Working on Fancy Forest blocks

Today was a "Henry day" so Grandpa and I spent most of the day playing with Henry...but at nap time I had a chance to sew a little. 

I'm planning on making the large size of the Fancy Forest quilt. Sooooo...that means I need 8 of these cute little Hazel Hedgehog blocks and 16 Fancy fox blocks. I need to get stitching!

The fox is super simple and sews up quickly....the hedgehog takes quite a bit longer and has to be stitched very exactly to end up with the correct size at the finish. But both were fun and could possibly become a class I will teach in Charlevoix. 

Hand and machine stitching

It's been a busy week or two here in northern MI. Al and I were both sick with a 24 hr stomach flu that was nice enough to visit every family member and more. 

So while in bed I had time to hand sew bindings on. I sent the quilt above... The modern solid sampler quilt... on to its new home at my daughters house.

The Dr. Seuss hexagon quilt is finished for Henry. This is UFO for January ...#3 out of 12 that I will try to finish this year.  http://www.patchworktimes.com/ufo-2017/

Now scraps were getting out of hand so I joined the Rainbow Scrap Challenge but to get rid do as many scraps as I have I need to make quilts not blocks. This top was finished but then I looked at it and looked at it...I decided I wanted a border.

So I cut 60 degree triangles out of the leftover purples and grays.

I haven't decided on points in or points out but I'll definitely be adding a border. I may add a little strip of gray before the border to keep the triangles from touching the plus signs....and then maybe a final border in gray to keep the binding from cutting into the triangles. SOOO...now I'm nowhere near done but as always I'm enjoying the creative process. 

First quilt finish of 2017!

Finally! It's done...big sighhhh. 

This is a mishmash of solid blocks (and partial blocks) that I had laying around the sewing room. I decided not to make certain quilts or projects but I still liked my "tester" piece so I decided on a sampler.

This was a bit of a challenge mathematically...I had to measure each piece/block then sash it or join it to another to get them to work together. Graph paper saves me! 

Isn't it odd how cast offs and scraps can end up being a favorite quilt? 

Januarys purple blocks are becoming a quilt!!

Here's my purple Scrap Jar blocks with the setting I decided on. This decision took FOREVER! 

Last night I played with my EQ program trying out different colors and setting blocks but they were all too traditional or too bright or too white. I wanted to bring in a little gray or black to tone everything down but still let the purples shine. 

So I brought out all my little pieces of low volumes and black or grays on white. Loved it!

Then I had to decide if I still wanted setting blocks or just sashing. Since I wanted this quilt to be a lap size, the sashing made sense.. Now the cornerstones....I wanted something modern but something that used up more scraps so I played with the little leftover pieces from the star centers. 

The plus signs were more modern than a regular nine patch and if I added a different purple center then I would get the design I wanted AND use up lots of purple pieces. Added bonus...when I cut the sashing I had lots of little black on white scraps to use in making the cornerstone background. 

With any luck I'll have the top done tomorrow!

January is PURPLE scraps

Im continuing to cut purple scraps...the pile is goung down...yes! The block on the left had to be unstitched...don't you LOVE ripping out seams?...so I fixed that block and made another. I was missing the pieced corners. 

Made another purple spool...that's it for this color...the spools will be red, aqua, gold, orange, aqua...all colors.

Digging through my box I found this REALLY old piece of fabric. It's probably about 35 years old. I bought it to make a blouse for my niece when she was 4 or 5...she's in her forties now!

I'd say it's about time this one gets used up.

On to more cutting...and babysitting (today is a Henry day!)

Inspiration everywhere

I turned on the TV to keep me company while I sorted scraps and stitched today. As usual there was a snow storm going on outside. I tried every channel to see if anything would come in but NOPE...nothing. 

But what I did find was inspiration...on the cartoon channel...the pixelation was gorgeous! 

I took a picture so that I could remember the colors. Wouldn't this make a wonderful HST quilt?

Cutting up scraps

If you want to join in the fun and clear out some scraps --> RSC17 LINK!

It was another really snowy day up here in northern Michigan so SCRAP CUTTING was the job for the day. I'm doing the Rainbow Scrap Challenge #RSC17 with SOSCRAPPY on blogspot.

Job #1...open those overstuffed bins...YIKES! 

I put all my magazines and books together...all my patterns together, unless they belonged to a UFO. Dumped a ton of scraps on the floor and started pressing.

See that bin to the left of the ironing board? ALL SCRAPS!!

Job #2....  cut 1-1/2, 2, 2-1/2, 3, 4-1/2 and 5" strips....plus my usual 1/2 inch pieces for crocheting my rag rug.

Job #3 ...start another Rainbow quilt (there are going to be at least 3 with all the scraps I have), I made a tester block for a spools quilt that I designed on EQ last night. I had a large piece of navy backing...almost 2 yards...leftover from something (?) so this will be the background.

Not sure what kind of border I will do ...just tried this one out.

These are 12" blocks. I have enough of the gray spool top and bottoms to do 20 blocks so I think I'll need borders to make this a good sized lap quilt.

JOB WELL DONE!!

My shelves look so much better...there's actually some room to spare! Didn't expect that!

Sunday in the sewing room

Today my daughter and her husband's cousin came by to sew a little. The cousin is just learning but I think she's hooked. She made a bunch of cute patchwork mug cozies to take back to college with her. While she was doing that I had a chance to play with my grandson Henry. He found a little Dr Seuss mug rug that he loves...he asked if he could keep it. I laughed and told him I was making him a BIG Dr Seuss quilt and it was just for him. He was thrilled but since he has ZERO patience he wanted to take it home today.

Well, I guess I better get cracking! After they left I started pinning his quilt. I hope to have it quilted in the next couple of days so that Henry can have it.

I also worked on binding my Modern Sampler. It's machine stitched on and pinned...just have to hand sew it down.

Today really was a fun one...I just love having guests in my sewing room....love getting the next generation hooked on quilting too! 

Creative Saturday fun

It was a productive quilting day. My Dr Seuss quilt top is finished! Time to sew the backing and start the basting. 

It was another REALLY cold day today so I had lots of time to sew. Cut some bindings too so I'll stitch that on the Modern Sampler quilt.

I also decided to get rid of some strip scraps by joining the quilters doing the RSC (rainbow scrap challenge)...todays color is purple. I'll add the button on the side of my blog page when I figure out how...

Making progress

Well this sampler is quilted! So nice to feel the progress.

Yesterday was a beautiful day but COLD! Al and I were babysitting Henry. During nap time I got to finish the quilting and pick out a binding.

Barb, here's my basting space...fits a lap sized quilt but not much larger. The next quilt that needs basting will have me rolling back the rug for a couple of days.

So my old friend Denise (not age kind of old!) told me about a UFO challenge on the PATCHWORK TIMES BLOG. I'm not officially doing it but I decided to follow it this month. 

She has you make a list of 12 projects then pulls a number a month ....you work on completing that one. So number 3 on my list is dr. Seuss. I plan to finish this up and hope to check it off that rediculously long UFO list. PATCHWORK TIMES BLOG

An embarrassing # of UFOs!

Today I quilted and quilted and quilted. I am 90 percent done with quilting my Modern Solid Sampler quilt. But as I was quilting I started thinking about what I want to accomplish this year. I'd like this to be a year of finishes....and to that end I made a list of STARTED quilts. This does not count quilts that are in kits or that have fabric bought for them.
Just ones I've started the sewing on....oh...what a list!!!

I looked back in this blog and found an entry showing pictures of some of these...and some of the UFOs from back then are now done (that feels good!)...but many havent been touched.

Now granted its been a busy few years for me with 4 moves, 2 houses built and a first grandson. But now I'm determined to get these done. So heres the list....Let's see what I can do in 2017....The YEAR of the FINISHES!!

Quilts started:
1 Farmers wife aqua -April UFO
2 Aqua and red dresden
3 DONE -jan ufo
4 Als western round robin-TOP done
5 30s scrappy -TOP done -march ufo DONE
6 Farm girl vintage
7 Civil war medallion-TOP done -June UFO
8 Kaffe blue log cabin
9 DONE - Feb UFO
10-Henrys flannel
11-Lisa n Dusty wedding quilt EPP-May UFO, always working on this!
12-HST quilt UFO for July- DONE




13-Charlevoix quilt
14-Block central 2009-QUILTING
15-Block central outdoor happy DONE
16-Xmas quilt BC quilt -TOP done
17-Me quilt
18-Blue Sue
19-Christmas strip quilt
20-Round robin #1
21 DONE
22Jenn flower sugar
23-amish sampler-TOP done
24-Civil war lone star blocks

25-red embroidery blocks
26 shirtings wagon wheel
27-Snowflake
28 moda HONEY DONE
29-DONATED
30-Blue and white solid
31- crown of thorns
32- large 30s dresden
33 boathouse quilt
34 GAVE AWAY
35 February's Purple Scraps quilt -TOP DONE
36 DONE
37 Rainbow Challenge Spools quilt  DONE
38 Rainbow Challenge Scrap Jar Stars
39 Blue/aqua Improv quilt
40 Forest Fancy
41 Kaffe bear paws
42 American Jane Medallion quilt

So there's my list. What can I say except I love to quilt...my brain is already working on ideas for a dozen more. Quilting truly is a passion for me!

Cold snowy days...quilting days

Cold, windy and snowy today....perfect for staying in and quilting.

Al and I woke up to what sounded like a blizzard outside. It doesn't help that we sit really high up in the subdivision so there's no stopping that Lake Michigan wind.

Since I have a bunch of almost completed quilt tops I decided that 2017 should be the year of finishes. With any luck I'll get the 20-30 quilt tops and blocks finished.... DONE! 

So this is the final border needed on my modern sampler. Put on a 2-1/2" white border to just set the binding apart from the top. Orange binding? Or red? Still thinking about that. 

I have it all pin basted now so if we aren't watching our grandson tomorrow then I'll start the quilting. 

I have no idea what type of quilting I'm going to do...probably something modern and linear.

So the other day I decided to cut up this sweater and turn it into a pillow. Turned out nice.

Harry dog seems to like it!