Twisted Clover

After reviewing the quilt tops I made in 2012 (by clicking the 2012 label at right) I saw that I didn't post a picture of this top with the border. The top is now safely filed away with the other quilt tops I've made for the fun of it.

Tonight I expect to finish quilting the border on a comfort/sampler quilt. When that one is done, I have others ready and waiting to get quilted. Yesterday I started cutting out a Blue Delectable Mountains quilt.  I don't think there is any way I could just focus on quilting and not have some piecing going too. I usually do my piecing while I am on the phone with my fella friend and that is near every day for an hour that he entertains me. I can't talk on the phone while I quilt with Lenni. I could use headphones,and even though it is easy to multitask with him on the phone, I need to pay attention to where I am quilting. Even though my seam ripper is my friend, I'd rather avoid it if I can.

A Hint of Honey

My stars! Are all your latest quilts one of your favorites too?  I put these together the other day and have been enjoying it on my flannel wall since. Now I am trying to resist the urge to quilt it right away because I have other quilting I need to get done first.   Sue offered to hand quilt it because it looks old and shouldn't reproduction quilts all be hand quilted?  My argument is no, that there are actually examples of machine quilted quilts going back to shortly after the time when sewing machines were invented.  She also thought it ought to be quilted with simple straight lines going diagonally through the blocks.  Again I had to point out that feathers were not uncommon on antique quilts. I plan to quilt feathered wreaths. They are fun to quilt. And to think at one time I thought they were kinda ugly.

This top  finishes only 73" and I am also trying to resist adding a border, pieced or otherwise.  Borders on antique quilts were common enough, but amazingly if it wasn't narrow, the border was often only added on one, two or three sides. The longer it sits unquilted the greater the chances of it having a border added.  I will take my chances. It's certainly nothing to worry about.

I spent yesterday getting some tops ready to quilt.  I need to get them done for the next book.  I won't start them though till the sampler I'm quilting now is done.  So, if I don't post much, you will know what I am up to.

My honey is thinking of keeping bees in his retirement and noted the honey colored background in this quilt. And it sure looks yummy to me. He likes it too.

Cactus Basket

I haven't had much of a chance to check other blogs, but I imagine quite a few have posts finally showing quilts that were made and gifted for Christmas. I don't generally make quilts for gifts, but I did this year. And like many other bloggers, didn't post a picture cause the recipient reads my blog. I made this basket quilt  wall quilt for my sister. I think it was on the wall within minutes of her opening the package, because she soon took a picture of it on her wall and emailed me the picture with a few words of thanks.

I suddenly decided to make this little quilt when I was cutting out little diamonds for a  Live Oak Tree quilt block. I was looking for a brown for the tree trunk and came across a basket weave print that immediately said -  make baskets instead. I love it when fabric talks to me, don't you?  I'd been wanting to do a small basket quilt for some time, and I thought Carol would like one too so I set out to make two little basket quilts. This was around Thanksgiving. When I mentioned my plan to friend Judy, she commented that I'd never get it done in time. Of course, I had to prove her wrong. Carol's was finished and in the mail in time for her to open on Christmas. I haven't started mine yet because having already made one with the Cactus Basket pattern, I have to choose a different basket pattern for mine. Been there, done that, right? So that is now on my someday list.

All my Lemoyne Star blocks are done and I have begun to sew them together into rows. With any luck, I should finish that top tonight. I usually also post on Thursday, so you can check back then to see it. So far, I am loving it and Mark likes it too.  Time to check the blogs at Patchwork Times.

2 days and counting

I'm happy with all the quilting I've gotten done in the last month, considering it's holiday season. All my bindings are done plus a few other projects including this mystery quilt. I made one more block to arrange them  6 x 6 instead of 5 x 7. I had enough of all the fabrics except I was short one purple rectangle. It's sure nice to have an extensive stash to find a suitable substitute.

Considering the holidays aren't a real big deal around here, you would think that my stress level is pretty low especially with all the sewing I have been doing .  Well, it's not. That is probably cause I really hate the shopping involved. So every year I procrastinate when it comes to shopping. I don't know why I procrastinate. My husband loves it and every years he rescues me. He doesn't do it all or even alone. But I find going with him enjoyable. And he spends far more than I ever would alone. That is actually a good thing.

So Wednesday he's going to work for the last time, just for a hearing exam and to turn in his ID card. He wants me to go along so we can go shopping afterword. For what???? He doesn't have a clue. Is this supposed to be some sort of retirement celebratory purchase? Something for Christmas? For who? I might have to take him by JoAnn's and show him the Accucut Go . . . Do I want it? And except for wrapping a few gifts, I'm nearly ready. How about you?
It's Design Wall Monday. I am going to check out the blog's linked up at Judy's to see if everyone is getting their projects done for their gift giving.

Worth the Effort

I am making a small dent in my pile of tops waiting to get quilted. On the frame now is the crumb quilt that I posted about here.  My pile would go down faster if the ladies at church didn't keep producing tops. But that is what I want them to do. Here is the next one waiting in line. It is a  Roman Stripes variation.

All the strips for this were donated to our efforts at church when I went to a retreat a few years ago. Everyone thought I was nuts when I said I'd take the tangled mess of scraps in the two laundry baskets. They were brought for people to rummage through and help themselves. But I knew mom would enjoy sorting and pressing and trimming the threads. She liked to pick at things. I was right. It took her a while though. And yes, there are some blue and green strips left. These strips were from the pile of strips under
 2 1/2". I don't remember all the other piles she had going.

I remember when I first started organizing my scraps, they were a tangled mess too, though not as bad. I am SO glad I've kept them sorted ever since. No more ironing little scraps and all those messy threads from the fraying. Much more efficient, too. 

Thanks goes to Lousia for commenting on my previous post that the dark purple flower is spinning in the opposite direction. I didn't like that block anyway, so I will replace that. It will probably be easier for me to replace the whole block, than just the purple units. The purple block will join the orphan block pile.

But Flying Geese ARE Birds in the Air

I finished the borders on this Last Monday night and I finally put it up on the wall to photograph. I must be a little tired of blue and green that I used the rust for the borders. I did try several and this was the best.

The cutting marathon continues. I'm finding all kinds of things to cut. I finished cutting the scraps of Civil War prints. One of my rotary cutters broke. It won't stay open. Glad I had a spare. And I am almost done with the quilt down in the studio. That's tonights project.

We don't usually do Thanksgiving dinner here but my fella friend bought a 20 pound turkey  for the 3 of us. After my sister asked to be included we decided to do it here. Not sure if daughter and friend will join us. I think this will become the usual now that mom and dad are both gone. It means a lot to this fella and my sister.
 It's Monday before Thanksgiving.I hope you all get a chance to hop over to Judy's to check out the design walls.

Nine-Patch in Furrows

My Nine-Patch in Furrows quilt top is still on the flannel wall. I experimented with my camera  to get the best picture and this is it. It turns out I don't want the sun to shine because it lights the quilt  unevenly.  Best to go with the flash on the big quilts.

I'm hoping to get some serious time in on the long arm for a while. Not sure what I want to piece next. But I do like having both some piecing and quilting going on at the same time.



I'm also hoping for the best for north eastern US as hurricane Sandy blows through. It's threatening to be pretty wicked. I hope you're all safe.

Going to check out the posts linked to Judy's at Patchwork Times.

Sugar Creek Maples

She said, "It's Perfect". Really.  And I have to agree. Of course, Sue might have been talking about the border, or the setting, or the green squares. She was here while I was making my decision, and though it is nice to have her stamp of approval, I don't need it. To be honest, I couldn't be happier with my Maple Leaf quilt. I could be happier with the camera though.

Next on the agenda is cutting and sewing triangles for my nine-patch in furrows quilt. With it cooling off, and getting darker earlier I am likely to get back to the longarm quilting again, too. I think it has been over a month since I've been down in the cellar.

Off the list

I'm still working on the pile of things I found laying around the sewing room. The Thimbleberries scraps were just a pile of 1 3/4" strips, so I made a dwarf version of the quilt "Autumn Applause" from my book S is for Scraps. It was nice to check another one off the list. And it'll be easier to tote this with me to lectures than the queen size version.

Notice I also made 3 maple leaf blocks. After seeing Judy's leaf quilt last week I was inspired to make a few when I was pushing around a pile of orange and yellow scraps from the Smoky Mountain Star.  It is still sitting out cause it is waiting for the border.  Yes, just one more of the items on the pile. Maybe tonight.

I've been liking the oranges and yellows for several months now and thought I'd do some sort of leaf design. After checking Google Images for autumn leaf quilts I decided to go with the traditional pattern. I guess there's no surprise there. I do have a setting in mind, but as always I will play with a pile of blocks and see if they try to persuade me to do something better with them.  I don't plan on a very big quilt so my block size is only 4 1/2". I love  them so far. Now, do I make red and green leaves, too?

I have NOT been quilting like I thought I would. We actually have been getting some rain, so I have been overdoing it in the garden, pulling weeds.  That means I hurt too much from weeding to do any quilting. It feels good though. So much is coming back to life and lots of new weeds have sprouted too. Today Mark warned me not to overdo it out in the garden and I said I had to cause he wasn't helping. 10 minutes later he stopped what he was doing and helped pull weeds in the flower garden.  I think that was the first time ever. Maybe his retirement won't be so bad after all.  So, I'm all smiles now and Brian is bringing over pizza . More smiles.

Say Cheese

My last few days have been good. The cheddar Rolling Stone quilt top is done. It does get one more cheddar border but then it wouldn't fit on my wall. Mark says it has too much orange. That's what he thinks. It's the orange that is making me smile. Say Cheese. :-D

I also met my other goal for the week that I just set Monday. I finished the quilting on another comfort quilt. I hope to get another one going right away. May as well, it is still HOT outside. It did cool off a bit, and we still need rain so I haven't been working in the garden.

One thing I will be monkeying with this week is my new camera.  So far, I am not very impressed with it. I'll have to try a few different settings. Wish me luck. Sew long.

On with the Borders

It didn't take long to get the borders on this thing. Now it is officially done. It will officially become an active PHD again when I have pieced the backing. And I think I have just the fabric. I could almost quilt this next. Sounds like fun, I have been wanting to quilt a sampler.

I have a 4-patch with sashing going in the studio now. I think I will play with some techniques that don't require marking. Cause really, if there is something about quilting I don't like to do, it is marking for quilting. This 4-patch is perfect for some freehand quilting. You'll see. Nothing elaborate mind you. It is a comfort quilt.

Two finishes

         It's always nice to report a finish. Today I have two to report. I made these blocks a year ago or more. I never gave it a name, but I kinda see it as a split Bear's Paw. I was inspired by the Rosebud block. Since I have made it, I did see it somewhere else though.  This isn't how I planned to arrange them, but I wasn't keen with the blocks after I made them. I guess I am just not fond of the 1930's pastels. So rather than make more, I set them on point with the alternate plain blocks. Then it needed the pieced border, but I ran out of muslin. I finally got some more muslin 2 months ago and just now got around to finishing the top.  I might have to actually quilt it to convince my hubby (and me) that it'll make a nice little quilt. At least I can check the top off my list.

Also finished is the quilting on the orange star tabletopper I pieced earlier this year. I will add it to my pile of quilts to bind. I need to start thinking of tackling that pile. With one top quilted and one top completed, I still have 104 tops to quilt. Yikes!

  
         I planted some old flower seeds today. Some annuals just come quick enough from seeds or don't transplant well that I find it best to start them from seeds. I spent little on flowers this spring. With such a mild winter, lots survived or reseeded. I have  lots of flowers I want to move to the prairie next year and then I want to rework much of the flower garden. I've been feeling pretty good lately and love the garden work. I just wish it were kinder to me and my back because then  I could dig in the garden all morning and quilt the rest of the day. Wouldn't that be grand?

another puzzle together

Really, it isn't because I like blue. It's just that we have very limited choices. I chose the solid blue to calm it down. The scrappy blocks were so busy that I had to include some plainer blocks, too. Once I decided to use the blue, the other decisions were easy to make - like replace the blocks that didn't contrast  with the blue. I will be quilting this one before I take it in to church.

I also put together 5 more kits for church. 2 of them are orphan blocks with all the blocks the same size. That one will probably come back soon. I can't make it to the church meeting this month because I will be teaching in Michigan. I will have to drop things off there before I go.

I'm going to the Sun Prairie quilt show with the girls tomorrow. Sure do wish I could think of some fabric I just gotta have. I don't really want to be buying fabric just cause it is pretty. But then, Mark must not care or he wouldn't bring home storage cabinets for me to store fabric in.  I guess I know what I am doing tomorrow. And to think we will be going to one of my favorite shops besides. I can hardly wait.

Now where is that mistake?

       Now what do I call this? Is it a "convergence" quilt? Or is it a "strips that sizzle" or "strip tease" quilt. It's actually a bit of each. I guess I don't need a name because it is not going to be published anywhere but here. I'm glad I did it and I'm glad it is done.

       Oh, and seriously, I did drop a piece when I was sewing it together and didn't know how to sew it in place without having to arrange the pieces on the wall all over again. I guess I should learn a lesson from that and take a photo next time before I start sewing.

       Next on the agenda is making a dent in the pile of orphan blocks from church.  There are probably almost 100 blocks. Here is the first batch I considered using together - mainly because most of them are scrappy blocks.  Block sizes: 8", 9 1/2", 10", 11 1/2" & 12 1/2"

 And here is the first pile of rejects that I had originally considered, however briefly. Yes, some of the blocks are in both photos. Imagine that. These came in at 8", 8 1/2", 9", 9 1/2", 11" & 12 1/2".  Did you know I like puzzles?