Color!

A while back while we were traveling in Fairfield, Ohio, I found some colorful fabric at Seams Sew Easy. When it was my turn to have it cut, the clerk told me it probably wasn't what I thought it was. She opened the fabric and showed me that it was really 40" panels that looked painted. I loved the colors and I had waited quite a while to be helped so I took four panels. 

I have just finished the first of two quilts I'm making with this fabric. This quilt is called Color! I cut the fabric vertically (blue to green) and then into rectangles horizontally. I added two vertical strips from a second panel to make the quilt a little larger.

I used more vertical cuts for the outer border and the binding. The finished quilt is 50" by 54". 

The quilting is done with Aurifil thread, 50-weight, #2600, Dove Gray.

The backing is fabric from my stash.

Each of the 35 blocks is free-motion quilted with a different motif. I took photos of each block before laundering and I think you can see the quilting. It's still a bit hard with the colors of the fabric.

Quilting motif: Matrix Rays

Quilting motif: Swirl Meander

Quilting motif: Cat's Eyes

Quilting motif: Beads on a String

Quilting motif: Double Bubble

Quilting motif:Venn Diagram

Quilting motif: Split block with Stippling and Lazy Eights

Quilting motif: Horizontal Stipple

Quilting motif: Leaves with fill and echoes

Quilting motif: Desert Sand

Quilting motif: Pebbles

Quilting motif: Stippling

Quilting motif: Fern and Stem

Quilting motif: Wave

Quilting motif: Stomach Lining

Quilting motif: Bubble Wand

Quilting motif: Brain Cord

Quilting motif: Flowing Lines

Quilting motif: Tufts

Quilting motif: 2-Petal Flower

Quilting motif: Chrysanthemum

Quilting motif: River Path

Quilting motif: Wavy Lines using rulers

Quilting motif: Bamboo Forest

Quilting motif: Paisley

Quilting motif: Echo Shell

Quilting motif: Loose Weave

Quilting motif: Spirals

Quilting motif: ruler work

Quilting motif: Loopy Meander

Quilting motif: Feather with echoes

Quilting motif: Mesh Curtain

Quilting motif: Mario Vine

Quilting motif: Wandering Clover

Quilting motif: Straight Spiral using a ruler

Quilting motif in sashing: Lazy Eights or Wishbones
I used a walking foot to stitch 3 lines in the border.

I love the colors in this quilt as does Ray.

We haven't decided if it's going into the donation pile or staying with us.

In other news, I saw the allergist today. They did two panels of testing. However, their controls did not react. No one knows why because I do not have any antihistamines in my system. So now we are waiting on blood tests results...

Crazy Cars is finished

A while back in 2018, I cut up my small scraps and fabrics that I no longer wanted into 2 1/2" squares. At one point, I made a number of 16-patch blocks from some of the squares using 2 different fabrics for each block. I thought that I would just put the blocks together into a quilt but I didn't like it. Then I thought sashing would help but I didn't like that either. So I just set everything aside. Last October I found the stack of blocks and decided that they would make some cute, crazy cars.  

I used my Cricut Maker to design a car. After backing each block with Heat n Bond Lite, I cut one car out of each block. Then I cut out the tires which were also backed with Heat n Bond Lite. 

I added dogs to four cars because I thought it might be fun for the recipient of this donation quilt to find them. I was asked about a cat but I don't have any fabric with cats - I only had 4 with dogs.

I appliquéd the cars and tires using a zigzag stitch. Then I free-motion quilted this quilt. I outlined the cars and tires, did a loop-de-loop design in the gray for texture, and did a horizontal meandering in the green. I used 50-weight Aurifil thread, #2610,medium gray thread.

The back is a colorful piece of fabric from my stash. I didn't have quite enough so I added a little of the green.

This donation quilt is 55" wide and 51" long.

In other news, my MacBook Pro finally updated so Photoshop Deluxe no longer works. We do own Photoshop 2020 and I just put it on my computer. I am lost! I did finally figure out how to rotate photos and eventually I'll learn more.

Ray still has pain - we'll see the surgeon in early March. I see the allergist on Wednesday. And life goes on...

Strings with Navy is finished

I began Strings with Navy sometime early last fall to help control the string population in my studio. I decided a white string down the center of each block would look neat. Over time, I evidently wasn't as careful cutting that center white strip and some of them are different sizes. So I appliquéd some small navy squares to cover the uneven intersections of the white strips. Of course my story is that the blue squares were a planned design element!

This 64" square quilt is a donation quilt. I quilted the center with a large meandering stitch and the navy border with a loopy meandering stitch. I used #2784 navy 50-weight Aurifil thread for both.

The back is made from a Grunge blue and uses the leftover blocks.

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There are a few other quilts in progress. Here is a glimpse of the cars.

I'm making paint brushes for another quilt.

Hopefully I'll have another finish one day soon. 

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In other news, Ray still has shooting pain. If it's not better in a month, the surgeon will order another MRI. I'm hanging in there and will see the allergist in a little over 2 weeks.

We are having another snowstorm today. It's very pretty to look at and I'm glad we don't have to go out any more today. The plow just went around the corner in front of our house.

This is looking out towards our backyard through the screened porch. The snow is very heavy and wet. It is just 32 degrees.

One last picture looking across our driveway.

It's a beautiful day to stay inside and quilt!

Just plugging along

I've only been sewing a little here and there but I actually finished Batik Bowties! Making use of some scraps, I used the blocks as a leader/ender project last year so all I really had to do was sew the blocks together and quilt it. 

The layout is similar, I think, to a quilt I once saw. It's a variation of what I remember anyway. I tried to group my bowties by color.

This donation quilt is 55" square. The back is a blue dot grunge but I reversed it so the dots are on the inside of the quilt and what shows is more plain. 

Before the quilt was pieced together, I knew I wanted to quilt it in straight lines with a walking foot. I do love when the quilt tells me how it wants to be quilted early on. I used Aurifil #2600 Dove Gray thread to do the quilting.

When I first washed the quilt one of the colors ran (you may be able to see it, it's the brown on the far left above) - it's hard to believe that has now happened to two quilts in a row when I usually don't have one a year. I used a color catcher too. Anyway a little Dawn dishwashing soap and another trip through the washing machine took care of it. 

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Ray is slowly progressing. We'll see the surgeon again next week and hopefully get some answers as to why he still has shooting pain at night.

I'm having some problems with food allergies. I have a severe allergy to broccoli but something else is giving me fits. The reaction isn't as bad as for broccoli but I feel blah most of the time along with some other symptoms. I'll see the allergist near the end of February. In the meantime, I'm trying to track down the culprit(s) and cut them out of my diet. Now you know why I haven't done much quilting. So far I'm doing better today.

A finish!

Accept what is, 

let go of what was, 

and have faith in what will be.

-Sonia Ricotti

I wasn't sure there would be another finish in January but I made it with time to spare! Six Degrees South North of the Equator is finished and in the donation pile.

I wrote about this quilt here last October. Since I really changed the pattern (because I goofed), I decided to change part of the name from South to North.  The quilt is easily 180 degrees different than the original which you can see here.

This quilt is 56" square. I used my Juki ruler foot and oh, what problems I had. I just could not get it adjusted to sew right. After a number of hours and much ripping out, I finally gave up and used my Bernina with its ruler foot. I quilted straight lines using the rulers and then free-handed a spiral in the center of the colored pieces. I used light blue #2715 Aurifil thread for the quilting.

The background on the front is a tea-dyed cotton and the colored fabrics are batiks. I had some problems with a couple of the batiks running when I washed the quilt but it is all okay now. The backing is a light blue cotton.

Now I just need to find time to play with the Juki ruler foot. I'm sure the foot is fine and that all of my problems are of the ID-ten-T type. I'll master it one of these days.

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Ray is making progress. His estimated recovery was changed from 3-6 months to 6-12 months. It seems that his shoulder/arm muscles adjusted to the rotator cuff tear for 18 years and now they aren't too anxious to relearn how they are to behave. He isn't sleeping well yet but he is driving and  doing more. He has pretty good range of motion but he is really missing strength. With time and lots of exercise, he should be as good as new in a few more months.

First Finish of the Decade!

What a wonderful thought it is 

that some of the best days of our lives 

haven't even happened yet. 

-Anne Frank

Crosswalks is done! It is my first finish of 2020 and my first finish of the new decade.

I haven't had much time to sew but now that the holidays are past, we are settling into a routine of sorts and I have spent a number of hours over the last few days quilting. Fun!!! Maybe this will continue.

I used solid fabrics for Crosswalks; all were scraps. Yes, I'm still trying to get my scraps under control and I might be making a little progress. 

Crosswalks is a donation quilt and is about 55" square. The pattern is from Missouri Star Quilt Company. 

I free-motion quilted this using rulers and Aurifil #2600 Dove (gray) thread. I quilted a straight line through the middle of the colored stripes and a star in each white square.

In the outside triangles, the star only has 3 points and extends into the white border. I added a line of echoing around the outside. Do you like the binding? I thought it looked great with the stripes in the crosswalks.

The back is from my stash.

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Ray is making progress. He still has trouble sleeping. The shooting pain has lessened but is still there at times. He faithfully does his exercises and is getting stronger and more independent daily. 

I put some gnomes on a sweatshirt because I like gnomes.

I finished the bowtie quilt top. So now there is one quilt waiting to be sandwiched.

I have a string quilt top together and I need to add borders.

I have a courthouse steps top that needs borders.

This is now sewn together

And then I decided to clean out my orphan and extra block basket as if I could. 

Orphan blocks all in ONE basket

I'm sewing pieces together to make blocks.

Improv blocks made from orphan blocks

I have a plan in my head - we'll see what develops.

Happy 2020! 

My last finish of 2019

The spirit of Christmasis thespirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. Thomas S. Monson


Sticks and Stones is finished!

A long time ago I saw this picture and printed it. There was no artist name. I've seen the Sticks and Stones pattern many times and thought it would be a neat 'controlled' scrappy quilt. 

You can see some of my figuring above and below the picture.

After figuring out the pattern, I decided on my block size so I could cut the pieces. I wanted to use some of my blue scraps and decided to use red and white accents. 

I began this quilt early in the year and finished the blocks at the July retreat. After the blocks were together, I decided on a red border and binding.

 

I used Dream Cotton batting and free-motion quilted this with a loopy motif. I used 50-weight Aurifil #2784 Navy thread.

This donation quilt is 56" square. The backing is a navy water spot fabric.

We are getting ready for Christmas - isn't everyone? We also go to Physical Therapy twice a week. Ray is doing well and making progress. Although we are skipping some traditions, we are looking forward to a wonderful holiday with family and friends. 

May your Holidays 
be Blessed with
Peace, Love, and Joy

Merry Christmas!

See you in 2020.