New quilt top--Batik Ohio Stars

 I pieced this one last week, but haven't yet been inspired with a quilting design.

                         Marley Jo approves.

The stars were made using a charm pack that was gifted to me, a few years ago, by Wanda Robinson, dear friend in Oklahoma.  After making the stars, I was in a quandry over what fabric to use as a setting background.  I was drawn to this blue and yellow calico that I had bought on clearance a few years ago, but it seemed so out of wack to combine batiks and calico.  But once I had laid it out, I knew that there was no going back.  I LOVE the look of it.  

I hope to update this post when I have quilted it.  It's quite small, around 54 inches square, but I adore lap quilts that measure anywhere from 40-60 inches square.  I have NO ONE in mind to gift it to, but that could change.  I tend to gift them on a spur-of-the-moment, so we'll see.  For now, I just enjoy the beauty, thanking God for the gift of quilt-making.

A FINISH--Strings for Candace

 Apparently, it is my new norm to  miss blogging about my finishes.  This one has been done for close to a week.  Actually, it is a near-copy of a former finish.

 A friend was visiting a few weeks ago, and really loved the colors in a little quilt that Marley Jo, my younger cat, has shown a preference for.  Anytime it is spread out on a chair , Marley makes a bee-line to hop up onto it and get comfy.   This is it (the original quilt), below, in 2 photos.  I originally used it as a table-topper, but it turned out to be a wonderful leg-cover this past Winter while I rested in the recliner, watching YouTube videos.  That's when MarleyJo got acquainted with it's yumminess as well !

 

My friend loved the colors and wanted to buy one just like it, but bigger.  I volunteered to make one as a gift.  Well.......I tried, but my strings only went so far in matching the original, so the new one wound up being only an inch or so bigger over all.  I haven't seen her yet to give it to her, and if she doesn't want it because of the size, I'll just keep it .  But it's ready, either way !  (they're both around 38 inches square, and flannel backed.)  So these photos below, and the first 3 photos of this post,  are the newer quilt.

( This is a twin bed. )
The two separate quilts have the exact same amount of blocks.  But, due to the differing arrangement of coloring, the original quilt displays 6 full bright diamonds, and 6 half bright diamonds.  The newer quilt, on the other hand, displays 9 full bright diamonds.  The original has two print borders and two scrappy borders.  The borders on the newer quilt are all scrappy.

I presented the quilt to Candace yesterday, and she was absolutely thrilled !  Her final thought was that it was too beautiful to ONLY be a lap quilt, could she possibly hang it on a wall !  So I took it home and added a sleeve.....and went ahead and finally remembered to label it as well .

SNOW DAYS ! ---- A FINISH

 Shame on me !   A week ago, we here in Middle Tennessee got one of the biggest snowfalls that I have seen in years around here, and I forgot to blog about it .  And the hardest part of that was the below zero temperatures that came along afterwards.

                       Downtown Main Street (not my photo)

  But even with concerns that pipes might freeze , and a little scare with my heat pump, God's gracious mercy saw me through again.  My water bill and my electric bill will show a bit of an increase due to the faucets left dripping faucets I"m sure, but that's nothing compared to being stuck with out water and heat and having to wait in line for repairs !  

  So, you guys know what this gal does when she's stuck at home for days ( I sure ain't drivin' on snow and ice' !)    I sewed,,,,,,of course !

   So, this past week was spent with me working on this little quilt....with white representing all the snow I could see out of the window in front of my old Singer 15-91 sewing machine.

  I chose to use IT because of it's location, and the birds outside of it, feeding all of the birdseed I kept putting out for them.

After finishing it, I realized that it would go perfectly with one of the Pioneer Woman fabrics that I picked up on clearance at our local Walmart.

Eventually I got around to quilting it, stitching in-the-ditch for the interior piecing, and then nervously experimenting with free-motion-quilting for the white borders.  After success doing the wishbones,

I started doodling on paper, and I made up the silly little triangles/circles quilting in the second white border.  

The outer big border, although I took the time to miter the corners, just got meandering quilting in it, since the quilting design there wouldn't be identifiable anyway.  I think that I could actually enjoy doing MORE fmq if I had a big table/cabinet that my Jazz 2 was sunken down into.  I use a SewSteady extension table, 18 x 24 inches, that came with the machine, but the quilt gets hung up on the edges of it, and lifts it up when I try to reposition the quilt.  I just don't think that I have room for those, even if I was willing to put out the big expense.

I bound it totally by machine, on my JukiTL2010q, using that 1//16th-inch left compensating foot that I am so appreciating. What a wonderful top-stitch it makes SO NEAR the folded edge.

Speaking of bindings, I have been invited to assist the ladies in our church that are making quilts for a good cause.  They were sorely in need of another stitcher, and I am happy to help.  I've bound 3 fairly big quilts for them so far (they do prefer that I do the finishing by hand).    We may even have a road trip to Marshall Dry Goods in our very near future.......I think that could be fun, although it IS a 6 hour drive each way !  Stay tuned for news about that.

.

Snow Days ! String piecing

 

                                                    32 inches square

Pieced on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, Jan. 14th, 15th, and 16th , while snowed in under 4 1/2 to 6 inches of snow !!!!

To be continued !

 

FINISH ! First quilt of 2024 ! Four-Patch Squared

 This little guy only finishes around 38 x 39 inches.  

Here's the finished top before being quilted.

Nothing purchased for this one.  Made from 2 1/2 inch squares and 5 inch charm squares halved, for the colorful blocks, a grey print for the alternate setting blocks,  and 2 1/2 inch strips for the binding.  Blocks squared to 6 1/4 ".

I loved how this one looked after quilting on my Jazz 2, with a diagonal cross-hatching. 

 I used more of the 80% cotton/ 20% wool pre-soaked and dried batting.  I hoped that it really wouldn't get that crinkly post-laundry look , but IT DID.

And here is an 'after' photo.....

EDIT : *****************

Following a kind suggestion on FB, I ironed this little quilt, and I must say that I am much happier with the look.  I used the wool setting on my little iron.

          I couldn't resist including the birds in this block.

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

EDIT:  I gifted this small quilt to Janice Bridges this past Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, in appreciation of all of the volunteer work that she does.


 

FINISHES- (2).... Star Boxes ... and...Aqua Rolling Stones

 I think that this will probably be my final finishes for 2023.  For me, it's been a really good year for quilting.

In the last couple of days, I finished these two quilts......

 

Star Boxes, measuring 53 x 64 inches.

Pattern adapted from Missouri Star Triple Play video

   Diagonally machine-quilted on Jazz 2.  Cotton/Wool batting

  58 inch wide backing from Hancock's of Paducah

UPDATE:  Not satisfied, I went back and pretty much doubled the diagonal quilting on this one.  I have these two photos of the finished quilting.

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

Last finish, Aqua Rolling Stones, finished at approximately 52 x 71 inches. 

Standard Rolling Stone block, original design setting

            Backing purchased at Hobby Lobby, Hobbs 100% cotton batting

  Basic hand-quilting in majority of quilt, BigStitch quilting in Flying Geese borders

 

FINISH (1) Three new (October 2023) pieces in the works, and one earlier, (Spring ?) one being hand-quilted

3 in-progress projects from October of 2023

 One (approximately) 52"x65"  quilt top made from Annies' jellyrolls (Threads that Bind) .  It's called Star Boxes, by Misty Doan of MSQC.  I LOVE THIS TOP.  The colors are so muted and dusty and soft !  I especially love how the sashing fabric that I used blends in softly instead of standing out.

At this point, I'm waiting for just the right backing fabric.

EDIT:(Finished quilting in December of 2023

Then came back and doubled the quilting in April of 2024.)  Look for more recent FINISH blog post.

*****

Secondly, this little table mat/wall quilt......I do not recall a name for the block, but I'm calling it HALF AND HALF.  I love this design done in solids.  I could see a whole quilt done in it, but quilting it in this way would be a pain.  I still need to get it bound, but am waiting on a special (backordered) foot to arrive. It's a bi-level foot by BabyLock, and I just wanted to see if I like it as well (for the final phase of machine-binding) as the compensating foot that I use on my Juki.

 EDIT: 

I finally got around to putting the binding onto this little quilt.  It now hangs above my p.c., and I have to say.....I really like it !  The Babylock feet that I ordered were not up to what I desired, so they were returned.  The binding foot actually never came ....I had it cancelled as well.

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

Thirdly is another little project I made from part of my Annie's order.  Got a couple of these Sunflower-themed charm packs, and just threw this together with some solid brown fabric.  Got it basted but never went further.  Not decided on a quilting design yet.

*********

UPDATE EDIT:

I named this one Autumn Charm, and I finished it around the 13th of December, 2023, and put if for sale on Facebook the next day.  It sold IMMEDIATELY for the price I asked, to one of my faithful buyers.  She said that it would be perfect for her retro kitchen of Avocado Green !

 

 

I don't generally post items that are still in the 'making' stage, but time gets away from me, and I wanted to document exactly when these were in the works.

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

Along with that bi-level foot, I also ordered a Babylock quarter-inch foot with guide, and a Babylock Stitch-in-the-Ditch foot. (These are ALL snap-on feet.)

Interestingly, though, I discovered yesterday that many of my snap-on feet tend to jiggle a bit after being snapped on, causing a seam allowance to vary as you go along.  I always blamed the feet with guide for having a flimsy 'bar' that lets your fabric press it to the right, so that the seam grew, but I've glued that bar so that it can't move, and that's when I discovered that it is the entire foot that can move !!!!!!!!!  

My hope is that these new feet, all being actual Babylock brand, will have a tighter fit where they snap on, thereby canceling the variance.  I do have a couple of snap-on feet that have a nice tight fit and don't wiggle.....not sure what brand (probably Amazon purchases-many of my feet are).

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

Almost forgot to mention that I am enjoying some hand-quilting currently.  I got this Rolling Stone quilt thread-basted, probably a couple of months ago, now, but just put it aside, not knowing if I wanted to quilt it by hand or by machine. (So glad that I rolled up and tacked the backing fabric around the edges to contain the extra batting) I finally started some hand-quilting on it a  few days ago, and it is going pretty quickly right now.  I do one stone block per evening, and some of the ditch-quilting on the flying geese borders.  There are 12 stone blocks, and I have done six already, but there are MANY other blocks, as alternates and side/corner setting triangles, plus an  outer plain border.  Looks like this one may be done in stages as my fingers toughen up again.

 

 

 

 

FINISH........Modest Tiles quilt, including update

 These are follow-up photos to my earlier post,  As you can see, I finished this quilt.  I machine-quilted along all of the black strips, using my Babylock Jazz 2 machine.  I switched to doing 'big-stitch' hand-quilting in all of the colorful rectangles.  The curvy quilting in the borders was also done by machine, after the quilt was bound.

  Quilting approved by Marley Jo.....say 'hi' to Marley !

Here's a better look at the hand-quilting.

  I didn't actually measure the finished quilt, being so excited to get it into the mail.  But it measured somewhere around 54 x 88......the next photo shows it covering a twin-sized bed, with a bit of a tuck-under allowance at the foot.  I made it for my grandson, T.J., to use as an extra-long throw, or as a bed cover/topper.  He's now well over 6 feet tall, and he told me that he had outgrown the last throw that I made for him, so Nana had to get it in gear and correct that.

That's my bed.........the quilt is currently on it's way all the way across the United States. 

 100% Hobbs bleached white cotton batting inside....hope I quilted it closely enough for it to withstand the washing machine !

 One last photo.......I had a wider-than-usual piece of flannel that made for a wonderfully snuggly-feeling backing.  I'm hearing that this younger generation no longer feel the need for top sheets..?????... I know, right???  So this one should feel wonderful against the skin.

One more note.....because the batting was shedding while I handled the quilt, I went ahead and sewed on the binding after the machine-quilting was done, but before I did the hand-quilting.  Wonderful results !

And I finished the binding by machine, using a 1/16th" left compensating foot , on my JukiTL2010Q sewing machine.  Game changer !

UPDATE:  Video of T.J. opening the package with his quilt.

A DIFFERENT kind of FINISH (TOTE-BAGS)

 Well, I've taken a bit of a twist on my sewing adventures.  I've made a couple of quilted tote bags. 

The first one, on the left, I made from leftover orphan blocks,  for carrying on days that I go to our Senior Center or our Church,  for playing Bingo.  It's handy for carrying my phone stand, which holds up my Bingo card, and then for toting home my winnings !  With prizes donated from Walmart's returns or clearance items, and sometimes donations from Cracker Barrel, or even other members' own homes, it is handy to have a bag ready.  Our Church makes sure that everyone wins, and the prizes are lots of snack cakes, crackers, and fruit !

After receiving numerous compliments from other players, I decided to make the yellow, black, grey, and navy one to donate for use as a 'Coverall' prize at the senior center.  

 I enjoyed piecing this bit of 3-d illusion patchwork, but sadly it didn't come off nearly as dimensional-looking in the finished bag, after quilting.