Three more finishes!

I have more finishes! These quilts were in the pile needing the binding hand stitched. At this time of year, we seem to spend more time in front of the TV - sometimes watching grandsons play hockey on LiveBarn. It's a good time to do a little handwork.
 

Kite Flight was inspired by a Robert Kaufman pattern with the same name. The pattern uses a jelly roll of solid fabrics. My colored fabric was cut into strips from the same multicolored piece. 

I used Glide 40-wt thread to quilt this quilt with large loops and double loops. 

The back is a dark fabric with multiple colors. This 53” square quilt is now in the donation pile.

    

Colleen’s Brown Southwestern Quilt is 54” by 65” and will be donated in her memory. When I found the 5 fabrics stored together in Colleen’s stash, I decided to use them all in one quilt.  

The fabric that looks kind of pink is actually red.

I really thought a dark brown would tie them together but when I auditioned a variety of possibilities, I realized I needed something different and black seemed to be the best. 

The back is a light brown print fabric that I bought this past summer in Winchester, VA.  I quilted this with double loops using Glide 40-wt #24655 light tan thread.

I think I began Tiny Houses in July, 2022. It was one of those quilts where I worked on the blocks in between projects and as leaders and enders. 

 

It was fun going through my scraps and putting fabrics together for each house. 

This 54” by 56” donation quilt is stippled (like meandering but smaller in scale) because I wanted it more densely quilted with all the small seams. 

The back is a dark fabric with colorful rings from my stash.

November has been quite a month for finishing quilts. I began the month with a pile of quilts to be quilted that needed binding and a pile of quilts that needed to be quilted. Both of those original piles are gone! Of course, new piles are appearing…

 

My soul is fed by needle and thread

Fall Retreat

Our annual fall retreat is close to home and always the same four friends - although sometimes someone is missing and many times people have to come and go. We've been doing this since 2016 and it works for us. I stopped taking pictures of the people and projects a few years ago. However I did take a few photos on my walks around the property. The corn around us was being picked while we were there. The fields are down in the background of the first two pictures.

We stay in this neat older farmhouse where each of us enjoy our own bedroom, and plenty of common space for quilting, knitting, crocheting, reading, relaxing, cooking and, of course, visiting.

I worked on various projects this fall and finished two quilts that just needed the binding. 

Colleen's Farm Animals is a cute 49" square quilt. All of the fabric except the backing was Colleen's. I used a blue with bright color flecks for the back - it was purchased in Holmes County in August. I quilted this with a spiral loop using Glide 40-wt #10877 sterling thread on the top and #30281 blueberry thread on the back.

There is so much texture in this quilt that it's hard to see.

I also finished Pastel Shells. (Ray calls this the Easter Quilt.) I bought the shell fabric, a pastel jelly roll, and the backing fabric (dragon flies) while traveling in August. The border and binding are a Grunge fabric from my scrap basket. This 52" square donation quilt was quilted with meandering using Glide 40-wt #10877 sterling thread.

I also sewed two tops together - I already had the blocks made for both. 

The first is Tumbling Blocks. It still needs a border.

JGQR2C is really the last of J's graduation quilt rejects. When I was cleaning up the red and grays, I realized I had enough pieces for one more quilt. This fabric was for the 2nd graduation quilt that I rejected. It is the third quilt made with the fabric for that quilt.

I enjoyed the retreat. Although I didn't accomplish as much as I used to and using a sewing machine is hard on my body, I am very grateful that I still can sew and spend time with friends. 

One evening I walked outside and saw the remains of the sunset with some fog in the low areas. A beautiful ending to a great weekend.

Finishes!

I've  managed a couple of finishes. You may recall that I received many fabrics from my friend Colleen's stash after she passed away.

I finished Colleen's Cats. This 50" square donation quilt has a backing of Orange Plaster of Paris by Frond Design Studios. I quilted this with a large paisley motif using Glide 40-wt thread #32975 light turquoise on the top and light tan Glide 40-wt thread #24655 for the back.

Colleen's Colorful Turtles is also done. This is a 51" square donation quilt quilted with a loop de loop motif using Glide 40-wt #17443 bone thread. I bought the backing in Holmes County, OH, on our Virginia trip in August. It is green with bright color flecks. The binding is from Colleen's stash.

Cute turtle!

Coming very soon - more finishes!!!

Colleen's Tiger and Colleen's Giraffe are finished

I have a couple of small finishes to end the month. Each of these began with a panel that had belonged to my friend Colleen. I mostly used fabrics that Colleen had stored with each panel then used a little from my stash, and added backing.

Colleen's Tiger is a cute tiger panel with 3 added borders. It finished at 37" by 38". 

I used Glide 40-wt, #10877, Sterling thread to quilt this with a meander stitch. The blue/green border is made with HSTs.

The back is muted colors, a piece of fabric I purchased this past summer for my stash.

Colleen's Giraffe is a darling giraffe panel and finished at 41" by 42". I sewed 4 borders to the panel. The blue/green border is using the same fabric as the tiger quilt but I just used yardage instead of HSTs due to a limited amount.

I again used Glide 40-wt, #10877, Sterling thread to quilt this but quilted double loops.

This is backed with the same muted color fabric as the other.

Both of these quilts, Colleen's Tiger, and Colleen's Giraffe, will be donated in her memory.

When I think of the past, 
I smile because you are in it, 
my friend.

Some finishes finally!

I still have a pile to quilts to be quilted and some to be bound but I do have some finishes! 

It was fun to take pictures outside on this gorgeous fall day.

JGQR2A (J's Graduation Quilt Reject 2A) is made with short strips, about 18" each of various reds and grays. This donation quilt is 60" by 62".

I quilted this using Glide 40-wt, 10877 Sterling gray thread on the top and 11001 Black thread on the back.

I quilted very large loops.

The back is a space and constellation design.

JGQR1A (J's Graduation Quilt Reject 1A) is finally finished. JGQR1B was finished a while ago. I guess I don't always finish quilts in the order I begin them.

This donation quilt is 58" by 62". 

I quilted it with a very large meander - I just had to try some large motif quilting - and I used Glide 40-wt thread, 10877 Sterling gray.

The back is a light pearl gray that I bought to go with the original graduation quilt.

Candy Lane is made from a kit of 5 one-half yard cuts that I bought while we were traveling in August. I had no idea the quilt would be quite this bright but I think some little girl will like it.

This donation quilt is 47" by 51"

I quilted this using Glide 40-wt thread 10877 Sterling on the front and 24655 Light Tan on the back. 

The quilting is horizontal wavy lines about every 1.5 inches. I find this harder to do with the long arm than my domestic machine. I'm guessing more practice would make it easier!

The backing is orange Plaster of Paris by Frond Design Studios, one of my favorite designers.

Life keeps us quite busy here. Our 'local' grandsons have lots of sporting events going on - soccer, fall baseball, and hockey. Academic Bowl will soon be added to their agenda. We love seeing them play and compete but we don't make anywhere near all of their games. 

I still need to get some apples in the freezer and the dehydrator but there will be plenty of time after we return from a fall trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota to see family and fall colors.

I think we both may rest more but I guess that's just part of aging. At least we are both in pretty good health. 

I think I'll go spend a little more time in the sewing studio...

• You're never too old to have fun and enjoy life.