An August Finish!

Here is my completed "Kaffe to Cranston" quilt, all quilted and bound!  

This was made using the "Sticks and Bricks" pattern that appeared in American Patchwork & Quilting in April 2012, designed by Amy Walsh.  As you will see from the photos this wasn't the easiest quilt to photograph, the solid bars appear as either brown or a deep purple depending on lighting.  We've also had hazy and smoke-filled skies this week due to the western Canada wildfires.  

  

Another finish that is destined (eventually) for our Quilt Ministry, but for now it's spending a bit of time on the quilt rack in our living room, so we can soak up all the intense colors and patterns.

I machine quilted this one using the "Jester's Hat" motif that we learned way back in the 2012 FMQ Challenge.  It's a versatile motif that is enjoyable to quilt except for the fact that I keep running into dead-ends and have to break thread and restart in another section way more often than I'd like!  It finished at about 66x74 inches.

The backing is pieced with the remainder of this wide back that I used in my improv Log Cabin quilt completed earlier this spring.

We are expecting a second cool night of mid-50s temperatures, then it's back to high humidity and mid-to-upper 80s for the next week.  We could certainly use some rain although there's none in our forecast until next Wednesday or Thursday.  My husband has been on garden watering duty daily, and his tomatoes are thriving though none are red yet.  Hopefully in the next week or so we will see some beginning to show color.

Bramble Blooms 1 is in the hoop for hand quilting, but I haven't had the motivation to pick it up and work on it in the evenings.  I'm sure that will change as the weather cools and autumn is upon us.

Thanks for visiting, and happy quilting!  

And in a flash, July flew by

 Yes, July has ended, with a bang, so to speak.  This past week has been filled with chaos, beginning with the discovery on Sunday afternoon, that our ten-year-old freezer had decided to stop working. Thankfully, we discovered this before all the food had thawed completely, in fact the meat stored in the very bottom was still frozen.  Still, quite a mess, trying to cram everything we could salvage into the freezer section of our home fridge and the 25-year-old spare fridge in the garage.  We were able to secure a new freezer on Monday and have it delivered, so far so good.  The only real loss are the several bags of frozen blueberries, which had thawed and then refroze into a solid mass.  We're also in the midst of our current blueberry harvest so at least there will be some fresh blueberries to freeze for this coming winter.  Then, this morning I awakened at 6:30 to the sound of heavy machinery and the construction crew pouring a new concrete slab at the front of the barn, the first part of a driveway paving project my hubby has been wanting to happen for several years.  The noise and the vibrations of the various equipment has rendered me a nervous wreck, longing for a few minutes of silence.  (Four hours after writing this paragraph, the construction seems to have ceased for the day-blessed quiet prevails!)

However, I'm happy to report that July was not entirely unproductive, as I finally finished the first of the Hollow Star trilogy quilts!  First one started, last one finished, since this one is for me and was hand quilted.

I think I had the most fun making this one, possibly because it was started with a small bundle of fat quarters - no idea anymore the name of the collection or the designer.  Maybe someone will recognize the fabrics in the close-up photos below and let me know in the comments.  Anyhow, since there were only 8 or 9 pieces in that fabric bundle, I supplemented with some other scraps from my stash to bring the quilt to a good useable size for a twin bed or as a large sofa quilt.  

I love the quirky beetles, part of the fat quarter bundle, as are the two following photos! I purposely left a few blocks as 9-inch squares since it seemed like a good break from all the stars.

I also had a chance to use up small scraps of old favorite fabrics - fun!

And a lovely piece of yardage I've had for years, just waiting for the right quilt to use as a backing.

For the quilting I first ditch quilted around each of the blocks, then switched to hand quilting within the blocks, using Aurifil 12 wt. which is pretty much my go-to now for hand quilting.  The finer weight hand quilting thread has become difficult to see and handle as I get older.  Not to mention hanging onto the tiny quilting needle!

I've had a lot of fun making these hollow star blocks, and now need to get back to some other projects that have been in various stages of completion for months and even years.  Time to bring some order to the chaos!

I'll be back in a few days with another finish, just need to add binding once something appropriate is found!

Til then, enjoy these first days of August!