Gridlock

 

Wanda is making a Kaffe Fassett quilt called Gridlock and I decided to do the same. We are still using a large queen on our king bed so it is about time!

I picked a pile of fabric from my stash in soft blues, golds, purples etc. that blended well but with a good range of values. I wanted soft rather than contrast, muted rather than bright. Blocks finish at 12" so for a king, I need 90 or so, without borders. 

My hubby really likes this. 

So far, these are the ten that are on the wall. The photo shows more contrast than actual, but I took it at night with LED lighting. I'll try the next one in the daytime. These show the darkest fabrics I have and the lightest. Hopefully the range will be a pleasing array!

Leaves and Friends

Our city's quilt guild has an outreach committee that makes charity quilts from donations. The chairperson gave me a few blocks, a few pieces of white fabric, a couple of copies of a pattern, and some backing with, "Here, fix this." I did not have fabric that would work with the colored parts of those blocks, but did have white that would help build them into something. After lots of trial and error, this is the result. It is about 58" square, a little less.

With several people making the blocks, they were not all the same size. A few were too small, or crooked, or sewn with dark thread, etc. so it was a challenge. I ignored the pattern and played with the pieces, adding bits here and there and taking apart parts of some blocks that were wonky. Lots of chopped off points, but it turned out better than expected. I need to put 2" borders on the sides, then quilt it... another challenge. Likely outline the birds and flowers, etc. and put leaves in the white spaces. I'm glad this one is nearly finished.

Scrap Improv

I've two more quilts for refugees finished and given to them. Story another time, but what a joy to bless people whose stories are mind-bending, even life-changing. They have been through so much, and for years. And I complain if someone cuts me off in traffic.

One quilt that I made a few weeks ago had some tiny pieced rectangles left over. (See that quilt here) As I played with them, this is what came out after adding a couple of fat quarters. It is about 24" wide, not large but fun to make after doing several queen-size monsters. As you can see, there may not be enough to do the borders that I'd like, but it will get finished this week and quilted.

I also put together some tree of life blocks that came to my local guild as a donation. There were ten of them and I was asked to make something of them. I didn't have any fabric that would work to make more trees, and didn't want to anyway. One of the ten had cut off corners, so I set it aside, grabbed some wild backing (also a donation) and this is the result. There is 1" sashing between the blocks and 2" border around the nine of them. I cut two large squares from the backing and then cut them in half diagonally. There is enough of that fabric left to do the backing. Also, the binding, which is cut, pressed and ready to use. This is 74" square, a nice size.

The question now is: How do I quilt this? Any suggestions are welcome. Right now, I have no clue. So I'll work on the little one until the answer arrives in the comment section or wherever!

Two Finishes, lots happening

Finally. My TO-DO program keeps reminding me to post, but I tend to procrastinate progress reports in favor of finishes. Sigh.

Anyway, this is a queen-size, long because the man is tall, and these colors because his wife wanted a bit of pink in it, with grey and white solid. They read solid anyway.

The other one is a quilt for a 4 year-old boy who has an abundance of energy, likes bright colors, and enjoys the alphabet. It is 38" x 56" and was fun to do. 

This is a refugee family who fled their home because of death threats. The boy was born after that an has spent all of his little life in one room. Now they are free and he is learning about the big world outside of that room, and his parents are learning new parenting skills!

Busy sewing and a nice surprise

The calendar says I've not posted for nearly a month. Yikes. Busy is the reason. Two more refugee quilts on the go, no photos yet.

The other project is a pattern. I posted it some time ago on Etsy, realizing it was a "little sister" to the bigger nativity scene. One person has it -- a gift to her as the 600th purchaser of the bigger one. Last week she sent me a photo and this note. I love what she did with it:

I finished the banner created using your pattern. I did change how the sky was done and am very happy with the result. This is a 3’ x 5’ banner that will be on one side of our pulpit. There will be a matching scene of the three wise men traveling for the other side. Thank you again for the free pattern. I will be making this again for myself.

Now I must get to work on the queen-size on the longarm and the child's quilt that is an idea and a panel so far!

 

No sleep, but it is finished

I stayed up late one night to finish the binding (hand-sewn) and put on the label. Regretted that later but it feels so good to have this one finished. 

The recipient wanted a black quilt. I couldn't do it. Too depressing? Maybe. I used a mottled black for most of the top and backing and stuck in a panel that I just love. If she hates the quilt, I will have no trouble keeping this one. The panel invites you into the scene. I lopped off the sides and put the pieces into flying geese that look like triangular windows up the sides. A bit of a challenge but was not as hard as I dreaded. Used a dark green to frame them and the panel and quilted it mostly with a panto called "Oh My Feathers" ... but went a little wild in the mountains. No quilting on the windows other than in the ditch. Pictures show the results.

 

The label is cool, a free to use pic found on the web!

Now on to the next ones... a couple and their little boy who loves the English alphabet but not creepy critters. It was a challenge to find fabric without the critters, but it is now on my cutting table. 

Hope everyone is staying safe and well. 

 

 

 

 

I'm still here...

Just so no one gives up on me, that black quilt is keeping me busy. It is quilted, the binding is nearly finished, and I keep getting ideas for more quilts. It will be ready for a new owner before the weekend. I don't have a new photo to show but will soon. 

Here is a repeat from a favorite that is only a queen, but it goes edge to edge on our king bed and is the first big quilt that I made many moons ago. The blocks are 6" and it represents a Scottish hillside. It is soft after lots of curling up in and a few trips through the wash, but as bright as it was back in the day even though I used inexpensive fabric before realizing there was such things as quilt stores and far better options.