January Wind

 

Today I finished the little quilt for the back of my living room chair.  It measures 24 inches square and is free motion quilted in snowflakes and swirls.  I drew the snowflakes on with a Frixion marker and then free-handed the swirls in-between.  I took it really slow doing the snowflakes, but got a little fast on the swirls.  For me, it seems easier to make smooth swirls when I move a little faster, but I ended up with some kinda big stitches in places.  I'm still learning free-motion, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Below is a close-up of one of the larger snowflakes.

This little project gives me the idea that if I can draw a motif, then I can probably quilt it.  That's an exciting idea.  The larger the project, the harder it will be quilt, I know that. But taking it slow and steady really works well.  I'm looking forward to trying some new and slightly larger things.

Snowman Snowflake

 

I've had a mini charm pack (2-1/2 inch squares) of Snowman Gathering fabric ever since sometime in 2013.  My original intention for it was to make a purse out of it, but then I mostly stopped carrying a purse, so I decided against it.  I had made a sofa-sized quilt out of that same fabric line and I use it on the back of my couch in January, so I decided to use the mini charm pack to make a small quilt for the back of the chair.  The idea for the design was to be something like a snowflake.  I'm not sure that it reads very snowflake but then again the fabric doesn't read very snowman either.

The quilt top is 24-1/2 inches square.  I'm thinking that I will free-motion quilt it, possibly with a light blue thread.  Not sure if I'll just meander quilt it or try to do something snowflake-like.  We'll see how brave I feel.

Thoughts for 2024

 For a couple of years now I haven't been doing much sewing.  I've made a few things for my grandchildren, but not much beyond that.  This year I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things when it comes to sewing.

At the beginning of the year I had 14 finished quilt tops that need to be quilted.  I hope to work on reducing that number.  In fact, I've already quilted one of them, but it still needs to be bound.  My goal is to finish at least 6 of them.  Mostly I want to quilt them myself, although I am considering sending one of them off to be long-arm quilted.

I also hope to start some new quilts, and I want to try to see them through to the end and not add to my UFO collection.  

I'm also considering trying to sell some quilts and quilted items.  I've generally shied away from that sort of thing, because I don't want to turn it into "work" instead of something I enjoy and I'm not sure of the best way to go about selling things.  However, I also don't like having things just pile up and collect dust.  There is a limit to the amount of quilts that my family members want, and I don't want to force things on them.  Donating quilts works as an outlet for extra things, too, but it would be nice to at least get my money back out of some quilts, if possible.  I don't know if it will happen or not.  I've considered it before and not followed through.  I'm considering both Etsy and local craft shows, but I don't have a lot of faith in my ability to actually sell anything.

Shadow box Bee quilt

 My first finished quilt of the year!  I'm hoping to be a little more productive this year than I have been in the past couple of years.  Ultimately I decided to quilt this one just on one diagonal.  The  quilting was done with a yellow thread that matched the yellow fabric in the top and I didn't want it to cross the gray fabric, so I quilted in the ditch following the diagonal lines in the piecing.  Also it took less effort - less marking and less quilting.  As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm not super thrilled with how this one turned out, so I just wanted it finished.  I actually enjoy the back of the quilt more than the front.  I like the little bee fabric on the back best of all the fabric in the quilt.

I haven't labeled this one, and I probably won't.  When I donate quilts I often don't label them and I'm feeling like this one will end up donated somewhere.  I'm not sure where yet, but that is where my head is at on this one at the moment.

Update: I did not label this one, and I donated it to the Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center on April 24, 2024.

Christmas Cookies

 

I spent last weekend baking Christmas cookies.  Pictured here are the decorated sugar cookies (Wilton pans and Wilton recipe).  I've made these cookies for several years but I've never actually frosted them before, but this year I decided to take the plunge and do it.  I was sending some to my youngest, who lives in Michigan, so I wasn't so sure how well the frosted one would travel, but they actually arrived mostly intact.  He got them today and sent me a picture.

The icing on the trees got a little smooshed, but other than that I think they did well.  I had the frosted ones on top of the box and used some left over quilt batting strips for cushioning.  And I told them at the post office that it was fragile.  Overall, a much better experience than in 2020 when it took almost a month for his cookies to arrive.

Christmas Chair Quilt

 

I realized that I didn't have a little quilt to put on the back of the chair in my living room, so I decided to make one.  I designed the star myself and used fabric that I already had on hand to make it.  It came together pretty quickly and I'm happy with how it turned out.  It is machine quilted, in the ditch (mostly), and hand bound.

A Little Book

 

I made a little book!  I guess technically it is more of a journal, because it is just blank pages inside.  It doesn't use my handmade paper from the previous post or anything.  It's just made with copy paper pages cut in half and bound into 3 four page signatures.  

The end pages are made from a paper bag that quilting fabric came in.  I thought it would be a reasonably good weight for end pages.

Here is a picture from the edge so you can see the thickness.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Update: I gave it to my youngest son (an adult, btw), because he really seemed to like it.

Handmade Paper

 

My first attempt at making paper by hand.  These are about 3x4 inches.  I have no idea what I will do with them, but I enjoyed trying out the process.

Shadow Box quilt

 

This quilt top uses half square triangles to create the shadow box effect.  The top measures 41 x 50 inches. I had originally planned to make this quilt using the yellow and gray fabric shown and a Winnie the Pooh charm pack, but decided against the charm pack idea.  I felt like it would work better using the same fabric for all of the squares instead of fabrics with varying values.  I think maybe it does, but the yellow and gray are still too stark for a baby quilt.  Maybe it will be okay for a kid that is a little older.  The yellow and gray do create something of an optical illusion in the quilt that a kid might enjoy.

I'm really not sure how to quilt it.  I don't want to distract from the shadow box effect, but I feel like I will have to do more than just quilt in the ditch on this one.  It will probably end up with at least diagonal lines - maybe a crosshatch.  I don't know.  I'm not thrilled with this one anyway, so I really should just finish it up and move on.

Wesley's Wilderness

 

Even though he arrived well over a month ago, his quilt just got finished.  We won't be seeing him and getting the quilt to him until the end of May/beginning of June anyway, though. I'm glad to have it finished.

The quilt is machine quilted in a crosshatch pattern, following the angles created by the peaks in the mountain blocks, and hand bound.

Another Bear in the Mountains Baby Quilt

 

This is the finished quilt top for my newest grandchild-to-be.  It's a little boy due the beginning of March.  They decided on a mountains and bears theme for the nursery this time, so I thought this would be a good pattern to pull out and use.

Baby blanket

 

Today I made a receiving blanket for my soon expected grandson.  This time they are going with a bear and mountain theme.  I thought that the bears and other woodland creatures was really cute.

It's a self-binding flannel blanket like I've made before from a Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial.  She says that it takes about 10 minutes, but time must pass at a different rate in Missouri, because it took me well over an hour.

Flowers and Hearts

 

This quilt is a Christmas gift for my elder granddaughter, Lilah.  It is the companion quilt to the one that I made for Maddy.  It uses the other half of the same jellyroll, but on this one I made the outer border slightly wider, using different fabric.  Just like the one for Maddy, I machine quilted it myself in crisscrossed diagonal lines approximately 5 inches apart.   I'm happy with how all of the quilts for the grandchildren turned out.  I hope they enjoy them.

Mint & Gray Rag Quilt

 

I made this rag quilt because I wanted to try out a new quilting template.  It was somewhat successful.  I don't know if it would work better on regular cotton, but the gripper dots didn't hold too well on the flannel, so I had difficulty keeping the template in place.  In fact, I started clipping it to the fabric, then gave up on using it as intended and just traced the design onto the fabric before quilting in order to get finished up.  As difficult as it was to maneuver on something the size of a fat quarter, I can't imagine using it on a whole quilt top - even a baby quilt.

Here is a close up of the template and below is a close up of the quilting. 

The finished product looks nice enough, but it wasn't much fun to use.  

I haven't washed the quilt yet to really rag it out, so to speak.  I haven't decided it I'm going to donate it to charity, like I have with quilts like this in the past, or if I'm going to give it to my grandson.  If I give it to my grandson it will need a label, and I'd want to attach that before I wash it.

Update: I donated it to the Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center on April 24, 2024.

Hearts and Flowers

 

This quilt is a Christmas gift for my younger granddaughter, Maddy.  I machine quilted it myself in crisscrossed diagonal lines approximately 5 inches apart.  It think it worked out nicely and gives the quilt good body without being stiff. 

Adventure Friends

 

I finished this quilt for my grandson Gus a few days ago, but I'm just getting around to posting it. I decided to name it Adventure Friends because the figures on all the different fabric could be companions on imaginary adventures.  In fact, I decided to get him stuffed animals that are represented in each of the fabrics, too.  He's still a little small for imaginary adventures with stuffed animal friends, but maybe it will be fun for him as he grows.

I decided on a straight-line quilting motif that echos the concentric squares of the quilt design.  It was really easy to quilt using the seam lines as guides, sewing about 1/4 inch from each seam on each side.  It made for several threads to bury in the end, but it wasn't bad at all.  The quilt finishes 40 inches square.

Below is a picture of the quilt with the stuffed animals on each corner - a parrot, a monster, a whale, and a dinosaur.  I hope he enjoys it.

A New Quilt for Gus

 This quilt is made from my Four Corners pattern, and it's for my one-year-old grandson.  When his parents were trying to decide on a theme for the nursery they had several that they liked and had trouble choosing.  So I decided to make him a quilt that incorporates all the ideas they mentioned - pirates, ocean, space, and dinosaurs.  While the little monsters aren't necessarily aliens, I thought they seemed kinda space themed.  Also the fabric for the backing has bear astronauts, so I think space is sufficiently covered. 

I think that I have everything I need to finish this one up, so the next thing on my agenda is to quilt this one.  The problem is deciding how to approach the quilting.  I don't know if I want to do diagonal lines, concentric squares, or something else.

As a side note, I'm not 100% sold on this quilt pattern.  I feel like maybe it has a little too much background fabric, but I'm not sure.  I always intended it to have something of a modernist look to it, but it might need a little tweaking.  I'm thinking about it.

Clearly Canadian Quilt

 This is a quilt with something of a long story behind it, or at least a long history in its making.  Way back in 2017 I wrote the directions for making this quilt.  I figured out the fabric requirements, decided on how I wanted the blocks to go together, drafted color diagrams, and got them all typed up.  And then it just sat there for a couple of years.  Life happens, etc. etc. but I had the directions written down, so all was well and I could come back to it whenever I got ready.  

In August of 2019 I decided that I was ready to make this quilt.  I needed olive green, yellow, orange, red-orange, deep red, light brown, dark brown, off-white, and a fall leaf print fabric.  I went to the quilt shop and agonized over the fabric choices, like I almost always do.  After about 2 hours of agonizing, I bought the fabric just like I had figured up and written down.  I brought it home, and it sat in the bag - for a whole year.  Again, oh well, it's there when I get ready to actually sew.

Once the pandemic started in early 2020 I decided to focus on sewing project that I already had all the materials for.  That way I could still sew, but wouldn't have to get out of the house.  When August rolled around again (obviously August makes me really ready for fall to begin) I decided to work on this quilt.  I got out the fabric and I my already typed-up, detailed pattern and got to work.  I made the first leaf block and I hated it.  I thought that the color placement looked good in the drawing, but I really didn't like how it looked in the fabric.  The original color placement looked like this:

In the fabric, the value placements seemed all wrong. The brown near the stem and the red at the point were dark, but the orange and red-orange in the middle were lighter in the actual fabric than in the drawing, so the balance seemed wrong.  Plus, in the original plan, all the leaf blocks were going to be the same, so I just couldn't bring myself to go ahead with it using those fabrics.  I decided that I wanted a little variety in the leaf blocks and came up with two different colorways for them.  I had to go in search of more fabric.  Again, after much deliberation, I decided on new fabric, but kept the old, too.  I added another orange and another brown.  I rearranged the fabric placement and came up with two blocks that I really liked.  

But again, life happens, and the quilt had to be put on hold.  My mother-in-law, who lived 1000 miles away, had a fall, then got sick and finally passed away in January of 2021.  So it wasn't until February of 2021 that I finally got the quilt top finished.  I took it to the quilt shop to be quilted and in my haste to get it there I forgot to take a picture of the completed quilt top, like I usually do. 

I got it back quilted in late June 2021.  I attached the binding strips and started hand-turning the binding, like I almost always do.  Even though I usually do hand work in the car while we are traveling, and we were making multiple trips to work on clearing out my mother-in-law's house and settling her estate, I just wasn't doing much work on binding the quilt.  But finally, on our last trip to Tuscaloosa for our grandson's birthday party, I finished the binding.  This was actually a month ago (August 6), but I'm just getting around to posting it.

In fact, the quilt still needs a label, which I haven't made yet.  But at least I already have a name for it.  I decided to call it Clearly Canadian, because with maple leaves and flying geese it was indeed clearly Canadian. 

When I initially wrote the pattern up I was planning to offer it for sale in my Etsy store.  But now, since it has gone through so many changes in the process of actually making the quilt, many things will need to be changed in the fabric requirements and directions before I could offer it for sale.  Maybe someday I will get around to that.  It seems to be a quilt that inhabits the Augusts of my life, so maybe next August, or the next.  Who knows?

A New Quilt for Lilah

 

After making the quilt top for Maddy, featured in the previous post, I decided to make a few changes.  I constructed the hearts for the heart row just a little differently this time in order to have fewer seams.  I also decided that I wanted the border to be wider.  It may not be obvious between the two pictures, but this border is cut an inch wider than the other one.  I considered going even bigger, but decided that was too much.  I also had a floral fabric picked out for the border, but I decided that it was too busy.  I like the way that the monochromatic fabric in the border calms the quilt down a little bit.  With all those jellyroll strips it is a bit of a busy pattern to begin with, so a calming border seemed like a good idea.

I've written up the directions for this quilt, and updated it as I've made changes.  Once these two are quilted I may make the pattern available in my Etsy shop.  That's down the road still at this point. I've also been thinking about making this pattern with yardage for a less scrappy look, and also modifying it with different blocks in what is now the heart row.  So many fun ideas...

Update: The pattern is now available at my Etsy shop as "Love Struck."

A New Quilt for Maddy

 

Back in January of 2018 I had the idea for this quilt.  It was an alternate take on the larger Heart Strings quilt that I had patterned.  I've been thinking about it off-and-on since then, but could never find exactly the "right" fabric for it.  I finally decided that perfect had become the enemy of good, and so I just chose some fabric that I liked.  It is made with half a jellyroll of Chickadee fabric from Create Joy Project.  The border is from a different fabric line by Create Joy Project, but I forget which one.  I really like the watercolor florals that this designer uses in her fabric lines.

This quilt is for one of my granddaughters for Christmas.  I'm planning to make quilts for all three grandchildren this year.  The other two quilt tops will be posted shortly.  The other granddaughter is getting a quilt in this same pattern and the other half of the same jellyroll.  The grandson is getting something completely different.