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!

An Old Finish

I have always admired wool applique, but have not done much myself. In 2017 or so I purchased a kit on sale from a LQS. It was by Hat Creek Quilts, one of their Pantry Club series. I started one of the squares, took it with me when I traveled, left it by the sofa, stitched a bit but finally put it away where it became hidden deep in my sewing room. I found other wool applique designs I liked more, but vowed not to start a new wool project before I finished this kit. I pulled it out again a few weeks ago to asses my status. One block was finished, the second was half done. Just a few nights by the TV finished the second block. The kit was designed for four applique blocks, but if I did just two it would fit perfectly on a small table in my living room. And if I did just two, it would be that much closer to DONE. The included border and sashing fabrics were not to my taste, so I pulled from my stash to make it just the right size. I did simple quilting with my walking foot and finished the binding this week.

I am pleased with how it turned out, and my daughter even mentioned that it looked much better than she expected! I love having an honest critic. I will use the remaining wool with some new wool I purchased in December to make a whimsical house design I found in a new book.

I also finished up my version of Bonnie Hunter's Unity Quilt Along. I knew I wanted to make my version smaller than hers, and when I saw the clue for this week, I decided I was ready to call it done. I completed the first two steps just as she designed, but I modified the rounds for weeks 3, 4 and 5. With the solid blue border, my version measures 68" x 77". I used a single fabric for the background, but lots of fun scraps everywhere else. Lots of leftover golds and yellows will make my scrappy binding.

Linking up with Oh Scrap at Quilting is more Fun Than Housework where there is always lots of inspiration!

Shirts and Memories

This week I started creating memory quilts and pillows from my father's shirts. He passed away in April of 2018, and it took awhile before cutting up his shirts invoked good memories rather than sad ones. I have two nephews who live near my father's home and grew up very close to him. I am making throw size quilts (these tops are 50" x 58") for each of these young men. I included fabric and patches from my dad's cub scout and boy scout shirts from the 1940's.

These 18" throw pillows are for my brothers, my step-mother and one for me. I mixed an matched squares and rectangles in the pillow tops, including at least one piece of each shirt in each pillow. I used large pieces of the shirt backs for the backs of the pillows.

After I get the quilts finished, I will make some special labels for both the quilts and the pillows.

This week I finished quilting and binding this sailboat quilt which uses a fun border fabric. This will be donated.

I also quilted and bound my RWB Elvira quilt. I did an edge-to-edge square spiral design. This will go to the state QOV coordinator whenever it is safe to make presentations again.

Linking to Sarah for a Whoop Whoop Finish! Lots of wonderful inspiration there!