Rose in Winter

A rose colored wall hanging/table topper is on my dear DIL's list for Christmas this year.  An antique ninepatch doll quilt featured in "Celebrate with Little Quilts" from That Patchwork Place was my inspiration.

Rose in Winter  21-1/2 inches square

I used up a lot of little pink and rose scraps from my 1-1/2 inch scrap bag, and used up the entire piece of white/rose for the setting blocks.  Don't you think the vintage/antique look came through pretty well?  Hand sewing down the binding was the perfect handwork project while I did my volunteer time at our Church welcome desk yesterday.

Naturally, when this quilt was well underway, what should appear but another small rose-colored quilt that I had already made- and had completely forgotten about.  Now she can choose which she would like!

Windowpane  16 inches square

This afternoon's project is putting away the autumn quilts and pulling out the Christmas ones!  Let the fun begin!

Two little quilts

Bindings are finished on two more little quilts that were in my to-do bag. 

Columbus Day 12" square

A well-timed series of medical appointments gave me time to finish little 12-inch "Columbus Day."  Don't you love the center block with it's sailing ship?  The name came from that ship and the day that I cut it out and did the piecing.

The binding used up bits and scraps from previous binding projects.  Win-win!  The design is from Kathleen Tracy and was one of her small quilt monthly challenges.

The second little quilt was inspired by Vintage Variety from Temecula Quilts.  I had some half-square triangles made up from cut-off corners and they had fairly low contrast.  Perfect spot for them!

Vintage Variation 13x16 inches

Other projects going in the sewing room right now are: 1) a pink table-topper for my DIL that she requested for Christmas.  2) machine embroidery on towels (10) and aprons (4) for the Ashland, WI museum gift shop.  3) machine embroidery on towels (5 so far) for my DD's upcoming craft sale.  4)  Secret Santa Sew Along from Temecula Quilt Company.  5) Remembering Cheri block of the month.  6) sew one more angel costume for the church Christmas program.  7) wondering if it's total insanity to try to start Bonnie Hunter's mystery on Friday. (yes!)  8) fabric is pulled and pre-shrunk for a Storm at Sea quilt.  The blue batik dyes ran so much that my hands turned blue while rinsing them!  But I'm one step closer to making that bucket-list quilt.

We're hosting the family for Thanksgiving tomorrow, which is always a fun (and crazy) time.   I think I'd better go check on the timing for getting the turkey in the oven tomorrow! lol.

As always, I'm so very thankful that you stop by this little blog, and for your encouraging comments.  Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Remember Cheri blocks 3-6

With the usual disclaimer that applique' is not my preferred quilting method, I finally got caught up on the Remembering Cheri sew-along blocks this past weekend.  Can I ever procrastinate!

Once I got going, they didn't take all that long.  There are a few tweaks, as Cheri Payne always encouraged us to do, to make a quilt uniquely our own.

The easy October block was the first one I finished.  No hat on my crow, and I went with a smiling pumpkin.  Pumpkins should always smile, shouldn't they?


Next I tackled the schoolhouse for September.  My sticking point on this one is I don't particularly like cats (gasp!)  Finally, I decided to make the cat small and add flowers and a bit of text (though the 'd' looks a little wonky.)

I puzzled over Uncle Sam in the July block for a long time.  The decision was to take out the pie and eliminate the facial features just like the mother and daughter in the May block.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

The flower in the August block was given a bit of adjustment too.  It was so tempting to put in a nice walleye, but I finally decided to stick with the whale - though it's the only one you may ever see in Minnesota!

Since this is a 'Remembering' quilt, I'm using as much fabric as I can from my father's shirts and cotton pajamas.  Looks good so far!

first section all together

Sparkling Windows

This pretty little baby quilt was a fun summer project.  It's been gifted to the adorable first granddaughter of some dear friends, and I think it's finally safe to share it here now.

The pattern is from Quiltmaker Magazine:  Sparkling Windows (May/June 2017 issue.)  I used only 12 blocks to make it baby-sized.

I actually enjoyed making all those hourglass blocks, and the thrifty grandma would be pleased to know that the teal fabric for the blocks, back and binding was a thrift store find!

The cutest little chick

Isn't this little chicken fabric the most adorable ever??? 

It's been in the stash for a long time, and when I came across some red and white chicken wire fabric for a border the idea for "Cute Chick!" came together.

The block name is, of course, Hen and Chicks.  It's been my summer piecing project at the Lake.  I made as many blocks as I could until I ran out of the black & white print.  Here's the finished top:

 

Pattern from: Quilts from The Quiltmakers Gift by Joanne Larsen Line & Nancy Loving Tubesing.

Baskets of Plenty

Over the summer there was a little time to do handwork, and the binding was finally put on my version of Cheri Payne's Baskets of Plenty.

I only made six of the nine blocks.  I enjoy piecing quilts much more than applique, but it was fun to try something different for a change.  And, I needed it to fit in this space in my kitchen for display.

The drab greens in the quilt are from two of my late Dad's shirts, and most of the wool and lace is from my Mom's scrap box.  A great way to remember them.

Cheri Payne designed another quilt called Choose Joy, but I decided that phrase was just what this quilt needed.  It will remind me often that my attitude is a choice that I make.

I can be concerned, but I don't need to be anxious, worried, crabby, or frustrated.

Autumn Sewing Box Scraps

What a busy summer!  I took a break from quilting as I researched and prepared our Bloomington Heritage Days history displays.  The event was last Saturday - amid nearly record 90 degree heat and humidity.  It was deemed a success in spite of the weather, and now, in a swift Minnesota turn around, we have 53 degrees with over 5 inches of rain yesterday. 

Perfect Quilting weather!  And I can't believe how excited I am to get back to piecing and quilting again.  (Well, there was one summer project - a baby quilt that I can't share yet.)

Our rainy week was a good time to catch up on Kathleen Tracy's small quilt challenge.  Sewing Box Scraps, from her book A Prairie Journey was the August challenge.  I pulled out my 1-1/2 inch scrap bag to see what was there.  Not many light neutrals, but I had a lot of a tan and olive plaid.  Neither a light, nor a medium, it had been rejected so many times. 

In a totally uncharacteristic moment, I decided to use it as my background.  Paired with browns and golds it just says 'Autumn' doesn't it?  Not as scrappy as Kathleen's pattern, but it used pieces that were already cut to the correct size, cut-off's from a previous project.    That's a WIN in my book!  Here's the result:

Autumn Sewing Box Scraps 24x29

The plaid background makes it look kind of primitive.  It's tempting to applique a sunflower and crow, or something in Cheri Payne style, in the lower right third of the quilt.  Hmmm...