June finishes

Several small quilts were finished up in June, and lots of progress made quilting queen-sized Lazy Sunday.  That's the big UFO I'm working hard to finish.  Looking forward to that being done and on the bed in July!

Starburst

doll quilt

 A scrappy little doll quilt and Pam Buda's Starburst just had hand stitching the bindings to finish - and they are now done.  Another small quilt is done and I'll hand sew the binding over the holiday.  Look for that photo on the 4th!

The Roman Stripe quilts from orphan blocks are pinned and ready to quilt too, so there are more finishes ahead this summer.

By the numbers:  Looks like I can deduct 5.5 yards from my stash log for June, but I had a couple great fabric finds this month too, so.... for the year my stash has grown 10 yards.  (Although 8 yards of that is a gold print flannel that will be backings for quilts someday.)

Quilting Along

Not much to show yet, but I'm doing my happy dance.  I finished quilting the top of Lazy Sunday.  Woo Hoo!  There are just borders left to figure out.  Photos coming soon I hope.

These two look dark compared to the rest.

As a break from quilting I've been cutting and piecing this week's Summer Sew Along blocks from Temecula Quilt Co.  I'm at the point in this project where I stop following directions.  Well, I didn't really follow them from the start, because my blocks are 6 inches instead of 4 inches.... but that's not really a big change is it?

Same blocks, but a lighter look.

So far, most of the blocks have had a light background and one color.  I really am liking that look on my design wall!  The alternate blocks will be a medium blue which will make the light sampler blocks really shine.

One block in each of the past two weeks looks very dark compared with the rest.  I've decided to make them over so they are lighter.  And a couple blocks, like Snowball and Flying Geese, may look out of proportion in the 6-inch block size, so I'm playing with those a bit too.

Find of the week

Our daughter was visiting for a few days and of course we had to do a little shopping.  We were looking for rubber stamps which she uses for card making at the second-hand store.  I wandered over to the small rack of fabrics and look what I found!

Marimekko fabric from Finland.  Almost 2 1/2 yards of this lovely blue print called Tulipunainen for a mere $4. It will make a lovely backing for a medium size quilt, or perhaps a very nice border on a larger quilt.  Lots of possibilities!  I took a quick peek on line and found a red and a green version.  They sold for $20 per yard, so I'm doing my happy dance today.

And while we're together, here's a peek at my blocks so far from the Temecula Quilt Company's summer sew-along.

2015 summer sew along weeks 1 and 2

Leaders and enders

Sheryl at Temecula Quilt Co. has a summer quilt-along going on and it's a perfect leader-ender project as I work on the pieced border for my Roman Stripe quilt.  Her darling little blocks for the sew-along are a mere 4 inches finished, but mine will be six inches.  Here are the blocks for week one.

I don't think I have enough of the blue background fabric for the entire quilt, but I'll see how far I get and then call it 'done.'  Or, maybe I'll just find a different fabric for the borders.  We shall see!

Have a lovely weekend!

A plan in place

Orphan blocks, sorted by size

After several days of puzzling with some orphan block pieces, a plan is in place.  I appreciate the input from several of you - Thanks so much!  It's nice to have a second, and third opinion.  And when it comes to designing quilt blocks, every solution is a good one!

First, I finished making the largest triangles into whole Roman Stripe blocks. Then, I sorted the orphan triangles by size.  The larger ones were cut in half, which gave me one vertical and one horizontal striped triangle.  

These didn't come from the same triangle,
but you get the idea of how I cut them.

Adding some medium grey to the vertically striped triangles gave me Flying Geese blocks to use in a pieced border for the black Roman Stripe blocks.  Can you believe I hunted for just the right shade of red border fabric at no less than three large fabric stores and came up empty?  Then found just what I needed in my own stash at home!

Auditioning pieced border on Black Roman Stripe

There were some orphan triangles that were just not going to work for Flying Geese.  Where did they end up?  In my first try at 8-inch string blocks!  See those reds and blacks in the corners?

This has been a fun puzzle, and took me in directions I didn't expect.  Do you have an orphan block project on your list this summer?

May recap

I've been trying to stay on task finishing up the myriad of unfinished quilt projects, but it's difficult.  Here it is, June already!

May is always a busy month here.  Many family birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.  Plus, it's that time of year to open the Cabin for the season and get the gardening going.  All that being said, it's amazing I got any quilting done!

In May I finished quilting and binding:
Danny Boy 19x19 inch single block mini
May Basket 12x12 inch mini
Sailboats 23x32 inch wall hanging
State Fair 39x39 inch lap quilt
And
Easy Street queen quilt is sandwiched and pinned, all ready to quilt.

Danny Boy 19x19 inches

Sailboats wall hanging 23x32 inches

May Basket mini

State  Fair 39 x 39 inches

 

I don't think I've made any progress in reducing the stash.  I've used 28 yards so far, but purchased about the same.  The list of UFO's is down a bit, and WIP's are down too.  I've moved two quilts from 'in progress' to UFO status, and have started two small quilts from some orphan blocks that I should be able to finish up in June.
There's another wedding quilt on the 'to do' list as well.
Stay Calm and Quilt On!

A puzzle to solve

As I mentioned before, I'm currently playing with some scraps from my friend's mother, Shirley.  Two small Roman Stripe quilt tops are in process, and looking good.  Here's what's leftover...the cut off ends of her strip sets.

'Black' triangles: three in one direction and two in the other.

'Red' triangles: 12 in one direction and 10 in the other.
Plus, they're in three different sizes.

I tried out pinwheels and prefer the 'dark in the center' ones, but I also like the idea of cutting these triangles in half and making striped Flying Geese (center and lower right).  The Geese would be 2.5 x 5 inches maximum, and would not all have the stripes in the same order.  I could add them into a border on the larger Roman Stripe top.

I'm looking for more ideas. It's a puzzle!  Whatever I do, some will be 'lefties' and others 'righties.'  They can't be made all the same.  What would you do with them?