Here is the bigger of the two little quilts I made earlier this week.
I used vintage scraps for this one also. The squares finish at 1 inch. I used part of a vintage table cloth for the backing.
Linking up with Crazy Mom quilts for Finish it up Friday and confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop.
I used the free pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop to create this little Nail Polish quilt top last night.
I used my hand dyed fabrics for the “polish” in the bottle and solids for the rest. I will use hand dyed fabric for the binding as well. This will be a gift for Daughter #2 and I will take it to her when I visit later this month.
Now I need to decide how to quilt it. However, quilting will have to wait as I am traveling home to see my parents this weekend with Daughter #1 and Baby E. Sadly, hubby and Daughter #3 will not be able to travel with us. I have posts planned for the weekend and will keep an eye out for quilty things along the way.
Linking up with Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation for NTT and Gemma at Pretty Bobbins for IQuilt.
ETA: A kind commenter alerted me to the fact that the blocks I showed yesterday and technique may be attributed to this book by Anita Grossman Solomon.
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.
I have been really enjoying playing in my vintage scraps lately. I finished both of my little quilts that I showed yesterday but will save the larger one for another post.
I have a collection of vintage toy sewing machines and it is fun to make little quilts to go with them. This toy was made by the F. W. Mueller Company of Berlin, Germany prior to World War II. It is cast iron and quite heavy. This is known as a Model 19.
Some of the scraps I used have a lot of white space and blend into the background. For the binding, I folded the extra backing to the front and machine stitched it down. Yes, the back ends up a little messy this way but not every quilt has to be show perfect. Sometimes, it is just about the fun of making them.
Linking up with Connie at Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday and I Have to Say for Show and Tell Tuesday.
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)
It is already August 9th and I have yet to review my July goals! Here goes:
1. I want to complete the SQT challenge quilt for July. Done!
2. I want to finish the rainbow strip quilt.
Done!
3. I want to finish the pink/green UFO. I don’t even know the name of the block anymore! – Not done :(.
4. I would like to get the Churn Dash blocks together and quilted. Not done :(.
However, I did finish the problem child:
I also had company, went on vacation, and shopped a lot!
For the rest of August, I would like to:
1. Finish a current mini made from vintage 30s fabrics.
2. Make a “Nail Polish” quilt, free pattern here from the Fat Quarter Shop.
3. Finish appliqueing my pumpkin seed blocks.
4. Make a lap quilt from a lovely black/white/pink/red FQ stack. This will be a gift if I can get it done by the end of the month.
I have a quick trip to Wisconsin in the middle of the month and I will be heading out to see this little angel at the end of the month.
So there isn’t much month left!
Happy Saturday!
This may resemble a previous post. Remember the pinwheel quilt I made for the July Small Quilt Talk Challenge? I enjoyed making it so much, I decided to make another! Here is Pinwheels 2.0.
It is quite similar to the first one. I used vintage fabrics, including the same border, the same dropped diamond quilting pattern, even a piece of the same feedback on the back.
This one has smaller blocks, only 2 inches, and more of them.
The first one went to live with a bloggy friend and you can see it in its new home here. While you are there, you will find loads of inspiration. I have followed Barb’s blog for a long time. It is delightful!
Linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday, and Richard and Tanya Quilts for Link a Finish Friday.
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.
