Last Finish of 2020

I squeezed in one more finish before it is 2021. This is the Bricks Baby Quilt that I made for my friend that is adopting. This modern quilt really features the fabrics and comes together quickly. I used this free tutorial: https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2019/08/bricks-baby-quilt-tutorial.html

I made my version slightly wider, so finished it is 45 x 51 inches after washing.

I got my Pfaff back last week from servicing and so I didn't get around to quilting it up until yesterday. I used a charcoal minky and quilted it vertically with my wavy stitch. 

I need three grandma quilts for all boys, so I ordered in a fat eight bundle of On the Go from Moda designed by Stacy Iest Hsu. The fabric has cars, airplanes, street signs, tractors, and all kinds of darling transportation related items. There was enough fabric for two, but then I dug into my stash for some blenders to add in so there will be enough for all three. I have another charcoal minky backing for one and ordered turquoise minky for the other two. I might set one of them with its bricks going horizontally. 

We had to put our sweet border collie mix, Lola, down on Monday. She was such a fantastic dog and she had a long life living to 15.5 years old. She will be missed--RIP Lola! Have a Happy New Year!

 

My Sunday Best Sampler Finish

This beauty has been done for awhile, but I hadn't had a chance to get some pictures. This is My Sunday Best Sampler Quilt which I did as a sew along with Corey Yoder and Sherri McConnell. Here is a link to their book:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1683560043/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1683560043&linkCode=as2&tag=aqui-20&linkId=37671bc0274d9de8a9b499a7e2b99d24 I love this quilt, but I kind of regret not making it bigger to use as a bed sized quilt for my guest room. The navy sashing is gorgeous. I may just need to make something similar and bigger...

Rachel quilted it with a sweet floral pattern that goes well with all the Bonnie and Camille scraps I used for the blocks. I forgot to get a picture of the backing, but it is a gray with navy and white flowers.

I preordered this kit before summer as a birthday present for myself and I think I may make it larger than the pattern calls for my guest bed. Isn't it lovely?

One of my teacher friends is fostering a baby that will hopefully turn into an adoption. She and her husband are amazing people and will be fantastic parents. I asked her the nursery's color palette and she did teal, navy, and orange with bicycles as a theme. She specifically asked that the quilt included no name as once their adoption is final it may change--so no name quilt this time. I quickly ordered some bicycle fabrics on Etsy and looked for a simple quilt design. I found this free tutorial for a Bricks Baby Quilt: https://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2019/08/bricks-baby-quilt-tutorial.html

I made mine a couple of bricks wider and decided to add in some gray fabrics in the colors. I love how modern and cheerful it looks. I think I am going to straight line quilt it vertically. I already picked up a dark gray minky backing curbside from Joann's along with a navy Kona for the binding.

Speaking of binding, I am hand binding this beautiful quilt for Rachel this weekend and she has another one almost finished with the quilting that she needs in time for Christmas. We have had some snow and it is cold, so I am happy to cuddle up on the couch with some cappuccino and binge on Netflix while binding. Have a great weekend!

 

Touchdown Quilt Finish

Look what is done and shipped! This Touchdown Quilt was made for a 16 year old foster child, Diego. I volunteered to make it through a charity on IG called @quiltforachild. I supersized the quilt by adding an extra column of footballs plus a top and bottom border. It is 70x71 inches.

I can't even count how many Color Catchers I used on this and finally I picked up a bottle of Synthrapol from my local quilt shop. One wash with the 2 teaspoons as it calls for did not do the job, but half a small bottle and another wash did the trick. Diego's favorite color is read and there is plenty of red in this!

Rachel did an amazing job with the quilting! She chose this football pattern that had helmets, footballs in various sizes, and whistles.. The quilting shows up so well on the red backing with the black thread.

The request for this quilt and quilts for seven other foster boys came out in September. The delivery would coincide with Christmas, so Gwen asked if we could include a gift along with the quilt. My daughter and I got several gifts and a stocking with lots of goodies for Diego too--we had to send everything in two boxes to Tennessee. I hope this makes a memorable Christmas for him!

 

Touchdown Top Finished

I finished this Touchdown Quilt top last weekend! It is for a 16 year old foster child who lives in a residential facility. I made it wider than the pattern calls for  and added an extra border to the top and bottom too. It is approximately 71 x 78 inches. It will get dropped off to Rachel for her to do her long arming  magic today!

Rachel sent me a picture on Monday of my Sunday Best Sampler on her longarm.  Do you see out her window? We got 10 inches of snow Sunday night and into Monday! Thankfully, our district called a snow day which was needed especially since our buses were already not running due to a COVID outbreak among the bus drivers. Rachel's window faces south looking towards Telluride, but this storm was worse to the north. For the first time in 20 years, they shut the highway down from Grand Junction to Delta. I love snow days especially when it made it a four day weekend--I had Friday off because of parent/teacher conferences earlier in the week.

I have quite a few UFOs that I need to make some progress on before I can start something new guilt free. With that in mind, I worked on some Farm Girl Vintage 2 blocks this last week. The ones above are 6 inch blocks--they are time consuming when they are so small. 

This one is a 12 inch block. I have three more 12 inch blocks to make and 13 more six inch blocks to make for the suggested layout which I really do love.

We did a grocery pick up this morning for 2 weeks worth of supplies. On almost every grocery pick up order since March, we get a cheese fondue because it is pretty much ready in less than 10 minutes and it is almost like not cooking. Our family loves the cheesy goodness with bread, green apples, and sausage. With dinner planned, I will be quilting and enjoying football. Have a great week!

Baby Quilt Finishes 2X

 

Hi! I have definitely gotten my sewing mojo back--likely only because of some baby births and feeling like I had to make their quilts. This is a Bjorn Bear Baby Quilt. All of the browns were left over from the two I made in February.

I love the one with the glasses. It measures 46x55 inches after washing. I quilted it with my wavy stitch following the seams on the bears. It is quite organic, but that is why I love to use the wavy stitch.

The back is the double sided minky fabric from Joann's--this gray has a more brown tone to it.

This quilt perplexed me--not the quilt itself, but the mom's wishes--gender neutral, but no specific colors for the nursery. I was like huh? I found this line from Moda  Zoology by Gingiber It's a Jungle Out There. Once I decided to order the fabric line, I started to look for a quick design. I decided to make a Stoplight Baby Quilt--it uses a jelly roll. The jelly roll I ordered had 40 2.5 strips, so I made my version a little wider than the free pattern. After washing, it is 46x48 inches.

I quilted it vertically every 2 inches following the seams. It is so modern and gender neutral which is what this teacher was asking for...It has a gray with a bluish tone minky backing. After three quilts in row with minky backings, my sewing/classroom needs a deep cleaning.

When I ordered the Zoology jelly roll for the Stoplight Baby Quilt, I saw they had some Bonnie & Camille yardage half price. The charcoal is six yards and the green is five yards--it will be nice to have some B&C backings on hand!

My family has really continued to stay isolated since mid-March and I really wasn't quilting very much until this last month--the few fabrics I needed I had bought online mostly. I needed to get a binding for the Zoology Stoplight Baby Quilt, so I went to a fabric store yesterday right when they opened. I called Friday and knew they had a Zoology charcoal gray print for the binding and I needed to get a binding for Bjorn Bears too. It was an in and out process with the exception of the end cap that had bolts--finish the bolt and it is 50% off. They had bolts of my fabric kryptonite on there--Bonnie & Camille. I did not even think about it and grabbed every bolt of B&C on sale plus the gray Moda. I had used that in another project and there was 4+ yards of it--can you say awesome backing? All the B&Cs were at least 2 yards--stash enhancement! I spent more than I was planning, but they were great buys and I was still out of there in like 15 minutes...

I mentioned in my last post that I signed up to make a quilt for another foster child in time for Xmas. Diego is a 16 year old that lives in a residential facility--the details so far are pretty limited. He likes football and the color red. As soon as I signed up to make his quilt, I shopped on 

https://www.thousandsofbolts.com/index.cfm?deviceType=WidePC

They have lots of wide backings, good quality fabrics, reasonable prices, and quick shipping. There are a couple of drawbacks--they charge for shipping which I detest and all cuts are by the yard. I bought the red at the top of the picture for the backing--it is wide. I also chose the blacks to go with the reds and the brown between the row of blacks and the row of red will be the footballs.

I am making this Touchdown Quilt for Diego, but it will be wider because I am going to add another column of footballs which will make it nearly square.

I have already made two of these quilts--this Bronco version for my husband

and this Patriots version for my friend, Richard, when he was battling cancer. I think it will be a great quilt for a teenager. If you are interested in making a bed-sized quilt for a foster child, check out:

https://www.instagram.com/quiltforachild/

I am off to vacuum up minky fluff and get organized to start making some footballs. Have a great week and wear your mask!

Scrappy Mountain Majesties Finish

This beauty is on its way to Alaska! I used Bonnie Hunter's free pattern for Scrappy Mountain Majesties, except I only made 48 blocks and set them sideways. You can tell that I washed it due to the crinkly goodness and it shrank a little and now measures 44 x 44.5 inches--nearly square. I made the top completely from my stash--if I ever make a bigger one, I think I would mix up the pieces of the block so it looks scrappier.

I quilted it with my favorite and forgiving wavy stitch horizontally every 2 inches following the seams.

The backing is yellow minky for the cold Alaska winters and I used Warm & White batting. I have a new roll of batting that arrived today. My only actual purchase to make this quilt was the backing...

I have two more baby quilts to hurry up and finish because I want to send my Pfaff to Denver with my parents to be dropped off for service. Service is taking five weeks and I also have to figure out how to pick it up. My sister lives in Denver, so I can probably have her get it for me. But, we are getting into weather season soon, so I will probably be without it for a couple of months. I can use my Juki for piecing and straight line quilting in the meantime.

I signed up to make another quilt for a foster child. This time I am making something for a 16 year old male who likes the color red and football. I ordered red and black fabrics to make another "Touchdown Quilt" and Rachel volunteered to quilt it up. Gwen who organizes this charity has asked that we add in something special for Xmas too--I hope to get some more information about him, so we can include some good gifts. I think this batch of kids have all been claimed, but I encourage you to follow @quiltforachild 

https://www.instagram.com/quiltforachild/on Instagram. Most of the foster kids that these donated quilts go to live in institutions and have very few possessions. They request twin size quilts for their beds--I think it is a wonderful cause!

Scrappy Mountain Majesties Southwest Version

I'm back! More baby quilts are needed, so I finished up all the Scrappy Mountain Majesties blocks last weekend. They go together very quickly and have many setting options. This is what I decided on and sewed them all together yesterday. I love it! I think it would be cool to make a bed-sized version. It is 45 x 46 inches.

My friend, who I am making this for, now lives in Alaska, so I want a cozy minky backing. I did a curbside pick up at Joann's last night of a yellow minky. As soon as I got back from my pick up, I got a text that my friend's grandson had arrived.

I thought about just making another Name Quilt, but this is for one of my closer friends and I want to make her grandson a Bjorn Bear Quilt. The nursery is in sage--I went to Joann's first thing this morning and picked up this Kona. It is tarragon--there were not many choices, but this was a swatch I had considered. I went ahead and grabbed a gray minky for the backing. I am totally out of navy embroidery floss, so I grabbed a skein of it and some needles. This was my first time in Joann's since February. Everyone had masks on which is a rarity in our town. At the checkout stand, they had the new Quilt Sampler magazine--score!

My mom and dad got me The Bonnie & Camille Quilt Bee book as part of my birthday present and it arrived. I want to get it spiral bound. I am planning on ordering the Shine On fabric that is featured in the book and I will probably mix in some more of from my B&C collection.

Well, I am off to start cutting out bears!

Have a great week!

Summer Sewing that Wasn't

Hello Quilter Friends! It is not your imagination--I have not posted all summer because there really was not a lot of sewing going on all summer. I lost my mojo and really did not focus on much. I don't handle uncertainty very well and there was too much of that with how my teaching was going to be this fall. My summer wasn't totally wasted because I did take a few professional courses and read a bunch of middle grade books.

I finally got word that I would be teaching all year virtually. My position is unique because I work at three elementary schools with students in grades 3-5 and see about 60+ kids a week. This would be much too risky for spreading COVID. I also petitioned to work from home and that was granted one day before I was due to report for work! My sewing room has been transformed into my virtual classroom. My cutting table is a great raised desk and some quilts came down and a whiteboard and bulletin board were put up. I bought a tall stool and brought some supplies home from my classroom. Most of my students are attending school in person and will Zoom with me weekly and work on my enrichment activities in their regular classes--it is not ideal, but I feel it is the safest option. Our district has already had a couple of outbreaks and quarantines.

The one quilt I started this summer was this baby quilt. A coworker had a baby back in June and I started to work on it immediately, but did not finish it up until this week. The pattern is from Lori Holt's book, Spelling Bee, and is called the "Name Quilt." I made mine a little bigger and after washing it measures approximately 44" x 49" a good crib size.

Lori does not have any woodland animal blocks, so I bought the pattern for this Raccoon block on Etsy from BurlapBlossomPattern--it was $2.50 and that is all I spent on this quilt. All the fabrics, including the backing, binding, and the batting were from my stash.

I highly recommend making this design if you need a quick baby quilt and it is so easy to personalize it.

This backing fabric is an old Moda from my stash. I had to do some piecing to make it big enough. We are still not shopping in person, so making do with what I have on hand or can order online is a priority for me. Finishing this quilt and the need for some other baby quilts has brought my sewing mojo back.

I started cutting and sewing all the blocks for another baby quilt. They are having a girl and going for a desert/southwest look even though they recently moved to Alaska. I am using Bonnie Hunter's free pattern: https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/scrappy-mountain-majesties.html.

I am not sure on the setting, but I will play around with it--the blocks are very versatile. I am making 48 blocks and can make more if needed. I like baby quilts to be big!

I started this cross stitch in July it is "Stitchville" from Thimbleblossoms. There is a stitch along for it this month, so I plan on working on it while watching football today for Slow Sunday Stitching: https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2020/09/slow-sunday-stitching_13.html

I did bind a bunch of quilts for Rachel this summer and she quilted this one for me. It is my Ombre Gems Quilt, I plan to gift it to a friend. We had a few cold and rainy days earlier this week and that put me in the mood for fall--pumpkin spice, cozy pajamas, casseroles, and football!

Hearts At Home Quilt Finish!

 Hello! I officially started my summer vacation on Thursday and I have lost my quilting mojo. Pretty much the only thing I have been doing is a little binding for Rachel. She called me yesterday evening to let me know that she was done quilting this beauty. This is "Hearts At Home"--the pattern is designed by Chelsi Stratton and I used a mix of scraps from my stash. It could be a very fast design if you used a couple of jelly rolls!

 This is a charity quilt for a foster child in a residential facility. You can find out more information on Instagram @quiltforachild. Gwen has organized this charity in the last few months and I have been wanting to donate. When I saw an 11 year old, girly girl who loves pink, red, and gray--I signed right up! My favorite age group to work with are fifth graders, which is where Jalyn falls. I can't imagine how tough this lockdown would be for a foster child not being able to go to school right now and get out...

 It is 61x76 inches after washing--pretty good for a twin sized bed. I used a Bonnie & Camille floral from their Smitten line for the backing along with a strip of red with with polka dots (left over from another quilt backing) for the label strip. Rachel quilted it with a sweet flower and swirl pattern. She just knows what a quilt needs to highlight the pattern!

I embroidered the label on an extra block--we are not supposed to include our names or towns. I am encouraged to write a note to include with my first name and state only. It is nice to make something for a deserving child in this uncertain time--it felt good to have a purpose and a focus. I know Gwen has trouble finding quilters for the teenage boys' quilts, so maybe that will be my next donation!

Stay healthy everyone!

Hearts At Home Top

 Happy Sunday! I just finished sewing these blocks together and rushed outside to get a picture. This design is Hearts At Home by Chelsi Stratton. I made five extra blocks to make it longer. Right now it measures about 68 x 82 inches--a good size for twin bed. This is a charity quilt being gifted to an 11 year old girl in foster care. She is described as a girly girl who likes pink, red, and gray. I dug into my scrap bins and used some Bonnie & Camille strips as well as other blenders. 

I am using one of the extra blocks as label and it will be pieced into the backing to make it plenty long enough for the longarm. I plan on embroidering the label in red this evening for Slow Sunday Stitching https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2020/05/slow-sunday-stitching.html

I ordered a Bonnie & Camille pink with red flowers for the backing this morning. I am going to set the label block in a red strip and I am thinking red binding. The pattern does not show an outer border and think a bright red binding will be a nice frame. Rachel is planning on quilting it with flowers, so I am sure it will be stunning. I can't wait for the backing to arrive!

If you are interested in making a twin sized quilt for a foster child, check out @quiltforachild on Instagram. It feels good to do charitable sewing during this time. Have a great week!

Summerville Quilt Finish

Hello! I picked this beauty up from Rachel, my longarmer/friend's porch last Saturday. It was in a black garbage and remained in my car for quarantine until Wednesday--when I finally got see it. This is Summerville in Vintage Picnic fabric by Bonnie & Camille. My sister gifted me this kit a couple of years ago.

Rachel did her magic and picked a chubby flower with meandering vines and leaves. She is a newer longarmer and has a great eye for patterns fitting quilts--I have her make the decisions and I have not been disappointed yet! She is really talented and I think it is perfect!!!

I have not washed it yet, but I folded it up and put it in my glass display case. I will know when it will find its home or when it will get used at my own house.

Last Sunday, I signed up to make a quilt for a foster child through @quiltforachild on Instagram. I selected an 11 year old girl who likes pink, red, and gray. She is described as a "girly girl." I immediately thought of this pattern Hearts at Home by Chelsi Stratton--so I bought it and started on the heart centers--all of them are pink.

 I am going to make it with 20 blocks instead of 16, so it is long enough for a twin bed. I am using pink, red, gray, and turquoise. Rachel is already mulling quilting designs--she told me flowers for sure. 

 The gray blocks are done and I am working on the turquoise ones now. Ideally, the quilt needs to be done in 4-6 weeks. I am making it my priority because I love sharing quilty hugs especially with a deserving child.

This stunner is one of Rachel's. She longarms for me and I hand bind for her. We both love trading--binding is so relaxing for me and she is still exploring on her longarm. She quilted this one with a pink variegated thread and these cheerful flowers. It is a big one, so it will take a little time to bind. I plan on working on it for Slow Sunday Stitching: https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

How is everyone holding up? I coped with a little retail therapy this week. My hubby called it "frivolous," but I think it was bargain priced necessities. I have been eying these light weight, cozy sweatshirts from Target for awhile and they went on clearance. I needed the post-it pads for work and mug cakes are a favorite sweet because they are single servings. See necessities! Hang in there and stay healthy!