Chipping away

      I have lots of projects. I have a whole notebook of them that I track. First, an older one- finally quilted this week. I have to add the binding I made yesterday and then I can post the whole quilt.

     I have a new project. Maureen sent me a bag of triangle and pieces of Tilda fabric- I had never heard of it, but, oh my, I really like it. I found a Missouri Star Quilt Company pattern called Kindred Pinwheels and I thought it was perfect for these triangles. I adapted and used the whole size of the triangles. I am using off white on white background pieces to keep the softness of the colors in the fabrics. The darker colors are in sets of 4 and the lighter ones are another 4. I have to cut a lot of triangles and 2 1/2 x 7" strips to sew all the triangles Maureen sent. I think instead of laying out a block at a time, I am going to sew all the dark triangles to white, then all the white strips to the light triangles and then lay out the blocks. It might save time and effort.

Roses are glorious flowers

      I admit, I was always afraid of growing roses. However, with some advice and help, I am robustly planting them. I stick to shrub roses. I have a tiny yard, but there is always room for another rose. I love the David Austin roses and I have also been buying some from Heirloom roses- own root roses, not grafted. They have big sales and they have great how to videos. I do have to do titanic battles with Japanese beetles at times, althought right now, they are absent. I have had to fence them in because the insane rabbits ate canes last year.

Hot Cocoa- given to me by a friend who did not have enough sun. This rose has the most beautiful shiny dark green foliage and such a beautiful color flower

      This is a new Heirloom rose I bought on sale- aptly named "Take it Easy". It is growing well so far. First planted.

Today

Fabric enhancements

      Over time, I have made my comfort quilts bigger so that they cover a person and can be tucked under the feet and chin. This means I need more backing fabric. You all know what the price of fabric has done. So, on a recent May trip to Berlin, Ohio- Amish country- I made stopping at Zinck's a priority. Over the winter, they had big wind and storm damage and redid a lot of the store in a good way. The day I was there, they had their considerable flat folds a dollar off a yard if you bought the whole piece. Ok then, if I must, I must. I was able to get a lot of 5-6 yard pieces for between $3-$5 a yard. I made sure I washed all of it when I got home because when longarming, if the back is washed, it goes a lot better. I do not wash the front fabrics as a lot of them are scraps. Julie from Pink Doxies recommended I wash backing fabric a long time ago, and it has really helped in quilting.

5 yd pieces for $3 a yard- $15 for a back!

Some smaller yardage

     I also found some great animal fabrics for my I Spy quilt, some black and white prints to replenish my collection, more white on white pieces, and some stripes for bindings. A very good haul of fabrics to use. I also bought clearance fabric from Millers Dry Goods in Charm.

Scrap Jar Stars sewn

      I have no idea how much time has flown by. I was sewing and moving fabric around, but somehow writing and posting eluded me. Scrap Jar Stars is now sewn, it is 72 x85. I added a 3" white border to contain it and to stabilize the edges. More and more, I do not like enclosing so many seams in the binding. I like the snap and brighness of it as well as so many different fabrics. I used lots of different white on whites for the background so the colors were not in a boring flat white sea.
     Once again, I did all the components- the center 16 patches, the corners, the HSTs, as leader enders. Then I laid out each block on freezer paper and stacked them and sewed them as a web block. I also sewed the sashing on each block, and then sewed the blocks together web fashion. I do not like the technical difficulties of sewing long thin strips of fabric between rows of blocks. I have better control and results this way.

Back to the Stars

     Back to the Scrap Jar Stars, I mean. This has been a leader ender for a long time. I finished 22 blocks, needed 20, to make a quilt. When I looked back at the pattern, I realized if I made 8 more blocks, I could have a bigger quilt. So, I girded up and sewed more components. I have the last 6 blocks layed out on sheets of cardboard stacked at one of the machines to work in between other things. Then I will have 30 blocks to layout 5 x 6. The blocks will finish at 12". However, they still need sashing and cornerstones, which I will have to cut, and use a leader enders to put it together. I am trying to push this along, as it has been around too long (April 22) in pieces.

Single block

This pile of blocks was too hard to iron on freezer paper, so I put each block on a cardboard.
     I also tried out a quilt pattern I found on Pinterest, Illusion Rings, to see if I like it before committing to it. I came up with the sizes to use standard cuts and I am not sure if it is too large scale. The centers, HSTs are 4 1/2" squares, 12" Finished. Used the Tri-Recs ruler for the star legs.

Octagon OBW

      I have made at least 5 One Block Wonder (OBW) quilts and love them. I have the book and noticed that there is one using octagons instead of hexagons. Wow, you can piece them together as whole blocks instead of half rows, love it. Of course, you need 8 repeats instead of 6. I did make one octagon one a while back, but just quilted it before eye surgery and bound it yesterday (black thread on black binding- needed perfect sight). I want to make a big one! Finding the right fabric is a huge hunt- I need a 24" repeat and eight of them. The background to foreground ratio has to be just right.
    Here is the finished octagon OBW. It is 41 x 53. Quilted with Glide Cleopatra (where do they get these names?). Now to find a wall space for it.

Hands to Help Quilts

      Every year I try and complete some quilts for Sarah Craig's Hands to Help Challenge. This year, as last, I will send these 3 baby quilts to Little Lambs when completed. The great thing about them is they participate in a shipping service that lets me ship all them for one low price.
    This year, I made one baby girl and two baby boys. I used the same design to make things quicker and easier. For a while, I have been making a scrap quilt called Scrap Jar Stars as a leader ender. When I started it, I made sample blocks for the star. I loved the little one (uses 1 1/2" squares), but the amount of blocks needed to make a quilt was daunting. I used 2" squares for the center, 3 1/2" for the HSTs. As I looked at the blocks, I thought, why not supersize? I graph papered it out and used stash fabrics. Later, I found that she has a baby quilt pattern available for this star. Well, my brain got a workout, always good.
    Because of the eye surgery, I have not been able to quilt them yet. I may miss the June deadline to ship them, but I will complete them and send them. I am making the backings now. They are about 49 x 49.

Big and little stars

Girl quilt

The Starry Night fabric for the border is special because it is from my friend, Terri, was passed away in December, and I used it in her grandkids quilts. I know she would have loved to see this.