Too many blocks means a second quilt...

This finish was inspired by making too many blocks for my last quilt, Boy Quilt With Red. I found some blue fabric in my stash and made the same pattern, using blue for the alternating blocks instead of red. Boy Quilt With Blue is 49.5" by 55" since the borders are a little smaller than the other quilt. 

Photo prior to laundering

After laundering and I did not get on floor to straighten it.

The back is the same Radiance 108 by Color Principle for Henry Glass & Co.

I free motion quilted this one with the double loop motif using Glide 40-wt #17443 Bone thread.

My scrap basket is slowly shrinking thanks to this quilt and more Tiny Houses.

Scrap basket inspired quilt

This finish was inspired by a need to clean out one of my scrap baskets. I decided to use the free pattern, The Courtyard Quilt by Cloud 9 Fabrics. I made all the blocks before I laid out the  quilt and then I realized it was going to be too busy so I substituted red for every other block. 

That means there is another quilt coming using the leftover blocks. When I pulled pieces from my scraps, I was looking for prints suitable for boys (I don't think I make enough boy quilts). Looking at the quilt, I think it's appropriate for a boy or a girl but I named the quilt Boy Quilt With Red early on so I'll stick with that.

After adding a border, this donation quilt finished at 52" by 57". The back is Radiance 108 by Color Principle for Henry Glass & Co. The back is hard to photograph

unless I do a closeup!

I free-motion quilted this with a meandering stitch using Glide 40-wt #70001 Cardinal thread.

In the meantime, my secondary design wall has gained a few more tiny houses...

Bucket Hats

A few weeks ago, it seemed everyone was making bucket hats. I decided to try one. I measured my head and used the Glory Allan's The Mirage Bucket Hat pattern, medium size. (The pattern was free when I got it.) During construction, I became a little worried that if I washed the hat and it shrunk at all, it would be too small. I decided to use narrower seams to make my hat a little larger. Each hat is reversible.

Ray decided he wanted a hat with a wider brim. I wanted to make a size large for me and decided to try a wider brim. I added 1" to the brim. Ray needed a large so he could use this hat for sizing. It really shades my face.

Ray's hat was the third hat I made. We were at a fabric store a couple of weeks ago and he made his fabric choices. His first choice was a Chicago Cubs print but the print was too large for a hat. 

And finally, I made one more hat for me in colors that I'll wear a lot. This time I made a size large and I made the brim 1/2" larger than the original. I finally perfected the pattern for my preference!

Ray and I both saw the dermatologist recently. Ray was told in no uncertain terms to wear a hat and use sunscreen. I was advised to do the same. We both have other hats but these are a fun addition to our collections.

Rotary Botanical Gardens

We made a visit to the Rotary Botanical Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin, a while back. It was a gorgeous day and I thought I'd share a little of our visit.

Nice wide walking paths

I love this.

There were many turtles around the gardens as a special exhibit.

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect...
                                                            -Alice Walker

The Lattice Quilt is finished

The Lattice Quilt is finished! I saw something like this once and always wanted to try it. The one I saw had a variety of solid colors with the white lattice. It might have had a facing instead of a binding; I'm not sure. I used a floral fabric so it's like looking at a flower garden through a lattice fence. 

I made this on the diagonal. A few years ago I made two Harry Potter quilts with diagonal pieces. I pieced the quilt, then cut it apart on the diagonal and added a long fabric piece and sewed it back together. After doing this for every diagonal piece one direction,  I repeated for the diagonals in the opposite direction. I had really good precision with that method. Making this on the diagonal had less precision but it's a smaller quilt so all worked fine.

I removed the last colored square on each corner so the corners are kind of neat. 

This 52" square donation quilt is the first quilt I have quilted with a pantograph. I used Flower Power and practiced quite a bit. To use a pantograph, you trace the design with a laser light that is connected to the longarm. The longarm moves and stitches as you trace. It sounds so easy. Ha ha! 

It turned out pretty good! I used Glide 40-wt #17443 Bone thread. Here are pictures of the front and back before the quilt was washed.

And after being laundered:

The back is a soft yellow Grunge with some of the leftover floral fabric.

There's been lots of activity in the sewing studio lately. My stamina is improving and I can work for 1 - 2 hours at a time. I'm slowly learning to cut without much bending and to sew without much bending. When  I bend, I hurt so I have to learn alternatives and I'm progressing.

Here is a finish that needs to be quilted.

My newest obsession is Tiny Houses. I'm enjoying digging through my scraps.

There will be more finishes soon!

Hindsight ...

The Soccer Quilt is done. 

I bought the material last August at Quality Time Quilts in Indianola, Iowa. Sometime later in the fall, when I wasn't moving around much, I decided to do something with the fabric. I had a plan and cut the soccer fabric; I even sewed some pieces to the colored fabric. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I decided it was time to clean up my studio and finish all the quilts I had started when I was laid up. This one had cut pieces for a layout that wasn't working and I really didn't know what to do with it so I cut the pieces smaller thinking it would help - it didn't! The quilt is way too busy. I wish I hadn't cut the fabric last fall - I can now think of lots of possibilities for the fabric, of course! I decided it was time to just finish it so I did and I really hope some soccer-loving child will love it (because I don't!).

The Soccer Quilt is a 56" square donation quilt. 

I quilted it with Glide 40wt thread - Bone 17443 on the top and Cardinal 70001 on the back. I used a variety of motifs as I long arm quilted it - spirals, lazy 8s, paisley, horizontal stipple, double loops, and meandering. 

The back is red.

Looking at the quilt now, I think the quilt top would have made a great backing...