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.
It seems to take me a long time to get a finish. Procrastination. Lazy. Too much else on my plate. Whatever the excuse, I finished three since the last post.
These two are for refugees, the same family as three recently posted. They are a mom/dad and their adult children -- two young men and two young women. Beautiful people. They show their quilts off to every visitor! These two are similar. Both guys sent a picture of what they liked, and one of the pictures had a beautiful woman in it.
That helped me work faster because this guy is a big tease and I could hardly wait to tease him... told him I was sorry that I could give only the quilt to him as I couldn't find that gal anywhere, no matter how hard I looked. He was laughing so hard, and especially because I found out he told another person that the woman in the photo was his girlfriend back where he had been living. He made that up, but I knew because I used it on Google search to see if there was a pattern for it so I could get an idea of how much fabric I'd need. I discovered that photo came off an add for a bedspread! What fun to out-do this guy and his crazy humor!
The third one is a table runner Christmas gift for a DIL so cannot post it in case she peeks. Lots of other things on the go, like two improv quilts using blue scraps. I am still certain that scraps multiply in the dark or at least are related to rabbits.
Also have many other projects in various stages, mostly go-together fabrics in a box, some with a pattern or at least an idea. Having the five done/gifted is helping me get over that procrastination.
I took the last quilt top posted and two other tops plus a table topper finished to the 'sew days' of our local guild outreach department. This group will quilt and finish the tops, including labels, and give them where needed. We support several charities and gave away about 200 quilts this past year. If I go to the place where they work together, I talk too much and don't get much done, so I drop in, pick up fabrics etc. and take them home where I can work without the lovely distraction of gabbing with friends. Of course, when dropping something off, I get in on the chatter.
These are the tops and the little quilt that went in today... and the one yesterday also went in. See it here.
The little one is a truer color.
Now I'm making more refugee quilts for another family arriving next month. The family of five came last week. We were part of the group that met them at the airport. What a night that was! I will never forget the instant bonding. They and us too felt as if we all belonged together. They were in danger for nearly 10 years and are thrilled to be here with no need to look over their shoulders.
These are two more quilts for a family soon to arrive in Canada. The log cabin was sewn by a lovely friend who offered to help with this task. We pooled our stash to find the best colors and she did a superior joy of sewing the top. I quilted it on my longarm. It is for a young woman.
The second one is the top. I'd hoped to have it on the longarm today, but I'm tired and will maybe get it finished next week. I'd made the center blocks then realized I'd forgotten to enlarge the pattern (DUH) so had to get creative with borders. The side blocks were the result of sewing the triangles cut off to make the Snail's Trail blocks so they were used up, then the other leftovers were used to make a top and bottom. This one is a small queen-size and the colors are pretty but when I take pictures on my downstairs design wall, the colors are seldom correct. This one is aqua and a golden yellow, not too bright and certainly not as whitish as it looks on my screen.
The log cabin browns are not bad, but the lighter colors are too light. Sigh.
These are delightful to make in some ways, but the bigger quilts are becoming difficult to manipulate. I keep telling my hubby that I need a houseboy, but he doesn't pay much attention. We did have a neat together project today. Our closet has a hinged hassock that we sit on to put on our socks, etc. and it is covered in a leather-look vinyl. The lid started to crack and peel and we looked for a new unit to replace it. Today we decided to recover the lid, so out came the heavy-duty staple gun, pliers, etc. and I found a piece of upholster fabric. We took the old cover off and fiddled with the corners of the new fabric until they folded fairly decently over the corners of the lid. So about an hour -- a new (looking) lid. The rest of this box-like thing still looks good. Our arms are sore but we high-fived anyway!
Despite the hours spent in making a new nativity quilt sample and pattern, I was not happy with the outcome. My fabric choices were too busy and the tones were not working well together. A little voice kept telling me to make another one and do a better job. So I asked a bigger voice and my hubby told me to make another one and do a better job (love that guy).
Here is the outcome. The color is a bit off, but I will use a better camera for the final 'portrait' for Etsy. It is small but can be made any size and with a vast assortment of fabrics, such as using an ombre for the whole sky instead of smaller pieces. Of course the background fabric can be light, dark, or whatever works with the fabrics chosen. The pattern will include coloring sheets and a few ideas to make it unique to whoever makes it!
Now to get the pattern ready and put it on my Etsy page. I've lots on my plate right now and am hoping to get this task finished soon.
This top is finished. It will go on the longarm in a day or two. I just love this one. The entire quilt is made from scraps that were in my scrap bins, finding a few other colors to spice it up. I love the shots of blue (not as dark as the photo, more of a teal) and the bits of orange and green. I pulled out a few yellow fat quarters but didn't use any of them. Even the binding is already cut from scraps and will be mostly the darker pieces in the quilt. The backing will likely be one that I bought on sale, but I may go find something more 'golden' to have the same warmth as the front. I'll use a panto with swirls and hearts to finish it off. This will go to a young woman who asked for a yellow quilt.
It is starting to feel like spring. Our parking area for visitors is ice with water on top and the birds are flitting around the yard. The air smells fresh, like it just rained. And I am finally rid of that 'covid' haircut (or lack thereof) and feel like a new person!
