KatyQuilts

I started a new project yesterday. A while back I found this pin on Pinterest and found the idea very clever. I understand this idea originated with Sharon Craig. Yesterday, I decided to try it out with a stack of 10″ squares I bought a few years ago from Connecting Threads. Here is one finished block.

The process is simple. You stack up three squares face up on your mat.

Do a bit of slicing and dicing and you get this.

Rearrange the bits and you are ready to sew.

You do have to trim your blocks down to finish them. I got 12 blocks done in short order.

I like that this is a very efficient use of the squares. Not yet sure what this will become. There are enough squares to make 12 more blocks but that would still be a pretty small quilt.

I have another project I should be working on but the ideas aren’t flowing there yet. I think the biggest boost to creativity is to just keep working on something.

Every morning, I get up, have coffee, read my Bible, and talk to God. But it is in the quiet of the sewing room, that my mind becomes quiet too and I can listen and hear Him talk to me.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

Yesterday was spent at church, helping a neighbor, watching a Baby E, and delivering some furniture that was purchased at our sale. I did sneak away for just a bit to play with the vintage scraps I cut last week.

These squares finish at 1 inch. I had enough cut to make a couple more rows but I thought that would throw this all out of proportion. So I made another tiny top.

I have a lot of cleaning and laundry to do today but I hope to add borders and prepare these for quilting.

One thing I find very helpful when working with tiny pieces, is to starch the scraps well before cutting. Some of these vintage bits are loosely woven fabric and the starch really helps it to behave.

Linking up with Judy for DWMonday and Marelize for Anything Goes Monday.

No stitching so far this weekend due to the garage sale yesterday. It was so much work but we cleared out lots of stuff!

Here is another treasure recently found by Daughter #3.

Isn’t it fun? It appears the maker used a very thick cotton batting. The backing and sashing are the same, very thin fabric. You can clearly see the seam allowances shadowing through.

It is worn, too worn to risk washing it. I love the quilting on it.

Sadly, I know nothing of the maker. I wonder what her life was like. Was this one of many utility quilts made to keep her family warm? It isn’t a show quit, it was clearly made to be used, and heavily. If this quilt could talk, the stories it might tell……birth, babies napping in the sun, marriages, tents made by children, the sick and dying……I guess those are the stories my quilts could tell also. Perhaps that is why I am so drawn to these old textiles.

Hoping to get some stitching time in later today. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭30‬ NLT)

I finished the pack and play quilt and the cover for the bottom.

I found this great tiny gingham check in my stash for the binding. The yellow is flannel, the print is regular cotton.

The pack and play has a fabric covered piece in the bottom with some extra padding. I wanted to make a washable cover for it. So I quilted another piece of flannel and added a tiny coordinating print border to make up for the fact that I cut the quilted part a tiny bit too small. I like it better this way anyhow.

The following photos are not good but I wanted to show the opening in the back for inserting the bottom piece of the pack and play.

I spread the two edges apart here but they actually overlap.

I am quite pleased with how that turned out.

Baby E will be over to try it out later today.

Linking up with Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday.

I got a bit of time in on the quilt for the pack and play yesterday. It is really more of a comforter than a quilt as it is not pieced. I picked a simple panto to quilt it.

I tried out one of the new threads from the Superior try me special. It is variegated green/yellow/blue and it is called Rainbows. It took a bit of fiddling to get the tension set and I had a bit of breakage in the beginning. I had to slow down a bit but then it stitched up beautifully.

and here is the other side.

I hope to get the binding ready today and also to make some progress on the pad for the bottom of the pack and play. I wanted to make a pad/cover that I could take off easily to wash. I quilted a piece of flannel for that too and then trimmed it just a bit too small. Ugh! I think I can salvage it, I just have to get creative.

I need more coffee first.

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I sure did! I spent lots of time with family, went to some garage sales with Mr. Wonderful, worked a bit, relaxed by the fire….all good things. Yesterday, I shopped at JoAnn’s for this bit of fabric:

I want to make a small pad and quilt for this:

I picked up this pack and play at a garage sale. It is in great shape and I was quite pleased to find fabric to match it. I hope to find time to work on it today. Hubby and I have decided we must hold a garage sale ourselves this weekend. Our summer is getting away from us and we need a good clear out so that will take up most of my time this week.

Thanks for all the great ideas regarding my vintage top! I pressed it yesterday. It isn’t perfectly flat but somehow, that makes it easier for me to tackle. It makes me feel less like I am ruining it! I really want to keep that zigzag edge. I am thinking about doing a facing after quilting to finish the edge. It is pretty ruffly there so we shall see. I love Baptist fan quilting but I am not sure I could successfully machine quilt that yet. I also love the idea of doing something feathery in the white background areas.

I will definitely take the suggestion of outlining the star pieces, perhaps with a continuous curve. It would be a great chance to practice that and my mistakes aren’t likely to show.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday and Sassy Quilter for Anything Goes Monday.