Friday, May 22, 2020

Brown Scraps I progress...


This top is finished. I need to quilt it and am not using scraps on the back. I thought there was some wide backing in my shelves but no, so went online to look only to discover that no one will sell me 2.5 yards or meters. The checkout rounds it to 2 or ups it to 3. I might try a local store that is doing curbside service, but really wanted to get this one from Hancock's in Kentucky. Their prices and low shipping costs make it about half of what it costs anywhere else. However, they are not shipping to Canada during this pandemic. So my brown scraps, now nicely assembled, will have to wait for a while to get finished. In the meantime, the fabric, etc. for a dozen or so baby quilts are lined up saying "Make me" so I'm not twiddling my thumbs!

I am a bit worried about 'going back to normal' though. Having extra time to quilt and do other things is nice and I've started getting annoyed at any kind of interruption. Oh dear, that is not a good sign!


Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Needs only a label . . .

This is a practice quilt made from leftovers from Brown Scrappy I. There were five blocks and lots of bits, so with improve, this showed up. It is about 30 x 60 and my first attempt at feathers on the longarm. Don't look too close. The binding looks good though. It will hang in an obscure place in my house . Now to get the big one finished. It is 80 blocks like the five in the middle of this one, with black sashing so will need to be ditch-quilted to keep them square. Could take a while! :-) 





Saturday, May 2, 2020

Off and On the Longarm...


The baby quilt is finished. A lousy picture, but I'm getting lazy in my old age. It's a panel, added a border, and practiced nine different fillers in the background. Backing is soft flannelette.


The one below is a scrappy quilt made from the leftover pieces for a larger scrappy. It is about 36 x 60 and perfect for practicing. I've never tried feathers before. I'm a coward. However, decided to attack and do some large, free-motion feathers around the outside. There are five blocks in a row and I'm doing them in simple lines. 

The feathers are large, uneven, sloppy in places, but they say practice, practice, practice. You can glimpse the last done and believe me, these look better that the first done. I can do leaves with my eyes shut but they are more forgiving!

The bigger quilt with all blocks like these and black sashing, has two rows sewn together. I'm still not sure how to quilt it, but do realize these blocks must be stabilized with ditch quilting if they are going to stay square!

NOTE: The Nativity Pattern shown in the upper right corner of this page is available in hard copy from my Etsy page for a limited time. After they are sold, the digital version will still be available. Click on the picture of this popular quilt to see more and to order it.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Progress

This one is slow... no, it is me that is slow. I have a baby quilt on the longarm and a smaller version of this one done to the sandwich stage. This is my 'procrastination' zone. 

Pressing on... no pun intended. The sashing is on one side of the top blocks only since they may need rearranging. 

Did get the studio cleaned up and moved a few things around. It is easier to work in now, if I felt like working.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Dog's Breakfast needs a new name

Only two rows of blocks with only sashing on the sides of the blocks, all pinned to the wall, but I'm starting to love this mass (or mess) of leftover brown, rust, beige, taupe, and oranges (the root color of brown). These blocks finish at 8" and the sashing will finish at 1", narrow but does the trick. It is a black black cut on the lengthwise so should hold its shape well. Not sure how to quilt it yet, but am open to suggestions.



Hope everyone is well, staying home as advised and if a quilter, it is not hard to find things to do!

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Dog's Breakfast II

Making progress, even though 'Brown Scrappy' still looks like a dog's breakfast. I will eventually come up with a better name!

Here is the 'so far' and my fav block of the bunch. It is fun using up so many scraps. Btw, no planned pattern is planned. I'll be moving these around but don't want a predictable design. Isn't that a good way to describe our lives right now!

Hubby and I are staying home. He's working via conference calls and I get out 1x week for groceries. Our city is like a ghost town, but that's good.

 So is being able to work on quilts without out much interruption and no guilt at all!

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Dog's Breakfast?

I know -- it looks like a dog's breakfast. These are what I have so far from my scrap bin of mostly browns and oranges. There is enough for 80 blocks. They will be all the same (8" finished) and the only thing consistent is the horizontal rows have the largest piece all in the same value and nearly the same color. 

I will likely flip every other row so I don't have to worry about matching seams, and of course rearrange the blocks in the rows until they look better. I've also considered a narrow sashing but not sure what color to use???

I cut all those large patches and a bunch of the other sizes, so lots of assembly and stitching to do. At first, I was cutting pieces at random depending on the size of the scraps. However, cutting and putting the bigger pieces on the wall helped me know how many I needed and in what color. Anyway, it feels good to use up the bits and it will be a nice size to keep someone warm.

Hope everyone is doing okay with all the regulations to stay home, keep your distance, etc. We quilters should love the confinement as those UFOs need some extra hours anyway.