The Last Holiday Finishes

Late last week I finished hand stitching the binding on the last of this year's hexie table toppers, most of which are slated as Christmas gifts.  They are all wrapped now, some already gifted, and one smaller one I'm planning on keeping, at least through this next weekend.  Unless another gift-giving opportunity pops up at the last minute that is!

Sad to say, there was no time to even dig the Christmas fabric bin out of the depths of the closet, so these were all made from scraps and stash that were more readily available when the initial inspiration struck.  Without further ado, the finishes:

I don't think the second finish was shared earlier, this one went to my daughter as a little housewarming gift:

Most of the latest batch:

And the last one ... of course I needed help keeping this one grounded!

And now, my Christmas wish for each of you is for a joyous holiday season and may the new year bring you much happiness, health, and peace in your heart, and of course an abundance of quilty fun!

A December Finish and Soft Packages

Late this afternoon the last stitch was put in the grandson's Christmas quilt - yay! So happy to have this one out of the way so other holiday preparations can begin.  So, without further ado, here are the finish photos, very hastily shot while our new four-legged friend was outside briefly. 

The front

The back

This was free motion quilted with a fairly large meander leaving the quilt nice and soft. I used a variegated thread in the bright border and then in the outer border repeated the variegated thread but used the even feed foot and my machine's serpentine stitch.

Finally found a great use for this variegated thread!

I was about finished photographing the back when in bounded this guy heading straight for the quilt (of course)!

The only in-focus shot of the whirling dirvish!

We're having to watch him like a hawk as he can find more stuff to get into the minute we look away.  Pretty much like having an inquisitive toddler in the house, but there's been a lot more laughter around here these last couple weeks so it's all good. We have decided that the Christmas tree will need to be a table-top one this year for obvious reasons!

In today's mail was one of those small squishy packages that we quilters so love to see, and this one was the result of having won a recent giveaway from Barbara Woods - this sweet gathering of fat quarters! Thank you so much Barbara!

Keeping those in the path of the raging fires in California as well as all the firefighters in our prayers tonight.  

The last major finish of 2017

November Finishes!

Wowzers, three finishes in less than two weeks?  Unheard of around here, until now that is.

I stayed up late Monday evening sewing the binding onto these two quilts.  You've seen the in-progress tops before, but here they are, all quilted, bound, washed and fluffed. These two are both destined for our local nursing home as part of our quilt ministry.  So, drumroll ...

First up, the Bow-tie Quilt, made up of vintage scraps from the quilt ministry's stash:

Machine quilted simply, ditch stitching all vertical and horizontal seams, that's all it seemed to need.

A closer look

And the fun vintage men's shirt quilt pieced over the summer, again with pieces from our ministry stash:

This too was machine quilted, ditching ESS (every-stinking-seam), then a serpentine stitch diagonally through all the triangles, the quilting may show up a bit better in this shot.

In some ways, my favorite part of this quilt is the back, an older piece of very soft batik, that was gifted to me when I retired from a co-worker who was downsizing her stash in preparation for moving to a much smaller home. I've wondered for years what I was going to do with this batik, given the design, which actually appears in reverse at the opposite end of the piece. I had to piece the side borders to give it the needed width, but still have a good size chunk of the fabric left.

I wondered if there is any special significance to the design/emblem? If anyone knows, please let me know!  

While I hated to cut up the piece, it makes for a wonderfully soft and cozy backing for this quilt! Here's a slightly closer view that may show the quilting a bit more. 

I wish I could say that I'm on a roll and there will be more November finishes, though in all likelihood if there are any they will just be those hexie table-toppers that are sitting patiently, all layered and pinned and awaiting their turn under the needle. But that's OK, I'm pleased to have these two finished and on their way to their new home. These are number 7 and 8 on the Opportunity Quilts side of my 17 in 2017 scoresheet. Don't ask how the other side is coming along ...

A bone-chilling 17 degrees here this morning, and the ground was pure white with heavy frost. A sign of things to come, I'm sure.

October Finishes - Yay, there are Some!

So happy to report that the Quilt for Which I (still) Have No Name is finished!  All bound, washed, and photographed for posterity, since it will soon become a Christmas gift for my son and DIL.  I'm quite sure they are not even aware of my blog much less read it, so I can show a few photos of this latest finish now.  My husband really likes this one and not-so-secretly is hoping they won't like it so he can keep it. I can guarantee that won't be happening, but the batik tote remains nearly full, so he can hope another one rolls off the finish line - someday.

While it was still having the binding stitched to the back, we had what appeared to be our last nice, warm and nearly sunny day for the fall, so the quilt was scooped up for an early morning outside session just as the sun began rising over the hilltop behind the house.

That proved to be a good decision since now that the quilt is completely bound and washed, our weather has turned absolutely awful, with over 3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours and several more inches expected, plus high winds, and the possibility of snow tomorrow here in the higher elevations of western New York.

Some photos taken inside after washing and drying:

After ditch quilting all the blocks, I quilted an all-over meandering leaf design except on the borders.  I do like the overall texture this design imparts without the quilt looking overly-quilted and becoming stiff.  I used my Janome 7700 for all the quilting, and Aurifil 50 wt. thread was used throughout. The batting is Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly blend - my favorite for bed quilts.

I made a first attempt at Lori Kennedy's feathered leaf fmq design after watching her demonstrate it on a recent episode of Sewing with Nancy.  It looked like it would be fairly easy to do, and it was, once I had drawn lines to mark off the beginning and end of each unit. Although Lori's feathered leaves look way more relaxed and natural than mine!  Oh well, maybe the next attempt will be better?!

One last look at the completed quilt, laid out on the guest bed to finish drying.  The top measured 91 inches square before quilting.  The batting was pre-rinsed and dried on low heat in an effort to minimize shrinkage in the final quilt.  After quilting and washing, the quilt now measures about 88 inches square.

One more small finish for last week - the first of the hexie table toppers, very simply machine quilted with straight lines and bound, and already gifted over the weekend.

The second-youngest grandson recently turned 4 years old and I have yet to make him his big-boy bed quilt.  Pondering whether I can pull that off before Christmas.  Time will tell!  Happy Monday, and I hope the weather is better in your neck of the woods.

July's Blessings Big and Small

Our little quilting ministry has been blessed mightily this month!  First, we received three large boxes of gorgeous fabric from a fellow blogger who wishes to remain anonymous but who has blessed us previously as she downsizes her stash.  She is definitely our Quilting Angel!

Then, Debbie of Stitchin' Therapy blessed us with a large box of stencils, many of which are the continuous line, easy to quilt variety.  Some are even linear enough to be quilted with a walking foot, definitely a plus for some of our beginning quilters.  Thank you so much Debbie!  I know they will be put to good use!

The photo doesn't begin to show all the beautiful stencils we received.

A week or two ago, Jocelyn of Happy Cottage Quilter posted a photo of an older top she had made, wondering whether she should update it with new borders, or just trash it.  It was such a lovely sampler quilt I asked if she indeed thought of trashing it, to please send it our way to be quilted and given to a deserving person in our area.  She did, and also sent us three other tops plus backing fabrics for two of them!  What a beautiful gift to our ministry - thank you so much Jocelyn!

I sometimes enter giveaways from fabric companies for fat quarter bundles, and last week was lucky enough to win a sweet bundle of Amanda Murphy's Folkart Fantasy from Benartex.  Yay! I think this will make up into a lovely baby quilt or perhaps a lap quilt for a nursing home patient, or even another small quilt for next year's camp quilt auction.

Reviewing my quilting efforts for the month of July and my 17 in 2017 list, there really isn't a lot to say about my goals for 2017 except I've been plugging along very slowly on the hand quilting of Quilty 365 and the first basket quilt, and I got a start on a late arrival to that list - more on that in a future post.  On the reverse "Opportunity Quilts" side of the 17 in 2017 sheet, I finished the queen size camp auction quilt!

But the sweetest July blessing of all arrived last Wednesday with his mom for a 4-day visit. We had a blast, watching this little guy as he learns to crawl, studies everything and everyone around him, and eats his meals like there's no tomorrow!  And he loves blueberries, which are at their peak right now. We sent them home yesterday with three quarts of fresh-picked berries from our bushes.  What a little joy he is in all our lives!

Camp Auction Quilt is a Finish!

So happy to report that I put the final stitches in the binding of the church camp auction quilt on Saturday afternoon! Our wet weather of late hasn't been ideal for outside photography, to say the least, so here are the best of yesterday's indoor shots.

On our guest room queen size bed.  It finished at 76x87 inches, shrinking about 3 inches in both directions with the quilting and cold water wash afterward. I'm hoping it's a good size for the auction, since it will fit a twin bed with a full bedspread type drop, a double bed with a 12 inch drop, or even a queen bed with an 8 inch side drop.

This was the first time that I can recall using stencils for much of the free motion quilting (can I even call it free motion if I'm following a stencil?). Anyway, I'm very happy with the way the stencils turned out. This little border stencil was very easy to quilt.

As for that background fabric, it's a real chameleon - especially with my fairly limited photographic skills, hehe.  Previous blog commenters have found it to be green, gray, or blue.  In actuality, or at least in my eyes, it's a very light green, and the camera has an extremely difficult time rendering it as my eye sees it. Oh well, imagination is a wonderful thing isn't it!?

I chose two different stencils for the alternate blocks, using the simpler one above for the center blocks as I wasn't sure how well I could execute the more difficult one with my DSM in the center of this large quilt. It turned out to be really easy and the curves were small enough that it was possible for me to reach the end of one curve without needing to stop and adjust my hands.

The second stencil above was used for the outer row of alternate blocks.  A bit more challenging but still a lot of fun to quilt, and not hugely time-consuming. Can you tell I'm fast becoming a real fan of stencils for machine quilting?! They are so forgiving, and take away the angst of trying to recreate a chosen design with "muscle memory" which in reality has never worked well for me At All. At this time of life, there is no need to add more stress to my favorite pastime, and I may even become a fan of machine quilting again, though my first love will always be hand quilting.

A couple of my favorite blocks that haven't been featured in previous posts:

Overall I'm happy with the way this one turned out, and I think/hope it's a style that will do well at the auction. Is it my favorite quilt - umm, no, but still I think it's pleasant and scrappy enough that it will fit in with the primitive or country decor that is popular around here.

As I look at my version of the "17 in 2017" list, there are now five completions on the reverse side which I long ago labeled "Opportunity Quilts for 2017".  Only three small completions on the "17 in 2017" side. So for the remaining few months of this year I really hope to shift my focus to finishing at least two personal goals for the year.  Doesn't sound like a lot, but those two goals are to finish hand quilting the queen size basket quilt and my king size Quilty 365! Then there's the queen size top I've just begun for my son and DIL after seeing their wedding quilt is pretty much worn out after being in use for over 17 years now.  I'd like to be able to give them their new quilt for Christmas. This year. Guess I'd best get to work now.

April's Friday Finish

A local nursing home requested some lap quilts from our quilt ministry group, and so that has been our focus over the past month or so.  This is the fourth "opportunity quilt" for the reverse side of that 17 in 2017 list of projects, and my one and only finish for April.

A whole lot of colorful scrappiness, with prints, plaids and dots from every season of the year and some novelty prints thrown in for good measure.  The quilt finished at 40 x 50 inches. And I didn't even make a dent in the huge bags of scraps we have accumulated.

This is the third quilt I've finished using those infamous phone book pages for the strippy block foundations, and it will be my last. Too many hours spent tearing off paper when I could be sewing ... Someone had the idea of trying used dryer sheets as foundations that would not require removal.  I'm thinking of trying that method, and wonder if anyone has made strippy blocks using these?  Seems like as long as they don't fall apart in the laundry they might work well since they're dimensionally stable and very thin.

I'll be making more nursing home quilts toward fall, but for the next few weeks will be working on a much larger project that includes a whole lot of scrappy nine-patch blocks, about 50 or so ...  Yet another opportunity.

So happy that spring has finally arrived and with it the fun of some outdoor quilty photos in the early morning mist.

Happy Friday!

Beginnings and Endings

Beginnings ...
Another Opportunity Quilt!  The reverse side of my "17 in 2017" list is filling in faster than the front!
This little finish is a quick baby quilt for an upcoming shower in mid-March for a young couple who attended our church before moving to a neighboring city.  Since the other members of our ministry group were involved in other projects, I volunteered for this one, went home and sorted through the baby/child fabric bins and came up with this - finishing at 38-1/2 inches square.

Everything about this quilt is from stash remnants with the exception of the sweet tangerine Dear Stella print along the sides. I had purchased this fabric online a few months ago, to include in my grandson's baby quilt, but when it arrived found it was the wrong shade, and more suited to a little girl's quilt.

Just for fun, a little glimpse of my very cluttered sewing space!

The back - two very favorite fabrics I've been saving for just the right quilt. The blue remnant was probably picked up at a yard sale several years ago, every bit used in this quilt.  

A closer look at the back (colors are more true in this photo)

This little quilt was three afternoons in the making, one to piece the front and back, another to layer and quilt (love that serpentine stitch with the even-feed foot!), and a third afternoon to bind.  And I love the soft puffiness of the not-too-dense quilting with the Hobbs Polydown batting.  One last photo of this finish ...

Endings ...
This weekend we had to say goodbye to a faithful member of our little household for 13 years of his nearly 15 years on this earth.  He was the epitome of pure love, a quality we humans can only hope to achieve in our years on this earth.  So many memories, so many raw emotions right now

He was our constant companion and loved rides in the truck and walking along the Oregon beaches with us

He spent many hours alongside me as I worked in the sewing room, and occasionally bombed a photoshoot

He loved his home in the country

He loved life, and never complained, right up until the end when his heart gave out.  He gave us his all, and we tried our best to reciprocate.