Seminole Patchwork Samples

I am leading a virtual Seminole Patchwork workshop for my quilt guild early next year. So, of course, I needed to make some samples for the class. I found great instruction and designs in the book Basic Seminole Patchwork by Cheryl Greider Bradkin.

First I made this 20" x 24" wall hanging.

I had a lot of fun pulling strips from my solid bins, and did simple quilting in matching colors. However, when I showed it to some guild friends, they thought the tiny pieces looked a little too intimidating. So I did three of the designs at twice the size.

This 20" x 20" piece would be good for a wall hanging, tote bag or center of a medallion quilt. Hopefully, not as intimidating.

Our guild is still ironing out the kinks with zoom meetings and workshops, so I'm not sure how much we can accomplish in one day. I will demonstrate the three larger designs, and then if people are inspired, they can add more and/or smaller designs.

Our guild had a very productive Quilts of Valor virtual Sew Day in October. Many members participated, some making one or two star blocks, others making complete quilt tops and still others finished quilts. I'm doing most of the quilting, but others are assembling tops and adding binding. Here are the first seven we have completed. We have ten more in the works! People are mailing pieces and parts to one another, as well as meeting in parking lots and outdoor space to pass things off. Great to see how we're making it work.

It was great to have a nice sunny day to spread out the quilts for a picture!

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

Around The Block

I started making house blocks in March as we all started to quarantine at home. I made one each day, and put 68 into a wall hanging when our state started to re-open. However, I was still enjoying making the little blocks (3" x 5" finished), and kept making one daily. I now have a pile of little houses in my sewing room and am playing with different ways to use them. My guild decided to have a virtual challenge this year with houses as the theme. I used some of my house blocks to make a bright wall hanging to share at our virtual guild meeting next week.

The wall hanging measures 38" x 38". My corner houses were inspired by the Dresden Neighborhood pattern by Kim Lapacek.

The house fabrics remind me of past projects and what I was working on that day.

I found just enough of a pink and orange stripe for the bias binding.

I had fun using lots of bright fabrics and quilted clouds and wind swirls in the outer purple border. Everything came from my stash except for one yard of Kona purple. 

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

On The Diagonal

 Back when I made a bunch of 12" Split 9-Patch blocks, I arranged the second pile into a furrows layout (I posted about my first top here.) Lots of fun scrappy fabrics in big blocks. Sometimes I like the immediate gratification of using my stash in a comfort quilt! The top was finished a few months ago, but now it is quilted, bound and ready for donation.

Quilted with a square spiral across the blocks and elongated loops around the border, it finished at 47" x 59".

I found a perfect bright fabric for the backing. Given to me by a friend when she moved away, it made me remember fun times we sewed together when I pulled it out of my stash.

I also recently quilted this Quilt of Valor, pieced together volunteer topper. A simple design with big blocks, but I think the bold graphics of the star fabric and the stripe fabric are terrific! The fabrics do all the talking.

Fun Finishes

In between quilting for others and a commission quilt or two, I sometimes like to quilt and finish something quick and fun, usually a donation quilt. I have several finished tops hanging near my machine, ready when inspiration strikes.

I picked up a small piece of this cute owl fabric from our guild's comfort quilt fabric stash. I cut as many owl squares as possible, then found other bright fabrics to coordinate.

Too much sun so the photo is a little washed out, but it is bright and cheery and I had fun quilting hearts and loops. Finished at 50" x 64".

Another top I finished several months ago was inspired by a Covered in Love block drive. The block drive had finished, but I made a pile of blocks and put them together into two donation quilts. A great scrap buster, and it's always fun to try various layouts with asymmetrical blocks.

Quilted this week with squiggles and swirls, this donation quilt finished at 48" x 60".

I cleaned out lots of red prints for the scrappy back.

Linking up with Sarah at Whoop Whoop Friday!

Waiting for Power

Due to tropical storm Isaias, we have been without power and internet since Tuesday, and I miss my sewing machine! We are fortunate to have a backup solar system which provides about 30% power to our house (fridge, water, microwave, some lights and outlets) and it refills each day in the sun. And it hasn't been terribly hot. I wish I had prepared more bindings to hand sew, and I really should consider starting the wool hand applique project I purchased supplies for in December! However, I'm mostly taking walks and reading.

I did photograph a couple of finishes, tops I've blogged about earlier. I've seen suggestions lately to use fishing magnets to hang quits on the garage door for photos - that is genius!

Here is my quilted and bound "Twirla" quilt. I did simple double loop quilting on this donation quilt.

I also quilted and bound one of my scrappy plus quilts. Made with 3" squares and 3"x 9" rectangles. Simple wavy lines and occasional loops finished it off nicely. Another donation quilt for my growing pile. I hope my guild will be able to make some quilt distributions this fall even if we can't meet in person. I want my quilts to be snuggled and used!

Linking up with Finished or Not Friday and Whoop Whoop Friday.

Bright Beads

I had a pile of bright samples from Kim Schaefer's Doodlicious Retro Fabric Collection (Andover)  and wanted to emphasize the fun prints in a donation quilt. (The samples were donated to our guild for comfort quilt use). I decided on a "Beads" design using a bright turquoise background fabric.

Beads is a 9-patch variation on point and pretty easy to figure out, but I referred to the free download from Jordan Fabrics just to double check my math. It would work great with a charm pack or layer cake.

Beads - 48" x 66", 8.5" blocks, for donation

The top is finished and the backing prepared, perhaps I will get it quilted this week. Since our guild is not distributing donation quilts right now, I have been having fun making tops and will need to have a finishing marathon later in the summer.

Linking up with Oh Scrap!

Color Wash Squares

Sarah posted many wonderful donation quilt photos for Hands2Help 2020. A color-wash of squares caught my eye, and I opened up my box of scrappy 4.5" squares to give it a try. I have always been intrigued by color-wash quilts with tiny squares, but it was fun to get a similar effect with much less piecing. I hope whomever receives this cute donation quilt will have fun checking out all the novelty fabrics.

Color-wash Squares for donation, 48" x 56"

I quilted it with a simple meandering loop, and used two different green fabrics for the binding, one dark and one light.

In a continuing effort to use-what-I-have, I cleaned out some stash and pieced together some assorted green fabrics for the backing. It would be great if one of the campers who receives this quilt has a connection with Michigan or Michigan State since I included leftovers from a graduation quilt in the backing.

Linking up with Cynthia at Oh Scrap!

Big Plus and Little Plus

It seems the backing pieces I trim after quilting are often roughly 4" wide. I have been cutting many of these trimmings into components for "plus" blocks. I cut two 3.5" squares and one 3.5" x 9.5" rectangle and toss them into my "plus" box. I put a note in my box that the last time it was emptied for a plus quilt was March 2019. Wanting some mindless scrappy sewing, I arranged the pieces on my design wall and started sewing rows.

Plus Quilt - 48" x 57"

A nice throw size for a donation, I'm sure anything I find in my backing box will "match"!

Feeling the need to completely empty the box and do a bit more mindless sewing, I arranged the remaining pieces into another plus quilt.

Plus Quilt - 39" x 45"

I won't even need to piece the backing for this little one. I'll find something bright and fun for this kid donation quilt.

Linking up with Sarah at Whoop Whoop Friday!

Now I Can Close That Box

Inspired by Bonnie Hunter's scrap user system, I have several boxes in which I put scraps I cut into frequently used sizes. Often I add, add, add to these boxes and don't make anything with the contents for quite awhile. My box with 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles was overflowing!

I am still doing a lot of client quilting, but I took a break to play in my scraps. These 14" blocks use twenty-one 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles and two 1.5" x 14.5" strips. Twelve blocks make a quick comfort quilt, and now the box closes easily.

Almost an eye-spy quilt, which I hope some young recipient will enjoy. Finished size 42" x 56".

Comfort quilt are a perfect place to audition quilting designs. A client wanted large spirals across her quilt, and I was deliberating what to do between the circles ... an overlapping large circle, or a diamond echo? I tried both on this quilt to see which I liked best, I don't think the comfort quilt recipient will mind that the quilting is varied.

By the way, I decided not to do either large circles nor diamond echos on the client quilt, but rather small circle spirals that that just touch the larger circles. The client and I are both happy with the results!

Linking up with Cynthia at Oh Scrap!

Tossed Rabbits

I have always liked fabrics in which the design is "tossed." It is easy to work with with and there is no need to pay attention to direction or if the fabric grain aligns with the printed design. These tossed rabbits worked perfectly with the twirling block in the "Twirla" tutorial. I enjoyed pulling bright colors to coordinate with the rabbit print, and added a narrow sashing so the twirls float. My outer border was cut to use the last bit of this donated fabric, ending up with a finished 47" x 61" throw quilt.

Our guild was able to take 180 + comfort quilts to Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp this month. Even though the camp is closed, the director plans to send a care package to each camper which includes a quilt and a pillowcase.

This rabbit quilt will be added to our guild's donation for next year. I'm still busy quilting lots of client quilts, but I look forward to finishing this when I get caught up!

Linking up with Sarah at Whoop Whoop Friday.

Trees and Rabbits

My pile of client quits has grown dramatically in the last few weeks. Everyone has been sewing, and now some are venturing out to drop off finished tops. I haven't been finishing any of my own tops, but I do like to spend a little time piecing when taking a break from my longarm.

I continue to play with wonky trees and National Park panels. These pillow panels are smaller (about 17" x 20") than those I was using a few weeks ago, as are my wonky trees - just 3.5" x 4.5" finished. I cleaned out a small box of yellow, brown and green scraps to piece the piano key border. The top finishes at 42" x 49", a good size for a kid donation quilt.

This fun "Twirla" tutorial for pinwheel-like blocks inspired me to pull out an odd cut of Peter Rabbit fabric (the previous quilter had cut odd shapes and strips out of the fabric before donating it to the guild). I found a number of bright blender fabrics that pick up the colors in the Peter Rabbit print, and will make 12 blocks for a cute donation quilt. I might sash the blocks with the rabbit print, or perhaps not. I'll see what all 12 blocks look like together.

Linking up with Sarah at Whoop Whoop Friday!

Hands2Help Finishes

I'm packing up my finishes for Hands2Help this week.

This scrappy quilt is going to Emily at Quilty Hugs for Happy Chemo. I hope the bright colors give someone cheer who is going through a difficult time. 

These four baby quilts are going to Little Lambs Foundation for children going into foster care. It is so fun to sew with bright colors and novelty fabrics and panels, and I hope these quilts are snuggled and loved by their recipients.

I put simple handwritten labels on all the quilts.

After calculating the cost for postage, I decided these other 13 quilts I have finished up during this time of home quarantine will be donated locally. My guild has an active comfort quilt program, and when we reconvene, I'm sure they will find good homes.

Scrappy Hexagons

I have been intrigued by hexagon quilts, both large and small, for awhile.  Since half hexagons can be sewed in rows with no y-seams, I decided to try that with some scraps. I pulled some assorted blue scraps and started with 4.5" strips. Then I used my 60 degree ruler to cut half-hexagons. Little pieces from the ends of my strips were perfect for the partial hexagons at the row ends. Really, the only tricky part is taking care to keep all the pieces in the proper order.

 

Freehand quilting with a swirl and curvy echo.

Finished size 50" x 56", this quilt will be donated.

Next I pulled out some pink scraps and made a baby sized hexagon quilt.

Quilted with a heart and loop meander.

Finished size 37" x 40". This will be donated to Little Lambs,

one of this year's Hands 2 Help recipients.

Since our state is beginning to open up, I finished up my Stay Safe at Home flimsy. It is just the right size for a tall wall space in my home. I made my first house block when we picked our kids up from college on March 14. I made one house each day, sometimes from a fabric that reflected my day, sometimes from a fabric tossed on my cutting table. I found making a daily house rather therapeutic, so I am going to keep making them for Stay Home Quilt #2. The two tree blocks finished out this week.

Quilt size: 21" x 50"

Linking up with Whoop Whoop Friday!

National Park Fan

I have always loved our National Parks. Every summer we took our children to at least one, and often we would combine several National Parks in our plans. I grew up in the Northwest, and enjoyed spending time in the mountains and the outdoors. When I saw the National Park fabric line by Riley Blake I couldn't resist. I bought panels of Mt. Rainier, Zion and Smoky Mountains last year, but I had no particular plan. (I purchased the panels here but they are available many places.) However, my plan is falling into place.

I put Mt Rainier panels on the back of the two memory shirt quilts for my nephews. They live in the Northwest and see Mt Rainier daily if the weather cooperates. My dad also enjoyed time on Mt. Rainier and seeing the mountain out on a beautiful day.

I finished the quilting and binding on both of the shirt memory quilts. One is quilted with a square spiral, the other with organic lines and loops. Hopefully the USPS will take care and get them to their destination soon!

Next on my National Park quilt list was to combine some of the wonky trees I started last year with one of the panels. The Great Smoky Mountains seemed the appropriate choice. Amy Smart has a great tutorial on trees for her Patchwork Forest quilt. I had to add a few strips to make things come out even, but it was fun to use lots of browns, greens and yellows from my stash.

 I quilted with a single loop, while adding some wishbone quilting to the trees. This quilt will probably be donated, because of course I don't really need another quilt in my house.

While the large panels are great, I recently learned that a panel with 60 small National Park images is available. I was excited when it arrived in the mail this week,  looking at all the images and remembering trips past. I am pondering ideas in which I cut up the rectangles and add pieced blocks. Stay tuned!

Linking up to Whoop Whoop Friday where there are many fun finishes!