Some of This; Some of That

First the stash report. Made 2 baby quilt tops and found a backing for them. Used .25 for binding one of them. Used .10 for bias for Love entwined and .15 for SLOL, so that's 3.70 yards out this week.  This gives me a YTD total of 16.37 yds. Closer still to the 20 yds out I need to meet my goal.

Here's my progress on Love Entwined:

Doesn't look like much for 3 days of work.  Those 3/32nd bias stems take a while to make. Biggest are 1/8th. But I'm done with that part of the bouquet, and I was able to add the hearts. Now to add the vase, then the flowers.

I also got a bit done on SLOL.

Here it is on my design floor as this is much bigger than I thought.  I'll have to see if I'm going to make all of it.  It's already 50" wide.

Off to hand applique some more on my Anna's Garden block. Hope you got to quilt today.  I'm linking to Oh Scrap, Sunday Stash, Slow Sunday Stitching, BOMs Away, Design Wall Monday and a couple of others. You can check my tab under more in the header to see who else.

Have a wonderful week.

A Two Month WIP Gone

I finally managed to finish the baby quilt top.  I was first just going to have all the border pieces matching, but it was too hard trying to get those stripes to line up on both sides.  So I though I'd miter the corners. After cutting off  the vertical pieces for my first attempt, the fabric was now not wide enough to have a long enough piece to miter. I learned that you have to double the width measurement and add an additional 5" to the piece cut to have enough for a miter.  In my case it would be 31.5"+3+3+5 or 42.5 inches and I only had 35".  So I did cornerstones to solve my  border dilemma.

I now find myself with 4 baby quilt tops  that need to be sandwiched and quilted.  How did that happen?  I must confess I'd rather put a top together than do any of the other steps in making a quilt. Good thing I have St. Anne's to help me get some of these done.

Speaking of St. Anne's,  we're raffling a quilt under the auspices of our parish (they're 501(c)(3) hoping to raise some monies for our associate pastor from Uganda.  The village where his mother lives is desperate for a nearby source of potable water.  They want to build some wells.  Here's the quilt we're raffling:

It's a vintage top a neighbor gave me.  We had it quilted.  This photo doesn't do it justice.  The fabrics are all from the 30s-50s.  Here's a close-up:

The Dresden Plates are hand pieced and hand stitched using the buttonhole stitch to the squares. The sashing is sateen ( I think).  It's a queen size quilt.  As you can see from this close-up photo the quilt squares are white not the yellow in the nighttime photo. Drawing winner March 8th.

I hope you liked this eye candy.  I'm linking to Finish it Up Friday, Finished or Not Friday and Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  Go visit and see all their quilting goodness.

Want to share your goodies (doesn't have to be finish)?  Link below and I'll come by and see what you're up to. Blessings!

WIPs Are Going, and a Winner

No finish to show this week.  I've had quite a bit of family things to take care of and have spent what little sewing time I had quilting my WIP.  I still hope to get it done by next Wednesday.

I'd say I"m about half done.  I got two sides of a border on a baby quilt and then decided I didn't like it, so they need to come off and cut some more fabric to miter the corners.  And I worked a little bit on more tiny pinwheels.  Hopefully the weekend will let me sew more.

The winner of last week's hexagon papers giveaway is Shelly at Prairie Moon Quilts .  Congratulations, Shelly!  I've sent her an email.

What have you been up to?  Leave me a comment and I'll come by to see your creations.  I'm linking to Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop, Whoop?, Muv's Free Motion Mavericks party,  and Myra's Finished or Not Friday party.  Come, take a look.

WIPs Be Gone

Almost done with some blocks for Humble Quilts Sweet Land of Liberty sew along.  I like this one because we are winging it for the pattern and all are making their own interpretation of the blocks unless fortunate to have bought the pattern by Cheri.

I also worked on a baby quilt.  It is now
quilted:

 bound

and on its way to the local NICU.

This is my 6th Nearly Insane block and my last.  I've decided to make a different set of blocks into baby quilts this year. More on that later.  

Who wants hexie papers?  Link your eye candy - of any kind, old or new for a chance to win 105 of them - enough to make 15 flowers. Blue button below. Party ends Thursday, midnight.

I'll be linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday,  Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays , and Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss . Do go by and see all the doings posted.

WIPs Be Gone and 6 + 6

Okay, I got started on the UFO (which I call WIP) that Judy pulled - #10 - my Mod Quilt.  It's sandwiched and pin basted - now to quilt it.

Then I worked a bit on My Small World  -my new project for 6 + 6.

Afterwards I sneaked in a quilt block.  This is for the 2018 RSC Challenge and Angela's Squared Away Sampler.

She has a button for it: 

and last but not least, I got the first four of the next round of my hexie circle done. I'd shown you the hexies with the fabrics I was going to use - here they are all finished with their curvy bits.

Only 5 more sets of 4 to go and then I can sew them to the center.  I should mention that this quilt finishes at about 58" by 75".

All of the above are long term projects except the Mod Quilt.  I'd like that to be my WIP gone for the month.

What are you up to?  I'd love to see your WIP or UFO or ??  Here's the Linky:



I'm linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday, Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays , and Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss. Do go by and see all the lovely postings. Blessings.

I've Been Somewhat Busy

It's been a quilty week - two projects I can't even show you because they're just off the germ stage at this point.  I did work on my scrap bag quilts.

Got this 30" top done by adding two borders. Sorry for the poor photo.  Hope to quilt it soon.

This second quilt from the scrap bag just needs borders now. Think I'll add two and miter the last one.  We'll see.  It will be a 36" one for St. Anne's.  Probably another member will assemble and quilt it. 

Got another 6 done!  Working on the last 6 now and I did have enough fabric (will be scrappier blocks than these). May sprinkle them among the others to see if they blend in.

Here's a project I forgot to update in my 2017 review.  Made 4 blocks in 2017!  40% done now - woohoo.

Last, but not least, stitched my circle of curvy hexies to its center. I like how the purple makes that circle shape.  However, I haven't a clue what to use next (fabric-wise).  Any suggestions?

I'm  linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday, Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays , and Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss. Do go by and see all the lovely postings. Blessings.

One NICU Top Finished

Here's my first completed top from that bag of scraps I showed you in the last post.  This is my 6th enlargement of a Nearly Insane block.  Mine is 30" finished.  The Nearly Insane one finishes at 5".  I fussy cut the sheep for the 16 patch. It's a bit dark but I think some Mom will want it for her little boy in the NICU.

I then went on to finish the units for Bonnie's Part 2.  I made my flying geese with the No Waste Method of Patchpieces.

I like this method as I don't have a lot of fabric in the colorway Bonnie chose for the mystery, and this method uses a lot less fabric for making flying geese.  Here's all I had left after making my 50 units.

While I was making them, I did a few more log cabins as leaders and enders. I now have 24 blocks finished and 6 more started.

Lastly, I've been promising my DH a pie, so I finally got a frozen peach filling from the freezer and made a crust, and baked this beauty.  My mom gave me a bunch of peaches back in June.  They were so sweet I didn't put any sugar in the filling.

YUM!

I'm  linking to Amanda Jean's Finish it Up Friday, Sarah's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Myra's Finished Or Not Fridays , and Jennifer's Wednesday Wait Loss. Do go by and see all the lovely postings. Blessings.

WIPs, Where are You?

I've been sucked into the whirling space of "new project".  I feel like Dory - I'm going to finish what I started - Oh look such a cute new project.  Am I hopeless?  Here's my latest start - I've finished all the blocks for it.  They're even sewn together (didn't get a photo of that - it's gone to another St. Anne's member for sandwiching and completing).

 I love this pattern. Anyway you turn the blocks the seam abut very nicely to give one flat intersections. It went together fast once I found all the scraps of leftover baby fabric to make the centers.  These were all in a scrap bag - another one almost emptied.  The blue strips came from my stash.  I just happened to have the yard I needed. Once I had those 49 centers,  I used chain piecing to whip through the blocks

 I laid down the strip on my machine, right side up and put a center piece on top and sewed them together.

Left a teeny space (1/8"-3/16th) and added the next center. Once the strip was full, trimmed the blocks and added added strip on the other side of the block doing the same procedure. "Top measures 39 1/2" square.

And then my next distraction from my WIPs is a commissioned piece I am quilting.

Crazy motif, but all will be explained when I can show you the front.

What are you up to?  Come by and I'll go see your WIP.  I'm linking to Sara's Can I get a Whoop Whoop?  and other (you can check them out under my More tab).  Blessings!

WIPs Be Gone

I had made this top some time ago and found the perfect back for it.  I took it to the retreat and was able to finish it there.  It only has the two flannel layers. Technically it is a baby coverlet.  Should work just right for our hot summers.

The strips are from other quilts that St. Anne members made either as a tube quilt or a back. That makes it a scrap quilt, too.

I found this totally cute backing flannel. Liked it so much, bought a bunch.

My DH came up to the patio with this bouquet for me. It's an echinopsis plant. The flowers only last for a day, but oh how lovely while they lasted.

I'm linking to some parties today. You can see where under the linky tab:  linky parties.

Blessings!

WIPs Be Gone Again

I do have a small finish:

This is block #61 of the Splendid Sampler. Think I now have 41 of these blocks. You can still join up - 59 to go - you can make as many as you want or all.

I'm mostly working on the commission quilt. It has 49 blocks and it's taking me awhile.  But I did finally decide on what to do with my Gwennie medallion. Thank you so much for all your suggestions.  They helped a lot.

So I made more flowers: 

I'll talk about that process in a later post. Did some more cutting of fabric, and came up with this:

Made the white round smaller with the narrow strips of the corner fabric and that tied it together for me. It also made the flowers fit.  I have two more sides to complete in between working on that commission quilt. Slow progress forward is progress.

The winner of last week's paper pieces is Kathy E.  I've sent her an email.  Thanks to all 28 who participated.  This week's giveaway is a mystery quilt book - that means if you win I'll ask you what you like to make as a quilter and I'll provide three titles that fit (as close as I can from my pile) for you to chose from. Usual guidelines apply:   Leave me a comment for one chance.  Link your eye candy for another (link button below). Follow me and let me know for a third. Remember if you don't have a blog, you can always post a photo from a photo hosting service.  Please be sure there is some way for me to contact you. Ends next Thursday, midnight. I'll be linking to several parties including:

Check tab above. Blessings!

WIPs Be Gone Awry and a Giveaway

I'm working on a couple of WIPs, but nothing I can show you yet except this one that I really want to get a move on, but ???   I don't like it. Something is missing.  Are the Broderie Pers flowers too small?  Looks like I'll have to go on to plan B.  Ugh.

Well, enough of that.  I'm giving away 100 1" hexagon papers this week. These guidelines apply:   Leave me a comment for one chance.  Link your eye candy for another -linky below. Follow me and let me know for a third. Remember if you don't have a blog, you can always post a photo from a photostream.  Please be sure there is some way for me to contact you. Ends next Thursday, midnight. I'll be linking to several parties. Tab above. Blessings!

WIPs Be Gone Week 24

I'm working on 6 1/2" blocks for two sides of the VA quilt:

And here's that baby quilt all finished:

And that's about it for this week as I've been getting ready for my TX cousins' visit. They arrive tomorrow AM.  Then we head for San Francisco on Monday. We'll fly back later in the week and they leave the 21st.  So I'll probably be incommunicado for much of that time.  But do leave a link or comment or both of your progress. I may just connect with the blog at some place up there and would love to see what you're up to.  Linky below:

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm linking to Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?, Richards Link a Finish, and  Lizzie's Free Motion Mavericks. What beautiful quilts will they be showing us?

WIPs Be Gone Week 21

Here's a WIP of a dress -  WIP #12 to be precise.  All it needs is for me to sew on the buttons and hem it.  Why it has taken me 10 years I don't know.  3 of the 12 buttons sewn on.  And I'll have to find a hook and eye somewhere.  I got rid of all my clothes sewing notions in my last purge. Oh my.'

And I made another Hexi - this time a star - for WIP #3.

My first one.  I followed Karen's of Faeries and Fibres blog tutorial and it went together much easier than I thought. She has excellent directions.  I dread paper piecing, but it's getting better each time I do it.  This flower is a little less than 4" across at it's widest points.  I used 3/4" hexagons to make it. 

I'm linking to Richard's Link A Finish, Amanda's Finish it Up Friday, and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?.  

So that's my progress for this week.  How about your WIPs?  How are you doing on those?  Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't even have to be a new post. Ends Monday, midnight.  Lots of eye candy on the NET.  Have a great weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIPs Be Gone Week 20

Oh-ho!  Almost got away from me. But I have been busy with quilty stuff although not much of it WIPs except for the hexie I made for WIP #3.  Here's what I can show:

 While I have done this quilt design as FMQ on seams for SITD, this time I thought I'd try my walking foot and the S-curve stitch on my Bernina.  I used blue painter's tape to mark my register line - starting at the center. I used the tape to line up the edge of my walking foot and walked down the tape to form the line.  As I finished both sides of the first laid tape, I moved the tape to a new position and continued making lines (one direction at a time).

  This gave me lines about 1.5" apart. I was done in no time.  The advantage of the FMQ it is even faster as I didn't have to keep moving tape, however not as precise, but I got my walking foot quilting practiced.  A great way to quilt for a beginner quilter who wants uniformity.

Here is the finished baby quilt. Measures 30" square.  The block is Album.  I expanded the size.  It's a preemie quilt for our local Neonatal unit. I used Superior's So Fine Thread with a 80/12 titanium needle.  I'm linking to Michelle's Let's Make Baby Quilt, Richard's Link A Finish, Amanda's Finish it Up Friday, Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?, and Julie for her Pet Project Show.  

How about your WIPs?  How are you doing on those?  Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't even have to be a new post. Ends Monday, midnight.  Lots of eye candy on the NET.  Have a great weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIPs Be Gone Week 19

Well, I did move #10 WIP along - the top is finished as I made 8 more blocks and was done with it at the retreat.  It is now in the WTBQ pile.  You can see it in my previous post to this one.

I've also finished the first block - and it's a big one - for the next VA lap quilt. I don't have a photo of it finished to show you, but here it is with three sides. 

I wanted to show you how I handle sewing square in a square blocks without marking or cutting the corners of my triangles and getting them aligned.

 This particular example has only two sides to it. Think of it as a flying goose with a tail.  

 What I do to get them positioned right is to press a crease at the center of the square and the triangles.  For the square I press it near the seam line with right side in.  With the triangles I press at the center with the wrong sides in.  

 Above you can see the crease in the square and the crease in the right triangle on right.

 I then nestle the triangle and square (right sides together) at the creases and pin.  I then sew my scant quarter seam and press toward the square.  I then do the other triangle in the same manner, but I press the seam away from the square.  Why?  You can see from the photo of the block that the center square within a square is sewn to flying geese. This places a lot of bulk where the two points of the birds meet in the block. By turning one seam in one unit away from the edge lessens the bulk at the seam.  You just have to be a tad careful that the points  meet when joining the units.

How do you handle this tricky piecing problem?   Would love to hear if you have a better solution.

And how about your WIPs?  How are you doing on those?  Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  I'm linking to Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?, Richard's Link a finish Friday, and Julie for her Pet Project Show. Lots of eye candy on the NET.  Have a great weekend!

An InLinkz Link-up