Two-Colour Mystery Quilt is finished at last!

At the end of February, Joanne Kerton, Canuck Quilter Designs, hosted the Two-Colour Mystery Quilt-Along. 

Earlier that month, we had found out about Ray's recurring prostate cancer and I thought the mystery would be a good diversion for me. I used fabric from my stash.

Joanne's directions were very clear and easy to follow. She also gave great hints and advice along the way. This was really an easy quilt which went together quickly. I posted about my quilt here, here, here, and here. Staying current with the mystery, I had the top together by mid-April. And now, it is finally quilted and bound.

I made the lap size, 48 1/2" by 60 1/2" and I quilted this with a meander stitch using Glide #17453 Light Gray thread on the top and #10787 Ruby thread on the back. The backing is red fabric from my stash.

This quilt will be donated. I'd like to make a larger quilt with this pattern - one with more contrast between the two colors. I loved the red/white, blue/white, and black/white quilts made by some of my mystery mates. 

The pattern, which is now known as  Half 'N Half, is in Joanne's Etsy shop.

Finishes!

I have finishes!!! 

Dignity II is 58" by 62". 

I bought fabric for a quilt in 2019 while we were traveling through Chamberlain, South Dakota, near the Dignity statue. I made a quilt, Dignity, in 2020. I had quite a bit of fabric left and now I have another quilt which will be donated. The back is turquoise. 

I quilted this with a large double bubble motif using Glide #10877 Sterling thread.

I spent a few days at our annual quilt retreat last week and I finished my Santa Table Runner. I bought this as a kit when I was shop hopping with friends in August.

The runner is 18" by 42". Can you see the Santa heads just above the red with the holly?

I quilted straight lines with Aurifil #2315 thread using my Juki with a walking foot.

At the retreat, I also worked on 30's Quilt with some 30's fabric I recently won.

I also pieced Frosted Window Panes, a red and white table runner. I bought this as a kit at The Quiltmakers Shoppe in Manchester, Iowa, while on that shop hop in August. The pattern is theirs.

I did most of the piecing for Bursting in Air at the retreat also. Here is the progress so far;

Top middle and left side middle pieces are

turned the wrong direction in this photo.

My design wall has had some activity in the last few weeks; recently Whirly Jig was there.

Butterflies also spent some time there. I'm not sure about this quilt - it might change.

I have quite a pile of tops to quilt and a couple quilts to bind. All in good time.

Ray and I were recently in Madison, Wisconsin to see his oncologist. He still has energy/endurance issues and feels like he has brain fog. At this most recent checkup, we learned these issues all normal and to expect it for a few more months. I do see positive changes but, of course, they just don't happen fast enough. Of course, it's still too early to know if he is cancer-free.

When cancer happens,

you don’t put life on hold. 

You live each day.

Just in time for Pumpkin Season

I bought a kit with this pattern while shop-hopping with friends in August and I thought I'd get it made because it's pumpkin season!

The Villa Rosa patterns are easy to use and if I was one to pay attention, this would have been quick and easy to cut out and put together. But... I got out a large 12 1/2" square ruler and promptly made the first cuts into the fat quarters- 10 1/2" by 12 1/2". Oops! Of course there wasn't enough fabric to cut the right size (10 1/2" by 14") so I re-wrote the pattern.

I decided to make a few other changes along the way so I'll say my runner was inspired by this pattern. Someday, maybe I'll make the original (a day when I'm paying attention!). My pumpkins are all different sizes than the original and the corners are rounded.

I quilted this, using Glide #10430 Battleship Gray thread, on the longarm using stippling in the background and figure eights on the green stems. Each of the pumpkins is quilted differently - spirals, a large continuous flower, ocean waves, paisley, and double loops with an echo. 

I used leftover strips and some orange fabric from my stash on the back of this 42 1/2" by 14" runner.

The design wall has this on it today. It's an experiment, just something I've seen and wanted to try, and I think the quilt will be interesting. I don't have to pay attention to a pattern so that helps!

Hope you enjoy the weekend!

Table Runners Done!

A while back, we decided we needed new table runners for our family room which has a behind the sofa table and four side/end tables. Two of the smaller tables only needed one runner while the others each needed two. That meant I needed to make/replace 8 table runners. 

Ray requested somewhat neutral colors and I went through my stash and shopped for ideas for months.  I finally decided on pale blue and browns batiks with cream colored cottons, mostly from scraps in my stash.

While we were living in Madison this summer, I worked on designing the different mats and also possible ways to quilt them.  

First  is the sofa table mat, quilted with Linen #10WG1 Glide thread in straight lines.

The bottom mat for the sofa table  is shown on the top of the table. It is quilted with meandering using Light Tan #24655 Glide thread. In hindsight, I wish I would have used a lighter colored thread but I wasn't going to rip all the quilting out!

The rest of the mats are quilted with Light Tan #24655 thread. The two mats for the smaller table tops are shown on oak but they'll actually be on darker wood tables. Both are made with HSTs (half square triangles). I used a Plover grid design on the first and an apple core design on the second.

The next four mats are interchangeable among the tops and bottoms of two oak tables. The courthouse steps mat is quilted with straight lines and small circles in the dark brown corner squares.

I found a very old pattern that used a simplified Celtic design and decided to use it with a variety of small squares. This is quilted with a wavy grid design.

The last two mats are made mostly with strips and the leftover HSTs from the HST mats. The second one also has a few small leftover pieces near the left end. These are both quilted with a variety of motifs.

All of the table mats are backed and bound with a light brown cotton.

A very bright quilt appeared on the design wall recently as I finished a quarter square triangle top.

This turquoise triangle quilt top is also finished.

Recently, we went to a local orchard on a gorgeous day. We've been enjoying lots of apples, cider, donuts, and more!

Life is pretty good here. Although not actually normal, it's much better than it has been and we're hoping it keeps getting better! 

Another Potato Chip Quilt

We've been home for almost two months and I've stayed busy. Lots of produce has been frozen and dehydrated. I just finished 5 large batches of applesauce, some apple crisp, and apple bars for the freezer. Now I'm  looking forward to getting more apples for slicing and freezing/drying and then the freezers will be full!

Ray is doing well. He has more energy and is riding his bike again; he is getting close to his goal of riding 14 miles a day. We both gets a good amount of rest each day and are enjoying a more normal life.

I have found time to do some quilting and have a finish. The Potato Chip Quilt is just one large block. I think this is the last bundle of fabric that I have from my late friend Colleen. It was a fat quarter bundle and I didn't have anything in my stash to go with it so I tried to use large pieces to get the largest quilt possible.

This donation quilt is 57" by 58". 

Using Glide #30281 Blueberry thread on my long arm, I quilted this with a Square Fishbone motif - I marked the design and used rulers.

The back and binding are a navy fabric from my stash. I also used the leftover pieces of fabric on the back.

I have a variety of projects in progress including another potato chip quilt using bright scraps. Here is a peek:

For some reason, I have lots of table runners in the works. Here are a few:

This flannel quilt is actually on the long arm frame now.

More finishes are coming. The pile of projects that need binding hand stitched is larger than I ever remember. 

Hockey Bonus Quilt

I had enough fabric left from the Chicago Blackhawks hockey quilt to make another quilt. I also had some large letters left so I used almost all of the extras to made the Hockey Bonus Quilt. 

I quilted this 72" by 82" quilt with a double loop using Glide #70187 Ruby thread on the top and #BLK3 Shadow thread on the back.

The backing fabric is Plaster of Paris by Stephanie Brandenburg of Frond Design Studios and Northcott. 

I finished this while we were living in Madison and it now resides with the original hockey quilt.

In other news: The day we moved home from Madison, we found that a huge part of a neighbor's walnut tree had fallen in our backyard during a storm the previous night. Huge meaning over 60 feet long and bigger than I can put my arms around. Some of the branches brushed our garage but did not do damage. Most of it was cleared that day by the owner of the tree, the neighbor across the street, and one of our grandsons who was here helping us move home. The damage for us wasn't bad - we lost a 30' maple tree that the walnut tree broke off (the maple wasn't in great shape before the storm) and there was damage to some of Ray's gardens (he had planned to redo one of them next year). The three guys also cut down our maple tree and cleared it away.

We both are enjoying being home.

Ray is slowly regaining some energy. We walk everyday and Ray stays busy with various tasks as his energy allows.  Our neighbors' 14-year-old grandson is mowing our lawn and also helps Ray with the weeding and other yard chores like cleaning up gardens. We pay the young man although he says he doesn't want money, and we give him cookies which he definitely wants!

I am doing a little quilting and stay quite busy with summer produce, normal chores, and baking cookies.

A couple quilt finishes

It's been a while since I posted. Since I've managed to finish a couple of quilts, I thought I'd share. 

The first, Bargello, is a Bargello quilt that doesn't have a pattern. I was just experimenting and am happy that there really is an optical illusion of movement to the quilt which is lying flat. 

I used a fat quarter bundle of fabric, Rainbow Sherbet, by Sarah Thomas of Moda. This donation quilt is 55" by 60'. I quilted it with a loop-de-loop motif and Glide #38201 Steel Blue thread.

The back is a light blue with tiny cream and navy dots while the binding is a navy blue.

The second quilt, Potato Chip Block Quilt, is made with the Potato Chip Block. I was able to make 16 blocks with the fabric left from Bargello.

This quilt is 48" square and will be used as a tablecloth on our screen porch table. I quilted this with a double teardrop that is echoed. Sometimes the double teardrop looks like a heart. It was fun to quilt. I used Glide #38210 Steel Blue thread.

The back is bright pink with flecks of all the right colors! I love finding something in my stash which seems to be perfect for a quilt.

 

Update on Ray: He is getting radiation and is worn out; he has no energy and doesn't feel well. He has to prepare for radiation daily and it is rough. He is over halfway through the treatments and we are both counting the days until he is done. Thank you for the prayers and encouraging words.

Some finishes and other news

When I was looking through some fabric recently, I came across a fat quarter bundle that I recently inherited from my late friend Colleen. I decided to make Triple Star and I found some background fabric to use with it. I've seen various pictures of Triple Star over the years and decided to draft a pattern. I have no idea who designed the original nor its measurements. My quilt is 62 inches square. 

I used a meandering stitch and Glide #24655 Light Tan thread to quilt this.

The back of this donation quilt is a speckled tan from my stash.

There was quite a bit of fabric left from the fat quarter bundle and I figured that if I added a little fabric (the leftover backing from Triple Star), I could make two more quilts. Squares with Light is a 49" by 55" donation quilt. 

I quilted this with Glide #24655 Light Tan thread and used ruler work. I made simple diamonds within diamonds. 

The backing is a speckled brown fabric that I bought in February.

The other quilt from the scraps is Squares which is also 49" by 55" and a donation quilt. I had to piece two squares, using the same fabric, to have just enough to make this quilt.

I again used Glide #24655 Light Tan thread for the quilting. On this quilt I used diagonal scribble quilting in opposite directions on every other square. 

The backing is the same speckled brown fabric that I bought in February.

And just like that I have used all of that fabric! 

In other news: 

I just returned from a quilting retreat with three friends. We had a great time - a little sewing, delicious food, great weather, and a wonderful time visiting. I'll share projects when I have enough done to share - recall, I said we did a little sewing. 

Ray has spent a lot of time at doctors since the end of January. He has recurrent prostate cancer. He had cancer 10 years ago and his prostate was removed. Evidently a small cancer cell was left behind even though they had clear cells all around the cancer at the time of surgery. The urologist suggested that a small cell might have been dropped as the prostate was removed. Ray had a PET scan in March and cancer cells have been located in a hard-to-treat location. Our 'local' hospital cannot treat the cancer as they would like. So we will meet with an oncologist at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center next week. UW has some treatments that our 'local' hospital doesn't have. We pray that they will have an effective, direct treatment that can be used. In the meantime, Ray is doing well. We are both anxious to get treatment started so we can move forward.