A Little of This and That

One of the advantages of being stuck inside (and not being healed enough to clean the house!) is that I have had some lovely time in the sewing room.  Usually I can focus on one project at a time from beginning to end, but the other day I had concentration issues.

I finally got around to making my first economy block.

 There will be many more of these in the future!  I have started to cut a little pile of fussy cut centers (maybe even centered better than the one above!).

Then I found in my little project basket some scrap strips from one of my favorite quilts (love this Suburban quilt pattern!) and combined it with a nice wine themed fabric to make a mini-table runner.

Perfect for under my old school non-bluetooth sound system.

And then I made block #94 (!) Skyscrapers in the Splendid Sampler quilt along.  With the release of the Patriots Day movie, I had to make this in the colors of Boston Strong.

I did a little dusting in the sewing room as well, but that is hard to photograph.  Sunset tonight was pretty nice.


Kathy

More Splendid Finished Blocks

The hip recovery continues to slowly progress.  As I can't go outside to play (bad hip and ice is not a great combination) I have been doing a little sewing.  Some I can even show you!

I continue to stay on top of the Splendid Sampler blocks.  Here we are with only seven blocks to go!  I have to admit this has been a fun project with a mish mash of blocks that somehow actually look like they might work well together.  This is what 93 blocks looks like:

 And, here are a few block close ups:

#89 - From Colorado to the MidWest

#90 - Juggling

#91 - Gran's Button Jar

#92 - Double Bees

#93 - Tiny Miracles

I've made several blocks for the Shimmer quilt.  It's nice to have a project all pre-cut that I can sit down and sew up a block or two at a time.

I'm very happy with how these blocks are coming out.  This one maybe my favorite:

My little grand-dog Tucker has been visiting with us this week and has been a very helpful companion in the sewing room.

It's a beautiful January here in New Hampshire.  I'll be outside soon!


Have a great day!
Kathy

A Finish for Jean

I've shared a little about my very, very talented mother in law.  She knits, crochets, sews, makes a mean custard pie, so forth and so on!  In one of my first posts I talked about how her quilts inspired me to get into this hobby.

To simplify her pile of WIP's, a couple of months ago, she pulled out two beautiful finished quilt tops and asked me to quilt and bind them.  Of course I couldn't refuse despite my fear of messing up someone else's work!  It was a wonderful reason to dust off my free motion skills that had not been exercised in months and bravely (!?) did so with simple meander quilting.

She supplied the polyester batting and backing.  This was my first experience with polyester batting and although I had no problem quilting through it, the weight was noticeably heavier than the cotton batting I normally work with.  What a soft puffy quilt though when finished!

I love her choice of layout for these log cabin blocks. Although pieced probably decades ago, with a wide array of fabric types, the colors seem bright and contemporary.  The quilt is a double bed size.



And isn't her son a wonderful quilt holder?  Looks like a quilt monster or something...

Finishing this quilt for someone else, reminded me how much I respect the responsibility that long arm quilters take on each time they accept another maker's work.

We brought it back to her this week and I think she was pleased!  Now for her to decide who in the family will be the lucky recipient of an heirloom quilt made by Gram!

Have a great day!
Kathy

Back to Quilting

Now that the holidays are over and most of the decorations are put away, it is time to get serious about sewing.  This week I basted and quilted two quilts! I can even share a little something with you.

After many months away from my Sweet Sixteen I went to work on a very special quilt.  After a little dusting and oiling, I started sewing and it stitched beautifully despite months of neglect and quilting with a polyester batting for the first time.  I love this machine!

I've organized my Splendid Sampler blocks in approximate color order, ultimately ten rows of ten blocks.

As we get closer to the finish, this layout suggests where I need more blocks in certain colors.  Fabric for blocks #89 and 90 have been cut, sewing to commence soon!


Happy Wednesday!
Kathy

Hello 2017!

We're looking forward to another wonderful year for our family.  My first grandchild will be joining the family in April!  We'll be officially welcoming another daughter-in-law in the fall!  Soon I will be fully recovered from surgery and ready to hike, kayak, practice yoga and play like I used to be able to!  And who knows what else will come our way!

Between all the baby and wedding planning and PT and other family stuff, I will absolutely find time to sew.  There are projects I would like to work on including:

• Quilts for the remaining beds (two twin size and one queen)
• Finishing the Tula Pink City Sampler
• Complete a quilt top using the Splendid Sampler blocks
• Make a Christmas quilt starting with the little pile of Christmas blocks
• A few more quilts to donate
• A scrappy quilt that makes a noticeable dent in the scrap bins

And there are things I will try very hard NOT to do:

• Be disappointed if I don't get the above list completed.  I love my Quilters Planner and will use that to keep track of projects but I am sure priorities will change all year.
• Stop buying fabric.  No apologies.
• Join another QAL.  It is tempting and there are so many beautiful ones out there (take a peek at this post by Kim at My Go Go Life for temptation) but I just don't need another set of deadlines that I will feel bad about missing.  But it is so much fun...

However, I will apologize in advance if there are periods of secret sewing that impact what I can share on my little blog!  I'm sure you will understand!

To start the year I am working on a quilt to match the pillows in the family room.  I went with neutral colors for furniture, walls and carpets so that an evolving pop of color might be fun.

The pattern is Shimmer by Cluck Cluck Sew.  I'm optimistic about this!

Looking forward to sewing and chatting with you this year!
Kathy