Dancing nine patches

 

It's summer - time for local strawberries!  When I saw the baskets at the supermarket, I just had to get some rhubarb to go along with them for jam.  How I miss my rhubarb patch from my old house! It made great jams and muffins when we ran the B&B.

I always make my jam early in the day to avoid the heat.  It's one of the hottest jobs I know.  But so worth it!  On most hot/humid days, I can be found in my sewing room with the air conditioning on.  Today I'll be there, quilting a Dancing Nine Patch quilt.

Last year sometime, I started making nine patch blocks whenever I was between projects or just wanted something simple to sew.  I used my overflowing box of 2.5" squares to make 6" blocks.  It was fun to see how they turned out since I just pulled them out at random after sorting lights and darks.  I had thought I'd try the Bonnie Hunter "leader/ender" thing, but I just couldn't keep at it.  There was just too much stuff on my sewing table if I was working on something else at the same time.    

Last weekend, I counted the blocks, made a few more, tested a few settings, and ended up with Bonnie's "Dancing Nine Patch" setting, adding a couple of yards of light blue "Dimples" fabric from my stash.  It all went together quickly, and was soon ready for quilting at 64" x 64".   After the VQF lecture I attended virtually Tuesday, I got some new ideas about quilting with a walking foot which I'm trying, including using machine embroidery thread.  I went to Joann's this morning to get some silver grey thread and batting (currently on sale at 50% off).  So far, the 100% viscous thread is working well with a slightly longer stitch length.  It has a nice sheen.  Luckily, my stash had a couple of yards of cream "Boundless" fabric from the old Craftsy for the back.   

I don't usually work so quickly, but I was on a roll.  I may go back to Joann's today for more batting.  That sale is too good to pass up.  Hope you have a great weekend!

All caught up

 Over the last few days, I worked on my Harriet's Journey blocks of the month and made a couple of "secret pal" gifts from scraps.  It feels good to have these blocks of the month done with days to spare.

Each month I try to make eight blocks from Jennifer Chiaverini's new sampler book.  These are assigned by Dotty D., another quilter on the quiltingboard.com who has organized a sew along.  My friend Beth also belongs.  This month's 6" blocks were fairly straightforward, except one was a fiddly applique and another was too complex for me to even contemplate.  So I got out Pat Sloan's Splendid Sampler and chose two blocks that I hadn't made while working on that quilt a couple of years ago.  

I love the "Moody Bloom" fabric I'm using for this sampler, but sometimes the larger prints don't show up as well as they might with larger blocks.  That's why I substituted the blocks with the large floral center and tiny hourglasses.  For the hourglasses, I made larger ones and cut each one down to 2" square.  I also tried to use snippets of most of the fabrics I have in the block with the heart in its center (which I did hand applique).  This was a fun set of blocks to make.

For my secret pals, I made a mug rug to send soon in a mug rug swap and a zipper bag to hold the things I'm sending later this summer to another quilter in a birthday swap.   

Both projects were made with 2" and 2.5" squares and Vermont "license plate" panels.  Sorry I didn't get a photo of the mug rug which had 2" squares with a license plate on one side and 2.5" squares on the other.  Neither made a dent in my stash of scrap squares! 

 This leaves me wondering what to work on today.  Maybe an appliqued block to exchange at the state guild meeting in the fall?

June's blocks of the month

 I've been catching up on this month's blocks of the month.  First, I worked on "Options," with black, white and red.  Aby chose variations on sawtoothed stars, which were easy although I goofed on the center hourglasses, but I may use all the extras somewhere else in the quilt.

This is going to be a nice quilt with 8" blocks, perhaps on point, sashing (black? white?), and cornerstones.  I love the fussy cut center on the block on the right.  It's from a couple of pieces of rather ancient "redwork" printed fabric.

Next, I worked on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.   The color of the month is purple, and I have lots!  It was hard to pick which two prints to  use for the "Pop Stars" blocks.  In the end, I chose two pretty florals that I have a little trouble matching with other fabrics.   

Then, I tackled the four 6" purple pineapple blocks for the month.  I had a lot of strings that I could use for those.  I am getting more comfortable with paper piecing, so it doesn't take me very long to make these.  Taking the paper off is OK if one is watching TV.

Tomorrow I'll work on some Harriet's Journey blocks, and then my blocks for the month will be done.  I have a couple of "secret pal" projects I'm working on, too, so those will be next up.  

Scrappy Trips

This year, to keep members engaged in the Heart of Vermont quilt guild, I offered to coordinate a block of the month with lottery by mail and a block swap.  For the swap, we settled on Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Trips Around the World, and each person was to make at least 21 blocks.   The swap ran from October to June 1, plenty of time to make these scrappy blocks.  I used a lot of leftover binding pieces, stray jelly roll strips, and a few cut strips.  I didn't make a dent in my scraps, of course.

Beginning June 1, people visited into my garage to leave their blocks in the bin I had to collect them.  I didn't get to talk to everyone, but it was fun to see some after all this time without a guild meeting.  Unfortunately, several people had to drop out ("life happens"), so we ended up with 16 swappers, one of whom didn't want any back.   Some made a few extra, too.   I spread all the extras out among those who were left, giving everyone 24 blocks.   

I couldn't resist starting to put my blocks together, and one led to another.  Today my top is finished.  I had made some extra blocks for a bigger quilt and ended up with 36 blocks, set 6 by 6.  I plan to find a less busy fabric for the back and binding, but I do like the result.  Matching the seams was difficult, but as usual, I fudged a lot.

I plan to have my friend Marie long arm quilt it with swirls.  It will make a nice throw for a couch or dorm.  Here's another view:

Naming quilts

 

My Dear Jen-inspired quilt is finished!  After putting the binding on yesterday morning, I took it outside for some photos.   First I tried to lay it out on the lawn, but that didn't work so well as I am too short to get a full shot, even of this throw.  But I was able to get a few closeups.

Some of the blocks came from Jen Kingwell's pattern, and some from this year's guild blocks of the month.  The latter were 6" so that we could mail them easily to the winner of that month's lottery.   It was a fun thing to do during the isolation of the pandemic.  The guild hopes to begin meeting in person in the fall, when we'll resume rotating designing 12" blocks of the month.

I am having a time trying to come up with a name for this quilt.  I have several Dear Jane-inspired quilts, and I named my Splendid Sampler "Dear Yve" in memory of my late dear friend.  So what should I name this throw?  Or does it even need a name?  It will probably be sold or given away to someone in need.

At any rate, I like it much more now with the red sashing and borders.  Kingwell's quilt didn't have any, and when I tried that, I hated it.  It seemed very gloomy.  Many of the fabrics came from a box marked "wild fabrics," multi-colored ones that don't fit easily into my one color storage boxes.  

Now that this is finished, my sewing room has been taken over by piles of blocks from guild members for a swap of "Scrappy Trips Around the World" blocks.  They've been arriving a few bags at a time for the past week.  I'll swap them all out today and tomorrow for pick up over the weekend.  When they're all set, I'll have room to sew again.  Until then, though, I can't sew at my machine.  Guess that means I will spend some time on something I've been procrastinating on - weaving in loose ends on a few small knitting projects.

Busy days

 Paul has been home from the hospital for a little over a week, and he is doing pretty well.  We have settled into a routine centered mostly around his dialysis schedule - Tues., Thurs., and Sat., 5:30-10 pm.  Since we have always been early-to-bed people, staying up later took a little getting used to, but we are trying to sleep a little later in the mornings.  We are also eating larger meals at lunchtime on those days.  Every day Paul tries to walk a little farther outside, which has been nice although today it's muggy and gloomy.  Thundershowers are predicted later.

Little errands take up our days, and now that it's June quilt guild members are stopping by with the swap blocks they've been making all year.  I have a tub in the garage for a "contactless" drop off with a checklist for them to note when they do.  They have until the 7th to drop the blocks off, and then I'll do the swapping, probably using every surface in my sewing room.  Then they'll pick their swapped blocks up next weekend.   One quilter made blocks but doesn't want any back, so everyone else will get 22 12" blocks for their "Scrappy Trips Around the World" quilts.  I have a bunch more made so that I can make a bigger quilt... eventually.  I have a couple of other projects in the queue ahead of it, though.

I've been quilting the Dear Jen sampler in three sections, and today I finished quilting the second section and pin basted the last one.  I pieced a back of mostly muslins and also pieced the batting.  Now that the blocks are sashed in red, I like it a lot better, and it will be a nice throw for someone when finished.  I'll use more red for the binding.