Not quite Pfeffernusse

Yummy chocolate brown, warm reds and not quite according to Original Plan.  That's what happened with my version of Bonnie Hunter's Pfeffernusse quilt from her book String Fling.

Here it is, all quilted up.  All the blocks were from her pattern.  Instead of strings I used a thin striped shirting for the white, and a whole piece of the brown.  That saved a lot of time, but the layout was just not speaking to me with when it came to put it all together.  Perhaps without the strings the large brown and white pinwheels were too bland.  This barn raising layout was what I came up with in the end.  But, now it needs a different name.  How about Cinnamon Twist?

 Cinnamon Twist - 88 inches square

Snowflake table runner

Don't you just love it when several ideas all come together just at the right time?

Recently, at a fundraiser, a friend mentioned she'd love a Christmas table runner.  So, I started looking around for patterns on line.  All People Quilt had a super easy table runner made from strips of reds with white applique snowflakes.  Snowflake table runner by Gingham Girls.    Why not give it a try?

Red strips were cut and sewn, and the applique pieces cut out, when I took a break to check e-mails.  Among them was something from Embroidery Library, which has wonderful embroidery machine downloads.  There in the monthly free download was.. lo and behold!.. a snowflake.  Well, why not???

So, the three white snowflakes were embroidered on the runner instead of doing applique.  Turned out pretty well!  What do you think?

Simply Charming

My flurry of quilting up those flimsy tops is keeping up with the snow flurries.  Next up was Falling Charms.

Falling Charms 65 x 71 inches

This quilt got started because there was a red and gray print in my scrap bag that, at least to me, was Really Ugly!  I wanted it gone!  There were lots of 4-1/2 inch blocks leftover from a dress sewing project, but that's not a commonly used size in quilting.  They were too small to use as 5-inch charm squares, but this pattern was easily be adapted to use them.

Adding more grays and reds, and here's the result.  The gray and red lattice border is vintage fabric from my Grandmother's house.  Boy, did the red ever run on that fabric when I pre-soaked it!!!  It was 36-inch wide fabric, so probably 1960's or earlier.

Basket-Weave Selvages

Selvage quilts and string quilts seem to be really popular among quilters these days.  Putting those two ideas together, I used Bonnie Hunter's Basket Weave Strings pattern using selvages instead of strings.  (Bonnie Hunter has a wonderful collection of free patterns on her Quiltville blog.  Get over there and take a look if you have not already done so.)

Basket-Weave Selvages 70 inches square

My squares are cut 6-1/2 inches, just because that size worked nicely with the rulers I have.  A lovely deep green from my stash was perfect for the setting blocks and border.

Many selvage quilts stitch onto a muslin backing, but, hey, who reads directions?  I just overlapped the 'strings' 1/4 to 1/2 inch and stitched through.  Hope that it will hold together! I did have one seam come apart just a bit where I wandered too close to the edge.  I'll have to hand stitch to repair it because I didn't notice it until the quilt was sandwiched and under my machine being quilted.


 Hubby has already laid claim to this one as he sat in his easy chair and read library books during our recent cold snap.  (Polar Vortex to all you non-Minnesotans.)  We actually noticed when it got to about -20F.  Our furnace worked hard for several days, and there were some two-quilt nights for sure!

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