Two Last Finishes for 2022

This first finish is for me. I bought this panel at The Busy Bobbin in Rice Lake Wisconsin on our fall trip north. I decided a little color would be good so I added some when I added the border design. 

The backing is a piece that was in my stash.

I used 40-wt Glide #11001 Black thread to quilt a large meandering stitch.

I enjoy the message and decided to hang this where I would see it every time I went up to my sewing studio. I cut it down a little to fit a hanger that was already mounted to the wall. It is now 28" by 48".

On our summer trip to Virginia, I decided that I wanted to make a gray quilt with a pop of color. Not really having a pattern in mind, I added a number of grays to my stash and at Lolly's in Shipshewana, IN, I picked up an orange and a teal with more grays. After we got home, I saw this Missouri Star pattern 

and I decided this would be perfect, although it was nothing like I usually make. I think the colors on the pattern cover (grays, orange, and teal) really caught my attention.

The  pattern was free but it requires a special template. I guess the template has the cutting and stitching instructions. So... I looked at the picture and made the quilt with 5" HSTs and squares and quilted it on my longarm. 

The orange isn't as dark as it appears; it is more coral.

This 55" by 64" is a donation quilt. I used Glide 40-wt Sterling #10877 thread to quilt a large meandering stitch. 

The backing, a gray ombre with black and white polka dots, was purchased at the same time as the teal and orange.

I'm not sure you can really tell from the pictures but the left side is much darker gray and has more dots than the right side. 

I do enjoy stepping outside my comfort zone sometimes and I'm really glad I had a picture helping me with placement of colors.

Yup, those are my shoes!

So as far as quilting goes, that's a wrap for 2022! 

Looking forward to 2023, I'll be trying to whittle down my stash by making lots more quilts.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A couple of December finishes

I hope you've had an enjoyable Christmas or Holiday. We did and are looking forward to a quiet week now. I'm hoping for another finish but who knows?!

These two finishes happened just before Christmas. 

The first is a wool Snowman Wall Hanging for us. I bought the kit last fall at Plum Lake Quilts while on our fall trip to northern Wisconsin and the Michigan UP. The hanging is meant to be in a frame but I put a backing on it and will use it as a regular wall hanging.

The wool hanging is 10" by 41". Everything was done by hand except attaching the backing and top stitching around the edge. 

Here are some closeups:

The second finish is Blue Cheerful Race, a donation quilt that I think even a teenage boy would like. I got the idea from Jasmine at Quilt Kisses. The quilt is made similar to a Jelly Roll Race but faster!

I decided to use blue fabrics, mostly scraps. The pieces are 4" by the width of fabric - approximately 4" by 21". You don't need to measure the length exactly, just cut a 4" WOF piece in half and cut off the selvedges.

I wanted the width of my quilt to be about 60" which would be about 3 strips. I made the first section with 12 strips so it would have 4 rows. One of the strips needs to be about half the length of the others. 

The next two sections were made the same way, each with 24 strips so there would be 8 rows each time. Again one of the strips needs to be a half strip for each section. (I could have made this as one section but it is easier to work with fewer strips.)

To make a section, beginning with the 'half' strip, sew the ends of the strips together with straight seams making a long strip. *Fold the resulting strip in half and sew the long sides together. When you get near the end, cut the piece so you can sew the seam and the piece will lie flat. (This is easier than measuring, cutting, and then sewing.) Repeat from the * until the piece is the right number of rows.

Measure the width of each section and trim all sections to be the same width. My width was 57". Then arrange the sections however you want and stitch them together.

When I finished, I had a really light strip near the edge which I didn't like so I used 2 half strips and 2 whole strips to make the last row (the top row in the picture below).

My finished quilt is 57" by 77". The backing is a red and blue design with yellow from Frond which was in my stash. I decided the colors were perfect and bright!

I quilted this with 40-wt Navy Glide thread, #32765, using a double loop with single loops thrown in.

I'm really happy with the Cheerful Race 'pattern' and I'm sure I'll use it again. It's a great way to use scraps and I think it will work fine even if all of the pieces aren't 20"+ long. A few 10" - 20" pieces will just add more interest. 

A Visit to an Alpaca Farm

I've been looking for alpaca sweaters and hats and I happened to find Irish Meadows Alpaca Farm online. It is about an hour and 15 minutes from us so Ray and I decided to visit earlier this week. They have a great retail store and over 150 alpacas in the barns and out in the fields. I loved seeing the crias (alpaca babies). I didn't find a sweater but Ray did; I found a handmade alpaca hat which I've already worn.

I wanted to share a few photos. We look forward to visiting again. 

I've been doing a little sewing and am working on this quilt. I hope to finish the top this week. 

I have more inspiration in my head and have already cut pieces for another quilt. Of course I have a pile of projects already started that I should be working on . . .