Sashiko is finished

I finished the long-time sashiko UFO Saturday at quilt guild.  I really enjoy working on sashiko and will look for another project soon.  I finished the embroidery some time ago and added batting and a border.  I decided to hand quilt it, but the quilting is pretty invisible.  It will hold it together as it hangs on the wall over my desk.

Next on my list is sewing the binding to the back of the Lily wallhanging.  I finished quilting it yesterday and immediately sewed the binding on.  But I thought it would look more finished with the binding hand-sewn, so I'm taking my time, doing one side a day (or so).   I'll take a picture when I'm finished, but it measures around 39" x 39". 

I also made three mug rugs out of the scraps of the Lily quilt.  I decided I would make a few this year out of scraps from various quilts I finish.  

Next on my list is that set of placemats made out of a green and beige quilt I made my brother Axel in 2005.  I have eight 12" x 18" placemats and four mug rugs to bind.  He can give some away to friends or hold a dinner party.  That last seems pretty far-fetched as he has a small apartment.  I'll mail some when they're ready and keep the rest for when we visit him this summer.

Meanwhile, the purple shawl I'm knitting is coming along, albeit slowly (on #4 needles), and today I went to the library for a bit of aerobic walking in a group and baked a blueberry buckle when I got home.  After dinner tonight neighbors are coming over for a little poker, and we'll cap the day off with the buckle.  I have tons of blueberries in the freezer, so I will bake another one Friday to take to friends in Burlington where we'll celebrate Valentine's Day together.

Another orphan block quilt

I finished the last small quilt in a series using orphan blocks yesterday and feel I have license to work on a few other UFOs.  Whoopee!   I haven't made any Dear Jane or Green Tea and Sweet Beans blocks in several months, and of course, there's the Lily of the West quilt I just started last week.  I also have a couple of scrappy leaders/enders going, too, along with the bow tie block swap blocks.  I always chuckle when people ask me what I'm working on.  They are often surprised to hear that usually I have 10 or 12 quilts going at once.  That's not untypical for a devoted quilter.

Anyway, the quilt I just finished combines various guild blocks of the month with some string blocks.  I usually make my string blocks on an 8" paper foundation.  This time, after removing the paper, I cut each one in half diagonally and sewed four sections together.  Unfortunately, the result didn't measure the 12" of the BOM blocks so I had to border them in order for the blocks to fit together.  

I'll take this 50" x 50" quilt to Bags of Love for kids going into foster care as soon as I finish the little hat I've been knitting for them.  I have a bunch of leftover yarn to make a few more hats this fall and winter.  I decided not to buy any more yarn (I can't resist the lush colors of wool) until I use up some of my miscellaneous yarn.

The monthly guild "teams" decide the colorways for the blocks we bring for the monthly drawings.  I have been making two blocks the same and keeping one.  But this year, I've decided to try and make all of the blocks of the month I keep for myself in the same colorway.  I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'm leaning toward blue and white to use some of the many blue scraps in my stash.

I am sure that Marie, the long arm quilter, will be letting me know soon that my Barn Star Sampler is ready because when I saw her last week, it was on the frame.  I'll try to cut a binding out for it in the coming week and pick it up next Thurs.  But today Deb and I are scheduled for our monthly pedicure and gabfest in the morning, and, in the afternoon, I'm going to the library to help clean up the booksale room with Pam and Martha-Jean.  By the time I get home I'll be thinking about what to make for dinner.   Black bean bowls?

Finishes!

What a great feeling it is to finish long-standing projects!   This morning, I took pictures of two things I finished recently.

First is a Christmas throw made of one of my guild's blocks of the month.  I think the month was December, so the drawing was in January.  I call the block "Ribbon Star," although I'm not really sure what the name was.  At any rate, it was quite easy to make.  I really like the alternating sashing - green and red.  My friend Marie quilted it on her long arm using variegated green and red thread in a loopy floral design.

I have two more of these blocks left over so I may make some placemats for us to use over the holidays.  I didn't use them in the quilt because it was big enough and one of them was made of a juvenile print with a gold glitzy background (not my style!).  

I enjoy participating in the guild block of the month but I try not to enter more than once a year for fear I will win.  I usually make the block but don't put my name in the drawing.  I'm not sure who I'll give this throw to or if I'll put it in my etsy shop.   For now, it's going in a pile with all the other quilts I'm not planning to keep.

I received five homespun Ohio Star blocks in a "teacup" auction at the state guild meeting.  People buy tickets and then put their tickets into the teacup - or in this case a brown paper bag - by the item(s) they want to win.  No one was putting tickets into the bag for this item which also included some books, patterns, and fabric.  So, of course, I did... and won.  

All of the blocks were different colors except the two in the table runner I just made.  It took me a while to decide that I didn't need to use all five in the same project.   I love the denim-colored quilter's linen I used around each block set on point and am happy to have some left over for a future project.  Now I have two blocks left over that will probably become potholders.  I'm going to take this table runner to the florist/gift shop downtown to sell when they are ready to take more items.  They opened the day after the flood cleanup but are still fine tuning.   

This morning, I got the binding on the bargello Christmas tree skirt, but I didn't take a picture yet.  Will do that tomorrow if I get a chance.  That project wasn't too hard once I figured out that paperplates were helpful for keeping track of the order of each fabric.  I used a preprinted piece of batting from the Warm Co. and found the instructions very helpful.  I needed over 6 yards of bias binding, though, and didn't have enough coordinating Christmas fabric.  I ended up buying green commercial bias binding, and it turned out surprisingly nice, even though it is a bit stiff.

Inventorying WIPs

Now that winter is waning (but not gone by a long shot), I find it necessary to assess what I have to work on before I start anything new.   Here's what I'm thinking about.

Job 1:  Susan and Arjan's baby quilt.  The baby is due June 6 and will take up to 6 weeks to get to the Netherlands.  Top is ready for sandwiching and quilting.  I have pre-washed some lovely red polka dotted flannel for the back.

2.  Dear Jane - I'm ready to start Row F or put blocks together to begin quilting Rows A-E QAYG style.  Decisions, decisions!    I have some charcoal grunge for sashing.  Here's Row E.

3.  Log cabin swap - I have all the pieces for 16 8.5" blocks cut and can start putting them all together.   I decided to use the 9 Manx blocks I have for the center of the quilt and surround them with the blocks I receive in the swap.

4.  Purple Barn Star quilt along - I am behind a month but hope to catch up soon.

5.  Knitted wave scarf - It's getting long and looking good.  It's almost time to change color combinations again.  I knit while watching TV on gloomy days (which we seem to have a lot of lately).

6.  Sweet Tea and Green Beans (Jen Kingwell) - I finished the 8 orange peel blocks on vacation and now have the hexies to put together into a block.  This is portable so I'll take it to guild on Saturday.  I have a long way to go on this quilt, but I'm enjoying the variety so far.

7.  There are several other projects on the back burner, including two quilt tops finished last year and the guild blocks of the month I won in January.   Should these become four table runners for gifts?  Stay tuned!

Finishing books and projects

Now that the collage is finished and hanging on the wall, what should I work on next?  I always have to take a little break after finishing an intense project or after reading an intense book.  Both happened yesterday.  I finished quilting Birch Street and hung it up in the front hall.    It's a narrow space and difficult for photography, but perhaps today I'll take the quilt outside for a photo shoot.  I folded and sewed the outer border over to the back as a facing and made a thin hanging sleeve which I sewed on by hand.   I think that will be "it" for collage quilting for me.  

I spent most of yesterday reading Go As A River, by Shelley Read.  It's set in Colorado, between 1949 and 1970.  Victoria meets a charismatic young man on a street in her small town, falls in love, and bears the consequences.  It's an adventure with coming-of-age, very exciting in parts, and also quite heartwarming at the end.  Beautifully written with very strong characters, it's a book I will remember for a long time.  I enjoyed Victoria's love of nurturing the peaches her family grew.  Colorado peaches are delicious.  

Feeling the void of a project and a book finished, today I'll work on getting some projects together for our trip and start a cozy mystery - palate cleansers!  Tomorrow we are heading to Bellows Falls on an errand for the historical society, and Tuesday I'll have a pedicure and go to Burlington to give Pauline her placemats.  I'd like to get my taxes done before we leave next week, too.

UFO Review

I keep a running list of UFOs because I tend to work on more than one project at a time.  My friend Polly works on one quilt at a time and is happy with that.  She's a Chemist and her quilts are perfect - all points visible and matching, all quilting lines straight as an arrow.  I like variety, so I work on deadlines or on whims.   There are currently 17 items of all sizes on my UFO list.  One is a knitting project, two need only binding to finish, and the rest are quilting projects, one of which is missing (Hawaiian applique) and one is so long-standing that I forget when I started it (1980?).

That's not to say that I don't finish a lot each year, though.  This year I completed quite a few projects, including knitting a pair of socks and several hats for the Bags of Love project for kids in foster care.  In addition, I made two quilts using the Jane Austen at Home fabrics, one of which I gave to my mom and the other to the homeless shelter.  I also made 12 mug rugs which I gave to each library staff member for Christmas.

I finished the long-standing Pineapple throw (took 2 years, working on a few every month), the Arboretum (given to Preservation Burlington), and

  - Two baby quilts - for Daley Hoffman and for Pat's greatgrandchild

  - a turquoise house mini

  - Moon over Mt. Fuji (hand quilted and given to Pat)

  - On the Patio (small quilt that won an honorable mention at my LQS)

  - the Blue and White Hankie Quilt

  - Cakes on Stands swap quilt (sent to folks on Maui)

  - Rainbow Log Cabin throw

Then there were the Rows Parade and Guild BOM tops which have been quilted by Marie and are now waiting for bindings.  For my guild has a UFO challenge this year, I brought in my Manx quilt blocks to show for that.  I think I need only one more block to make the planned table runner.

The project that I was most happy with in 2023 was the hanging of my Green Mountain Sunrise in the Woodridge Nursing Home dining hall which I technically finished in 2022.  It's hanging over the door to their lovely patio which was renovated and rededicated this summer.  It's based on Bonnie Hunter's Purple Mountains Majesty pattern.

Limping along

I don't know when I'll be able to drive over to Burlington to drop my machine off for cleaning/service.  Replacement screws arrived in the mail but do not fit, even though the online ad said they would.  I will let the service people know that the screw is inside the machine so they can put it back after cleaning.  At any rate, the machine is working OK these days so I'm gently using it to make some Dear Jane blocks.  That's what I mean by "limping."   I put the six blocks from last week away and have started on a few more.  I love the way they're turning out, using brighter scraps on various black and white backgrounds.

Yesterday was raw, gloomy, windy, and just plain cold, but I did get out to walk around delivering flyers about the neighborhood women's lunch next week with fellow organizer Sue.   I'll be thinking about what I can do or make for each person to take home - candy? a flower? something else?   It's supposed to be a little warmer today so I hope to get out to walk at least once.

Tonight is our monthly guild meeting, and I'm on the program "team."  That means bringing some refreshments, helping with set up/clean up, and, in my case, doing some of the program about UFOs and how to deal with them.  "Do as I say, not as I do!"  I have one hand quilting project from the mid-1980s but I do work on it, albeit slowly.  I get distracted by other projects, and of course that's what generates many UFOs.  I have a bagful of these to show and, I hope, a couple to give away for others to finish.

I've decided there are a few kinds of quilters:  (1) those who work on one thing at a time until it's finished, (2) those who work on several projects at a time (maybe using different techniques) until they're finished, (3) those who work on several projects at a time but are easily distracted by other projects.   I've read that the key to finishing is to set goals, but I find it's harder to set them now that I'm retired.  I like to goof off sometimes!

I may be one of those in the #3 category, but I do usually finish things... eventually.  The ones I don't finish are things I get frustrated with or don't like as I work on them.  The Austen Jubilee mystery quilt I worked on last year from Quiltmaker using Bonnie Hunter blocks is a case in point.  As I started to put it together after the reveal, it just looked too busy to go queen-sized.  Eventually, I saw that making two quilts - baby-sized and twin - would work better.  The twin is ready for long arming, and the baby one was being quilted until my machine got cranky.  It will be the first thing I work on when the machine comes home from cleaning.

Back in the sewing room - with a purpose

Monday found me in my "happy place" - the sewing room - where I landed most of this week.  I finished up a mountain of mug rugs to give away next year.  Hope I can find them when the time comes!  I like sewing with Christmas fabric during the holidays, but I just didn't have time this year.  I finished a year-round mug rug to replace the Christmassy one I had made Pam and delivered it Tuesday.  The weather got in my way before. 

This week I also put away the Christmas fabric, organized the string baskets, worked on blocks of the month, and then 10 string blocks in both colors and neutrals.  Those are waiting now for me to remove paper foundations while watching TV.  

Then I tackled the cake stand blocks that I'd receive in a swap, making some additional blocks to come up with nine total.  That top is now finished and waiting for quilting.  Not sure how yet.

Here's the block of the month for the local guild lottery.  It wasn't easy but it's done.  The center is very bulky, so I'm glad it's covered up.  If I make one for myself, I think I'll make it a bit bigger.  This year, all the lottery blocks will have a white background but my blocks for myself will vary.

My online Friendship Swap group is doing a sew along with one of the group members suggesting a block each month.  Debra chose the "Snow Churn" block for January, perhaps because she's had so much snow already this winter.

Next on my quilting agenda is to finish the two Austen Jubilee quilts made with blocks that have been shown all year in Quiltmaker magazine.  The resulting quilt is extremely busy so I have broken it into two smaller quilts.  I have yardage for borders on each so have a few decisions to make.

In 2020? I went on Weight Watchers on January 1 and then a general diet after a couple months, resulting in 25 pounds lost.  I spent a lot of time sewing so I wouldn't snack, and I plan to do that again this year.   Writing down what I eat seems to work the best for me, and I don't need WW for that.  I also found eating more vegetarian meals helpful.  I signed up for an online class sponsored by the hospital called "Preventing Diabetes" which starts January 23.  It's free, so I figure I have nothing to lose (but weight!).  

My appliqued piece

I've been thinking about a name for this appliqued piece, which I was happy to finish binding this week in between holiday preparations.   It started out as a neutral string background that had hung around for a long time, waiting for just the right thing to applique onto it.   I had thought of a basket of bright flowers, but I just never got serious about finding or creating a pattern.

Last spring a guild member showed an antique quilt she had found, and I finally knew just what I wanted to do.  The blocks in her quilt were about 18", and my melon shapes are a little larger resulting in a 24" x 24" piece.  But the colors are very similar.  I love pink and blue together.  I hand appliqued the melons mostly at my Saturday sewing group meetings this year; then I echo quilted around and inside the shapes using a walking foot.  I love the way it turned out.  The quilting smoothed out all the bulges that often appear in string quilts so that it lies relatively flat.

Since I started appliqueing this wall hanging, I've amassed quite a few "strings" which I hope to put together this year, maybe alternating the neutrals with the colored blocks.   But that's another thing to think about in 2023!

Another sampler

I've had this little quilt waiting for a photoshoot, but it keeps raining and/or looking gloomy.  So today I laid it out on the living room floor and took its picture.  It's a little sampler that will be joining a few others at Bags of Love, which gives quilts and knitted items (I am also sending a few) to kids going into foster care.

I enjoyed making all of the individual blocks, especially the wonky stars, but I worried over arranging them all together.  It's a mishmash, but perhaps a kid can play "I Spy" with it.

I heard about a program to give "blankets" to new refugees called "Welcome Blankets."  My local quilt shop is a drop off point.  They are taking blankets, afghans, quilts, and more, but they all have to be 40" x 40".  

I had one 24" UFO left hanging in the closet after my summer finishing frenzy.  It was made with some yoyo blocks by quilters in the state guild.  We had a ton of blocks made and created 6 or more crib-sized quilts with them, as well as a little wallhanging for our outgoing president.  Yesterday, I expanded the little leftover quilt top to the 40" x 40" size the Welcome Blankets group wants.  I hope to get it sandwiched this afternoon, and I'll quilt away for the next few days. I find it difficult to go around those yoyos which are appliqued onto the center of 5" black and white charm squares.  That's why it's been a UFO, but I am happy to have a place to send it to.

A few UFOs finished!

Today is a warm, sunny, not very humid day.  Perfect, I thought, for picture taking.  I found it is a little too sunny, so please excuse the glare and the wrinkles that last week's humidity caused.  

This year, Aby Dolinger posted a block of the month project called "Favorites."  I always like her patterns because of the very clear directions.  I put my blocks together a little differently, though, combining Aby's blocks with my guild's blocks of the month.  Of course, that meant I had a few too many blocks, so some made a nice back.

I love the background fabric which is from a line called "Pressed Flowers," and has flecks of burgundy, gold, and greenish blue.  I used quite a few scraps and added a few fabrics, too.  The binding is a floral gold with burgundy accents.

This measures 47" x 47" and I quilted it fairly simply in a grid, with a smaller grid in the plain areas.  It will be a nice wall quilt, table topper, or even a quilt for a modern baby.

Those fold lines worry me, so I now have the quilt spread out over the back of our sofa and hope they go away.  If not, I'll use a little steam and then let it hang some more.

Yesterday I finished a quilt I'm calling "Scrappy Town," made of variously sized house blocks.  I found a free pattern on the Fat Quarter Shop's website called "Brick House" and thought I'd use it for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  After making the block a few times, I wasn't totally happy with it, so I decided to add some other sized house blocks here and there.   I think they add variety, and I enjoyed paperpiecing some of the blocks.

The resulting 45" x 45" quilt also uses scraps of muslin and 2" scrappy squares from my vast collection.  I quilted with my walking foot, mostly outlining and  crisscrossing the squares.  I loved making those tiny 3" houses, but I don't think I could endure making a whole quilt out of them.  This is a good solution.

The back of the quilt is a yellow blender and the binding is a yellow print that I've had for ages.  I had just enough to go around, thank goodness.  I ended up with three 2.5" squares for my 2.5" square scrap box.

Now I'm pondering what to do with all the multicolored 6" blocks of the month I've made in my online quilt group.   I had them lined up row-by-row fashion, but that seems too dull somehow.  Now I have 9 wonky star blocks auditioning for the center of a medallion quilt.  I could also make a haphazard sort of layout with fillers, again using my trusty 2" or 2.5" squares.  I'll keep shuffling them around for a while before deciding.

Forgotten UFOs

Last weekend, I was poking around in my pizza box marked "Orphans" when I found a half-finished log cabin quilt top.  I had made the blocks using "strings" and only needed 12 more to make a baby-sized quilt.  I hauled out the overflowing string basket and got to work.  I divide my string collection into neutrals and colors, so log cabin blocks are easy to make.  

Somewhere along the line I realized I had measured the initial blocks wrong.  The original blocks were 5" finished, but I was on my way to finishing 12 6" log cabin blocks.  Ugh.  I put those blocks into the Orphan box and made 12 more in the right size.  The little quilt now measured 32.5", still a little too small.  How about a border?  I dug into my miscellaneous and leftover half-square triangle box for a variety of squares, cut those to 2.5", and sewed them on.  

Now the little quilt measures 36.5" and was ready to quilt.  With a nice, soft piece of unbleached muslin for the back and after a run to Joann's for batting, I started quilting what I'm calling Omicron Cabin, having made a similar Corona Cabin (at left) quilt in 2020.  Remember 2020, when we thought we were just isolating for a little while?  Let's hope there won't be a time when I'm making Rho or Sigma Cabin.

Today I'll add the scrappy binding and take a picture.  It's pretty cold out, after several warmer days, so I plan to be indoors sewing.  Not a problem for me - I have plenty to keep me busy.

Another snow day

There's a "nor'easter" coming up the coast after hitting the Midwest.  We are just getting the dregs, but the roads look pretty mushy today so we're staying in.  I finished knitting and blocking the blue scarf I've been working on this morning and started on a hat to match.  These will eventually go to kids entering foster care.    

I have a great book that gives generic patterns for commonly knit items, with suggestions for embellishment.  I'm using slightly smaller needles for the hat so that it will be warmer.  

Before the bobbin cover on my machine broke, I managed to finish the center medallion on the Bonnie Hunter Unity quilt for the quilt-along.  Then I started on my four 6" red pineapple blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Alas, I could only make two.  I have all the scraps piled up on my sewing table in hopes the replacement part will arrive soon.  I guess this would be a good time to vacuum the machine a bit.  I'm afraid the little plastic tab fell into the machine somewhere.  I hope to make the other two pineapple blocks and sew them together into a 12" this weekend.  

Our little Saturday hand sewing group is meeting - masked - tomorrow at the local quilt shop.  We were going to learn crazy quilting from one of our members, but unfortunately, she has been exposed to COVID-19.  So those who come will work on our own projects as usual.  That means a little more white on white quilting for me.  The piece I'm working on has been a UFO since the 1990s!   I unearthed it last year and hope to finish by the end of the year. 

Snow days = sew days

This has certainly been a long winter, full of very cold and snowy days.  I haven't really minded much except that we haven't been able to get out and walk a lot in the last few weeks.  My joints are feeling it.  I could walk on the treadmill or row, but I just hate those things.  My weekly yoga class via Zoom will have to suffice.

Meanwhile, I finished machine quilting my "Sisters" quilt-along quilt and now I'm working on the binding.   I hope to finish by the end of the week.  I try not to get ahead of myself when I'm at this stage in a quilt, but over the weekend, I just couldn't hold myself back.  I got out a pizza box of blocks that I received from online friends last year in a swap and laid them out to see how they'll look.  The blocks are 6" finished, and I had bordered each one log cabin fashion.

As you can see each block is different, as the swap was called "Anything Goes."  We each chose what kind or color we'd prefer with a cream background, and everyone chose two blocks to make from a number of possibilities including Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.  The same group sent me fat quarters for my birthday in our annual birthday swap, and I had requested purple.  Hence the incredible purple-ness of this quilt!

Once I had the blocks all laid out, I just couldn't wait to put them together, so I started that even before I had the binding on "Sisters."  I had to make a couple more blocks to get a 5 by 6 block layout, and I managed to hold off making those last blocks until after the "Sisters" binding was ready for hand sewing.  

Now "Anything Goes" measures 60" x 72" and I'm thinking about how I'll quilt it as I hand sew.   I rarely work on finishing two quilts simultaneously, but I just got into the groove.   

The same online group has a UFO Challenge going this year, and quilting "Anything Goes" is certainly a possible project.  But what about those local guild swap blocks for Many Trips Around the World? There are plenty more chilly, snowy days ahead, I think, so I might even get them done, too.

Thinking about WIPs

I have quite a few Works in Progress right now and several I'd like to get busy on.  I saw something recently about COVID procrastination, and maybe that is my problem right now.  Yesterday, I started machine quilting a little (48" square) quilt made with leftovers from Green Mountain Spring, based on the Bonnie Hunter mystery.  I'm mainly going in the ditch with some gridlines in various spots, so it's fairly mindless which is OK with me.  But I do have a few projects in the works that I'd like to get busy on after this:

1.  The Vintage Linens a/k/a Hankie quilt - I have made eight star blocks with hankie parts and the Dresden Plate center block.  But the latter needs a re-do in its center because I appliqued the lace askew.  I am thinking of substituting part of a blue hankie.  There are more blocks to this quilt along which I found on Facebook, but I'm not sure how many I will add.  I want to make sure the finished quilt is a wall hanging due to the fragility of the hankies.  I love the Jane Austen At Home fabric I'm using for this and will have plenty of it and more hankies left over for something else later this year.

2.  The Anything Goes quilt - I've been log cabining the 6" purple and cream swap blocks I got in 2020 so that the resulting quilt is throw sized.  They are ready to put together.  If I need a couple more blocks to bring it up to size, I'll make a few easy ones.

3. Many Scrappy Trips Around the World - I made 12 blocks for this guild swap, but need 24.  The blocks go quickly, but I will need to cut a few more 2.5" x 18" strips to finish.  They aren't due until May but I like to be on top of things.  This is a good snow day project.

4.  Dear Jen -  Now that I've looked through this Jen Kingwell pattern book, I'm rethinking it.  Each block's pattern uses templates when paper piecing or rotary cutting would be better.  So I'll have to make my own patterns - ugh!  I'm incorporating the guild blocks of the month so maybe I'll just continue in that vein, picking 6" blocks I like, and adding in  Kingwell blocks (the top strip below is one) as I go.  

The quilt involves 3 6" blocks in strips with alternating light and dark backgrounds.  Here are a few I've made so far.   Someone suggested I rename it Dear Marianne, and maybe I will!  I do need to get some more tea-dyed muslin, though.  Joann's doesn't seem to carry it any more.

5.   Harriet's Journey - Jennifer Chiaverini's latest sampler is also on my mind, but I haven't started any blocks for it.   A couple of people in my online group want to start a quilt along, so I may join in, but my progress is sure to be slow.  These 6" blocks seem more do-able than Dear Jen's.  

What an agenda!   And these five projects are only part of my list of UFOs, some of which have been languishing for a long time.  It's good to know I won't be running out of projects any time soon.

Works progressing

This is the sixth month of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and this month's color is, thankfully, pink.  I have lots, despite having made the Good and Plenty 2 quilt (looks like a granny square) earlier this year.  I still have to quilt that, by the way.  Anyway, here are my three blocks for the rainbow quilt.

Yesterday we did quite a few little errands, but they were all really useful.  We got rid of a month's worth of compost at the dump, delivered gardening raffle items to the library which is going to open soon (our trunk is almost empty!), and planted more flowers in the back yard.  Then I finished basting The Avenue, a Jen Kingwell pattern by Louise Papas.  I managed to do three anchoring quilting lines in the ditches and will work on more machine quilting today.  I think I'll echo quilt the "trees" and do simple straight lines in the sashing and borders.

I really like the way this quilt is turning out.  It used up a lot of my black on white/cream scraps, and I'm using white on black scraps for the binding.  I actually machine appliqued the tree trunks which was a first for me.  I think that will be it for Jen Kingwell patterns for a me for a while, although I do love the scrappiness of them.  I have quite a few UFOs still waiting in the wings.

Making headway

Yesterday, I got the hang of machine piecing the curved blocks for The Avenue and really started sewing more quickly.  It took a while!  The templates came and are easy to cut as long as I remember to cut the "C" part of the Drunkard's Path a little larger and then trim when sewn to the "D."  The rest is easy.

I still need to get some more black and white background fabrics, but have been judiciously cutting what I have in the meantime.  I was in a quandary about colors when I first started, but the more scrappy trees I make, the more they blend in nicely together.  The stems are hand appliqued, which is nice in the afternoons when I can sit and watch TV or sit on the porch.

My other UFO is still in the "looking at it and wondering what to do" stage.  A friend of my Mom's, Julie, a Colorado quilter, gave me a little batik some years ago.  I shuffled it around and forgot about it until I did a little cleaning in the sewing room.  It's time to make something.  It feels like there's rayon in it, so I'll use some fusible interfacing and keep it small - wallhanging size.  I'll use the tie dyed fabric for a small border or just the binding.  All suggestions welcome!  It is crying out for some hand quilting, too, which will be nice.

I have been knitting about 4 rows a day on my light brown wool sweater, and it's not photogenic, but I am making good progress.  Because it's knit in the round on #4 needles, each row is quite long, and I think I'm on the 4th ball of yarn.  Maybe I'll finish in time for fall.

Today I'm facilitating the genealogy club meeting via Zoom.  It's our first attempt.  We usually meet on Thursday mornings at the library which has been closed for over two months.  We normally take the summers off, but if this works, we may just try to get together once or twice.  Everything (theater, Heritage Festival, library programs, etc.) is cancelled this summer, so it will be nice to see folks again.  I haven't done a lot of data collecting recently, but I have been going through a lot of family photos and writing some family stories which have been really fun.

On to other things

The Selvage Sampler is finished!  I pieced some long selvages together for the binding, which I enjoy adding.  The quilting on this is fairly simple - stitch in the ditch and crosshatching - so it went pretty fast.   I pieced two leftover batiks that a friend gave me for the back,  so it is really reversible.  As you can see, it was a little windy this morning when I had Paul hold it up on the back porch.

 I'll use it as a table cloth or as a picnic blanket.  We have weekly croquet games in our neighborhood on Friday afternoons in the summer, followed by a social time with wine, cheese, snacks.  It's really fun but of course weather dependent.  And who knows if we'll have the games this summer or how long social distancing will continue.   We'll have to wait and see.

This morning I tried a couple of ways to make glasses cases and think I have figured out which way works best for me.  I'll give my two samples to Mom and sister Jenny after I make a couple more.

I might make them for the library staff for Christmas this year.  I asked Paul if he could guess what they were, and he got it on the first guess.   Last year, some thought my oversized potholders were microwaveable bowl cozies, but I managed to correct the rumor before anyone used them in the microwave.  Insulbrite has metal in it so that would not be a good thing to zap.  There are about 13 people on the staff, so if I start working on them now I won't have to have a marathon later in the year.

Splendid Sampler / Dear Yve

I have only two blocks left to applique for my year-long Dear Yve sampler quilt based on The Splendid Sampler books 1 and 2, by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson.  It's been fun, but it is time to sash the last two months, quilt those sections, and put all 12 sections together with a border.  I'm hunting for a quote to quilt into the border along with Yve's name and dates.

There will be 144 6" blocks when it's finished, and this quilt incorporates some of the fabrics Yve gave me (she was my best customer, not that I have too many) along with lots and lots of scraps from my stash.   I used a lot of low volume backgrounds, too.  Yesterday I emptied the project box, returning larger background pieces to their respective color boxes and cutting the smaller scraps into 2" and 2.5" squares, a few triangles, and some strings.

I will be needing some of those pre-cut pieces for Jen Kingwell's My Small World which I have been gearing up for.  I don't plan to spend a year working on it - it's a wallhanging.  I have been looking at quite a few renditions of the pattern on Pinterest and see that it's another scrappy sampler.  I've cut some of the 500+ 1.5" sky squares already, and gathering some fabrics.  I will replace the factory buildings with granite sheds, I hope, and include a few other things to make it represent my world here and there.

Meanwhile, I'm anticipating receiving a variety of black and white charm squares, various 12" blocks, and some double churn dash blocks through swaps in the coming months.  I'll also be taking a class at the Vermont Quilt Festival.  More UFOs!

"Another one bites the dust..."

That's a line from a song by Queen, although I think the expression is one that has been used years before.  We saw the movie Bohemian Rhapsody the other night.  It had a very typical show biz biography plot, but it was still engaging, perhaps because of the music?  Anyway, I don't think it was the best picture of 2018, but I really liked it.

Meanwhile, I started quilting this year's Bonnie Hunter "Good Fortune" mystery quilt on Sunday, and this morning, I finished stitching the binding down.  I decided that, because the top was a little bumpy and lumpy and because of the slight wave in the border, I would go with simple grids - 2.75" wide in the center and about 2" in the last border.  That worked well, and I like the tea-dyed muslin back for its softness.

The binding is one of those neutrals that I have used in a lot of quilts; I think I finally am down to just a few scraps left.  It was given to me by a quilting friend who was destashing when she moved.   As you can see, the outside border isn't like Bonnie's.  I thought the colors went together better this way, and the arrangement helped me quilt the border grid easily.

It feels so good to cross another thing off the list of UFOs!