And more flimsiess

 I've been working at getting Lisa's old  block sets together. Three left now that these are done. I think.

These first two were actually meant to be one big one that she started over 25 years ago! Neither of us recalls the design she came up with. She pulled it out at some point to work on it and didn't like it. At that point she decided to sort the units and make 4 different sets of blocks. Threw away the paper with the first plan. Then they sat again. Last year she made a bit more progress and again they sat. So I took them and finally decided on these 2 arrangements. She likes them now of course. 

Last year she got a little carried away making basket weave blocks from 1.5" x 4.5" strips. She planned a big quilt for herself and again didn't like it. Most of the dark blocks have been used in donation lap quilts finished earlier. The light blocks sat till I came up with an alternate block to put with them. This may get a border. That will depend on how the top fits the back I still have to find. 

This last top is one she put together recently. She's still having trouble with the long seams being too narrow. It's an easy fix though and the pins will be gone for the wider pass. 

Several flimsies have been added to the quilt rack. I need to wade through them to find those with backs and get quilting. 

Retreating to the City

 I am in Madison  retreating this year. Attending the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. But first yesterday I visited Olbrich Botanical Gardens. It wasn't too colorful as I expected at end of season. I did expect a few more annuals. No petunias! No Chrysanthemums, even in bud. Plenty of other fun. I was pleased to see a lavish use of native wildflowers in the gardens. But my favorites were the water lilies in their sunken watergarden.

Two surprises. First "skinny genes" oak tree. A nice slender specimen. I wonder how old it is. But yikes up against the building.

And then this 8ft persicaria. Just a 1 ft tall weed in my area.

Then across from my hotel a little shopping  for a new purse. The one I liked the best was $325.00. So I thought I might make one. 

At the show I was surprised to see several vendors with cork, leather and lightweight vinyl and all the purse making patterns and supplies that you need to become overwhelmed. In the end I decided to wait cause I do have a few purse patterns never used and hardware and a shop local to me is heavy into purses. No she wasn't at the show. 

I won't share photos of the show. In the past they posted a virtual walk through but they aren't up. Maybe later.

I shopped cause dh said to have fun. I didn't add anything up but this is what's coming home with me. Not bad considering over 300 vendor spaces. Yes that's a jelly roll of Kaffe Fasset. I do buy precuts of his stuff.

And evenings I'm sewing in my room cause it is a retreat. So far a dozen green stars like these. Prettier than the picture.

I'll be heading home sometime tomorrow, but 1 day at the show is enough for me. I did not sign up for any classes or lectures. 

Odds and ends

 After a beautiful walk this morning I spent the afternoon  in the sewing room. There were sets of blocks that needed some finishing.

The purple and cream and red half blocks were from Dorinda's estate. I used them to add to a quilt because I had them though not enough for full blocks. That set is now ready to assemble.

Two blue blocks to complete one set. The 3 green blocks and 12 half blocks also in green needed for another quilt. Those will all  be arranged on the wall and stacked and pinned in order for quick assembly when sewing with Lisa. 

The light string block set needs a little work to be done. I can do that when I chat on the phone some evening. 

I also joined the rectangular pinwheel blocks into rows. 2 rows shown here.

So I'm satisfied with all that was done today. Feels good.

FOUR stacks gone.

 Maybe the four sets of blocks were in one pile. But to me there were 4 stacks of blocks. The blocks were pieced sometime in the last year and for whatever reason were set aside. So don't think I've been that busy.

Puss in the corner is a favorite antique block. When I found the blocks a few months ago I didn't remember liking these so much. But there was 1 thing I didn't like. I had 1 green block in the mix. Yuk. Easy remedy. I hadn't cut the alternate blocks yet so cut those. I knew it was going to be small but it was too small to please me so I made more blocks and added 3 rows, without using any green. 

The stars for Route 55 were made at camp along Route 55 in northern Wisconsin. It was autumn and pretty much peak autumn color that were these colors. I filled the spot for 6 blocks with a favorite green leaf print. Not because I didn't want to make more  for a bigger quilt, but cause I liked the print and didn't like it for a border. I thought they would offer some relief from the repeat of the blocks. Looks a bit dark in the picture. Not always easy for me to get the color right in a quilt photo. 

These pinwheels were another fix for a quilt I started but didn't like. I already made 1 quilt with some of the pieces I had cut. With the remaining pieces I made some orphan blocks which will likely end up together in a sampler using batiks. That's for another time. This will go to a nursing home as a wheelchair quilt. 

These flowery blocks have been together a few months; but then I spotted the border fabric. Yes, in my stash. Kinda made sense to use it. 

I also got a border started on another one of Lisa's. And quilted a little one of mine today.  I imagine there will be more soon. Yay!

4-day flimsies

 Daughter Lisa has been sewing up a storm. I helped a bit here and there. These are hers. She doesn't follow anyone's pattern, rather an idea. Sometimes just sketching out the block to get the measurements right as in the case of the heart quilt. She's calling these  4-day flimsies.

The next  goes by several names. A happy block variation, hollow 9-patch, square-in-a-square. Another is in progress from the same jelly roll, because we didn't like them all together once made.

This one goes by many names too but I don't know them. She just calls it the zigzag quilt. I've seen it with lights and darks in reverse of this one. I like them both. I see it as a start of a log cabin. Also done with 2 logs or more on the two sides for a quarter log cabin block. 

These are the sampler blocks she made the day she learned sewing triangles. I had a pile of triangles/units I gave her to play with a little bag of scraps. Such fun. I think there is one block in the mix that I took from my orphan pile. 

She really needs to make friends with her iron. She keeps trying. Probably bought 4 so far. 

Up next, more orphans.

Garden favorites

 My prairie garden of natives along the driveway is making a fine job of taking care of itself this year. I've had to do little in it all year. It's about peak bloom right now. Of course being perennials there are different seasons for different flowers. Here's some of what's blooming now.

This is the woodland Joe-pye. I also gave the wetland variety. A favorite of the butterflies.

Monarda is pretty happy here.

The red Royal Catchfly is a favorite. The hummingbirds like it too.

This is hoard vervain. Across the street in the wetland I have blue vervain and narrow-leaved. 

There is more. Almost 20 different species blooming now. Some showier than others. I love them all.

Four More Flimsies

 I've put together four more small quilt tops. Once quilted they will go  up for donation too. 

I put a kit together for this first one about 2 years ago. Then I took it to retreat last November. I'd left at home the photo (Instructions) but thought I recalled how it went together. So simple. Now I need to remember I don't remember like I used to. I was wrong with what I had sewn so it was packed up until recently. I do  like it and likely will do another. This started with a layer cake which I rarely buy. Easy enough to cut from stash next time.

I made these stars last winter I think. Unsure if I wanted to make more or how I wanted to set them. I packed them away with my Civil War scraps and came across it a few weeks ago as I was shuffling things around in the closet. I decided on the quick finish. 

Our church quilting club was gifted this fun sunflower fabric with a few coordinating prints. When the yellow dresden plate block came in I thought to put it together with the sunflowers and a checkerboard border. That didn't work for me so I finished it simply. The dresden is a bit pale but I will use a bunch of yellow thread. I bet I still have some fabric crayons around too. That could be fun. That light blue is a better match for real. 

I made the checkerboard. That's how I knew I didn't like it with the sunflowers. I couldn't let it go to waste so I made the center star from a drawing Lisa had at her machine. Quick decision. Those can be the best kind. 

I already passed the rest of the sunflower fabric to Lois. I asked her to use some and then challenge another quilter in the group. 

All this sewing and only the sunflower fabric left a gap in the closet. Still plenty of scraps in the 1 of 4 Civil War boxes of scraps. And the first quilt was also in a box with another project. I may be tweaking plans for that next. I'll be looking for more to finish up quickly to declutter the closet. 

Till next time, let's go sew some more.

Lucky Dad

 

I finished Lisa's flimsy, adding sashing and borders. We auditioned different colors and different pieced borders and settled on this dark brown grunge. It'll go in the pile downstairs here increasing the odds that it'll get quilted this year. This will go to dad. He liked how colorful it was. 

Many of us are dealing with a major heat wave. We have A/C so I'm spending lots of time in the sewing room. I hope everybody can stay comfortable. 

Quilt parts

My newest top. I slapped on a blue border and called it done. 

This is the double 4-patch I made from some of the 2" squares saved over time. The shoebox is still quite full of them mostly lighter but also some short strip ends.

As usual I did not have a solid plan when I started it. Once 4-patches were made I realized they'd pair up perfectly with 3 1/2" squares. Instead of digging out that box yet again I reached for the parts department. I'd just been there and remembered the  donated gold squares. Also found were the donated blue strips used for sashing. It was meant to be. 

Some might call this a free quilt. What I like best is I didn't have to cut anything except a few sashing pieces and the border. 

It didn't make much of a dent in the stash and that's ok. That's not what it's all about.

Plans now are to finish to flimsy stage several sets of blocks. Since the blocks are done I expect it to go fast. 

Fun with Wedges

 Maybe they are trapezoids to you, maybe wedges or decapitated triangles. I had quite a pile remaining after I changed my mind about the first quilt I planned. After I abandoned those plans I decided on a simple pinwheel to use the pieces. With many still in a box I was in the mood to play with them again when I opened the box of batik scraps. Here are 7 blocks I made where there were 4 matching pieces. 

These blocks were to go in the orphan pile but then I thought I ought to just do a sampler when I remembered these other batik orphans. I made these years ago with intentions of making a sampler then. 

So maybe just 1 or 2 more and I can assemble a small sampler. No doubt there are more scraps that would be happy with the blocks on this post. I do love batiks. I hope to finish it this time.

There were pairs of matching  batik wedges so planned another quilt with those.

Random block making

 I am seeing space opening up on my shelf of boxes of kits and scraps. That inspires me to look for more to finish up and move out of there. Granted a few are kits to take to the Community Center. 

Several boxes are where I file my scraps by size. I also have a box of scraps of thirtysomething triangle leftovers. Sorting those I came up with the makings of a small quilt. Those can wait as a "kit". There were some where there was some quantity to make a few random blocks for the orphan pile but I only made the bottom 2 shown below. 

Then I moved to the box of batik scraps. The triangles in the top 2 blocks were in there. They weren't mine and why I didn't put them together instead of putting them in the box Is beyond me. 

I enjoy piecing random blocks. Just sewing pieces together into familiar units and making blocks without a plan. Sampler block surprise. I decided to continue as dd was sitting next to me and making sampler blocks that she drew up. She did pretty darn good without a pattern and just started sewing triangles again after doing a few 25 years ago. These are hers. 

Maybe it's obvious she's my daughter. 

More from me later. 

 

Orphan Family

 The 1930s orphans are together in a flimsy family. I think they are pretty happy. A few didn't fit well and maybe I didn't do the best job but I used the scraps on hand. I ended up setting aside 2 blocks and used some of the squares and triangles to make 2 new blocks. It was fun. I'll plan to quilt it eventually. I need to get back to binding. 

Oops. I forgot to even consider a border. Good thing I remembered before quilting it. 

More orphans

 I've spent more time than usual in the sewing room this spring. My back can't handle all the bending over required to garden like I used to. 

I was merrily piecing one of my kits when suddenly I felt like binding a quilt.  I had a pile of 5 quilts waiting for bindings. 2 1/2 are done. 

My hands don't like a steady habit of binding even though I machine front and back. So I mixed in a little piecing. I had already put that kit away but still out was a pile of these 1930s orphan blocks. 

A rather boring collection I thought. But I picked out just the blocks that used white-on-white background. I left those with muslin for later. Some odd sizes here and I knew I needed to add some triangles. The 30s scraps were on the top of one of the 3 boxes of 30s prints. I'd recently organized them. I was going to need strips to frame these blocks to bring them up to the size of the largest one. I like to use strips a bit wider than necessary so they can all be trimmed to fit if possible. Great way to add more color and maybe tie the blocks together a little more than just 1930s with white. 

And this was going to be my opportunity to add a few triangles. Easy enough job on the 9-patches even though they don't fit as well as they could. I already never noticed. 

Sometimes I turn the smaller blocks on point. Yay more triangles. I ended up pitching two blocks and making two more using some of the cut triangles with the scraps. Enter more triangles. 

This was fun. The blocks are done. They will go together in a day or two. Meanwhile I'll think about a border. 

Its still spring

I quilted two more tops. I just put the blue orphan blocks together. That might be a record for how quickly it was quilted after finishing the top. I made about half the blocks over the years. The others were donations made to our club. The pile of orphan blocks is getting smaller. You wouldnt know I enjoy working with the orphans for as long as some of them have been there. 

The other was a top of dd's  that she made for donation just last year. She'll take it to the Community  Center  next week and ask the ladies there to bind it. 

I've also made a pile of 4-patches for club projects. Mindless sewing for when dd is here. She has set aside her beads for now and is sewing again. Yay. Motivating for me. 

It's getting more challenging  to work in the garden as I get older. Lots of weeds to deal with. I had lots of seeds getting  old. So I threw the oldest in.  Waiting now for the rain thats forecasted.. If it weren't so windy I'd like to take my machine out to the porch again cause I really just want to be outside. As I typed this it just occurred to me that I could do the bindings outside.  Piecing doesn't work in the breeze but I've got a binding pile of 4 or 5. Those would be perfect to finish outside. I machine bindings both front and back.  I'll want a little breeze to keep the bugs off. Now I just need to figure out which machine to use.  

Spring in the Sewing Room

 One more quilted for the fun of it. This was my pattern from one of my scrap books around 15 years ago, maybe more. Obviously not from scraps though. I quilted it with an all-over loop and heart design. I saved matching backing and binding. It's trimmed now and in the growing binding stack. 

I've really been in a mood to cut lately. There is always something to cut. I started to cut what more I needed for this group quilt for club. This is just 5 blocks set side-by-side. There is a pieced sashing that goes between them when done. 

I've also got random scraps to trim from this pile and sashing to cut for those blocks. Oh make that 2 piles of blocks.  I've several bindings to cut. Yes I seem to always juggle various projects rather than focus on one or two. 

It seems I have a new habit of loading a flimsy and then not quilting it for a week or more. I'll need to change that. I don't mind the rate of one quilted per week but that's not what is going on. And no doubt I will be using Spring as an excuse to move them faster. I might be praying for rain again just so I stay in the house and sew. Rain today! I will be sorting through tops and backs in preparation for quilting. 

And One of Mine

 I finally got back to the longarm. The first I quilted in a while was one of my tops.  Finished up 2 weeks ago. It went in the "to be bound" pile I believe the quilting pattern is called Popcorn. 

The next was from a lady at church. I loaded it a week ago but finally quilted it today. I love the loops and stars pattern I used. Sometimes I substitute hearts for the stars. I'll take it tomorrow to quilt club for her to bind. 

I'll be on the phone again tonight. Maybe I can figure out beforehand which is getting quilted next and I can load it then. 

Before my ankle was healed I was crawling around on my hands and knees at the edge of the garden. So glad I did. We've had a week of rain since. Hopefully it will be dry enough to get back out there tomorrow. It will be difficult from now on to not overdo it outside. I must remember to not push my body so hard. Maybe that means I won't be too tired or sore to both garden and quilt in the same day. 

I just noticed a quilt top I recently finished I forgot to post. I finished it in the last month too. I used a pattern called Asparagus Tips but mine is in rusty oranges and I'm calling it Burnt Carrots. I've used few patterns so I  don't know if I can follow a pattern to the letter. I made a few revisions to the layout. I made 3 dark columns and 2 light. Yum! I love it. 

I have 3 other flimsies close to done so stay tuned.

Sitting around

 I am not much of a tv watcher and I don't read as much as I might like. Nor do I do hand applique. Goodness, what's a girl to do with a bum foot? Well, knowing I have boxes of organized scraps I brought one from the closet to the sofa. It was the 3" finished pieces. I sorted out sets of four light and dark triangles. Then I paired right sides together for sewing. Maybe only 30 sets of four. Plenty of singles left for another day. Later I sewed and pressed them.

  

                       Options to consider.

  

         HSTs ready for some friendship stars.

Now I am undecided what to do with them. I'm leaning toward the friendship star block. Filling in the background of the block  is where I'm stalling. I'll  probably go with scrappy light squares to use some of the many squares in the box. 

                        Pairs of 3.5" squares

 I moved to the floor to sort the squares. I noticed there were lots of pairs of dark squares. So I sorted those out as I picked out the light ones. No plans for them yet but I have a few ideas in my head. One thought is to just pass them on to the church ladies at quilt club. It was just something quiet to do while I chatted on the phone. 

          The box was full. These are the singles.

We've had high winds and now blizzard warni gs. I took another couple of boxes of scraps off the shelf. These were for the 2" finished pieces. I had decided to do the mystery quilt my friend is doing with her guild. I had to cut background fabric but it was a quick job with the Go cutter. Standing on one foot wasn't a problem.  I needed to make 4"  finished hst units too. All caught up with 4 steps. Clues will come one a month for the year. I'll put these aside now for a few months. 

                             Mystery pieces

I need to label the boxes in the closet so DH can locate what I want more easily. I push myself around the house in an office chair or crawl on hands and knees till they get sore.  No need to do stairs! Keep warm everyone.