quilty friends are perfect friends!

once again, not too much blogging happening over here, but lots of quilting and sewing! i'm grateful for the chances i get to go up to the sewing room and create! 

 

this quilt is actually done now: quilted, bound and on my bed! but in the interest of sharing it, i'll just post the pictures of it in the flimsy stage...

(in case you're wondering, the Kona colors in this quilt are stratosphere and duckling. the whites are just a huge hodge-podge of low volume scraps) 

i started this quilt a few years ago (maybe 2?) when Amanda Jean (of Crazy Mom Quilts) was doing a JuneQAL on her blog. ( i have several of the books that she's written, along with Cheryl, which are some of my FAVORITE quilting books of all time) 

obviously i changed up the color scheme quite a bit, but i made this quilt to be more of a "summer" quilt, and it matches the scrappy bed quilt i made 2 years ago. 

what's with the chicken, you wonder? the girls (my 2 teenage daughters, A & B) are always frustrated with the chickens in our flock- they can be so mean to any chicken that has a perceived weakness. so they "rescued" this hen from the flock, and brought her up to be with the donkey, Daisy. the rescued hens usually stay up with the donkey for awhile, making a general nuisance of themselves, and then she (the hen!) gets kicked out of the pasture, and goes back down with the flock. 

and just for fun- here's another quilt that i did AFTER the SnowflakeQAL last fall. i'm especially pleased with the backing fabric- ITSSOPERFECT! 

i'll be back soon with the catchup post about our RSC21 project, the #fullstop quilt. i'm really happy how it's turning out! 

buckle up, 'cause here comes 2018!

I'm participating in the UFO "Challenge" with Judy at Patchwork Times. it's pretty loosey-goosey and no pressure, but it's still good to have the accountability and camaraderie of other quilters. this is at least my 4th year participating in a UFO challenge. despite getting 8 of my 12 UFOs done last year, there are still a few UFOs lurking about...

 

 

#1: BOM started from a LQS several years ago. the blocks are all done- 16 blocks at 15" each. I have the sashing fabrics all picked out. I'd like to get this to the flimsy stage, and will pass it along as a MCC quilt for one of the auctions.

#2: technically not a UFO, but still a bunch of possibilities here. I'll use all {some} of these strips for a quick donation quilt or two...

#3- Amanda Jean hosted a QAL this summer with this quilt. ( I have the book) and despite pulling and petting my fabric choices, I wasn't able to participate. I'd like to make mine with low volume strings, and perhaps red/teal for the alternate blocks.

#4- this was on last year's UFO list; a holdover from RSC16. I'd like to get it done- maybe in time for Christmas 2018?

#5- a low volume Rail Fence. I pieced this awhile ago- maybe 2014? I really, really like it- time to get it quilted (myself) and in use, rather than in the closet!

#6- a Bonnie Hunter scrappy nine patch for MCC. all the blocks are done; I've lots of background fabric. time to get it sewn into a quilt!

#7- this quilt was pieced from Kona solids in January of 2014- after receiving a book from my daughter- Jelly Roll to Heirloom (or something like that) for Christmas. this picture is not current- it's quilted (by hand, by a dear friend) and just needs the binding sewn down.

#8- this RSC17 quilt is a recent completion and Rainbow Squares was not chosen in the Great Quilt Gifting of 2017. (secretly, I'm glad. I really, really like this one!) I plan to quilt it myself. (sadly, no long arm quilting is in the foreseeable budget...)

 

 

#9- again- can a picture in a book technically be called a UFO? not sure, but I like this quilt, and I'd like to make a similar one with the 3" squares from my suitcase, but with prints. we'll see. I feel like Growing Up Odd would make another good use of my 3" squares...

 



#10- this kit was an impulsive (but economical) buy from connecting threads a few years ago. it was #10 on my 2017 UFO list as well. I love the schoolhouse block, and would like to make a quilt from them, but I don't really like the colors. maybe it's time to use the fabric for a different quilt, and make this pattern in colors I really like?

#11- another hangover from the 2017 UFOs. I've definitely fallen out of love with this quilt- it's a BOM from a quilt guild that I belonged to in the late 1990s! it's time to do something with these blocks- even a orphan adoption is better than sitting in my drawer!

 

so there we have it- 11 quilty projects to keep me busy throughout the New Year! thanks for stopping by!

sharing the love... spreading the warmth...

since my children live spread out all over the country (a son in WA and another son in the Bronx) we planned to celebrate our Christmas early this year while we were all together. We had our family Christmas on Saturday, December 16. it was a lovely day- full of memories, and all the traditions that we would normally do on the 25th.

 

my youngest son, G, chose not to come, but my mother heart loves him all the same, and despite the full house with all the children and grands, I missed him just the same...

the little girls, A and B, were especially happy for new jammies!  and look: everyone smiling! everyone looking!

we drew numbers for the quilt picking- #1-#5. I had 11 quilts to choose from (!!!) so even the last person had a nice selection to pick their favorite. my oldest daughter, M and her husband K were first. they chose one of the RSC16 column-along quilts. (they chose the twin size; that leaves the lap size for me! yay!) here they are in front of the tree with "baby" C. C will have a new baby brother in March, the quilt is hiding M's cute belly...

 

my son D is a Corpsman in the Navy, stationed in Bronx, NY. (go figure...) he and A chose the Flying Geese quilt.

 

second son N is married to P, and they have a little girl, E. N is in the Army, stationed in Seattle, WA. it was a treat to have them here and visit with them for almost a week. (it was fun to watch the 2 cousins together, too. they're only 6 days apart in age) N and P chose a low-volume patchwork quilt, sofa size. I guess I never blogged about it... but you might have seen it on instagram.

 

 

A is 11, and chose this Roman Stripes quilt. (it's made out of the same fabrics as D & A's quilt) I made this quilt quite awhile ago- glad it's finally found someone to snuggle with...

 

(here's a tutorial on how I made it) and here's where I pieced it together- almost 8 years ago. yikes! 

 

 

baby BJ (sometimes I still call her that, even though she's 10 years old now...) chose the pinwheel quilt. I blogged about this quilt here, too. this project has been in my RSC roundup for a few years, going through several evolutions, and even thrown in as a UFO a time or two, too... but now it's "done" and we'll piece a backing for it this week, and set it aside to be quilted.

 

a couple quilts weren't chosen that I was sure would be top on the list, but that's ok. we might have a wedding in our near future, and some can live in the sewing room closet until they find a home. others will go to MCC. one way or another, all the quilts will be loved and used.

 

my instagram feed has been full of smiling children, happy faces and lots of snippets of memories in the making- not much sewing at all for me this month of December. but- of course, that's OK! i was glad to have some time with my family. when our children are small, we honestly don't' realize how fast the years will fly- because those days can really drag, can't they?

 

one day they're all grown and gone, and it's a big deal when they all come home and we can be together. enjoy those moments while you can!

 

and click on over to Angie's, too! lots of great quilts getting done!

 





what does November mean?

November in RSC Land means our blocks are done (or nearly so) and we start to see some pieced flimsys in our Saturday linkups.

I tend to make lots and lots of blocks, but I'm not always so great at finishing them into tops... I have some good new to share this week, though!

new for my RSC17 block list this year was the low volume 16 patches. I had lots of the 3" LV squares left from my Plus quilt that I decided to use them again this year in a 16 patch.

with the completion of my brown 16 patches this week, I was ready to lay out the blocks...

 

I had already been pondering how I wanted to lay them out, so it didn't really take too long to settle on a design. the layout is 9 X 11 blocks, so the quilt should finish at 90" X 110". (another big'un!) I had 9 blocks leftover, but unfortunately they weren't the right color or shade, so I'll be "custom" piecing a few more of these to get the quilt done.

 

I'm loving it so far!

 

these pinwheels started as one of my RSC15 projects, and I pieced (and pieced!) a boatload of them. I finished the first quilt with them (shown here) and just this week completed this one. it measures 62" X 78".

I'm calling it Windblown Pinwheels: I'm sure there was  pattern in the colors somewhere, but in the process of picking the blocks up off the design floor, and then up to the sewing room, they must have gotten jumbled a bit... that's ok! finished is better than perfect, right?!

those long nights of sewing...

we're in that time of year for us where the garden work is done and *mostly* cleaned up, and it's still not time for butchering- turkeys and pigs. does that mean I have *extra* time? no, not really {haha} but there have been lots of evenings where I can work in the sewing room, piecing away..

I felt like I had so many brown scraps, but I was able to get these 19 crumb blocks pieced in one evening: see above {those long nights of sewing...} from caramel to chocolate, all the browns are there...

can I say just one more time: these Kona indigo and the COM are my favorites? I say that every month... and I say that I say that every month...

I'm concentrating on getting some of my RSC16/17 blocks pieced into tops for our Great Quilt Gifting in early December, so these indigo 16 patches will have to wait until Christmas time-ish to get pieced into a top. BUT: they're at the top of my list- can't wait!!!

 

colors: (not in order) honey, sable, earth, pepper, chocolate, expresso and ???.

 

the 16 patch LV blocks are all done- and getting ready to be sewn into a top. I wasn't sure how I'd like them, but so far they're looking great. (sneak peek here) 

and a few (16) lonely pinks to add to the crumb stack. my {tallish] crumb stack is from RSC16 and RSC17. I have an idea how I'd like to piece them into tops; I'll start that project in the New Year. but I think I'll take a break from crumb blocks next year... (not that I'm running out of crumbs or anything... they're having babies up in the sewing room as. we. speak.)

 

speaking of RSC18: (18?! how did that even sneak up on us?!) I'm planning on participating again next year, but entirely uncertain what my blocks/projects will be... I'd like to do something that uses LOTS of my 3" squares from my suitcase of squares, but I'm not sure what I'd like. I want to do something a bit more multi-colored, but then that kind of defeats the purpose of RSC, right? I'll keep pondering, but I'm open to suggestions...

a little bit of catch up....

life got a little crazy there for a couple weeks, but it's starting to calm down. (I'm a pretty transparent person; it's usually fairly easy to tell, 'cause my instagram and Facebook pictures start leaning more towards quilts and/or fabric, and less towards veggies...)

 

my blues were  pretty crazy- as Angie says, that's often a heavy color for us quilters. I was no exception. 75 crumb blocks later, and I'm calling it done!

 

I've been collecting my low volume crumbs for a few years. this is my 4th year piecing along with the RSC, and I'm pretty sure it's the first I've used my LVs.  they were definitely on the crazy side- filling 4 jars, and then a large aluminum colander. (food service size) I "tamed" them, so to speak, and have 74 crumb blocks, and a half filled gallon jar remains for another project... (or two, or three...)

orange is such a happy color!

 

I'm back! I managed to do a *tiny* bit of neutral/low volume sewing (my indigo 16 patches) but that was about it in the RSC17 department.  

but- here's 2 of the reasons that I didn't get a lot of time in the sewing room- granddaughter E and grandson C. who needs fabric with these two little sweeties around?! baby E and her mother P are visiting from WA this week. my son, N, is on a 40 day training deployment in CA, so we took the opportunity to fly the 2 of them out (to PA) for the week. it's been so fun- and baby E is such a snuggler- she tucks right into my (left!) shoulder, sticks her thumb in her mouth, and twirls my hair. it's so sweet!

 

(and notice the ORANGE apron... it was Farmer's Market day here on the farm. the apron was totally coincidental, really...)

 

the two cousins were born 6 days apart, so it's kind of like twins when they're around! (and E's daddy was one of my twins- D & N, now almost 27 years old.) ACK! that makes me feel old!

 

and I guess it's been so long since I posted that I have MORE news to share: C's daddy and mommy (my oldest child) is expecting again! we'll have ANOTHER baby to snuggle in March!!! can't wait!!!

I made a *tiny* bit of progress with my low volume scraps: I moved them out of the jars, and into my huge colander. does that count as progress? ha! these scraps will be pieced into crumb blocks.

I need some help from you guys! I have this nice little pile of 5" low volume squares. I'm thinking of piecing them together into a patchwork top, with some applique. (she says with a shudder) I've only ever made one applique quilt, and that was about 15 years ago. I think I might have one more in me, and can probably pull it off as a traveling/piano lesson quilt. (the last one was done during baseball practice/games when my boys were teenagers) any suggestions? I'm looking for something creative, easy and funky.

 

just for fun: here's my stack of (6½" crumb blocks. these are from last year, as well as this year.) I did made an impressive stack of blue crumb blocks (was that July's color?) but they're not trimmed yet. I'm looking forward to getting these blocks into a quilt of some sort, and I'm heavily leaning towards Rachel's Picnic Blanket.

 

there were a couple sew-a-long quilts this summer that I would have loved to do- this one, and also the one that Amanda Jean hosted. ( I even pulled out and petted my low volume scraps for that one, but just couldn't manage to pull it off with the gardens and baby sitting)

and last- but not least- here is an impressive pile of little purple squares. I rescued it from the dog bed pile at our church sewing circle- Scraps to Wraps. all the squares seem to be accurately cut, and are 1½". someone took the time to cut all these squares, and there are a few assembled 9 patches in the pile. (lower right corner). I'm offering this to someone who has the time (and patience!) to complete it into a quilt- preferably for a charity of your choice. I'll mail it anywhere in the USA. just let me know if you're interested, and what charity you plan to give it to. I'll have it in the mail to you by the end of the week.

 

be sure to click over to Angie's blog- our hostess with the mostest, and see what every one else is sewing on!

Well, that's a PLUS, anyway...

SO: I'll spare you the excuses/details of "I've been so incredibly busy these last weeks you couldn't even possibly imagine...." blah, blah, blah...

 

I always look forward to the few evenings each week I have the energy AND time to retreat to the sewing room and sew a few blocks in the COM. and who knew I had So. Much. Green. yikes!

I do keep a much more current on instagram: it's quicker, and blogger can really be a pain in the butt...  (jlcap69).

green: who ever thought of how many different greens there are? not me, that's for sure, until I started sorting them all.

maybe some day i'll be able to get away from always sewing monochromatically, but it's not looking good so far...

sage, forest, lime, grass, puke...

 each one is endearing in its own way....

click over to so scrappy to see more green inspiration...

More little boxes of red...

not much sewing in the sewing room this week, what with pink-eye, the stomach bug, bronchitis and a blizzard (30+" from Stella, the epic nor'easter)....

...but what did get sewn was soothing and repetitious- 3" squares in a low volume 16 patch: 10 in all. they'll join the purple and aqua ones in the drawer, waiting for all the other colors to join them in December...

 

lots of other pretty reds over at Angies: click on over to see...

As Red as a Box of Raisins....

a bit of time in the sewing room this week: and almost all devoted to red, red, red! I pulled out the pinwheel blocks (a leftover from RSC16) and am assembling them color by color, month by month. reds are checked off the list...

and digging through the suitcase of 3" squares yielded many, many reds. obviously a favorite color of mine... ( I do like reds, it's true!)  a few minutes of sorting, and I had enough (different) reds to make 3 LV+ blocks.

 

I made a LV+ quilt last year, but it's quite different from this one. (it's still hanging in my sewing room closet, patiently waiting for its turn at the quilters....)

 

click on over to Angie's blog on Saturday morning to see what everyone else has been sewing together this week... also, thanks for stopping by! I appreciate your taking a moment or two from your sewing time to see what I've been up to! if  you'd like to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you! (and just also wanted to let you know I turned off the annoying confirmation bits on the commenting form- so chatter away!)

one square at a time...

there are a few colors that I would consider to be woefully lacking in my stash- sea green is one of them...

 

but if (as Angela suggested) we expand that palette to include the scraps that play well with neither blue nor green, we all seem to have more than we thought! a plethora of delightful hues and colors have appeared right before our eyes!

what is it about those low volume squares? don't know... but they're fun to work with. above a 5X5 layout with a LV plus in the middle. (those + are pretty popular and fun, too!)

4 more 16 patches have joined their purple sisters from last month.

be sure to go see what everyone else has been working on- I promise it will be an inspiring click!