Ending the 2019 Strong!

I usually know when teachers are expecting at one of my schools, but I was surprised the week before Winter Break to find out that one of our male teachers was due to have a baby within a week. Austin was delivered on Saturday 12/21, so I started digging in my stash immediately. My spies informed me that navy and grays were the nursery color. I decided to make the Name Quilt from Spelling Bee by Lori Holt. I made a six inch block of Grandpa's Truck from her Farm Girl Vintage 2. I made mine slightly larger than the pattern. This project is definitely my Drop Everything and Make It for December---here is the link for other DrEAMi! projects:

https://www.mmmquilts.com/2019/12/dreami-35.html

I bought some gray minky to use for the backing and I will get it quilted up this week. Stay tuned for my first finish of 2020!

Rachel longarmed this old Sister's Choice UFO for me. She did an all over leaf pattern. It is rustic and lovely--perfect for a lodge-style home in Breckenridge. I finished binding it before Christmas and it will be sent to my daughter's friend as a thank you gift ASAP.

 The leaf quilting is very detailed and she used a rust colored thread which is perfect.

Here is the backing after washing it is 64 x 74 inches, so a good size for a lap quilt.

Bonnie Hunter released her Frolic Mystery Quilt Clue 5 yesterday. I wasn't finished with Clue 4 quite yet, but between binge watching the second season of You on Netflix with my daughter in my sewing room--I got Clue 5 completed

as well as Clue 4. We still haven't touched our greens, but I have been keeping up! https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/frolic-mystery.html

 Before Thanksgiving, I stopped by my favorite antique store and scored five milk glass lace edge candy dishes. Three are small and two are larger. I already have a larger one that I use to hold my binding clips and thread. I paid $15 for all of them which is a great buy! I gifted a large one to my mom for Christmas with scissors and Wonder Clips.

I turned this small one into a pin cushion for my longarm friend, Rachel.

I also completed my One Monthly Goal for December--to get my Ombre Gems top completed and I also ordered a backing for it. It will go into the to be quilted queue very soon. 

https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2019/12/one-monthly-goal-december-finish-link-up.html

I have four more baby quilts to make for spring arrivals. One of my coworkers is expecting identical twin boys in March. I hit a great sale at Connecting Threads and ordered the pattern and fabrics to make two Bjorn Bear Baby Quilts. One will have a mint green background and the other will have a light blue background. I am planning on making the bears from the same fabrics for each quilt.

I made a Bjorn Pillow as a sample for my local quilt shop a few summers ago and I am looking forward to crafting some more cute bears.

I have also been working on my Sunday Best Sampler Quilt--I have all the blocks done and now I am getting them ready to sew together. My blocks were made from my Bonnie and Camille scraps, so they are stunning and deserve their own post.

Happy New Year!

Frolicking & Farming Continue

Bonnie posted the Frolic Mystery Clue 3 early Friday morning and I spent Saturday completing it!

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/frolic-mystery.html

I also squeezed in making my Daddy's Tractor block for FGV2--I made a 12 inch version

 and the Evening Star block 6 inch version. I have this week's blocks to make to be caught up.

My daughter/Barbie had her sorority formal on Friday night and she sent me this picture--she is in the silver dress. She arrives home for Christmas a week from tomorrow and we can't wait. 

I plan on spending my morning wrapping Christmas gifts, digging out an old handwork project for Slow Sunday Stitching, and pulling fabric for a baby quilt. I have three baby quilts in the queue--one in yellow and gray (they are not finding out the baby's gender) and two for identical twin boys. I decided to make Bjorn Bear quilts for the twin boys. I ordered the fabrics and pattern for them yesterday from Connecting Threads, plus I got a backing for my Ombre Gems top--I had a code for free two day shipping, so hopefully the fabric will get here quickly and I can get to work!

Ombre Gems Top

 Happy Sunday! To be honest Sundays are one of my favorites because I usually spend the day in my sewing room working on something with the NFL Red Zone on which is exactly what I've done today. Today, I focused on sewing my Ombre Gems blocks together. I was kind of dreading this task because I was unsure if I would be able to save my points and for the most part I did! I used 

V & Co.'s Ombre Confetti fabric and I really like the metallic shimmer. Now, I need to find a backing to get it in the queue for quilting.

Yesterday, I completed Clue 2 for the Frolic Mystery, 

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/frolic-mystery.html

so I have kept up with that--I am a little behind on my FGV2 blocks and the Sunday Best Sampler, but I will get caught up for sure during Xmas break. I have three baby quilts to get going on, but I don't want to start them until I am caught up on my works in progress!

Threadology Twisted Finish

 Happy December! At the beginning of the year, I made threadology blocks along with FQS as their charity quilt. I really did not want to make mine look like a giant spool, so I was inspired by Melissa Corry's version which had more blocks and a different setting. You can find details here: 

http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/search?q=threadology

I dug into one of my quilting books and created so more blocks using my Bonnie & Camille scraps.

 I love how it came out with Rachel's happy flower quilting!

 Rachel is my friend that I trade hand binding for her longarm quilting. I totally trust her to select the quilting pattern and thread. Our bartering is perfect for both of us and allows me to hand bind lots of quilts and avoid the struggle of machine quilting!

 Here is the backing--I have not washed it yet, but I have been cuddling under it all week binding it and then binding another quilt for Rachel.

I used a backing from the Scrumptious line and embroidered my label. I am too in love with this one to give it away, so it is staying at my house!

 I was not planning on doing Bonnie Hunter's Frolic Mystery Quilt, but I picked up the paint chips a couple of weeks ago and did a little stash shopping. I decided I would make it if I had enough fabrics in my stash--with the exception of the lighter blues I had everything I needed. I opted to use lavender in lieu of the lighter blues, so I am in!

 Here are the four patches for Frolic clue number 1. You can find the information for this scrappy mystery quilt here: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/frolic-mystery.html

I made my last blocks for the Ombre Gems Quilt Along. I have it laid out on my daughter's bed--I am making slight adjustments with block placement, but it is my December One Monthly Goal (OMG) to sew this top together.  Plus, it has to be off my daughter's bed for when she arrives home on December 23. Check out other OMGs here: https://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2019/12/one-monthly-goal-december-link-up.html

Speaking of my daughter, she spent Thanksgiving with her friend Mel in Washington D.C. She was driving back to school yesterday and she called me to see if I could make a quilt for Mel's family. They have hosted her numerous times in the last few years especially at their house in Breckenridge. She wants something rustic with browns, greens, blues, etc. that would go in their Breck house. I dug into my stash of tops and found this beauty. My sister gifted me her quilting stash in June 2013 and there were probably half a dozen of these Sister's Choice blocks in it. I made many more blocks for a total of 30 a few years ago and got the top completed--it is about 70 x 80 inches. I already have a backing and binding for this one, so I am just getting it all prepped to drop off to Rachel for her to work her longarm magic! I hope to have it ready for my daughter to take it to them at the new year! I am a big believer that the right quilt finds the right person or family.

I have been keeping up with the Farm Girl Vintage 2 QAL. Here is my Cold Watermelon Block and my Corn and Tomatoes 2 Block.

These blocks were from this Friday, the Cross Stitch Block and the Curious Crow Block. I am using scraps from my bins and Kona white for the background.

This is the batik beauty I am currently binding for Rachel. I will be working on it for Slow Sunday Stitching:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/12/slow-sunday-stitching.html

It has been lovely having the whole Thanksgiving week off! Very hygge-- with lots of hot drinks, candles, reading, yummy food, quilting, and cozy cuddling with our dogs. We have three weeks until winter break which will be more of the same.

Mid-November Update

 No excuses--I have been quilting, but it just does not seem like anything earth shattering, more like just puttering around with blocks and binding. I have been keeping up with the Farm Girl Vintage 2 QAL. These are last week's blocks the Bright Zinnia Block and the Barn Cat Block. I made an orange tabby because at one point when I was a kid, I think we had four orange tabbies at once! I did six inch versions of both blocks.

 This weekend, I made the Busy Beehive Block and the Cheerful Tulips Block. The beehive is 12 inches and the tulips are six inches in my plan.

I am also keeping up with the Ombre Gems QAL. Here are the six blocks and half blocks for this week

and last week's two indigo blocks.  We only have two more blocks to go and then trimming and putting the top together.

I spent some time this week ripping out machine quilting at Rachel's. Her longarm had a timing issue on the last row of one of my quilts, so we spent some time ripping it out and catching up. Her hubby brought us a bottle of wine to enjoy as we ripped away, despite the unsewing part we had a good visit.

This is my Threadology Twisted that had the final quilted row messed up. She was quilting it with a sweet flower design and it looked amazing. The repair tech will be at her house on Tuesday, so hopefully her machine will be back up and running, so she can finish the quilting and I can bind it. I think this is actually one of my all time favorite quilts I have ever made! I grabbed a fun batik quilt of hers to bind in the meantime.

I have really needed a day off from work, but with the whole week off for Thanksgiving coming I am just trying to hang in there...

Welcome November!

Well, I survived the week--and as a teacher that is saying something! It snowed Monday and Wednesday, plus Halloween on Thursday made this week extra long and crazy. Friday was pretty mellow--the kids were zombies from staying up too late and sugar crashed from way too much candy. Friday was also the start of the Farm Girl Vintage 2 Quilt Along.  A link to info is on my right sidebar. I am sewing along with Lori Holt and the Fat Quarter Shop! I will be using fabrics from my stash and scrap bins--my motto is the scrappier the better! The plan is to sew two blocks a week--this block is Autumn  Pumpkin 12 inch version.

This Block is Baked with Love also a 12 inch version. November means pumpkins and pies, right? I am embroidering the steam with a silver perle cotton for Slow Sunday Stitching right now:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/11/slow-sunday-stitching.html

I put a small piece of Warm & White batting behind and will trim it down--I think it is much easier to embroider the individual blocks.

 I made my Ombre Gems Blocks for Week 6. Info for this one is also on the right sidebar.  These are my aubergine blocks.

 Here are my plum blocks and half blocks

 and my turquoise blocks.

 I finally washed my To Spin a Star Quilt--I had finished binding it a couple of weeks ago. Sorry about the shadows--the time change has messed with my lighting.

Here it is on our pasture fence. It is so bright and cheery. It got nice and crinkly after washing and drying it!

 I made this design as a pattern test for Diane of Butterfly Threads in the spring. You can purchase this great scrap busting pattern here:

https://www.dianedknott.com/shop.html#!/To-Spin-A-Star-PDF-download/p/134474083/category=19199039

From the back, I love using a black and white binding on a bright quilt--it is a nice frame! I am not sure what I will do with this one, but it will eventually find a proper home.I am binding another quilt for my friend Rachel right now--it is lovely to snuggle under a cozy quilt and bind it on these chilly evenings. Have a great week!

Swan Dive Quilt

This is my secret sewing I have been working on for the last month! Fat Quarter Shop was looking for volunteers to use their Swan Dive Quilt pattern and I wanted to make a chemo quilt for my friend, Troy--he just started his 18 months of chemo. This is a free pattern from FQS and comes in two sizes. I opted for the lap size as it is perfect to use during chemo treatments 54" x 66". The pattern was designed to use with their Jolly Bars- 5" x10" rectangles--it takes one Jolly Bar for the baby size and two for the lap size. They wanted us to use a current fabric, so I ordered a layer cake of Moda's Zen Chic Backgrounds and a Kona black layer cake and yardage--I was going for a modern, masculine look. This would also be a great way to use up some scraps from your stash too!

The large pinwheels and flying geese were made using the Jolly Bar Cake Mix Recipe papers from Miss Rosie's Quilt company--they were very helpful since there are 800 half square triangles!

Since I needed to make my FQS deadline and get this to Troy ASAP, I opted to quilt it myself with straight line, vertical quilting, spaced every three quarters of an inch. I also used a gray minky for the backing and silver thread. I have washed it and it did shrink up some, but it is nice and cozy with the minky backing and the Warm & Natural batting gives it some weight. Here is the link to FQS and all the details for Swan Dive:

https://blog.fatquartershop.com/free-pattern-jolly-bar-friendly-swan-dive-quilt

This one is going in the mail today to Troy as a quilty hug during all his chemo treatments! Thank you Fat Quarter Shop for allowing me to make my own version of this quilt and gift it as a chemo quilt!

Quilt Along Progress

Howdy! I traveled to a conference last Sunday for work, so I did not get to sew very much last weekend. It was fun to get to go do some shopping especially at Trader Joe's and the bookstore, but the conference was kind of a bust. I was slightly ahead on my Ombre Gems Blocks and I made this week's this morning--lagoon, avocado, and teal. This quilt is going to be stunning!

I am all caught up with my Sunday Best Quilt Sampler blocks. I have not added the sashing and cornerstones because I am not sure if I will use red or navy.

 I am using some of my Bonnie and Camille scraps and stash for these.

My B&C Early Bird fat quarter bundle arrived while I was gone. We are supposed to get snow tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday. I will whip up some soup and enjoy cuddling under a quilt and binding to stay warm and cozy.