Swap Quilt Finished

I finished and shipped this little monochromatic quilt this afternoon for the FSQS-5. I was glad that my partner liked purple, because I had plenty in my stash to choose from. I decided to hand quilt it with black pearl cotton ... I like the texture it adds, and since I am not a hand-quilting, tiny stitch expert, I think my bigger stitches look pretty good. I would have liked to have this 18" square quilt stay in my home, but it's fun to swap and I look forward to what arrives in my mailbox in the next few weeks.


I also sent off 2 bushfire blocks to Tia for the quilts she is working on. I forgot to snap a picture before the envelope was sealed, but they were bright and cheerful.

My next project is a Neil Armstrong astronaut jumpsuit for my son. His 2nd grade class does a "biography breakfast" in which they research a person and present a report dressed as that person. We decided on the "in capsule" jumpsuit rather than the walk-on-the-moon suit since it's much less puffy and easier to wear in class. It's a great project and the audience has lots of fun trying to guess who each student is portraying.

Crumbs and Strings

My overflowing string bin was calling out my name to use some strings! Sewing some of my strings and crumbs together has been very relaxing as I use a spare moment here and there, so I am building up a pile of blocks and trying to empty my bin (that may be impossible, however!) I've seen some great pictures of crumb quilts on blogs, (like this beauty), and I'm inspired to complete one of my own. I've finished about 40 8" blocks ... I'll decide the size of the quilt when I can glimpse the bottom of my bin.


Our guild had a comfort quilt workshop this week and it was terrific to have a room full of 50+ women making quilts for others. I brought this small scots plaid quilt (an abandoned ufo) all quilted and ready for binding, so I finished the first quilt of the day. I had cut lots of squares and rectangles to make a large quilt in this pattern several years ago, but it just never caught my interest again, so I used some of the rectangles to add a piano key border and called it done. Nice to have off to be used and loved.

I have a few small projects to finish with a strict deadline ... FSQS-5 and SFRR3, they are all completed in my mind, but not in reality yet. I've a few weeks left, so I must set aside the strings sometime soon and finish them. I'm also inspired by the Bushfire Quilt Project to make a few maverick stars for those who have lost so much in Austraila. It sounds like a wonderful crew of quilters are working together to help others.

Quilts Ready to Use

There was some sun outside in our snowy back yard, so I used the dog run wire to photograph some finishes. The TATW quilt which had languished in my "finished tops" box for several years (I used Bonnie's instructions) has finally been finished for my son's bed. It's got lots of brights and some novelty prints, perfect for a 7-yr-old. On the back is a 8x8 checkerboard, just the same width as his twin bed, so he can flip the quilt over and play checkers or chess on his bed whenever he chooses. This is his invention, and I think it's a pretty neat idea!


The next finished quilt is a charm quilt for our guild challenge in February. I used Bonnie's crayon box pattern, and every fabric is different, including the blues on the border and the pinks I used for the binding. It may end up as a comfort quilt someday, but for now my daughter wants it to throw over her reading chair. I love when my kids like what I make!!

I finished quilting my "Flowers Gone" quilt, just need to sew down the hanging sleeve. I should have plenty of time before our meeting next week.

Near Finishes!

Our guild is having 2 challenges next month, one a charm quilt and one a quilt that reminds one of a a song. While, of course, I should have focused on just one, I decided to make a quilt for each challenge. My charm quilt is 12-block version of Bonnie's Crayon Box pattern, and I was planning to give it to our comfort quilt program after the challenge. However, my daughter kept telling me all the fabrics in the quilt that she liked, so I said she could have it if she wanted. She beamed! I quilted it last week on my friend's gammill ... such a treat to have a friend with a long arm machine that I can use. Her home is a bit of a drive, so I try to work quickly and get 2 done when I go. I was really getting the hang of the wave/swirl design that I show above, it was really fun! I just have to finish sewing down the binding and I'll post a finished picture.

I got my "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" top put together and tried to quilt it on the gammill, but the tension got off and I didn't like how the design was going. So, after an evening on the sofa ripping out the stitches, I have a new plan with my Bernina. It's only 30 by 40 inches, so it should be easy enough to quilt on my machine. I don't really have time to hand quilt it, and I although I like it, I don't really like it enough to spend the time hand quilting it!

Fun Free Piecing

Our guild is having a February challenge to make a quilt that reminds you of the first line of a song. I've been thinking of doing something on and off since last spring when the challenge was announced, but kept having different ideas and never starting anything. My dh suggested a song and he was urging me to give it a try, and the other night I got inspired to try. Here are pictures of my "young girls", "young men" and "soldiers" ... any idea what the song is?




I need some flowers and gravestones. Any idea yet? It's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", and I really had fun with the girls, men and soldiers. The tiny American flag fabric I found for the soldier background is perfect and I think helps tell that those guys are supposed to be soldiers. It will be a wall-hanging size, and I should be able to get it done in time now that I've got a good start.

I saw the great free form star tutorial on Belinda's blog and thought I'd post a picture of some free form stars I made a while ago. Mine are a bit bigger than hers, about 7" or so. It's really fun to not worry about points matching just so.


However, I have been working on my purple FSQS-5 and I did want the points to match on that one. They are pretty close. Now I just need to decide on how I'm going to quilt it.

Quick Baby Quilt

I learned about a new baby boy of a family friend in a Christmas card I received. Although I don't know the mother and child, the new baby's grandmother has been a dear friend to my grandmother. My grandmother (who is 99!) is not really able to make gifts at this point, although she is a very talented seamstress, knitter and quilter who taught me when I was young. I made this bright quilt from (another) pattern I had bookmarked years ago and and never tried. I love how it turned out! I choose colors to match the rocket fabric on the back, and I finished it simply envelope-style and with ties. I was glad I could find just the right fabrics in my stash. I put my name, my mother's name and my grandmother's name on the label so they will know it comes from all of us with love. I'm tucking into the package a doll quilt my daughter made for the new baby's big sister.

Knocking some things off my list ...

I've been getting some stitching done in between our family activities with the kids home from school. I had several sets of novelty squares that I bordered and set together for Linus tops ... my mom found the embroidered squares at a thrift shop and they should cheer up some child at the hospital. They are slightly funky, and not fine embroidery, but they are fun.



My son spied an unfinished quilt top in my box that he would like on his bed - I'm always pleased when my kids wish for something. However, he would like a red and black checkerboard on the back side so he can play checkers or chess on his bed when the mood strikes. A cute idea. I think I'll make big 4" squares for the checkerboard, and then border it in something plain. That will make it easier to center on the back of the twin-sized quilt. My son initially suggested making the entire back 4" squares, but that seems a bit like overkill, or at least more than I cared to do.

I also finally tried a fuax log cabin pattern that I had bookmarked years ago (http://www.geocities.com/quiltfrenzy_archives/faux-logcabin.html). I had a set of mauve / maroon fq from a donation to our Linus chapter (very 1980's and not really my style), but they were perfect to try out the pattern and it worked up quite well. I may try this again with fabrics more to my taste. This will be another quilt for our Linus chapter.


Here's a picture of the Christmas jammies ... the rocket fleece was a hit. However, the fuzzy gown was made of the extra-plush fleece I found at JoAnn's. It was a bear to sew (with fuzz all over the room) and it seems to be irritating my daughter's skin, even after several washings. So, I'm afraid it won't be worn much. Such cute fabric, but I guess not great next to her skin.