Starting Lady Jane

I loved the Lady Jane pattern the first time I saw it. Blues are my favorite color and blue and white quilts are my favorite quilts. Nanette must have thought of me when she saw the pattern because she kindly gifted it to me. Thanks Nanette!

I pulled fabrics immediately after receiving the pattern. The blues are more brighter blues but I had plenty of blues in my stash to choose from. This pattern also has grays, I pulled what I had then purchased a few more pieces when I visited a fabric store.

I wanted to start Lady Jane immediately but that didn't happen, too many other projects already in progress, too many other projects that were a higher priority.

However I'm glad to say Lady Jane's time has come. The first block has been pieced.

You know me, I have to make at least one change. The quilt pattern finishes 76" by 90", I want my quilt larger. Adding another row of blocks all the way around the quilt won't work, then it will be too big. I enlarged the size of the pieces in the churn dash block. My blocks end up 8" pieced, 7.5" finished.

This is my prototype block. I made just one to make sure my measurements were correct and they were. Now I need to cut all the other pieces and make 29 more blocks. This is a busy time of year for me. Once I have the prepping completed, I'll be able to sit and sew when I have available time. Sitting and sewing all day isn't going to be happening for awhile, summer is busy here on the farm.

I've cut the background fabric for the center applique but it's not prepped yet. That will happen soon, I hope. I'm using the applique as an incentive to finish the hand quilting on my blue Stars Around the Garden quilt. I'm going to take a break from hand quilting for the rest of summer and applique instead.

What are your quilting plans for the summer?

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down

Quilting Blue Stars

This week I quilted the top of the pieced blocks and the borders of course. Pictures in order from right to left.

This was a 4" swath across the quilt. Now I've rolled and will quilt the sashing row which is a 3" swath. Then I'm ready to start quilting the white border. There is a narrow blue border which doesn't show yet. 

I estimate it will take me 4 weeks to finish the quilting. I've quilted quilts all by myself before but for some reason it seems like this quilt is going very slow. I have another hand project I would like to start but I won't let myself until this quilt is finished!

School is out for summer and both local grandsons are under grandparent supervision several days a week.

One day we went to the playground in Wakarusa.

Several weeks ago I showed you a picture of the younger grandson standing beside the sign that said clean up after your horses. This time I took a picture of the horses and buggies.

In our area we have the Quilt Gardens. Tourists come and look at all the quilt gardens in various locations. There are even bus tours that come!

Here is the quilt garden in Wakarusa, it is close to the playground. The flowers haven't been planted very long, I'll try to remember to take updates as the summer progresses.

Besides the quilt garden, a mural of a quilt is normally attached to a building. Here is the mural.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching,  Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, BOM's Away

Purple Sprouts Blocks & Circle of Squares

Last Saturday I talked about how I'm making most of my RSC projects from 2.5" strips and squares. Another project from those boxes is scrappy sprouts.

I made 3 blocks from the purple squares. Remember, if there is a tiny bit of purple in the fabric, it is purple!

Here are those three blocks along with the two I made last year. I tried to shade the blocks from dark to light.

When we reach the end of RSC 2021, I'll audition the blocks and see what they look like set together. Maybe I'll have enough blocks for a quilt, maybe I'll want to keep on with the project next year, time will tell.

Here is a link to the scrappy sprouts pattern.

Another project from the squares is circle of squares. Here's a link to the pattern.

I make 2 blocks every month using a variety of background fabrics.

I'm using leftover fabrics for the background.

Some of the fabrics for the background are running low. The last several blocks this year will have a large variety of background fabrics.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday. 

One Block Wonder

 The other day I came across a quilt I pieced years ago, a One Block Wonder. I don't think I ever posted about this quilt. The date on the label says 2013, I don't know why it was missed.

My one block wonder was started during a guild workshop.

Ordinarily one block wonders don't have sashing on the sides but I decided to border the individual blocks to make them stand out more. I was afraid the flowers would look washed out with the cream background. 

I tried different arrangements and finally decided the best arrangement was to arrange them hexie fashion. 

I sorted the blocks into larger red designs, smaller red designs and blue designs.

Some of the blocks had teeny tiny flowers in them, I made sure I put those on the outside and tried to keep the more colorful blocks on the inside.

Here is a picture of the border quilting which shows  nicely on the backing. 

The border is 9.5" wide which includes the binding.

Of course I hand quilted this quilt.

For the individual blocks, I stitched 1/4" from the edge of the individual triangles. I did NOT quilt on the solid red frames. There is an inch of space between the hexies.

I started taking pictures while the quilt was on the bed. Then I took it outside for photos so you could see better.

Of course I took a picture from the back side.

Would you believe I forgot to measure the quilt while it was off the bed? It's large enough to cover a king sized bed.

And a picture of the original fabric, I still have about a half yard in the stash.

This was a fun quilt to make, maybe I'll make another one someday but not king sized!

Linking to  Put Your Foot Down, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, TGIFF!, Finished Or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, UFO Busting

Spring Flowers

No quilts today, today is about flowers!

In May I took the time to walk around my flowerbeds and take pictures of the spring perennials. I've been waiting to see them bloom all winter! 

I have several clematis, the pink and blue ones are blooming now. I also have two older ones that are more than 30 years old. They won't bloom until later.

My flowerbeds are not manicured or organized. The are located next to what used to be a garden. That is why I have asparagus growing in the flowerbed.

I don't know what the name of this plant is. I picked up a start at  a plant swap at church years ago. The flowers are approximately 1" in length and hang down.

The peonies are just starting to bloom.

 The light pink one turns into a very soft colored yellow. I don't remember who gifted me with the start of the darker peony.

I don't have a lot of doodads in my flowerbeds, I'm more a stick to plants kind of person, but I have had this 'wireman' in this flowerbed since 1999. He was made by our younger son in art class years many years ago. He's made out of covered electrical wire.  I thought he was rather interesting and he looks great with the green ground cover. He's aging well.

There is a section of yard that is very shaded and the grass is rather thin. I don't mow it as often as the grass in the more sunny areas. Often in the spring I let it grow a month to six weeks before it is mowed. I love the pretty violets that bloom. Supposedly they're weeds but I enjoy them.

The only thing wrong with spring flowers is they just don't last long enough!

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Wednesday Wait Loss, Put Your Foot Down, Needle & Thread Thursday

Quilting Blue Stars Around the Garden

The bottoms of the top block row are finished! I'm ready to roll again, finishing the top section of those blocks.

If you have any questions about the stencils used in quilting this quilt, please go back to the May 30 post, I gave all the information in great detail.

The closer I get to the top of the quilt, the more excited I am!

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching,  Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, Handmade Monday, BOM's Away

Purple Easy Breezy Blocks

I think, at last count, I have 6 RSC projects in progress. Five of those are based on the 2.5" strips box or 2.5" squares box. One of my goals for 2021 was to reduce the amount of squares and strips in those boxes and it's happening!

Twenty-four easy breezy blocks were pieced. If there was a smidge of purple in the fabric, it was used.

I didn't put all the blocks on the display wall, too many for the space!

Bonnie Hunter came up with the easy breezy idea last July for her annual leader/ender sew along. She gave instructions for blocks in 2 sizes, 6" finished and a 4" finished. 

Besides the size, my blocks are different from Bonnie in that I'm using colored fabrics for the sides, and the sashing too. There are more of the colored strips than neutrals!

My blocks are finishing at 8" using 2.5" strips/squares. Make a 4 patch using 2.5" squares. Frame two of the sides with 4.5" rectangles then sew 2-2.5" squares onto 2-2.5" by 4.5" rectangles. Press and sew onto the other two sides. There you go, an easy breezy block that finished at 8".

To finish the quilt, add sashing cut at 2.5" by 8.5" and 2.5" cornerstones. I made a quilt for one of my granddaughters based on this pattern, using blues of course!  I substituted a 4.5" square in the center instead of the 4 patch. Add an outside border if you want one.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday.