Purple Heart - finished!

A bit of dismay that I've not posted for nearly a month. However, I have quilted nearly every day. Just slow.

This one is finished. I used up almost all the purple I had in a scrap bin plus a bit of yardage. As you can see, some of that went on the back. For those who don't like slab quilts, this one is nicer in person. I quilted it with a panto called "Featheration" seen in the lower picture.

It is 61 x 77" and will go to Quilts of Valour (the u means the Canadian version).

I've also made another from the scraps leftover from the larger pink one (see last post) that is not quilted yet. It is smaller, roughly log cabin/slab squares at 6" plus an odd layout. Instead of a binding, I'm facing it, so no photo yet. It is nearly finished. 

We had a heat wave here for a few days, 31C which broke records in our part of the world. So glad for AC! We also looked at show homes for the fun of it including a hospital lottery grand prize. Lovely. Every year there are several of them used as fund-raisers for local hospitals, one for sports. They each bring in about two million or more above all the prizes. This house is large and well-designed. This one has large rooms but it isn't as pretty on the outside as the first one. A few more have already had their draws. When we walk through, I'm always thinking, "Where would I put my longarm?" Winning would certainly make life complicated. They have restrictions on win/sell right away, and the taxes on these big houses is insane.

Back to the sewing machine...

Ready for quilting

It is nice to have a few quilts ready to quilt, and the tarp off my machine which was there to protect it from flying plaster/dust. Now to get at it...

Scott's king-size is draped over my craft table, ironed, all the hiccups fixed, etc. Hi Edith... It looks much better than it did when you were here. I washed the backing and it came out smoother and no wrinkles at all. The batting was one long piece equivalent for two kings, so hubby and I rolled it on the bar under my machine. It needs a trim but it is ready too. This has been a huge challenge, and if anyone has made a king, you know 'huge' is the correct word. That backing is 120" wide. The batting is like wrestling an alligator. The quilt top is too large for my design wall and for the table it is folded on, but it looks great on a bed. Glad to get this far!

 

Others: The purple slab hangs with batting and backing, ready to put on the machine. I have a wonky log cabin in the same state of readiness and a large crib quilt also. Right now, there is a large table runner pinned on the machine. I just need to have my lunch, put supper in the crock pot, add the correct thread and do it! Yeah. 

Also have neatly folded four shelves of fabric. Only about 20 left, but this is progress. Neat makes me feel ambitious.

Onward and upward... thank You God! 

Purple Slabs

My scrap bins are about 10" x 15" and 9" deep. The purple one was nearly full. It still has 4-5" left at the bottom and the rest went into these 12.5" slab blocks. Sashing is 3" and I've made a bunch of 5.5" ones to use in the border. It will finish 73" x 88" so is a good size.

I am amazed at how far the scraps go, and how relaxing it is to sew them like this. Not a lot of planning, just sort to sizes and think log cabin but not too accurate. The sashing is a red-purple fabric that will go between all rows, around the outside, and likely be the binding too. So far so good.

Oh after taking this picture it is easier to see the values, so I moved a few of the blocks around. Purples do not like the camera either. I'm not much of a purple lover so am surprised at how many scraps were in that bin!

Quilts of Valour

Both Canada and the United States (and other countries) have organizations that specialize in making or collecting quilts to present to wounded soldiers and veterans. In Canada, it is Quilts of Valour. I've been involved with QoV for a few years, mostly in a minor way. One of those ways is helping to host a quilting bee where we make quilt tops.

We just finished a marathon two days with 28 quilters. Some stayed both days. Others came for one or the other. The work was fabulous and it was God-blessed all the way. 

On Saturday, a few had completed their tops from the kits and so on supplied by the QoV past president, Lezley Zwall. I'd brought the red top I'd made from red scraps. I'd roughly followed the idea of slabs that has been promoted by a quilter from Calgary, Cheryl Arkison. Lezley had bins of scraps leftover from other QoV bees and they were sorted by color, ironed by a volunteer who does not sew but came to help, and several of the quilters quickly discovered how addicting these 'slabs' become. 

I brought my bin of purples (with pinks and all sorts of related prints) and got a good start on a quilt that will be the right size for QoV. Here is the photo of a few of the blocks laying on the fabric that will become the sashing. Wanda at Exuberant Color often says that purple does not photograph well. She is right! But you get the idea. The sashing will be wider than it shows here, likely 3" or so. The blocks finish at 12" and are much more purple than they appear here.

It was a wonderful time. This is the second one we have had and they are already saying things like "next year . . ." However, right now all I can think is "how soon can I have a nap?"