Backing made

I really wanted to be able to complete this little quilt with fabrics from my own stash,.....even though I was tempted to purchase flannel for the backing.  But, because the flannel was borderline wide enough to use without piecing it, I went back to my own fabrics.

The center rectangle is NOT a Kaffe fabric.

I came across a bundle that I was blessed to receive as a gift years ago.  I think that these are Kaffe Fassett dots.  I had 6 fat quarters, and that may even be enough to bind the quilt, although the last quarter is a white background with green dots, and I'm not sure I'd be happy with a light colored binding.

We'll see.

Mindless piecing, Box of Crayons

Hubby goes for his second set of chemo treatments today and tomorrow, so I've needed a little bit of distraction.  So, over the last few days, I pieced a little baby-sized quilt top.

These were from my old collection of child-themed fabrics, a shoebox-ful that I tried to sell during my last yard sale.  The solid fabrics are from a set of 2 1/2 inch strips I bought from Connecting Threads years ago.

So pleased to have something pretty from these leftovers !

Tweaking Tradition

Rummaging through my 'pieces' shoeboxes last week, I came across a bunch of 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch rectangles that were leftover from a several-years-ago project.

I sewed most of them to some 2 1/2 inch green solid squares that I also found, and then started playing with them on my design wall (after drawing a possible layout on my graph pad).

Naturally, my eventual layout involved un-stitching many of the sets to change up the colors that I needed.  But when I was done with the center, yesterday morning, I was left with a very traditional-looking piece.

I didn't like it.

So, searching for something to WAKE IT UP, I came across fabrics that I liked, but they were only 1/2 yard pieces.  So, I put several of them together and came up with something that I can live with.

So, here it is.  It now measures 48 x 52 inches, a good size for a baby quilt or a lap quilt for a wheelchair-bound person.

It doesn't photograph well.  But, in person, I really like it.  It has an energy to it.  I may just use it as a take-along/hand-quilting project for my husband's chemo sessions.  Then again, they don't provide ME with a recliner, or even a comfy chair, just a straight-backed bedside chair, so I'm not sure how well I could spend hours in one position doing handwork.

But, for now, the next thing on the agenda..........coming up with a backing.

FINISHED QUILT: Autumn's Paintbrush WARNING: Picture-heavy post !

Hooray for another finish.......praise the LORD

   As I mentioned in this previous post, the inspiration for this quilt came from two sources:

1.  While browsing quilting blogs, I ran across a quilt that used assorted solid-colored fabrics as the background for some star blocks.
2.   I had this little pieced tree block stuck up on my design board staring down at me, and inviting me to enlarge upon it's design.
   

So, I purchased what I considered 'autumnish colors' from the selection of Waverly solid-colored fabrics at our local Walmart, and figured out how to redo that little tree block in a 12-inch size.  After making a rough sketch on my graph pad, I had my design that should finish around my standard favorite size or 60 x 80 inches.

For the trees themselves, I used mostly charm squares that I had, occasionally cutting out a piece from my stash when needed.

When the top was completed, I started putting together a pieced backing, and I wound up with a whole separate design.  So, technically, this is a fully reversible quilt.

When it came time to bind this quilt, I felt that the tree side needed a wider binding due to the lack of a border.   I cut strips between 3 and 3 1/4 inches, winding up with about a 3/4" wide binding.  I chose a solid-colored fabric that was NOT in the top, but went with the Fall colors on both sides.

I had hoped to use organic wavy lines for the quilting, but because of the solids in light and dark hues, the quilting just did not look good.  So, I went back to my old stand-by, meandering, keeping the design a bit bigger than I usually do.

This is the second quilt that I have made with the Pellon 80% cotton/20% polyester batting (with scrim) that I bought in a 9-yard roll from Walmart.com.  I have laundered both quilts, and am totally satisfied with the performance of the batting.

Truthfully, I am OVER-THE-MOON happy about the outcome of this quilt. 

 I still don't know who I am going to gift it to, if that's what I do with it, so I didn't put a label on it yet.

The wind was not cooperating with me when it came time to take outdoor photos !

The porch photos came after trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get photos of the quilt while it hung on the clothesline.  (I wanted to be  able to see the trees in the woodline for a background.  Turns out, they're not color-changed enough yet anyway.) 

 I'm glad that I changed locations.....I love these shots.

Two more final steps and I'm done....

The binding is on !

I've named it "AUTUMN'S PAINTBRUSH".

I need to put a label on it and launder it.

Then.....

decide WHO gets it !!!!!

Closing in on a finish !

I can't believe it, but I quilted that leaf quilt TREE QUILT , last night, starting around 6:30 p.m.  I meant to just sit down and do a couple of organic wavy-line rows across the quilt.  But I didn't like the looks of that, so I thought that I would just do a sample of meandering across one or two of the blocks.

Well, it's hard to stop at that.  So I kept going, but boy did I HATE quilting the most interior blocks of the quilt.  But I prayed, and stayed at it, and , I can't believe it, .......I FINISHED THE ENTIRE QUILT.  Praise be to GOD, because I was so frustrated and jumpy from all the tugging and pulling and trying not to run over a stitching line or make them too far apart......and I promised I'd give HIM the glory if it came out well..............and I think that it is going to FOR SURE !

I'm not ready to post

lots of photos yet, as I haven't found my binding fabric, but I hope to finish early next week, and I just wanted to note my progress here.

Of course you were right, commenter, A Maiden Hair Fern !

I washed the Heart Strings quilt today, and was blessed with a wonderfully , crinkly goodness, warm from the dryer.  There was definitely no disappointment.
















                                                                                                                                                     
     I updated it's 'before laundering' measurements in the stats of the former post to read 61 1/2 inches by 80 inches.
The 'after laundering' measurements are 59 by 76 1/2 inches.  I washed it in cold water, and dried it on a perma-press setting in my dryer.
So I lost 2 1/2 inches in the width, and 3 1/2 inches in the length.  Not too bad, but something that I should definitely factor into the finished size of the quilts that I am piecing.    60 x 80 is about my standard go-to size now, but I want ALL OF THAT, after shrinkage.

Still, this is my most favorite quilt that I have made in YEARS, and I find no fault with it.

Today, I basted another quilt, this time going back to doing it under the carport.   It took me most of 4 hours from beginning to end, but I basted it in a grid 4 inches apart widthwise and lengthwise.  I find that anything farther apart than this allows too much movement of the layers when quilting on my standard size, old model 15 Singer sewing machine.

Here are the legs to my basting frame, set in place (my husband made my legs for me, probably 30 or more years ago.)

  This photo shows me putting the top onto the pinned on backing that is topped by the batting.  The wind started to get up at this point (it was around 11 a.m.), and I  prayed for it to ease off.  AND IT DID.  Praise God, He cares about the little things that are important to us, as well as the big ones.

Here, the quilt layers are all ready .  At this point,  I use a fairly long straight needle to baste around the perimeter of the quilt layers, scooting my office chair underneath me as I go.  Then, using a curved needle, I stand and STRE-T-C-H to baste each row, reaching just to the center and basting toward me when I get to the middle rows of the quilt.  I do a back-stitch about every 9th stitch, incase the basting stitches get cut during the quilting.  That way the whole row doesn't come unbasted.

And here is a happily-tired baster/quilter with a fully-basted quilt.  I always wonder how much the 'sway' in the middle of the quilt affects how square the quilt will turn out, but thus far I haven't noticed any particular problems.  I've never had success trying to baste a quilt layed out flat on the floor.

I don't know who this quilt will be for.  I've already changed my mind twice, so I'll just concentrate on completing it, and I'm sure I'll know by then.

P.S. For Maggie, who calls herself a novice quilter, this is the entire basis for making the Heart Strings quilt....

I glued a one-inch strip of white diagonally on these 10-inch square papers from Missouri Star Quilt Company, and started sewing strips to each side of the white strip, and pressing them outwards.  When the paper was covered, I trimmed it to 9 1/2 inches. There are many possibilites for designs when laying out all the squares, but all of the squares are made the exact same way.  After putting the whole top together, I went back and removed the papers.