Making progress

 

I finished hand stitching the binding on the Unity quilt this week as part of my clean up in advance of company coming.  Now it's waiting for its portrait, along with a bunch of other, smaller quilts.  Getting outside when the sun is blazing is not my idea of fun, and many mornings have been foggy lately.  All in due time!

I finished knitting my socks and will block them soon so that they may look a bit more photogenic.  I don't plan to wear these except as slippers around the house.  I found sock knitting quite difficult, so I took a break and started some mittens (using the same blue, of course, since I have lots of it).  I'm almost finished with the first one after just a few days of watching Jeopardy.  This pair will go to Bags of Love, for kids in foster care.

My online swap group is going swap some tree blocks in early 2023.  Several bloggers are making them and calling the resulting quilt Arboretum.  Even though I really want to work only on UFOs right now so that I have a clean(er) slate, I did make about 15 of these last week, too.  They are incredibly fast and fun to work with.

Batiks really make these easy to put together, improvisationally.  I need to get a few more batiks so that I have a variety to swap and to incorporate into a quilt.

The next to the last UFO I have to work on is Austen Jubilee, which based on a series mystery in Quiltmaker magazine this year.  I found myself very low on fabric, unfortunately, but managed to make several blocks this week.  Some have been pieced where they needn't have been, but they turned out pretty good.  

I finally broke down and ordered some more Jane Austen at Home fabric on etsy.  When it comes, I'll be able to finish the last bunch of blocks and then wait until the next issue comes out to put them all together. 

I don't think this pattern is really meant for such busy fabrics, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll all look OK together when the time comes to put them together into a queen-sized quilt.  You may not be able to tell, but two of the triangles in this block were pieced.   Busy fabric has its advantages.

The next UFO to work on will be my on-going pineapple quilt.  I have several months of the rainbow scrap challenge to catch up on, which is OK.  I like making these foundation pieced blocks, and I will roll this project into 2023.

Unity is finished

Over the weekend, I put nose to the grindstone and finished my "Unity" quilt top.   I found the next-to-last round of this quilt quite difficult, requiring quite a bit of time with "Jack" the ripper and requiring what designer Bonnie Hunter called "ease."  There was quite a bit of stretchy easing needed to get the whirling blocks to fit, so much so that I decided not to make the last two pieced sides.  Instead, I put two solid 2" borders around and, while they were hard to "ease" on, they will, I hope, help the quilt lie squarely.

I'll take it to be long arm quilted this week, and as usual I'll be glad to see it leave our house!  I'll deliver the Tulip Tango quilt then, too.   Today I sewed the back for that quilt, and I also made some double pinwheel blocks, the online group's block for July.

The blocks at the bottom are the blocks for the month, and one will be swapped and the other kept.  I'll probably make a few more of those to go in a sampler I've been working on all year.  

After finishing those blocks, I got out my "orphan" box and started working on an appliqued piece I've had on my mind for a long time.  It's based on an antique quilt a guild member brought to a meeting.  Mine will use a pieced background (which was already in the box) and melon shapes in similar colors, but here's what was shown at guild.  

I haven't done any hand applique in a long time so this was fun.  I'll work on it again tomorrow.

A few June projects

Because we will be heading to Mom's birthday festivities in Colorado soon, I haven't spent a lot of time sewing.  I did make a blue pineapple block as part of the RSC (June's color is dark/medium blue).

I also made a house block using Moda's "Brickhouse" pattern.  I don't really like the results and now I'm wondering how I'll set those houses with some of the other house blocks I've been making.  I decided to set them all aside until after I return from Colorado.  I may get inspired - at least I hope so.  This is how UFOs are born.

I also worked on embroidering the crazy block I made a few months ago at guild.  I was hoping Bronwen would be at Saturday's meeting, but she couldn't come.  I wanted some advice on what more to do, but I just forged ahead.  

I'm thinking of making a pillow out of this because I don't really feel like making any more blocks.  Embroidery is really not my thing, and I really want to get back to making a quilt with hankies.

Today I started working on the June assignment for the Bonnie Hunter Unity quilt, which my guild is working on as a quilt along.  Lots of mindless cutting and sewing awaits for this round.  I need 172 half square triangles, and I got about half of them cut before I stopped.  I sure hope I don't run out of yellow fabric before this is finished.  I think I have a yard left.  I do like the paper plate method for organizing these parts.  I also have to cut 68 navy and 68 light blue 2.5"squares.  I already have enough of an assortment of neutral squares cut to make the 8" blocks all these pieces go into.  Phew!

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Finished quilt top and blocks

 

I love Tulip Tango fabrics by Robin Pickens and used a fat eighth bundle and some yardage to finish this 70" x 70" throw.  It's now hanging in the closet, waiting for me to decide whether to quilt it myself or take it to be long armed.  The Sawtooth Star blocks are 12", 8", 6", and 4" which turned out to be a challenge to put together because of a lack of unifying background.  But I made it work.  The center block is a 6" one with multiple borders.   Yesterday I made a few crumb blocks using tiny leftovers and today I'll put the rest of the scraps away for a while.

I also made a couple of 6" Rosebud blocks for the online guild's block of the month.  I asked Karen H. to choose this for the month, and she found it in that old reliable Sylvia's Bridal Sampler by Jennifer Chiaverini.

I used Tulip Tango scraps for this block which I will send to whoever wins this month's lottery, but the one I'll keep is burgundy and gold for another block of the month quilt.  I think I have made plenty of blocks for that quilt, so I'll probably put it together this month if I have time.  

There are still blue RSC blocks to make, and I'd also like to make some headway on the next-to-last round of the Unity quilt.  And, looking ahead, there's our week in Colorado later in the month to celebrate Mom's 100th birthday.  I still have a few things to do to prepare for the trip and party, including getting a haircut and a little shopping.  It's going to be a busy month.