Autumn Breeze Quilt

 

I have been amazingly unproductive for the past several months.  At the beginning of the pandemic I was trying to work on some projects that I already had all the materials for, but I really lost the will to sew during the summer.  I do have a quilt top in progress at the moment, but haven't worked on it in a couple of months.  It's been a rough year for me, like it has for everyone else.  As it turns out, sewing just wasn't my coping mechanism, like it was for some people, and that's okay.

I did manage to finish the binding on this lovely throw quilt.  I had really thought I'd get it finished in time for the fall season, but that was not meant to be.  Our fall was quite hectic, with many long car trips, which would have been conducive to working on binding in the past, but I do more of the driving now than I used to, so I'm less inclined toward sewing in the car.  When I'm not behind the wheel I'm mostly trying to rest.  I'm glad that I was at least able to get it finished before the end of the year.

Brioche and Baguettes quilt top

This quilt came from a pattern that I saw in a Connecting Threads catalogue years ago called Brioche and Baguettes.  I don't know if the pattern is still available anywhere or not.  The original pattern used half yards and fat quarters for the print fabric, but I did mine with all fat quarters.  The top is 57 x 75 inches. 

Mine is made from Frolic! fabric from Moda by Me and My Sister Designs.  So far I've made two different quilt tops from the fat quarter bundle that bought and I still have fat quarters left.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the rest of them.  However, I think I will buy some yardage for the back and binding, and NOT try to use the remaining fat quarters for that.

I finished this quilt top yesterday (actually yesterday), so I'm finally caught up on my blogging.  Yay!

My First Art Sale!

Last year when I was doing Inktober on Instagram, one of my friends saw my work and she that she wanted to commission a piece of art.  She said that there was no hurry, she didn't need it for Christmas or anything, but she wanted a drawing of our church to give to her husband, our parish priest.  She thought that it would be nice for him to have a drawing of his first church done by one of his parishioners.  I had never done a drawing of building before, but I told her I would give it a try.  I did a couple of practice drawing, to build my confidence in my ability to do it, but she never mentioned it again.

Fast forward to June of this year and I get a call from my priest letting me know that he has accepted a call to another church out of state and that he will be leaving the end of July.  My mind almost immediately jumped to the drawing of the church that his wife had asked for.  I got out my paper and pens and drew this up for her.  When I was done drawing all of those little bricks I felt a bit like I was either going to pass out, throw up, or both, but I got it done!  Once it was all finished, I texted and asked if she was still interested in having it.  She said that she definitely was, and she was very excited about it.

I got it to her on Friday and she gave it to him as a Father's Day gift.  The finished piece it 6 x 8 inches on cotton paper.

Full disclosure: This post is back-dated to reflect when the work was done, not when I actually posted it.

Lap Protector Mini-quilt

The weather get pretty warm here in south Alabama, even with the air conditioner running.  In fact, we set our air conditioner at 78 degrees during the day and it still has trouble keeping the house at that temperature sometimes.  So it would seem like quilts in the summertime would be unnecessary...but, we have 2 cats and I like to wear shorts.  That combination usually ends with me having scratches on my legs unless there is a quilt between me and the cats' claws.  Enter the bright idea to make a small lap-only quilt to protect the skin on the tops of my thighs.  This way I get minimal warmth, but maximum claw protection!

This little quilt is made from leftover 2-1/2 inch strips of batik fabric.  It consists of nine 8-inch blocks sewn together into a 24 inch square finished quilt. I free-motion quilted it, on my home sewing machine, in an all-over wave pattern.

Full disclosure: This post is back-dated to reflect when the work was done, not when I actually posted it.

Mer-May

I haven't done much of any drawing since the end of Inktober, so I decided I'd sketch out a few things for Mer-May.  Above is an pencil sketch of Ariel from the Little Mermaid, and a very rough pen and ink drawing of merkitten.  I really need more practice drawing fur and hair!

Full disclosure: This post is back-dated to reflect when the work was done, not when I actually posted it.

Night Sky quilt

This quilt is a variation on the Sisters Ten Sampler that my guild did a while back.  I finished the quilt top back in January of last year (featured here) but I just now got it all bound up and finished.  It was quilted by the Gammill Girls at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in Ozark, AL, with an all-over stars and loops pattern.  My oldest granddaughter, who just recently turned 3, loves to look at the moon and stars at night, so I thought this would make a nice quilt for her.

Full disclosure: This post is back-dated to reflect when the work was done, not when I actually posted it. I've gotten so behind. *sigh*

Sunflowers

Again, I'm behind the times on posting.  I finished this quilt on April 17 and mailed it to it's recipient a week ago.  It is a graduation gift for a friend who is graduating from the University of Alabama this semester.  I had to mail it because the actual graduation ceremony has been cancelled due to COVID-19 social distancing and gathering size limits. 

Kudos to the US Postal Service.  I mailed it on Monday and she received it the next day, which really surprised me (She lives 3 hours away).  And I'm happy to report that she seems to really like the quilt.  She's so thoughtful.  She already sent me a thank you card.

Half-square Triangle quilt

I bought the fabric to make this half-square triangle quilt back in 2014.  The quilt shoppe had gotten in some charm packs of "Fancy" (by Lily Ashbury for Moda fabrics) and I bought one.  She was anticipating getting some yardage that never came, so I ordered some yardage of the blue bandana-looking fabric for the border and some polka-dot fabric ("My Sunshine" by Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake fabric) to be the background fabric from Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I knew exactly what I wanted to make, but for some reason I would never get around to making it, but now I have.  I actually finished the top on April 13, but I just haven't been inspired to set down and document things. 

I had originally planned to quilt this myself and use the polka dot fabric that is used in the half-square triangles as the backing fabric.  I'm not 100% sure that I'm still going to go that route.  If I have it long-arm quilted I'll definitely need more fabric.  I might need more either way.  I think it is pretty touch-and-go in that area.  Once the quilt shoppe is open for in-person shopping I may have to see if they have something that will work for alternate backing. But for now I'm happy that it is a completed quilt top instead of a box full of fabric.

The pattern is available here for free.  Enjoy.

Fabric Face Masks

One of the ladies in my quilt guild works at a nearby hospital.  She requested that our guild make fabric face masks for use at the hospital.  I'm honestly not sure if it is for the staff or the patients, but either way, I'm happy to help any way I can.  Mostly I've tried to do my part by staying home and sheltering in place, but it's nice to have some little way of helping that feels tangible.  I hope that these will actually do some good.  It is so hard to know.

Four Corners Quilt top

I made this quilt top about a week and a half ago, but I'm just getting around to posting a picture of it.  It is a pattern that I designed a few years ago, but never got around to making.  I had written out directions for it and bought fabric, but I just hadn't sat down and sewed it together yet.  But now I have.

I didn't really care much for the way I had written the directions, and there were only a couple of illustrations, so the directions will need some work before they get published (if they ever do).  But I like how the top turned out.  It is made with Frolic! fabric from Me and My Sister by Moda.  The line is a couple years old now, so it's probably not readily available anymore.  But it uses 4 fat quarters for the four corners and one yard for the background fabric.  The finished quilt will be 40 inches square.  That seems like a nice sized baby quilt.

Puss in the Corner quilt

Quite some time ago (Nov. of 2017, to be exact), I decided to make a small quilt to line the cardboard box that my cats had commandeered for use as a cat bed (more of the story available here).  I made the top from fabric out of my stash.  The plan was to use it as an opportunity to practice my free-motion quilting.  Well, over 2 years later, I finally got around to quilting it.

I'm generally pleased with how it turned out.  It's not perfect, but as I kept telling myself while I was working on it, "It's okay, it's for cats."  I learned that I have a really hard time quilting a star shape unless I start in the bottom left-hand corner.  If I tried to start from any other position they turned out really wonky.  I also learned that it's difficult for me to quilt a more open pattern.  I had planned to try to not have the quilting as close together as I had in my previous free-motion quilting endeavors, but it turned out about the same.  I think it may have something to do with having such a small area to work in, since I'm using my regular home sewing machine to quilt it.

I also machine attached the binding, which I don't normally do.  I usually attach the binding to the front on the quilt with the machine and then turn it to the back by hand.  But again, since it was for the cats, I decided to do it with the machine.  I watched a tutorial on YouTube from the Fat Quarter Shop on how to machine bind your quilt and generally followed their directions (I trimmed mine even with the edge of the quilt top and didn't leave the extra quarter inch or however much they said).  It turned out okay.  The stitching only missed the binding in one small spot near one of the corners, but I really can't imagine using that technique again.  I felt like I was sewing a porcupine instead of a quilt with all those pins sticking out all around the outside edge of the quilt.  Ouch!  Literally.  I stuck myself many times.  (Watch the tutorial and you'll understand.)

But now it is finished and Cleopatra seems to be enjoying it.  Dusty, my other cat, is still leery of it, but he's a totally scaredy cat about everything.  Clearly a quilt in box is some type of trap.  I mean, what else could it be, right?

Another Simplish Quilt

This is the quilt that I mentioned in the previous post.  It is made with the Simplish pattern, that I've done before.  This one is made with Jardin du Soleil fabric.  I'm making it for a friend who is graduating from college on May 1.  She likes flowers and loves sunflowers so I thought this fabric would be good.  The sashing fabric is printed with lots of different flower names, and I think she will like that, too.  I hope so anyway.

I took this picture inside and at night, so I don't feel like the color turned out exactly true to life.  Hopefully when I get the quilt finished completely I can photograph it outside with better lighting.

Block #2 - 20 Years of KTQ

Here is my second "block" of the 20 Years of KTQ sampler quilt.  This block also had some mistakes in the cutting directions, but this time I already had the corrections from the website, so that was good. 

I made a little change in the fabric color from the colors given in the directions.  Since I'm using a gold color for my background, I decided to use brown for the squares that were gold in the directions.  I considered using a gold print where the directions called for a cream print, but decided that I wanted to stick with the cream there.  I like the little sparkle that it adds to the quilt. 

We were assigned blocks 1-3 for today's meeting, but I didn't even get started on block #3.  I had another project that I thought should take priority.  It needed to be pieced so that I can get it to the longarmer.  It needs to be finished completely by May 1, so I felt time was of the essence there, more so than with the block of the month blocks.  I can catch up on them later.

Block #1 - 20 Years of Kansas Trouble Quilting

This year the quilting group that meets at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe in Ozark is doing the 20 Years of Kansas Trouble Quilting quilt.  I'm using Kansas Trouble fabrics for my blocks, but I'm not using the featured fabrics.  In fact, I'm using Bella Solid "Hay" for my background and sashing, which is a much darker fabric than what is featured in the directions, but I thought I wanted something that was a bit darker and richer than the cream.  The darkness and richness of the fabrics is what I really like about Kansas Trouble fabrics, so I wanted to really embrace that in my quilt.

The pattern has some mistakes in it, but luckily they have posted some corrections on the KT Quilting website, so that is nice.  I didn't have the corrections yet when I was sewing these blocks and it was triggering my anxiety a little bit.  Hopefully that will ease off as I go.

Pink and Purple Fat Quarter Rag Quilt

This is my second flannel fat quarter rag quilt for the church blanket drive.  This quilt was a little bit more expensive than the Panda quilt because the FQ bundle cost about $32, but that is still very economical for quilt these day. 

It is also the last one that I will make for this year's blanket drive.  I have 2 more fat quarter bundles, but I don't plan to use them this time.  It's been really fun, but I have some other projects that I need to focus on right now.

Fat Quarter Flannel Rag Quilt with Pandas

As I mentioned in the previous post, my church is donating blankets to the Child Advocacy Center again this year.  Several people make the fringed fleece blankets for this project, and I have done that, too, in the past.  However, I've read about how much micro-plastic fleece puts into the water supply and I decided that I wanted to do something different instead.  I got the bright idea to make really simple rag quilts out of flannel fat quarters, and this was the result.

I ordered some flannel fat quarter bundles that each had 12 fat quarters.  I paired up the fat quarters, put scrap batting in between them, quilted them, and sewed the units together.  They take a bit longer to make than fleece blankets, and they are probably a little more expensive, but it was still really quick and economical to make.  This fat quarter bundle was only about $25 and the batting was leftover scraps (some pieced together) that I was thinking about just getting rid of anyway, so that counts as free in my book.  The white quilting thread was not very expensive either.  It came from Walmart in a large spool.

I'm actually really happy with how it turned out.  It gave me an opportunity to practice my free motion quilting, and I found that I really enjoy doing it.  The resulting quilt is very soft and cozy.  And I think that the fringe gives it a nice little bit of interest for a child to play with.  I think it should be very comforting for the child who receives it.

I finished the sewing and the clipping on this one at the quilting retreat, too, but I wanted to wait until it was washed before I photographed it.  Washing makes so much difference in the look of any quilt, but it is really essential for a rag quilt.

Fantasy Land quilt

I finished the binding on this quilt at my guild's quilt retreat yesterday.  I made the top so long ago that I don't even remember how long ago it was.  I'm thinking it is at least 12 years old.  It was definitely from before I started posting pictures of completed quilt tops and possibly from before I started this blog!  I wanted to start the year off by tackling a UFO and this seemed like a good place to start.

I decided to try free-motion quilting it on my regular sewing machine.  I have done some place-mats before but I don't think I've ever free-motioned a quilt before.  It is far from perfect.  In fact, I'm sure it can't even see perfect from where it is, but I'm good with how it turned out.  I think it is very respectable for a first attempt at something of that size (33 inches square).

The fabric that I used was not a panel, but continuous yardage with sort of overlapping fantasy scenery.  I fussy-cut the larger square that are in the corners and center of quilt and some of the smaller square that are in the border.  These many years later when it was time to choose the fabric for the backing, I decided to cut out the largest piece that I could from the fantasy yardage to use on the back.  I surrounded it with some light blue fabric that I had in my stash.  I think it makes a nice back.  It makes the quilt almost reversible, really.  Here is the back:

My church is having a blanket drive to donate to the child advocacy center in few weeks. I am planning to donate this quilt as part of my offering.

A look back at 2019

So for 2019 I didn't really set any quilting goals, and it's probably a good thing.  While I did accomplish some things in 2019, I felt like it was largely a lost year.  My husband has been battling prostate cancer most of the year and that has taken a real toll on our time and energy levels.  Surgery and radiation are now finished, and we are praying for good numbers and no need for further treatment going forward.  There were also multiple trips to visit out of  town and out of state family that also took up lots of time.  I only had 31 posts on the blog in 2019, which was the lowest since 2012.  I had trouble remember to post things even when I did find time to do them.

That being said, here is what I did actually accomplish, creatively, in 2019:

I finished 8 quilts.  Of those, I gave 4 away as gifts and donated another to charity.
I completed 4 quilt tops that didn't get finished.  Two of which are quilted but still need to be bound.
I took a watercolor painting class and posted some watercolors that I did.
I got back into drawing, with pencil, and post some of that.
I tried my hand at pen & ink drawing, including doing the full marathon of Inktober! I only posted a handful of the drawings here.
Several of the posts were of the blocks I made for my Vintage Christmas wall hanging.  And a few were of blocks for other projects. Some blocks were donated and one still sits in my sewing room as an orphan block.  It was made for a design challenge we had in my quilt guild.

Not too bad for a "lost year."  Here's to hoping 2020 will be better than 2019!