they were all WOF and had an idea for an easy strip quilt. So I laid out the strips at half width to try them out and just look at some of the assorted produce!

T

I think that strips of the gold fabric will set them off nicely.  My friend and I were wondering who would want such a fruit and vegetable quilt.   Just then a delivery man came to the door and said he sure would like it!  No accounting for taste, so I will put this together when I am able to find the right gold fabric.

I link up with RSC15 at superscrappy.blogspot.com, Sew Cute Tuesday at blossomheartquilts.com and Throwback Thursday at kristaquilts.blogspot.com.

Sew Cute Tuesday, July 28

MY FIRST BABY GIRL QUILT

This quilt was originally intended to be a Project Linus quilt.  My good friend found out she was going to be a new grandma and wanted me to make her one just like it.  I told her I could never duplicate it, being a jelly roll random mix.  So I surprised her by finishing it in time for the birth of her darling granddaughter last Christmas.
   I tried out the 3 Dudes pattern to give it lots of movement and was very happy with the color mix. I backed it with a fleece kids' blanket in pink with cupcakes and other sweets in the same colors.

T 

 My next project is another girl quilt for Project Linus, which just needs to be backed and quilted.  Having this Sew Cute Tuesday spot to share my projects keeps me going.

Sew Cute Tuesday

BIG FINISH

I actually met my goal of making a quilt for my granddaughter for her 14th birthday on the 17th.  She helped plan this rainbow zigzag quilt for her bedroom painted in rainbow colors and featuring the Beatles.  With help from kind friends and my Monona Quilters group, it was finished last Thursday.  The back is brilliant yellow and bound in lime green. I machine quilted it in 8-inch diagonal squares on my home machine.  So glad it is done in only two months.  The only previous bed quilt I made was for Sarah's mother when she was also 14, my first quilt made the hard way, before pre-cuts, rotary cutters and mats.   This was a breeze compared to a generation ago!

I link up here at Sew Cute Tuesday and at RSC15 with Angela, both great places.

Sew Cute Tuesday

ZIGZAG RAINBOW

I am finally at the end of my granddaughter's birthday quilt, a zigzag rainbow.  She will be 14 tomorrow, loves the Beatles and has painted her room in rainbow colors.  I let her choose the design from a similar one on Pinterest.  The backing is the brightest Kona yellow I could find and the binding is lime green.  

This photo of the flimsy was taken at our Monona Quilters group, who then pinned it for me.  It is the biggest one I have ever made and I am thrilled with it, and so is Sarah.

I enjoy linking up here and on RSC15 with Angela.  

SWT, rainbow quilt

I am making a quilt for my granddaughter who will be 14 in July.  She is a huge Beatles fan and has painted her room in rainbow colors.  So we decided on a zigzag rainbow quilt for her.  Last week I assembled all my rainbow fabrics and loved doing that.

 This is the beginning, with 21 red and and white 6.5 inch blocks.  It went really smoothly until I disciovered a tension problem, so I decided to blog instead; much less frustrating.  

She was excited to see this beginning to take place and I am glad to have a deadline.  Hopefully next week will be more productive.

I am linked up with Sew Cute Tuesday and RSC15.

SCT, Project Linus boy quilt

Rushed to finish this Project Linus quilt in time for our Monona Quilters semiannual charity quilt collection.  Our 50 or so members contributed almost 200 quilts in 2014 to a number of local charities.

I really love the chance to make lighthearted colorful quilts for the kids in need.

The quilt is made with two Riley Blake charm packs, black Kona roll up, Jellyroll Fabrics border and binding and a fleece blanket for backing.