KatyQuilts

It is turning out to be a crazy busy week around here! So much to do before I head out of town. The QOV top is getting closer to being done. I just have two more long seams and borders to add.

I did actually purchase fabric for a border for this way back when. Now I am not sure I like it all that much.

The colors match the hand dyed fabrics I used in the blocks quite well.

But it doesn’t look very patriotic. I like my QOVs to be patriotic. If I can’t find anything else in my stash, this will be it. I can’t justify the time or money to go shopping for border fabric when I already have something. Especially since I don’t see myself using this fabric for anything else.

I have gotten a few more shirts taken apart. I can’t wait until they are all pressed and I can start cutting. I am thinking that might not happen until I get home.

I still haven’t finished the binding of my little blue and brown 9 patch. It may be my travel project.

Housecleaning, more laundry, and some packing are on the agenda today before work so I better get to it!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly a Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s Bee Sewcial.

I haven’t made a Quilt of Valor in a few months and decided it was time to start something new. While digging through fabric, I found some 9 patch and rail fence blocks for a QOVF that I had set aside at least two years ago. I had to make a few more blocks to get enough. Maybe that is what stopped me.

I would like to get this top together before I leave the end of this week. It would be nice to come home to a top ready to quilt.

Yesterday was mostly spent canning with Daughter #1. We made salsa, tomato sauce, and spaghetti sauce.

I wish I had gotten a picture of all our jars together. I think we had over 30 jars by the time we finished.

Little man enjoyed time with grandpa and was good as gold.

Today is my long day at work. I need to get the laundry done since yesterday was spent canning. I hope to get a few rows together on the QOV. So much to do before I go!

Linking up with Connie at Free Motion By the River for Linky Tuesday.

I finished the nail polish quilt and will share that later this week. I also played with my 9 patches this weekend.

I didn’t do a lot of rearranging of the blocks, but I did find a perfect fat quarter for borders.

I got it basted.

And started quilting.

I hope to finish this this week.

I also have an idea for another shirting quilt. I have added a few of my husbands shirts to my stash so I need to “debone” them as Bonnie Hunter would call it. She has a great video on YouTube showing how she does it. Check it out here. I thought my method was good until I saw her do it! Her method is way easier! Good thing, I have a pile to do before I get to the fun stuff.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for DWMonday.

I haven’t forgotten the nail polish quilt I started. I marked it:

And quilted it last week.

All good, right? Not really. I used a washable Crayola marker to mark the quilting lines. I have used these before without issue. This time they bled and didn’t completely wash out. Ugh! It is my own fault for not testing. I washed it a few times with Dawn dish soap and that took care of the worst of it. It will have to be good enough since someone “helped” me by throwing the laundry into the dryer.

I started binding it a few days ago. Today I will finally finish it.

Linking up with Kathy Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.

I seem to have lost part of my week! I still haven’t completely unpacked from last weekend and it is almost time to pack for my next trip to see Baby L. But I have gotten a wee bit of sewing in. A while back, I bought a Moda Scrap pack. I always wanted to see what they were like. I wish I had taken some pictures before I started working with it but you can Google it to see for yourself.

Basically, they are scrap strips left over from their cutting of precuts. You get strips with a pinked edge and a selvedge edge. They are not uniform in width. I think I had about 30 strips in my pack ranging from 2-4″ in width and about 30″ long. I wanted to use it all up in one project with as little waste as possible. So I sewed strips together in sets of three and then cut 6″ squares from the strip sets with my die cutter. I ended up with a rather wonky sort of a rail fence design.

I used the scraps from my scraps to piece a few blocks and ended up with a 36″ x 42″ top. I love the colors and fabrics but can’t say I am in love with the top. Perhaps I will like it better when I am done quilting it.

This is the pantograph I am using:

This was a quick project and will make a great donation quilt. It is a bit funky, which I like. Would I buy another scrap pack? Probably not. But it was a fun little experiment.

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday and Gemma for IQuilt.

Daughter #1, Baby E, and I got home late yesterday afternoon. It was an exhausting, emotional trip but I am so glad we went. My mom is doing much better and they sent her home last night. While I was gone, hubby and Daughter #3 went to a garage sale and picked this up for me:

It looks like this top may have been part of a tied quilt at one time. It is dirty and has some holes that need fixing. But it is all made from feed sacks. I am thinking I will repair this and quilt it. I won’t wash it until after that.

Would you wash first?

Not a single stitch of sewing happened while I was away. This morning, I hemmed a pair of pants. Somehow, that doesn’t feel like it counts! Off to work soon.

I am linking up with Connie at Free Motion By the River for Linky Tuesday.

Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers for my mom. She is still in the hospital and we are waiting to hear what they will do today. It was hard to leave last night but Daughter #1 and Baby E needed to get back. Before I left, I snapped a few shots of a quilt my sister and I made more than 20 years ago for our parents 30th anniversary.

My sister did all the embroidery. The dates show when that person entered the family. It had empty squares when we made it. It turned out to have just enough for each child, spouse and grandchild.

Have a great Monday!

As I mentioned last week, Daughter #1, Baby E, and I are visiting my parents in Wisconsin. Here are a couple quilts I made long ago for my parents. This one I made for my dad in 1996.

I believe I made it from a Karen Stone paper piecing pattern. I quilted it on my 1955 Singer 201.

The next year, I made a lap quilt for my mom.

Last night, we took my mom to the hospital as she is having more heart issues. We shall see what today brings.

I appreciate all of the comments and visits to my blog but I am not going to be able to respond to all of your lovely comments from the last few days like I normally do.

But the LORD continually shows loyal love to his faithful followers, and is faithful to their descendants, to those who keep his covenant, who are careful to obey his commands. (‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭17-18‬ NET)