Still making thimbles

 Today I'm start to work on Charlie's ball quilt but first I wanted to finish up a couple of rows on the Thimble Quilt.

Here's a close-up of part of my quilt. I cut a few "I-spy" thimbles with cats, umbrellas, cars and other fun stuff for my grandsons to find.

After attaching a few more rows, I put this away so that I could concentrate on finishing up Charlie's ball quilt. 

I'm doing straight line quilting on it. I debated doing my usual meander or swirls but this will be more masculine, I think.

Anyway, it's getting done. I'd like to be putting on binding this weekend so he can get his "big boy" bed set up.

Thimble scrap quilt

The thimble quilt is coming along nicely...

17 rows....so almost halfway.

I've been getting a row or two a day made, most days. I had a couple of days when I was sick in bed with a bug one of the grandkids shared...but otherwise, I'm getting them made. Michigan is going on a three week lockdown in two days. I have a feeling I'll get lots of quilting done then. 

I DO need to get Charlie's ball quilt quilted. It's sitting right here staring me in the face🙈...well, I need to be in the mood. Maybe tomorrow. 

But even when my intentions are good...I see these thimbles stacked up and just cant resist. They are SO addictive!!

 

Thimble quilt

Yes!

I started a new quilt. Like most of my starts, I was simply cleaning up scraps...organizing them...slicing them up into 2-1/2" and 1-1/2 strips.

Why was I cleaning up scraps again?...well, the TV was on and election results were starting...and instead of biting my nails, I cut😀

So the 2-1/2" strip box was overflowing now with all the strips that were being cut out of scraps.  I grabbed my fairly new thimble template and cut a few....hundred. I stitched a few together to see how easy it would be...and I was hooked. I sewed them until I had a 6 foot piece...that was 50 thimbles. They're two inches tall when sewn in so I figure I need at least 36 rows. That should take about a month if I do a row or two a day.

This little template was purchased at Joann's Fabrics and it does the job but I seem to remember that @creativegrids has a better one. If you haven't purchased either and were in the market for one, I think it would make sense to check that one out. I think it had a bunch of thimble shapes in a row...so you could cut multiples from a strip quickly. My template does the job (and was very reasonably priced) but it's slow going. 

These little pieces are SO addictive! All 1800 pieces are cut out plus some extras...I might do 37 or 38 rows. 

So far I've sewn 11 rows...it's been 5 days. 

I don't want to have to put this on my UFO list. I would like to get it completed THIS year. 

DON'T LAUGH!! It's possible! 

It's going to be my 2020 quilt... Started in 2020...finished in 2020. 

Here's hoping!!

 

Ready to quilt

Its time to start free-motion quilting Charlie's ball quilt. It turned out a little larger than Jenn wanted but I think it's perfect...he can grow into it.

It's 60" x 74". I'm going to quilt it using a dark gray thread. That should hide pretty well on the navy without being too busy on the lights (I hope).

Before I can begin quilting Charlie's quilt, I have a dinosaur costume to sew up for his brother Henry.

Fun!😬

 

The start of Charlie's Ball Quilt

I've put off starting Charlie's quilt long enough. Jenn says he's ready for a "big boy" bed...no more crib. So that means he needs this NOW. It's not a huge quilt, just large enough for a toddler bed but really cute so she can bribe him to leave the crib...lol.

I've been matching up shirtings (my all time favorite fabrics, you know), with ball pieces I recieved through Instagram. I requested ball fabrics during the #getyourquiltywishesgranted

I recieved so many wonderful balls. 

When Charlie was over, he grabbed the blocks and crushed them to his chest. He wanted them then and there, as is. I told him they ARE his but he has to wait until I sew them all together...then it'll be ready to take home. 

As he was looking at my fabrics, he picked a few more pieces to put in the quilt. I'm going to add them in...maybe on the back?...still thinking about that.

And this denim look fabric will be the sashing. Got to get to work!

 

Allie's Hourglass quilt...DONE AT LAST

Its taken quite a while to finish this one up but FINALLY I can move it from the UFO pile to the DONE pile!! Yippeeee!! 

I free-motion quilted it on my trusty old Pfaff. That took about 2 weeks because of birthdays and visits and a summer cold. Then I added the red and white striped binding (found this in my Christmas fabric box). The quilt was totally made from my stash which makes me VERY happy. 

I'm planning to give this one away...there are actually a few family members that haven't recieved quilts. Im going to try to remedy that in the next few years.

 

Quilting Allie's Hourglass

Today I'm trying to finish up this quilt. I started fmq yesterday and did just over 1/2. 

I'm doing my usual swirls. This is the fastest design for me to do on my Pfaff. If I had more time (and patience), I would be doing straight lines...lots of them.

But, with a dozen quilts needing to be finished, fast is best. The year is 3/4 gone and I am nowhere near my goal of finishing up half my UFOs. So...back to quilting!

Shirting wheels quilt

Im working on a 6 year old UFO.

Every so often I pull it out and do a block. When I pulled it out a few days ago, I thought "let's just get this one done".

 I only had 5 blocks to go. Not much right?

 Well...it took me 2 HOURS to make one block! Granted, there was a bit of unsewing to account for. These seem straight forward but there needs to be the right amount of contrast in just the right place AND there are two different triangles.
This is not a quilt that can be worked on with a glass of wine handy!

So last night I finished up the last block...like at 10pm.

 Today I'm stitching the blocks into a top. After that it goes into the "to be quilted pile"...yeah, yeah...I know that pile is toppling over.

I'm going to be getting to quilting a top tomorrow so...

Bring on the wine (for my sore shoulder and back).

Pergola is built and I love it!

 Al finished the pergola I wanted as an entrance to our back yard. I'm so happy with it! We stained it black to match our doors and porch furniture then I planted grapes at the base of each side. My grandmother had a grape arbor in her yard and I've always wanted one. She had concord grapes ...made grape jam and grape juice.
I planted red eating grapes...we'll see how that goes.

The weather has cooled just a bit the last few days down to a comfortable low 80s. We've been spending a lot of time relaxing on the porch, drinking wine or lemonade, reading and chatting. I've been itching to sew but then again.... Think I'll just sit out here a bit more...

No sew day

I had the urge to sew today but the westher is just TOO nice!

I worked in the garden instead...tied up tomatoes and did some weeding.

Notice my garden ties...lol? These are 1/2" quilting scraps. They make great ties. 

Once I was thoroughly hot and sweaty, I went in and cut up some cotton shirts. 

I save part of the shirt center (buttons and holes) for pillow backs. Saves putting in a zipper.

I end up with about a yard of shirting...not to bad for 50 cents!

 That done, I relaxed with a glass of homemade lemon-limeade.

Looks like it's going to be another

No-Sew day.

🌞😉🌞

No quilting, just gardening

I haven't been sewing much lately...mainly because it's been beautiful out. The garden is doing well but needs tending. My flower pots are blooming nicely. The grass is in and growing so we're cutting it and weeding landscapes. Lots of outdoor work...that I love.

Tonight we're just sitting on the back porch enjoying the trees, flowers and the rain. And I'm enjoying my porch quilt. This one has lots of scraps in it...lots of memories. 

Plus thete are a few pieces I put in for the grandboys to find and enjoy...like the dogs in the corner.

I tried something new this year with my pots of flowers...I tucked in a few perennials (lavender) with the annuals. At the end of the season I'll plant the perennials in the landscape to enjoy next year. 

The geraniums, as always, will come in for the winter. I love flowers on my window sills when there's snow out.