ANOTHER FINISH???????????????? Purple, anyone?

 Squeezing in one more finish before year's end !

 Sashed Disappearing 9-patch blocks with binding made from same fabric as I used for back of quilt.  Final measurement is approximately 40 inches square.  Polyester batting, machine-quilted and machine-bound, front and back.

EDIT:  I offered this one, on Facebook, for sale for $45.  Cindy Mayle, James's (and my) niece, (Jean's daughter) responded that she loved it and wanted to buy it.  So I told her that I'd like to gift it to her.  I mailed it off to her address in Nashville the next day, and she received it the day after that, Dec. 29th.  She snuggled with it on the couch on her day off !  Happy there, happy here !

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS ! Give THANKS in ALL THINGS !

 Just a bit different Christmas Day this year.........first and foremost, it fell on a Sunday, and our church had a wonderful service, coming together to worship our LORD and Savoir, Jesus Christ.  Oh, the tears that came to my eyes as a young man, who is battling addiction with the help of our LORD, sang "OH HOLY NIGHT".

Breathtaking !  Glory to God !

 And I want to take this opportunity to blog about our cold blast we've had to welcome in Winter 2022/2023.  I witnessed my front porch thermometer showing 10 below zero on Thursday night, and a bit colder Friday morning.  We had probably 2 inches of snow mixed with sleet.  I was blessed to not lose running water, as I left a stream going at the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and at the bathtub faucet.  

The state did what they called "running blackouts" on Saturday, Christmas Eve, to try to alleviate the heavy toll on the electrical power system.  Many people were without power even before that, but I was blessed to only have mine down for the 35 minutes that they cut it off.

Waterwise, many people found that they were without running water yesterday and today, or that they had very low water pressure.  I had low, but sufficient pressure today and was able to share. 

The city announced that there is a problem with our water supply now, and we are all instructed to boil any water that we are going to consume (drink/ brush our teeth/ wash dishes).  So I've boiled some today for drinking and for washing dishes, plus, I threw out all the ice that my freezer had made........ But tonight, while taking trash to my outside can, I heard water splashing against the inside of my mobile home's underpinning.  It seemed to be coming from the area where my fridge with icemaker is connected.  My neighbor came right down and turned my water line off until he can have a look tomorrow to see what exactly is wrong.  

Thankfully, I got my dishes done earlier, and built up a supply of water to hold me over for awhile.

I thank the LORD for the good neighbors I have that help me and constantly check to make sure that I am okay since I live alone. 

Hopefully, I will update this blog as things progress.   God is good, God is faithful........HE'S NEVER FAILED ME YET !

  

FINISH--Twin bed quilt--Twinkling Lights (Triangle Quilt)

 This may or may not be my final finish for 2022, but it is a happy finish indeed.  

This has been my hand-quilting project for the last few months, done with a pretty big stitch and 30 wt. quilting thread from Walmart.  Not sure when I started the quilting, but it wasn't more than a few months, if that.  

All machine-pieced a bit at a time, it stayed on my design wall for quite a while.  To back it, I pieced together a grey print that I had yardage of for YEARS, and a magenta print that I obtained recently.  I don't 'do' collections or name brands generally so I can't tell you who these fabrics were by.   I just look through my stash and am thrilled if I have enough of something to cover the back of a quilt.  But I must say that the grey is the most wonderful feeling fabric that I have worked with in years.  I know that I got a fantastic buy on it from Fabric.com years ago, and it has been a difficult one to match to a quilt.  But this one being for me, I was fine with it, and it goes with the grey in the top, right???????

 Batting is 80/20 cotton/poly, probably Fairfield brand from Walmart, but not sure.  Finished measurements of the quilt are approximately 60 inches by 88 inches.  There are, including one half-square block on back for the label, 662 triangles in the quilt.  

So......Merry Christmas to ME, ...........and a very merry and joyous Christmas to you all, most especially those who live alone.  I hope you have wonderful friends and/or family in your life to show you the love of our savior, Christ Jesus, whom we celebrate at this time !  

Love from Dolly.

Gift for Widows' Luncheon

 This year I made two coordinating table mats from a charm pack that I received from Jodie Ann several years ago.  The colors in the pack were black, grey, yellow, navy, and cream.

 I just made up two different designs, and quilted them in two different ways, by machine.  This one is just a straight line grid parallel to the seams, 

 

and the second one was done with a ruler foot and free-motion quilting rulers that make different sizes of circles and fan-quilting.  I quite enjoyed doing that one.  The rulers pivot on a pin, which makes it much easier to keep the lines accurate.

 

Sister Faye wound up winning the two mats.  We no longer do "Dirty Santa", as there was some grumbling among our group the last time that we did that.  So now a number is placed on each gift, and then each person draws a number as well.  You then get the gift that matches your number.

The mats measured approximately 19 inches square, each, and included a wool/poly batting that was purchased from JoAnn fabrics online. The price was too good to be true, and the reviews were terrible, claiming fiber migration.  I took a chance, ordering three........two queen, and one baby-size.  I've used the baby-size to experiment, and sure enough, I noticed yesterday on a potholder that I made with it, and have washed and dried twice, it is bearding, for sure.  

Well......I've wanted to try making some pieced and quilted rugs for my bathroom floor, so these might work well for that, and I could use some pattern boards, like Lori Holt makes, so maybe I'll do something like that with them as well.  Hey, maybe even a few layers would make a good ironing surface as long as you have fabric to keep the iron from any polyester melting.

Lesson learned,.......but warning you.....if they still have them at JoAnn fabrics, don't buy them unless you have a use for them other than a beloved quilt.

New Orphan quilt top finish

 Over the last week, I've taken my orphan box and gathered enough blocks to make myself a throw-sized quilt top.  I added to or took away as needed to get them all to fit together.  I like it because these blocks contain many fabrics and memories of past quilts that I have made, and or blocks or fabrics contributed by a friend.

 

I'm pretty pleased with the results, and the top currently measures approximately 64 x 68 inches.  I hope to thread-baste it soon, and then machine-quilt it. 

    ****************************************************

 I am currently hand-quilting this triangles quilt...

I am basically doing a bigger quilting stitch than I did when I was young, but it really doesn't go any faster, because I am still a stickler for trying to make the stitches all look alike.  I am gradually letting go of that strict standard though.  Just quilting a quarter of an inch away from the seams, inside each triangle.

FINISH---Baby Nines

My latest finish, "Baby Nines", after laundering.

 

(Before laundering) 

I pieced these little nine-patch blocks over a matter of weeks, accumulating enough to try a design for a quilt top.  I was inspired by this nine-patch quilt design (below photo) that was shared by Fons and Porter.

 Somehow, as time passed, the original design left my head, or I couldn't come up with the right fabrics, so I came up with my own alternate setting.  I was really surprised, after finishing mine, to run across this photo (above) and see how far I had strayed.

 Still, I think that mine came out very nicely, and with the cream-colored flannel back, it is really a snuggly love.  It finished at around 42 inches by 54 inches, and I gifted it as a lap warmer for a homebound friend of mine.  She loved it ! 

 

FINISHED QUILT-- "Chickens 'round the Cabin"

 

This quilt came about pretty much by accident.  I started piecing log-cabin blocks from 1 1/2 inch strips, wanting to make a bed-sized quilt (twin, for me), but I soon tired of the monotony.  Then while searching for a suitable border to atleast bring it up to a table-topper size, my eye fell upon this chicken fabric.  

Last Christmas, a new friend gifted me and her cousin, both, with generous gift cards to JoAnn fabrics, suggesting a road trip for the three of us sometime.  Well, we finally got around to taking that trip about a month ago, and she wound up buying what was left of these chickens , and splitting the piece down the middle with me.  The colors in the fabric are absolutely scrumptious, and I had no idea what I'd make, but just had to have some of it.  

Well, I cut and sewed, and next thing you knew the chickens were happily roosting........and I am happy as well !

The finished quilt (before laundering) is 39 1/2 wide by 40 3/4 long (green border strips had to differ in widths to accommodate fitting the chicks. 

 80/20 cotton/poly batting, Valorie Wells backing fabric, Cotton Essentials thread from Connecting Threads.  Machine-pieced and binding applied on Juki TL2010Q., finishing with hand-stitching it down to the back. Machine-quilting done, all straight-stitch, on BabyLock Jazz 2 domestic sewing machine.

Finishing Farm Fresh Jubilee quilt

 

This one is SO CLOSE, but not quite finished.  Finally I'll have a twin-sized quilt that is actually long enough to be tucked in at the foot of the bed.  I am continually making quilts that seem to all wind up around 60 x 80....nice for an extra layer on the twin bed, but not long enough to tuck.  Atleast they DO make wonderful nap quilts for the couch or recliner.

I'll tell you where the inspiration for this one came from.   I was perusing an Annie's catalog earlier this month when I spotted a quilt that I really liked.  It looked easy enough to graph for myself, and I knew that I had fabrics that would work, so I set to drawing it out for myself. Here is one block....(pardon the wall quilt that it is pinned onto.)

 Kudos to the actual pattern designer, Jocelyn Ueng for It's Sew Emma .  A kit, called Farm Fresh Jubilee, is available from Annie's Craft Store catalog, and I much prefer HER colors.  But I just had to try to use up this Anna Marie Horner layer cake that I had purchased from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  And I had been hoarding the blue, turquoise, and green batik fat quarters , awaiting inspiration for just the right quilt.

Well, they're 20 inch blocks, and I got it pieced, and then realized that, with borders added, I had managed to make a top that measured 90+ inches long !  I thought that it was going to be longer than my quilt frame boards would accommodate for basting.  I cleared away all the furniture that I could from my living room and managed to achieve a space just big enough to be able to barely walk around the frame while thread-basting the three layers. 

Then, while trying to decide on a quilting design to use with my machine, I started looking differently at a border stencil that consists of three concentric wavy lines.  I have it in 3 sizes for three different widths of borders.  But I quilted up a sample, using the medium sized template, 4 1/2",  where I used it repeatedly for the length of the sample, and I LOVED the results.

So........the next day, I spent the WHOLE AFTERNOON drawing those wavy lines across the width of the top, for the whole LENGTH of the top !

It then took me 2 daily sessions......with breaks........to quilt the entire quilt.  AND I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER !  

I used a polyester batting, also purchased from one of MSQC's daily deals, and a 108-inch fabric from Fabric.com.  All I have left to do is label and bind this quilt, and wait for those cooler Autumn nights where I can snuggle and smile !

EDIT....UPDATE....

This quilt IS FINISHED, as of August 2, 2022.  Twin-size, finishing approximately 67 x 86 inches, after laundering, (quite a bit of shrinkage, but I had not prewashed the fabrics. ).  Cotton fabrics, polyester batting from Missouri Star Quilt Company, 90 x 108. Begun approximately July 11, 2022.

 

My first grandchild graduated high-school

 I was blessed to have Zoe come and get me and drive me back up to her house, 2 hours away, the day before her graduation so that I could attend it with the rest of the family. 

Tears threatened as I thought of how proud James would have been to be there and see this momentous day.  

What a precious beautiful young lady this girl has become.  I pray for all the best for her.

                                       3 generations of Brewer girls

                Wait !  HE"S the YOUNGER sibling !

Rain !

 Oh, heavenly Father, we celebrate you today as you bring rain to our parched land !  

 

Thank you

 for the blessings of this week,

 for hearing and answering our prayers, 

for your mercy that you extend to us, 

and for the forgiveness that you give to us at the cost of your son's precious blood !

And I personally thank you, dear LORD, for these 3 precious grandchildren who are quickly growing OUT OF childhood. Please protect them and guide them on their new adventures, and may they put you first in every decision.

FINISH--Baby quilt --WHEELS ON THE BUS

 I can't remember the name of this block.  I saw someone on youtube demo it, I think, and I quickly made a block, which I proceeded to pin up onto my sewing room wall. 

 As time went on, I'd see it, like it, and decide to make another.  When I had 3, I decided that my orphan block box was already too full and I needed to actually use these blocks.

So I made another 6  blocks, sashed them with a fabric that I was NEVER going to use, and before I knew it I had a baby quilt top.

I backed it with the same fabric that I had used for the sashing, batted it with polyester batting, and hand-quilted it........very enjoyable, I must say.

FINISH (QUILT) for early June.......it's NOT a RUG ! "Plus Diagonal"

Original design

 When I posted a photo of the top of this quilt when I first finished piecing it, a friend later commented that she loved my rug that she saw a photo of !   That was on Facebook where I didn't take the time to explain what it was.     No........although it would make a luscious rug....believe me, I've walked across it a few times while straightening it out for photos.....it is a twin-size topper quilt.  It lacks a few inches being long enough to tuck at the end of the bed, but it will definitely serve to provide an extra layer of warmth on cold nights !

Finishing (before laundering, which I have yet to do) at approximately 63 inches by 81 inches, I used 5 1/2 inch binding strips in solid navy fabric, to give it a wide binding resembling the edge of a blanket. I really like the look.  Although I sewed the binding down to the back side by hand, I took the time to also go around it once, in the ditch from the front side, by machine, just to make sure the edging was more durable.  I hope for the quilt to be used, either by myself or by someone to whom I gift it.

The purple that you see is an extra mattress lying beneath the top one.  So you can see that the end of the quilt just comes over the edge of an average twin mattress, but isn't long enough to tuck.   But the sides are nice and generously long.

I wanted to get a nice close-up shot of the fabric that makes up the background.  From Walmart, it's like a map of the world.......partial, that is.

This backing fabric was sold on Fabric.com, and was 56 or so inches wide.  Thankfully, I had just the right solid color to match the print for the strip down the middle.

In this photo, you can see a bit of the quilting.  The plus blocks were all quilted in the ditch, including around the little green squares on some of the blocks.  Then I did a large meander in all of the background, finally getting  my Jazz 2 to cooperate for some free-motion quilting.

FINISH for May 2022--Walmart Christmas Roll lap quilt

 Measuring 44 x 47 inches after laundering.

        

                                                              Before laundering.