Woodchuck Alert!

How much batting will a woodchuck chew, if a woodchuck would chew batting?

All pinned and ready to quilt, my Snow on the River quilt found out the answer to that question this past week.  

Chewed batting

A week ago, my nephew and a friend spent the weekend working on a project in our garage.  Both garage doors (front and back) were open most of the time because it was a very hot weekend.  When we returned the following weekend, we discovered quite a mess in the garage!  Things tipped over and knocked down. A little woodchuck had somehow been trapped in the building all week.  And boy, was it hungry!

My quilting area is upstairs in the garage, and little woodchuck had a good chew on my quilt batting.  Fortunately, it decided that batting doesn't taste too good before it started to chew on the fabric, so not much harm was done.  What a relief!

Our hungry little captive.

We didn't know what kind of animal had been in there.  I left the service door open, and a short while later it peeked it's nose out, then made a bee-line for the nearby flowerbed and started eating.  It didn't even seem to care that people were around.  We finally hurried it along it's way.  I'm so glad it was just a baby, and not the full grown woodchuck we had in the neighborhood a few years ago.  That one would have done a LOT more damage!

Cheddar back finish

What better way to celebrate Independence Day, and the final submission of a huge grant project I've been writing this past month, than to post a quilt finish?

Cheddarback, an antique reproduction sew-along shared by Gay at Sentimental Stitches, is finished!  Gay stayed true to the original, so some of those blocks were pretty nasty to put together.  I suspect that in the original, some of the blocks were a different size and cut down to fit.

Of course, I had to put my own spin on it.  The center top block was an orphan made by my friend's late mother, Shirley Larson, many years ago.  Toward the end of the sew-along I ran into a time crunch, and a few other blocks also came out of my orphan block box.  But, I stayed with the overall theme and I love it!

This is one of those quilts that looks much better in the picture than up close.  The overall pattern emerges.  It's quilted in diagonal rows, and the cheddar backing has adorable sunflowers in the print.

A special trip was made to Hobby Lobby for red binding fabric.  Haven't been in there more that a couple times since the COVID-19 pandemic.  It made me sad, and long for happier days.  We have lost two acquaintances to this illness, and are doing our best to stay safe and healthy.  Please do your best to stay well too.

Shoo Fly Shoo

Shoo Fly Shoo 34.5 x 39 inches

Last summer's Leader-Ender project suggested by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville was to make Shoo Fly blocks.  I did quite a few using some bonus half-square triangle blocks that I already had done. 

It was fun to match them up with colorful center blocks.  But, I ran out fairly quickly of groups of four matching HSTs so it sat idle for months.  Time to call it done!

The center blocks are mostly tone-on-tone, but there is a cute pumpkin in one block and a snowman in another.  I guess I don't use conversation prints very often!

My Shoo Fly Shoo is only baby quilt size, but I'm happy with it.  One more top into the pile for quilting!

Snow in April

April is a fickle month.  Easter Saturday was warm and sunny.  Easter morning we woke to a heavy April snowstorm.  Snow fell all day, and by evening 6 to 8 inches had fallen.  When the skies cleared on Monday the brilliant whites and blues were nearly blinding. 

That day became the inspiration for the title of this little 12-inch square quilt.  The stars are made from the cut-off ends as I squared up Frolic!  The four corners are some spare 4-patch blocks.  And so, without further ado, we present... "Snow in April."

Snow in April 12-inches square

The last day of April I finished hand stitching the binding.  By then the tulips were ready to bloom.  Here's a glamour shot to give some perspective on how small this quilt really is.

Cheddarback top is done!

It took a while, but the antique reproduction of Cheddarback by Sentimental Stitches is done!  There was a real tough decision to be made at the end.  Should I add one more row of large blocks just to the right of center and make it a queen size quilt?  Much more useful for our family.

So, the two sections went up the wall for a photo.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.  That photo instantly told me that this quilt did not want another row in between.  So, the last seam was sewn and Cheddarback is a complete top. 

Can you spot the impostor in the top row center?  It was an orphan block made by my friend's mother,  Mrs. Larson.  It was in a box of leftover quilting fabric and sample blocks that was given to me.  It was the right size and color, so why not give it a chance to shine?  It takes the place of four smaller blocks that I chose not to make.

Here are some interesting things I learned:  1.  This is a brilliant layout.  The mixture of large and small blocks with sashing is very clever.  I might do this with my own orphan blocks.   2.  I still can't get the hang of paper piecing.  3.  I had a hard time with most of these blocks.  The cutting and piecing method was often not the same approach that I would have used, and I ended up re-making at least 1/4 of the blocks. But, I understand that Gay was being as true to the original as she could, and the original had some really crazy piecing going on.

The cheddar and white sunflower fabric I found for the back is fabulous, and I can't wait to start quilting.  But, there are at least three quilts ahead of this one in line. 

Stay Home Minnesota and Frolic

The orders came through to Stay Home in Minnesota, and it's bonus time for quilting.

Frolic is coming along and the main field is all pieced.  The borders are ready to be put on, and I'm looking forward to having the whole top finished by tomorrow night.

There are some great quilt-alongs going on during the pandemic lock-down, but I'd really like to get working on my bucket list project: Storm at Sea. 

And then there's Cheddarback still in progress.
Decisions, decisions....

Frolicking through a Pandemic

Bonnie Hunter's "Frolic!" Mystery started off well at Thanksgiving, but when January arrived I was side tracked.  Our local Historical Society had a major change in leadership, and I found myself right in the middle.  I was elected by the Board of Directors as (volunteer) Curator, and have been spending nearly every free minute at the Museum.  We have a daunting task ahead of us!  I won't go into all the details, but suffice to say that there are years of work ahead to be anywhere near where I think things should be.

Then, Pandemic!  My excuse to stop burning myself out.  The Museum is closed for several weeks as our City tries to slow the progress of COVID-19 influenza.  Yesterday the sewing machine was turned on again and I tried to regain some peace.  My husband even noticed I had not been sewing lately.  He walked past and said, "That thing still works?"  Very funny, dear.

Frolic! is now up to 22 blocks completed.  Three more to go, and then I can begin the partial blocks around the edges.