Done!! (and more B-a-Ds used!)

So, remember last week when I was talking about the domestic violence shelter needing more comfort quilts?  Well, I've been busy up in the sewing room, and got these three cranked out in short order!

When life allows me the time, I'm a FAST quilt maker!!  Here's a look at my process:  as you can see, all three were absolutely "quick-and-dirty" projects.  All the related fabrics for each quilt were already in kit bags, so no decision-making about colors, etc.  The pieced blocks were from Block-a-Day, and besides that I just added width-of-fabric strips.  Ha, the blue and yellow one is just strips, can't get any easier than that!  I didn't calculate any sizes for anything -- however wide the narrowest w-o-f turned out to be is how wide each quilt became.  And lengths were "whenever those fabrics ran out" :)  No pieced backs, either, since I was already working with w-o-f.  Very simple quilting, about an hour apiece, machine stitched bindings, and : taadaa, three comfort quilts! 

I'll  be dropping them off at Doves this afternoon, and am pleased that I could brighten someone's holiday season.

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Thursday

I forgot to show this photo earlier ... the finished quilt I was working on last month from Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.

GRATITUDES

1.  Sitting in the sunroom watching the action outside at the bird feeders
2.  Havarti cheese on my sandwich
3.  Friendly courteous delivery drivers -- UPS, FedEx 

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A little sidetrack

It all began innocently enough.  Earlier this year, I started following Kathleen Tracy's blog, A Sentimental Quilter.  She is the author of several books, including the recently published Civil War Sewing Circle.  I've long admired Lucy's, Lori's and Kathie's small quilts, and thought I might like to create my own collection.

Via Kathleen's blog, I discovered her Yahoo group, SmallQuiltTalk.  I joined and am enjoying keeping up with lots of chitchat from this large active group.  Among other things, they work on small quilt challenges offered by Kathleen, and I just finished up my first one -- a doll quilt done using 4ps in any desired arrangement.  Mine is machine pieced and hand quilted.  It crinkled up a LOT after washing, and finished at 16" x 19".

Many of the members of the Yahoo group have been discussing an interesting project they will be participating in next year. A specially-created blog,  Building Houses from Scraps, gives all the info. (Scroll down in each entry to get to the English translation.)  Basically it involves piecing a 3" house block for each day of the year in 2012.  Because it will be a leap year, that's 366 teeny-tiny  house blocks.

I did sign up, and we'll have to see how far I get with all those little houses.  Since I did make it all the way through my B-a-D series in 2010, there's a decent chance that I can do this one in 2012.  So this whole thing has morphed from enjoying a book to joining a doll/mini quilt group to signing up for a block-a-day activity for 2012.  Ha, the internet is an enabler, isn't it?

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Recent finishes

I finally finished the binding on this holiday quilt,  just one week into December so it's not really tooo terribly late :)  It's my version of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts weekly series.  Coincidentally, the red I used for the setting triangles is from Barbara Brackman's Civil War Reunion line.  I had at least a half-million yards of it already in my stash, and it was a good color ... so: Go Brackman!  Go Civil War repros!

And here's a very purple Block-a-Day block set that became a comfort quilt last week.  It's already been dropped off at Doves, the domestic violence shelter.  I still have about 12 or 14 B-a-D block sets remaining, but slowly they're getting whittled down.  Two more sets will be turning into more Doves quilts this coming week.  Sad that they need more quilts, but happy that I can provide a few for them!!

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Saturday

I had good luck with books from the thrift shop today -- this pile was only $2.50

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Finished up the quilting and binding on the rusty 9ps, and it's already on the couch being enjoyed by the dogs :)  It was hard to get an OK photo because it's pretty big.  I clipped it up to the porch outside, but then I got those branch shadows ... anyway, this is the best I could do with it today.

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I'm especially enjoying using Night Flight in the sunroom this month.  This is a hand quilted pineapple-style log cabin quilt I made more than 5 years ago.

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Comfort Quilts

A couple of recent Comfort Quilts finishes

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GRATITUDES

1.  A huge flock of ravens circling and cawing over the lake

2.  Apple turnovers

3.  Freshly-aired pillows

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Red Baskets

Donedonedone!!!!  This is the basket BOM that was offered by my guild this year.  The block patterns were in our newsletter, and I figured out the layout for myself -- just a basic on-point setting.

I've been working away at it since December, so it feels wonderful to finally get it finished.  Creating and attaching all those yo-yo flowers seemed to take f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

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GRATITUDES

1.  The sun is riding a bit lower in the sky these days -- summer is waning.  I love watching the seasons change.
2.  The sound of children's voices playing across the road
3.  A relaxing supper on the deck

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August

 Today's the first day of school here in Bear Valley, summer is winding down already!  Aaah, remember having new shoes ... and the smell of freshly-sharpened pencils?

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Here are a couple of the Comfort Quilts I've been working on recently.  The tops came out of the guild's storage tub ... I'm just doing the quilting and binding.  It's kind of funny that I'm finishing up someone else's UFOs instead of my own.  The floral one is going to Meals on Wheels, and the patriotic one will be sent to Wounded Warriors.  There are several more similar tops slowly making their way through my workroom, also :)

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GRATITUDES

1.  A wonderfully mysterious foggy morning
2.  Goldfinches feasting on the sunflowers in the yard
3.  New calendar pages -- they both have sunflowers! :)

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A completion!

I haven't completed anything in more than a month, so it feels good to finally get something accomplished!

I finished the binding on this project last night during TV.  It's the quilt I started at the Patricia Pepe workshop my guild offered last month.  The border was made using the offcuts from the blocks, so there was virtually no waste.  I enjoyed working with the X-Blocks cutting tool, and plan to explore it further.  I'm thinking about a more complex arrangement in autumn colors.

Meanwhile, I have several comfort quilts that need binding.

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Log Cabin

A completion!  I just finished up this warm-tones log cabin lap robe.  It's a replacement for an older one that the dogs shredded while nest-digging on the loveseat.  They're hard on quilts, but better that than the actual upholstery :)  I like to keep utility quilts like this around the house, not as decoration, but just to "cushion" everyday life.

Log cabins are my favorite blocks.  I have tubs of 1 1/2" strips sorted into lights and darks, and I enjoy just pulling out some out and sewing mindlessly -- no planning for this project, just kept at it until I had enough blocks.

Meanwhile, the big buckeye top has been quilted and is waiting for binding.  Summer is beckoning, though, and I'm finding it harder and harder to concentrate in the sewing room!  I want to be outside, enjoying the sunshine!

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BIG Buckeye Beauty!

Whew!  I've been trudging along on this top for a looooong time.  It has 1728 pieces ... and I only reversed three of the blocks as I was going along :)  Right now it's about 105" square, so it's a GIANT!  I'm thinking it will end up at about 98" - 99", with quilting take-up and shrinkage from washing.

It's destined for the newly-redecorated guest room upstairs, but it'll be a while yet before it's finally in place -- it still needs to be quilted and bound.

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Purple

Two more B-a-D tops done!  I decided to concentrate on all the purple blocks, and came up with these two combos.  They will both probably become donation quilts.  Onward to backs and quilting ... and two more project bags have been retired!

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One more for April

This is my just-for-fun finish of the month.  I'd sewn up the string blocks during March, but didn't have a chance to go any further with them at that time.  This month, they turned into a happy scrappy wall hanging for the dining room.

The binding was completed after this pic was taken, so this one is done-done, unlike the RWB I showed yesterday that still needs binding.

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UFO Challenge - April

Our April UFO Challenge was #4 on our lists, which gave me a set of patriotic Block-a-Day blocks to work on.

The blocks went together easily for me, along with a couple of small filler sections and some navy sashing.  Red binding will be finished this coming week.

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Monochromatic Challenge - April

Whoops -- the end of the month is suddenly looming, so I need to share some of my April accomplishments!

The Monochromatic Challenge color for April was orange, so I sewed up a quick little Halloween runner using assorted theme scraps.  As with my earlier runners, this is destined for the guild boutique which takes place in September ... so seasonal items should be popular.

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Tulips

I just finished the binding on this little quilt.  It was made using the leftovers from this project.  The two of them will be used as companion quilts in the living room during April.

Meanwhile, I'm still making red string blocks ... up to 32 already!

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March - brown

Judy selected "brown" for this month's Monochromatic Challenge.  Again, I've done a runner for my guild's boutique.  I had a lot of very short brown scraps, so I made little rail fence blocks this time, instead of the log cabin blocks I did for January and February. 

So far, these runners are all finishing up at 18" x 36".  They're quick and easy -- from start to finish in an afternoon of sewing plus an evening of TV time stitching the binding. I'm using whatever's in the scrap tub, plus batting leftovers and odd half-yard pieces for the backs, so I haven't needed to use anything "good" at all yet, but I'm ending up with saleable items. The random color assignments that the Monochromatic Challenge is giving me will hopefully result in "something for everyone."  Eh, I guess I'm not much of a brown person -- not feelin' the love for this one.

Nothing like a challenge to keep me on track.  Three months done: and so far, so good.  I like that I'm working on these a little at a time, instead of scrambling to get something done a week before the sale like I did last year :)

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March UFO

A completion!  This quilt was started **several** years ago, and it's come out and gone back into its bag at least twice since then.

As background, my long-time blog friends may remember that one of my lifetime quilt goals is to make a "dowry" set of twelve quilts for my bed.  Well, I've been quilting for nearly two decades, and have completed more than 360 quilts in that time.  Included in the total, I've made 29 queen size quilts ... and I still don't have my own set of twelve!  This quilt brings me one step closer to the finish line :)

This one will be my March quilt.  The color palette was inspired by the thawing forest.  Lots of brown twigs and puddles out there this time of year, but a few sprouts are beginning to peek out  ...

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One more for February

Whew -- the end of the month snuck up on me, and I got this one done just under the wire!  Finished stitching the binding down during TV last night, and it just came out of the washer/dryer.

A snowball-block quilt has been on my want-to-do list for a loooong time.  My original inspiration was the "Empty Nest" quilt which appeared in Blackbird Designs' Birds of a Feather book, published way back when?  in 2006, maybe.  Anyway, I finally got to it, using springtimey tulip and daffodil colored fabrics.  This will be used on the couch during April.

I think this quilt, and the one I did last month, reflect a swing of the pendulum for me.  I've been up to my ears in one-block-at-a-time sampler quilts for quite a while now (B-a-D), so a single repeating traditional block feels refreshing.

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February - violet

Judy picked "violet" for February's Monochromatic Challenge.  I'm continuing to make runners for my guild's boutique sale later this year, and this little project nicely depleted my purple 1 1/2" strip bag.

I've also started assembling a purple B-a-D block set that I'd hoped might count as my "violet" completion.  The top is done, but I won't have a chance to get it layered and quilted before the end of February, so it'll come up later as a UFO finish.

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