Only don't look too close to the inner circle. That was a pieced job I made up. The first two rounds are sloppy, but the outer ring worked well. Now I know how to inset a circle in a square. This square is 9.25" and the circles is just under 7"
Never too old to learn... or to play with scraps!
Posting once a month is better than never? Not really. I've been cleaning up green and blue scraps and it seems to take forever. Last week I pulled a Jean Wells book on color from my art books. How it got there is a mystery, but it was a huge encouragement as I was sewing very similar blocks that she illustrated in her book.
Besides that, TQS featured a guest who makes simple blocks for her "pantry" and uses them when a need comes. Alex Anderson said she'd never seen that before, but I was into my third week of doing the same thing. Do we have a common muse in the quilting world? Don't know, but it kept me at it to realize I'm not a mere ditzy old lady.
Hard to believe that I've not posted all summer, but then look at the pile of work done and no wonder why not. I did make that bird quilt. While sewing the last bit, I wondered what to do with it and felt an answer from the Lord almost instantly. I was very busy putting together helpers and planning a family reunion the end of July and my heart heard, "Give it away -- at a free raffle at the reunion."
So I did. It was won by a young son of a cousin from California. He just had his 16th birthday, and when flying up for the reunion, someone stole his birthday gift from his suitcase. He said it was like getting this to console him for that loss. What a lovely part of the reunion. (The rest of it was also amazing!)
This isn't the greatest photo, but you can see the use of scraps, both in the birds and in the border. Its name: "It Takes All Kinds" which really suit the family event. It was relatives on my dad's side, over 100 of us. We rented a hall with adjoining camp ground, playground, and hired a caterer. One foodie told me the meals were the best she ever had. I could go on and on, but this blog is about quilting.
I liked making these birds so much that I've done nine more and planning another quilt, this time to keep.
Also, I did a small table topper and another blue scrap quilt, then tackled a box of green and blue scraps. So far, made an assortment of blocks, about 3-4 dozen of them. They will eventually be another scrap quilt. It will go to charlty.
The table quilt came from a leftover block given to me at a Guild sew day - one of those "do something with this" items. Another charity quilt.
Then I did two doggie quilts for my daughter's cute dogs who happen to
love quilts. One of them plays with her 'blankie' until she has it worn
out and needs a more substantial one to toss and roll in. Hers has
pictures of a look-a-like all over it. The other one has bones and I
managed to have doggie backings so they each took part of a day to make
and were delivered to their new owners in July. No photos worth posting, but they were cute.
The one below is"No More Blues" and a bit of a fib because after finishing it, I found a stack of light blue blocks and made them into another quilt, no photo yet, but really like the soft look. Next time... Both are charity quilts, at least so far no other plan.
I'm also working to finish a special quit for my brother's wife. She has MS and is permanently in a wheel chair even to sleep. He told me what they use to keep her warm at night and immediately I asked for the size needed. I had a group of charm blocks already out on a table trying to decide what to do with them and they worked up to the size he gave me. Just need to get the binding done and deliver it.
A double-click may help to see these better. The color is too dark. Sigh.
I've put "Post on quilt blog" on my calendar and will get reminders. No promises, but will try. I read others though!
Have no idea how it will wind up or even how it will sew together... with or without sashing? with or without plain blocks, etc. The birds have more fabric on the top part and are about 5 x 9. I've already named it: "It Takes All Kinds" -- but that could change.
This 'squirrel' is so relaxing and fun!
Our guild received four molas from an estate donation. No one knew what to do with them. Then a neighbor gave me three that she didn't know what to do with either.
After some thought, I put them into a big nine patch each with black borders and bright sashing. That part was easy.
The quilting was more of a challenge. Finally I used mola designs to invent a floral look strip to fill in most of the black, one with frogs to go around the middle block, and an angular design for the border. Never again! But my wobble fit in okay with the mola art. I also made two solid blocks with mola-like designs to match them to the rest. It was finished with a very bright red patterned backing and the same fabric for the binding. It is about 64" wide by 56" tall.
This one should go back to our Community Services guild for a donation to charity, yet the chair already said she doesn't know what to do with it. So its destination will be a mystery for now and a surprise later.
Wow, have I been negligent with comments. Thanks to two dear quilters who posted and sorry I didn't check and left you in cyberspace. They are now posted. Both of your are big encouragers to me.
I also want to post this. It is a quilt for a very nice neighbor. I asked her to find something she liked and she found this...
And I finally got this finished and gave it to her this past weekend. I was supposed to be a lap quilt but she and her hubby decided it will go on a bare wall at their mountain condo retreat. They were happy and so was I. It is about 60" square.
I had all the fabric except the blackish border and backing. This black has very small grey flecks in it, just enough to take away that dead look that black can have. It was fun, but took forever. Life has been very full of unexpected events!
