Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Still Slogging Along but Two Finishes to Show for my Efforts!

Hello friends!  Hope this finds you enjoying some sunny spring weather abounding with daffodils and maybe even a few tulips.  After five days of 80+ degree weather last week, we returned to winter earlier this week with snow and cold winds for a couple days.  Not much accumulation, thankfully, and we're back to sunny skies this afternoon with promises of 70 degrees for the next few days.  

Since we last visited, I managed to finish both donation quilts mentioned in last month's post.  Here is the quilt for the mom.  I found a collection of two panels plus 9 half-yard pieces for this top.  As per usual all the panel pieces were skewed and a bit of a frustration getting things to fit together, but I'm liking the end result.  Decided to go outside for a few photos.


As the skies cleared it became windy.

Yep, probably time to take it back inside.

This quilt didn't start with any particular plan, just grew and adjustments made as I ran out of some of the half-yard pieces - you know - the really good background fabrics!


Once the central portion was finished, the length was woefully short, and considering what was left over, I raided my scrap bins to come up with a few additional fabrics to create the strippy top and bottom borders.  I think it turned out OK, the overall look is soft and inviting, and the recipient's favorite color is lavender.  

I used one of my favorite go-to free motion designs for the quilting, the meandering leaf motif echoes the tiny leaf pattern in the green fabric.


A peek at the back.


The son's smaller quilt went pretty much without a hitch.  After ditch quilting the major seams, I just did a loopy-balloon-circular motif across the main body of the quilt and called it done and dusted.



I found the extra panel pieces in one of the quilt ministry bins and used that on the back.  

This young man really loves dogs; I hope he also likes ducks and geese and chipmunks!

I marked some stencils on the bright citrusy quilt and hope to get the quilting completed on that by the end of next week.  If that happens I might even squeeze in a second post. Nothing is certain around here anymore, we just take one day at a time and keep on keeping-on!

Til next time my friends, keep stitching and praying for sanity and peace to return to this troubled land.



13 comments:

Mary said...

Both are wonderful! I love the soft and pretty colors of the mom’s quilt and the son’s quilt is perfect too.

cityquilter grace said...

Lovely finishes...

Barb said...

Your quilt looks so fresh and lively hanging in the breeze. Love to see that green green grass!
Great dog quilt for a young man who loves dogs. very sweet!

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

Lovely in purple and green and I can just feel the breeze, looking at the photo. A young man will love the dog-themed quilt for sure! Congratulations on two finishes.

Lizzy D said...

Lovely Lavender quilt and the Dogs etc quilt is perfect for a young man. Your yard and backgrounds look hopefully springy. How awful to again have snow.

lizzy

Robin said...

What a lovely spring post. The Lavender quilt is so pretty and feminine. It's just so refreshing and calming to look at. Turned out really nice.
Spring weather this year is so unpredictable. We had a smattering of snow/rain earlier this week. That's all the poor people in the mountains need right now is more snow. Things are melting and there's been a little flooding. No Goldilocks weather here.

Kyle said...

Your creativity came into play. Two wonderful finishes that seem to reflex spring. I know your gift will be much loved and appreciated.

Chantal said...

Congratulations! Awesome! Just awesome! She will adore this quilt if she loves lavender. There's lavender all over it. You've really put those 9 half-yard pieces to good use. The leaf quilting is perfect. Awesome! The doggy quilt is just as wonderful. I love the strippy border in there. It pulls everything together. Bravo!
We didn't get the snow but we are back in the cold and wet weather too. It feels like spring now. Have a lovely weekend. ;^)

Nancy said...

And two beautiful finishes they are, Pat. I think the borders on the lavender quilt look planned and work very well together. And how could the young man who loves dogs not love his quilt! It's delightful. You had beautiful weather for photographing, even if it was windy.

Janet O. said...

I think you worked magic with those panel pieces and coordinating fabrics. Nice save to make the lavender quilt longer. It looks like it was meant to be that way all along.
Those dogs are the star of the second quilt, so what dog lover wouldn't want it?
Excellent work!
We are still waiting for spring in this high mountain valley. We had snow yesterday morning, and are expecting rain this afternoon, but the mountains surrounding us are still covered with snow.

Barbara said...

I love your panel finishes! Both are appealing--so warm and wonderful. That wind was really kicking up but there's nothing like seeing a quilt flowing in the breeze :) It didn't take you very long to make these quilts and I'm sure they will be much appreciated by the recipients. Perfect choices for mom and her son :)

FlourishingPalms said...

Oh Pat! You are SO generous with your time and talent! What a lovely panel you chose for the mom, and your addition of the string-pieced border, with fabrics from your stash too, was the perfect way to make the quilt larger. Your quilting motif suits it well. And your quilt photos just made me smile - spring winds just don't want to cooperate with quilt photography, do they? And the dog panel quilt is so sweet. i am SURE these will make the mom and her son so happy. You're a dear. As for daffodils and tulips... that's something I don't see around here. In fact, did you see that our gorgeous Bismarck palm is no longer with us? He died and had to be removed. I"m still not over it. I hope you are doing okay. Consider this your hug from me. :-)

Lori said...

Terrific quilts that I'm sure will be used and treasured for years to come!