Guild round robin reveal

Tuesday's monthly local guild meeting featured a reveal of the round robin six of us have been passing around since October.  I didn't know all of the women involved, but everyone did a fabulous job.  I now have two Christmas quilts to finish (for whom is the question!).

This started with the Dresden Plate in the center and was surrounded by borders.  Quilters could add fabric if they wished, and, while I don't really care for brown or gold, they do work in this quilt.  I really like the cathedral windows border.

Tammy, one of the other quilters, offered to long arm each person's quilt for free, but I think I'll quilt mine myself.  Medallion quilts are fairly easy for me to quilt with my walking foot, and this isn't a gigantic quilt anyway.  I don't think I'll add to it, except for the binding, of course.  For now, it's waiting for me to create a back and think about how I'll quilt it.  

Yesterday's project was to finish the hanging sleeve for Hankie Quilt #2 which is going to the Billings Farm and Museum, and today's is to finish a back for the other Christmas quilt, Ribbon Star.  Luckily, it's not as hot/humid as it was earlier this week.  My sewing room needs its air conditioning installed, but is fine today.

A couple more finishes

I managed to put the binding on and photograph two quilts yesterday.  Lest you think I'm really productive these days, quilts in progress hang around for months here, and then sometime in August I realize the year is flying by.  I get busy and finish things, and then I start a whole new batch in September or so.  I already have some in my "mind's eye."  And then there's the never ending Modern Dear Jane!

I made Rainbow Log Cabin (previously Floody Log Cabin) during the flood July 10-11 and its aftermath.   While our house wasn't affected, many others in the area were, and roads were washed away.  Our favorite pizza place decided to close up for good after being nearly crushed by the pandemic and then the flood.  The lake outside their building in the middle of town was unbelievable.  

Nervous energy helped me finish this quilt, made of "strings" for an overflowing basket.  Every day, I'd work with a different color. I quilted it last week, very simply going vertically and horizontally about 1/2" either side of the seam lines.  It's an airy quilting design but with the Australian fabric on the back, it's very soft.

Next, I turned my attention to the older UFO that I spent about a month quilting in two sections and then adding some hand quilting and embroidery.  I started the Hankie Quilt last winter and used vintage hankies, a set of curtains, an embroidered tablecloth, and a little shirt I think my mom made and mended when I was a baby.

I'm happy with the way this quilt turned out.  It will be staying with me since there are mementoes in it.  And there is a section I had to repair after catching the walking foot in it, and then putting my finger through the resulting hole.  It will be a cozy throw at the bottom of our guest bed.  Someday, if Chris ever marries and/or has kids (seems unlikely at this point!), I'll pass it along.

I'm sorry these photos are so blurry.  It was a day when the sun and clouds fought for attention.  I made a loaf of bread, took a walk, and read most of the day.  Today it's raining (what else is new?) so I'll be in my quilting room playing with fabric once again.  Life is good!

Quilting another one

Yesterday, it rained hard almost the whole day.  We only left the house to go to the library for some DVDs to watch when we can't agree on anything to stream.  Unfortunately, it turned out Behaving Badly wasn't all that great, so we'll be taking it back soon.

I put a binding on the Hunters Star quilt on Thursday but haven't had a chance to take a picture due to the rain.  Maybe later today?  

Meanwhile, I got out the first section of the latest hankie quilt to sandwich and start quilting.  It looks like it will end up being around 63" x 63", which I could do all in one piece.  But I would really like to take some time to quilt each block in its own way, so I'll have to manipulate it quite a bit.  Quilting in two sections seems sensible for this.  Some parts may even need to be quilted by hand due to the uneven lacey edges.  It's going to be very pretty when done.

I signed up to be certified to use the longarm machine at the Gypsy Moth Quilt Shop in July.  I'm hoping to get a handle on the rest of my UFOs waiting to be quilted.  While I was at the shop, I picked up the two fat eighths required for the shop's mini quilt show and contest.  I hung them on my design wall in hopes that I will be inspired.  So far, no luck!

Marj's Hankie Quilt

A couple of years ago, on a whim, I bid on and won a bunch of Marj's vintage hankies.  The online auction benefited our Old Labor Hall, a historic meeting space built by granite workers in 1900 and lovingly restored over the last 25 years.  Marj was one of the original board members, and when she passed away a few years ago, she left her country/square dancing clothes and some other items to the group for a fund raiser.  No one seemed interested in the hankies except me, and I used many of them in this little quilt.

It just so happened that I had a bundle of Jane Austen at Home fat quarters that went with them, as well as a ragged little embroidered tablecloth that my son's great great aunt made many years ago.  That's what makes the center of the Dresden Plate.

This quilt will be in a silent auction to benefit the Old Labor Hall at its April 30 Primo Maggio dinner and program.  Marj's hankies will once again do their part to raise funds for our beloved historic building, a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Even more involved

I've been going right into my sewing room after breakfast, showering, and dressing.  The hankie quilt has been calling!

 As I work on it, I realize that, not only is this a collection of Marj and Karen's hankies, it's also a memento of my own life.  The segment above includes parts of a little shirt I wore as a baby, a little table cloth I received from my mother-in-law back in the 1970s, and a piece of my dad's Hawaiian shirt.  There are also pieces of kitchen curtains that have followed me from house to house over the years and orphan blocks I've been hoping to use somewhere.

The two center halves are now finished and, when put together, will measure 56" x 56".  I think I will leave them separated so they'll be easier to quilt, but I will most likely add the two side borders before quilting.  After I put the halves together, I'll add the top and bottom borders.  I decided to order some more fabric for the borders because I don't have any yardage big enough to go around.  I think it's busy enough, visually, that plain - as opposed to pieced - borders seem wise.

This has been a really fun project, but I'm glad it's done for now so that I can work on a few other things.   I'd like to get something done for a change!  When it comes time to quilt this, I will do it on my sewing machine, but I will also do a little hand quilting in spots.  Some things are delicate and will need a gentle touch.

Involved!

This week I have been doing very little besides working on my blue and white hankie quilt.  I made the last of 49 Hunter's Star blocks early in the week and set them all aside for a while.   Then I turned my attention to the hankies and other older linens that I had set aside for the quilt made for a Facebook class named "1914 Boehm House Vintage Linens" run by Rhoda Cox Dort.  

Everyone else in the "class" seems to be way ahead of me, but perhaps that's only the people who have posted pictures.  Many are finished with this fifth in the series which began during the pandemic.  I made the first quilt about three years ago and have been thinking about a second one for a while.  I won the first batch of hankies in an online auction to benefit the Old Labor Hall in town, and then my friend Karen appeared at our door with a batch more she found while downsizing.  

Rhoda's #5 class seemed like something I'd like to try because she suggested a layout like this, made one section at a time.  I'd like my quilt to be a little smaller than twin-bed sized, perhaps throw-sized.  Some of the group members' quilts seem too busy for me, with every space covered with hankies, doilies, and embroidered snippets.  I like places for the eye to rest, but I also am enjoying the improvisational nature of this process.  I make a few pieced blocks, some to hold parts of hankies and some to add visual interest.  Here are sections 2 and 3 of the quilt.

I got the ideas for the mug and table cloth as well as the butterfly from an older book, Hooked on Hankies.  There are a lot of designs for embroidery which I don't think I'll ever get around to, but I did enjoy making these two blocks and even embroidered the butterfly's antennae.  I am thinking of quilting this in sections, so I only sewed #2 and 3 together but not to #1.  I worked on sections #5 and 6 yesterday.  Will post photos when ready.

This project is keeping me engaged although I am running out of blue and white hankies.  Many of the remaining ones in my "stash" are pink, so I'm going to have to get creative about what I do next.  At any rate, being so embroiled in a project really keeps me in the sewing room and not snacking.  All to the good!

This n that

 

Yesterday was a good day for sewing (isn't every day?).  I finished quilting the Pineapple quilt and started adding the binding.  At that point, my machine began making a horrendous noise, and every time I stopped and lifted the "dual feed" presser foot, the foot would not come down until I started sewing again.  When it did come down, it was with a loud "thunk," and the whole experience was noisy ("clackety clackety").  

I need to take it my machine in for repair again as there is something wrong somewhere.  Perhaps the dual feed foot has worn out?  That will take another few weeks which was not on my "schedule."  (I'm retired and have no real schedule.  I just don't like inconvenience!)

I worried when I finished the binding that the presser foot would not go down with a regular piecing foot, but everything was just fine.  I made the eight blocks for this month's "Rows Parade" quilt along with no problem.  They finish at 6", and I left them detached because I'm not sure how I'll arrange them yet.  Aby D., the quilt along's designer, has suggested a couple of ways to arrange the blocks, include a row by row.  I'll wait til I'm nearly done before deciding.

This morning I got busy making the first of seven sections of a quilt using vintage linens and hankies.  I have a lot of hankies and am always looking for ways to use them.  Rhonda Cox Dort has a Facebook group called "1914 Boehm House Vintage Linens Class" and offers one or two patterns each year.  

Although we can use any fabrics we'd like, she suggested two colorways for this quilt.  

I chose blue and white because I have quite a few hankies with blue in them and quite a few blue fabrics.  I'm using left over quilt blocks, scraps, and various white prints to go with the hankies and other items I'm including.  This is fun - somewhat improvisational.  

I'm going to set this aside for a while and work on some more Hunter's Star blocks for the next couple of days.

Hankies

Every time I look at my stack of old hankies, new ones seem to appear.  I had been saving some for a tutorial on crazy quilting with my Saturday sewing group.  But I discovered a lot more in various tubs and project boxes.  I used two to make a small table runner last week.  I added a hexagon cut from an old embroidered tablecloth.  Each block was surrounded by 1.25" strips of pink or beige fabric for a very feminine, spring-y table runner, now waiting patiently to be quilted and photographed.

What shall I do with the rest of the hankies?  I have used them in baby-sized quilts, purses, pillow tops, zipper bags, and more.   Knowing I like them, people give them to me, and I also bid on some in an online auction to benefit our beloved Old Labor Hall here in town.  I even have the book Hooked on Hankies and have played around with folding them in various shapes.  My fingers fumble a lot while folding.  I might manage a butterfly someday.  Today, though, I'll pack them away again until inspiration strikes.

Over the weekend, I read a super book - West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge - about two men driving a couple of giraffes cross country from New York to San Diego during the Great Depression.  I liked it so much, Paul read it, too, and enjoyed it as much as I did.  

I am working ahead on a couple of February projects, including the next step in the Unity quilt along and a swap with my online group.  We had a full day of snow yesterday and stayed cozily indoors again after several days of below zero weather.   Here are all the requisite parts to the next round.

Today I started putting these together and adding them to the center.  What a job!  There are a lot of points to fit and press together somehow.  I took a break to read part way through.  Hope to get the last rounds on tomorrow.  

Hankie quilt #1

It's finished!  I still have plenty of Marj and Karen's hankies left along with some old embroidery.  I have already made a table runner, and now the little wallhanging is done, too.

I enjoyed working on this project, designed by Rhonda Cox Dort and organized in a Facebook group that my friend Paula told me about.  Sorry the picture is so washed out - someday I'll be able to take pictures of my quilts outside again, but when it's 7 degrees out, one does not want to venture forth!

The fabric is from a line called "Jane Austen at Home," and although brown isn't my favorite color, I had to buy a yard of the brown print named "Marianne," after a character in Sense and Sensibility.

One of the prints is a replica of Austen's handwriting, and I cut a piece out of a vintage embroidered table topper for the center of the Dresden Plate.  That's really one of my favorite quilt blocks.  So easy, so effective.

I plan to offer the wallhanging (36" x 36") to the Old Labor Hall for fund raising, but for now it hangs in our front hall where I can enjoy it for a little while.  I still have plenty more hankies and Austen repro fabric to use in future quilts and table runners.   

Since it's the beginning of a new month, I'm working on blocks of the month and then will start on finishing a larger UFO.  I probably have too many blocks of the month going, but they do eventually end up as complete quilts.  Here's a list:

•  "Options" with Aby Dolinger
•  Rainbow Scrap Challenge - two projects - Pop Star blocks and pineapples
•  "Dear Jen" made with guild blocks of the month as well as those designed by Kingwell.  The guild blocks will end in May.
• and starting soon - Harriet's Journey, using Jennifer Chiaverini's latest pattern book

I do like to keep busy!

Two finishes

Here's a little quilt, lap sized (or maybe crib, depending on your point of view), made with leftover bits and pieces of the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt that I took to the long arm quilter last week. The setting is based on the book Circle of Nines. I quilted this one myself and am calling it Vermont Spring. We do still have gray skies and a little snow on the ground into May many years. Let's hope for an early one this year.  This little quilt required some time ripping out seams, and another trip to the quilt shop for more gray fabric.  But I'm happy with the way it turned out.

And next is a table runner made with some vintage hankies and some Jane Austen-era reproduction fabric called Jane at Home.   I joined a quilt along on Facebook this month and followed along, making 9 blocks before I put pedal to the metal on the BH mystery.  Many people in the quilt along group have made bed-sized quilts, but I think I want a wallhanging.  So I chose three blocks to turn into a table runner, and one of these days I'll start making a few more blocks to go with the six that are left.  There's another vintage quilt along starting in March, and I may yet join that one, too.  I still have a bunch of hankies and parts of a little embroidered table topper I've been saving for "someday" that I can use.  Some will need a little washing first - I tried Dawn dish soap but have found Oxiclean does a better job with stains.

Busy, quiet days

 It is typical weather for January - increasingly cold days with wind making it feel even colder.  Some sun has appeared after about two months of gray, so I have been hand sewing a bit more.  I appliqued some hearts for the guild's February block of the month and worked on a new quilt that features a bunch of hankies I won in an auction and from my friend Karen.  It's the 1914 Boehm House Vintage Quilt Along by Rhonda Dort.  Long ago, I received a pile of vintage hankies for Christmas and have been making things with them now and then.  Lots of times, I've forgotten I had them.  This quilt seemed like a good one to use with the "Jane at Home" fabrics I couldn't resist buying from the Missouri Star Quilt Co.  One of the fabrics is called Marianne, after the character in Sense and Sensibility. 

The hankie quilt finishes around 54" square and starts with eight 12" saw-toothed star blocks with vintage linen centers.  Yesterday I made a Dresden Plate for the center of the quilt using scraps from all the star blocks and another hankie in the center.  I don't like the way the fabric underneath shows through, though, so I will set it aside for a while until I figure out how to fix it.  I'm thinking about making a smaller piece anyway, because I'm not sure those vintage hankies will hold up well when washed.  This is how UFOs are born - too many choices!

The final clue - 9 pages long - for Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek mystery came out Friday, and I've started on the first part, which involves making 6" Ohio Star blocks.  These will be the center of a 12" block, and so far I'm liking the way they are turning out in my different colorway.   I'm not sure if I will make the suggested border which is string pieced.  More papers to remove!

I'm glad to have these involving projects right now considering how turbulent the US has become.  This week's destruction of our beautiful, historic Capitol building and the threatened hostage taking of our Congressmen were just plain scary.   As a young teen, I remember safely walking all over downtown DC with my friends, and I am still in awe whenever I visit my favorite city.  To think that the violence was encouraged by a manipulative, uncaring President is just too much to bear.   I worry that more is coming during the next weeks, and even our state Capitol police force is on high alert.   May we all stay safe and healthy during this tense time.