Progress?

This week, my studio started to look like a work space instead of a dumping ground. Here is a photo.

How long the fabrics will stay nicely folded is one question. The three cabinets across the front hide the project boxes etc. and the tables that are in behind that hold my two sewing machines. The longarm is on the left wall with walking space around it. This space is going to work. I'm already working on a small project (a gift) so cannot show it yet. It feels good to have this much in order. My study is another room, full but not finished, and it has a huge closet. We are setting up another room as a library retreat with a TV and book shelves, and it is still a messy place, but the rest of the house is in pretty good order. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a schedule or two that are helping us keep track and stay on track. Hubby is still working at home, has a back injury too, so most of this task is mine.

Stay tuned... sorting quilts is next. I've too many and the citizens who live in this complex of retirement care plus individual bungalows might like some. Also smaller ones for folks in wheel chairs. This is sometime down the to-do list...
 

Nada

🙏🙃  No quilts, nothing to post. We moved to a new home and in the middle of that went to Mexico for a week with some of our family. Most of the old house is here in the new one, waiting to find a new spot or to be given away. 

We were astonished at how many quilts were hiding etc. and are now draped over stair railings. Since we are close to an assisted living complex, my prayer is to find suitable homes for many of them. Not enough walls or beds in this one!

Hopefully, next time will have some show of "I found my fabric" -- at least the longarm is set up and I know where the sewing machines are hiding. Busy, busy. 

Never tried this before...

Been quilting since 1994 and made over 300 quiltd, but never tried this before. Thanks to a few online videos, it was not as hard as it looks... no applique required. 

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!

 

Once a month?

 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.

Here are some pictures with some of the pantry thrown on a chair and in a box, plus three of the many bird blocks that are too fun to make to just quit. Also, the strips are in a quilt which is still on the design wall waiting for me to sew on the borders. It is made entirely of scraps and will have some fish quilted on it.

Long ago and far away...

 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. 

Life has been busy, but my sewing machines and the iron do not cool off for long. Too much to do and so many ideas. I'm thankful for the opportunities to create using up even the bits and pieces from other quilts. 

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!

Birds on my brain...

Some bird quilts on Pinterest caught my eye and after finding 4-5 different foundation paper pieced versions, I've been birding... totally addictive. Here are two of them (without eyes at this point) and I've managed to make all the patterns reversible.  They are all different colors, all (except one) with crazy legs from a wild stripy fabric, and all with blue backgrounds, similar in value but not the same fabrics. 

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!

 

Molas

Sorry (again!) for not posting.  Life is too busy. However, with much determination this one is done. 

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. 

A finish and an apology...

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!

Yes, I am still alive!

 January and February were rough months with health and other issues. All is well now and I'm quilting with enthusiasm. I just finished another scrappy blue for charity but my hubby liked it so much that he claimed it. It is a lap-size about 48 x 60". I used a panto called Atlanta and just the fabrics in my scrap bins. Some 'blocks' were made from very small pieces.

I'm nearly finished a landscape (photo later) and started another scrappy, this time a medallion with a large collection of charm squares given to me. This is my element, so much fun. So far... I started with an orphan block that somehow got missed for the above blue scrappy. Then I added strips to make it the size that would be okay with 5" squares around it. The next round is charm squares. My plan is to make some HST or QST or something that will make a different size so all the seams do not line up like they do on these two rounds. So much fun...

Not much happening

 After having the Nativity Quilt in my window for all of January, I made one more suitable for January. Our supreme cold snap is over, snow is melting, but this one was quick and easy.

Otherwise, little progress on the landscape quilt. On January 16 my blood oxygen dropped to below 88 and hubby called an ambulance. I spent a few days in hospital diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia and on oxygen until that number went up and stayed there. Since then, recovery is slow. The heavy duty meds first by IV and then by pill might have been one of those "cure worse than the illness" as they messed with my digestive system. I lost six lbs, which is fine, but still feel like a truck hit me and aware that full recovery can take weeks. 

In the meantime, hubby got viral bronchitis, so both of us are moving slow, trying not to feel sorry for ourselves, and taking turns with cooking, chores, etc. depending who feels most like it. This is NOT FUN but one goal for 2024 was to simplify my life. Off to a good start!

 

Progress Report

 The days fly by and yet a few things get done or at least there is progress. Here is the landscape started this week. I just love it when the fabric creates a design before any applique or thread play or quilting. This background mountain looks like a distant mountain. Thankful!

Also happy to have a warm home. It is -40 or so with a windchill closer to -50. This is Celsius, but when the numbers are that low, it is about the same as Fahrenheit. COLD! Hubby went out this morning to indoor golf. Lots of cancellations. He usually stays out for lunch, but not this time. He said the streets are icy and brutal.

Time to make supper but nice to be warm and glad I'm not needing to go anywhere...😰 Stay warm -- wrapped up in a quilt!

A New Challenge

This is a sketch from a photo that will become a landscape lap quilt... when I get my act together. The fabrics are merely a value exercise... the sky is okay, the large background mountain needs to be a tad darker, the next two ranges should be bluer, but I'm happy with the green hills, water, and foreground fabric -- which almost disappears at the bottom right. Of course this is simple and will be more 'realistic' which is what the customer wants. A double-click might show it better.

Progress reports as I go, now that I've figured out that a photo on my new I-Pad automatically shows up on my new MacBook Pro. The learning curve for that change is far from over though!