A Little of This -- A Little of That

This has been a few weeks of nothing "BIG" -- but enough "littles" to make me feel like I've gotten something done.

I managed to force myself to finally put the mitered borders on my circle quilt.  I have posted about this quilt and these fabrics here and I really like it.  Borders, of course, make it more "real" and I have to start thinking about how to quilt it.  But I don't have to think about that today.

I quilted a very very small lap quilt from a Mary Engelbreit jelly roll that my sister gave me for my birthday 3.5 years ago.  I have had the top done for three years but the fabrics are Christmas and there was always something more pressing that needed attention.

I got the strip quilt put together and quilted.  There is something about an all over pattern that helps a "blah" quilt become something really cute.  I haven't had a chance to take pictures so here's a reminder of what the blocks looked like prior to assembling.

I managed to get the binding on this Kaffe Fassett jelly roll quilt that I put together last year.  I really like it -- and I'm happy it's quilted and ready for binding to be sewn down.  Get in line.  I have not been motivated to bind lately!

Thanksgiving napkins got done -- well in advance.  Isn't this fabric beautiful?  For the second year in a row, I've made napkins for our dinner, washed them, and then every family gets some for their use.

And -- in a matter of a week, this Spiderman quilt got made in time for our grandson to have when he got here and then take home for his big-boy bed.  The back is a lime green flannel.  It's a great fabric and I figured I could get by with it when he was 3 -- but not so sure that will be the case in a few years.

I also got the binding on three hospital quilts -- makes me so happy that both the December and January allotments are done and ready for delivery.  I had some yummy Marcus flannel that allowed me to line them all up on the same piece of fabric and quilt them one after the other.  Hurray -- quilted and bound!

I have started Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Mystery after sitting out last year.  Thus far -- Step 1 is done and Step 2 (released today) is cut. I have not made a dent in the scraps I have pulled for this.  For the first time, I have a friend who is also participating - although she's a high achiever and is doing the king sized version.  I am doing the 75" x 75" version.  Monkeymama rocks!  She also finished the first clue and is working on #2.  It's not too late if you would like to use some scraps and join in the race to get Christmas done while having each step complete by every Friday morning!  Here's a link if you want to take a peek.  Pictures next week!

Finally, I lined up all the completed tops and cut the batting for them.  I don't like doing that and so I'm pretty happy to have them folded with their appropriate batting in the right direction.  Backs for most are another story -- but at least the batting is done and another roll of Warm and Natural has bitten the dust (almost).

With Thanksgiving and I'm happy-happy-happy to say that our Toronto family was here -- fabric was the least of my concern.  It was all about family!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving -- I am thankful for many things -- and the generosity of quilters would certainly be on my list!

Jan

A week of extremes

I'm so so happy to say that this quilt top is done.  All these beautiful "reproductions" from Caryl Bryer Fallert's hand dyes are together in one quilt top (no culling out of warms or browns, as I had planned).  I adore it.  The colors together make me very very happy -- as does getting it off the design wall, off the floor, off my cutting table, off my sewing table..... It had taken over my little sewing room.  Now it is neatly folded and waiting for quilting inspiration (and time).  I had failed to mention in my original post that this is a free pattern from Marcus Fabrics using their Ombre strips (pattern is called Ombre Hand Dyes by Nancy Rink).  I think we sometimes forget about all the great FREE patterns that fabric manufacturers have available to us through their websites.  Anyway -- it's done and the floor is now visible in my sewing room.

And -- to keep that feeling of "accomplishment" going -- I have continued to plug along with my little bitty 4 patches that were part of a swap from earlier this year.  Briefly, we were to make 800 of these little darlings and package them in groups of 100 (I think) where they would be assembled and redistributed -- with each of us getting 1 of our bags back and 4p from 7 other quilters. Not!  Long story but I got at least two of my bags back and maybe more (one quilter decided she'd keep all hers!).  Plus I had made 100+ more for my quilt.

I absolutely have NO idea how many 4p I have -- but I know that the 7 finished blocks I've made have over 100 in them and I've just started.  The blocks (each with 16 4p) finish at 8" so this may or may not be a twin size quilt -- I literally don't know.  I'll keep sewing in steps until the squares are used up and then decide whether I need to make a few more (using 1.25" strips) or chuck the extras.

My milestone for the week is getting the first step done.  Every little square now has sashing on one side -- setting it up for the next step(s) with half being sewn together and half getting a 2.5" "topper" strip.  Since this is a leader/ender project, I just grab and sew as I finish a row and need something in my machine to be ready to sew the next piece on the quilt I'm "really" working on.

This will be years in the making --

But, all in all, a good week.  One quilt top made with 2.5" strips and only 15 pieces in the entire block. And, one step completed in teeny tiny pieces of all kinds -- darks, lights, batiks, vintage, low quality, homespuns, Kaffe, hand-dyes, florals, novelties, you name it.  So much fun to come across someone else's fabrics -- and keep the line moving!

I hope you are having a productive week -- whether it's with little bitty pieces or larger, dramatic pieces,  or quilting, or cutting, or designing, or just dreaming of your next project!

Jan