Quilting the Sashing

After most of the quilting was completed on the white border, I rolled then quilted more of the corner applique I couldn't properly reach before.

After rolling several inches, I started quilting the blue sashing first stitching in the ditch on the right yellow narrow border and the cable on the narrow blue border. The quilting design is the same as the narrow blue border. The design runs through the yellow cornerstones.

This is the left side border.

This is the right side border.

The pattern for Stars Around the Garden is here.

I was sidetracked a week ago or so by Melissa and a small cute embroidery pattern from her blog available for us to download. She also posted a fun counted cross stitch pattern if that is what you are into. My pincushion became larger than I normally make them but it will work fine. Mine project finishes approximately 5.5" by 6.5". It would have been easier to measure if I had thought to do that before adding the batting scraps.

I have an applique project and a quilt to hand quilt but I was squirreled into embroidering the sheep and making a little pincushion. For years I've been thinking I'd like to have a basket filled with pincushions to display in my sewing room, not that anyone goes in there besides me. So far I have 3 pincushions to go into that basket.

The embroidery went fast, just one evening then an hour or so the next day and the pincushion was finished. I stuffed it with batting and it's ready to be used. This was a fun quick project.

I apologize for the pictures every which way today, Blogger decided to show me who was the boss!

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

RSC - The 5th Saturday

Pink 9 patch blocks were made this month for a project that isn't a RSC project. The 9 patch project actually has more than enough blocks but 2/3rds of them are blues. It needs more variety so I made pink 9 patches using 1.5" strips.

Then I pulled all the pink strips left in the 2.5" box and made 16 patch blocks. These were the pink strips left after piecing the pink easy breezy blocks. 

There wasn't a lot of variety in the pink fabrics but they worked. My plan is to have sashing in between the 16 patch blocks.

I'm determined to lower the amount of strips in that box and I am happy to say the box is actually a little diminished! 

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday.

Hands 2 Help 2021

 While I was piecing the blocks for blue puss in the corner and Climbing Jacob's Ladder, I ran strips through the sewing machine and pieced 76 string X sections. Four sections make one block so I've pieced enough for 19 blocks. I need 24 blocks to make a quilt.

I pulled several solid blue fabrics and cut side triangles. I have another large piece of fabric to cut into triangles. It is a little brighter blue so hopefully it will cheer up these blocks. I won't sew any of the sections together into blocks until I've have enough sewn for the 24 blocks.

String X is a free quilt pattern from the Quiltville website.

This will be a charity quilt for the MCC Comforter Bash which will be held (hopefully!) in November. I should have this flimsy finished in plenty of time to be counted in the Hands 2 Help Comfort Quilt Challenge organized by Sarah from Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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

Blue Puss in the Corner Finish

 Blue puss in the corner is all pieced and ready for quilting. The blocks are 8" finished. These larger blocks were fun and fast to make, perfect for a utility quilt that will be used a lot. Most of the strips came from the 2.5" strip box. I also cut up some smaller dark blue yardage that needed to move along.

It was breezy out when I took the pictures. I had to keep snapping until I finally got a picture that was straight.

Of course some of my mother's fabrics are in there too. I think she must have had a whole bolt of this silver leaf fabric. 

This flimsy will be longarm quilted. When I look at the top, I immediately envisioned it with Baptist fan quilting so that's what will be used.

The flimsy size is 82" by 92". This granddaughter has a double bed and the mattress is not the newer thicker size. This size will fit her bed perfectly.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Clever Chameleon, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday

Climbing Jacob's Ladder, the Applique

I've revised the applique for the Climbing Jacob's Ladder quilt to suit me. The outside borders is where I'm placing the applique. The applique is only in the center of the border, not full length like the pattern shows.

The first border has been completed. The background is pieced but I'm not showing you the whole strip. The length of the applique is 34". This quilt really needed those red tulips for some contrast.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

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

Dancing Stars

In December I posted about a Dancing Star block I had made as a test preview for the 2021 RSC. Julie was among the many comments about my block. She said, in her own words, "Beautiful block! Dancing Stars is a great pattern for the RSC. In fact, my first ever RSC quilt used that pattern: https://quiltsandcostumes.blogspot.com/2015/05/bloggers-quilt-festival-dancing-stars.html  Have fun making yours!"

Of course I checked out her link and looked at her quilt. I like her blocks better than the one I made. The black background fabric really highlights the colors of the triangles in the block.

I liked her quilt so well, I have rethought my blocks and I'm using a black background too. I also like how she used a lighter color of the same darker fabric. I guess I'm going to be a copy cat and go with her idea, I like it better than the light gray I had used. Thanks for commenting Julie! 

Another idea change I've had is to use all solids in my Dancing Stars blocks, I certainly have plenty in the solids tub!

Here are six Dancing Star blocks using pinks.

Dancing Stars is designed by Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side. Click the highlighted line that says Free Dancing Stars Pattern.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday.

Blue Puss in the Corner

Over the last several years, I've been making the grandchildren new quilts for their beds. This year the oldest two granddaughters are getting their quilts.

The oldest granddaughter's favorite color is blue, did she inherit that from me? I pulled all the blue 2.5" strips from strip box and started making blue 8" finished puss in the corner blocks. I had enough strips for 38 blocks. I'll sort through the blue box for small cuts of fabrics to make the rest of the blocks.

I've displayed a few of the blocks on the display wall. I'll do a better job of arranging the blocks when I actually sew them  together. There will be dark blue 2" finished sashing in between the blocks with light fabric cornerstones.

The first Amaryllis plant has been blooming for a week with both buds opening at the same time. There are 8 lovely flowers to bring some color into the dreary overcast winter days. 

I took the picture in front of the Infinity wallhanging I made 2 years ago. I smile every time I look at this wall quilt.

Here is a link to Twist and Turn Bargello Quilts where you can find the Infinity pattern.

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

Climbing Jacob's Ladder, the Center

The center of the Jacob's Ladder quilt is completed and measures 72.5" by 97". 

The applique border has been started but applique is handwork. Handwork progress is posted on Slow Stitching Sundays.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Clever Chameleon, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday

Quilting Blue Stars

The bottom white border is finished and ready to be rolled. I had added batting into the corner flower circles, bad idea. They quilted hard. The circles in the center of the smaller flowers are stitched in the ditch so they didn't present a problem. I might remove the stitching but then if no one really looks closely at the stitches, they will probably be ok.

These pictures are in order from the left corner toward the center. Of course, since I'm right handed, I quilt toward the left.

The border is marked with a light blue marker. After washing the blue won't be as intense but you should still be able to see the blue stitching.

The pattern for Stars Around the Garden can be located here.

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

Scrappy Sprouts

Two more blocks were made for my scrappy sprouts project. Sometimes I add a green stem and sometimes I use the color of the month as the stem.

Sprouts is a carryover project from 2020. Will it be completed in 2021? Maybe, maybe not.

The pattern for scrappy sprouts is here.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday.

Climbing Jacob's Ladder, the Sections

The block sections have all been pieced for Climbing Jacob's Ladder wedding quilt. Four sections make one block. My quilt is larger than the pattern. Each section is 12.5" so the block is 24" finished. The blocks will be set 3 by 4 blocks which should make the center 72" by 96" if I've done my math correctly. I'm not a perfect sewist so my center probably won't be that exact size but it will be close enough.

I've arranged sections on the floor but haven't sewn them into blocks. This isn't the final arrangement but I wanted to see how the quilt was looking and thought perhaps you would too. I didn't have room to lay out all the sections. It's going to be impossible not have the same fabrics touch each other but I can live with that.

This is supposed to be a neutral quilt but I don't know if it really is. Here is a link to the pattern.

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

Frosted Trees

Today's post is not about quilting but about weather and the trees.

On New Year's day we received freezing rain. The temperature was cold enough the rain dripped/froze on the trees making little icicles 2" - 3" in length. The trees were very pretty but the roads were extremely hazardous and there were power outages in our area. Our electric stayed on.

Trees with ice. I should have take a close up of the icicles but I didn't.

Sunday morning, the 3rd, it started to snow, a heavy wet crunchy snow. Crunchy snow means when you walk in it, it crunches. The trees got a frosting of snow over the ice, now they're really pretty! But a wet heavy snow means even more weight on those tree branches which means more power outages. Again we kept our power. 

These are the black walnut trees along the west fence row of the south heifer pasture. I often see squirrels running along the branches and jumping from tree to tree. They didn't do any of that New Year's weekend.

The east side of the pasture along the driveway. The cattle aren't outside in the pastures during the winter.

Can you figure out what this picture is? It's a close up of my clothesline. The ice/snow layer is an inch thick and it's wound around the line!

This is another picture of the same heifer pasture, those trees are on the south edge, along the road. In the winter this is the sledding hill. The grandsons went sledding later but I didn't get pictures.

I planted this tree 35 plus years ago when it was only 6" tall. 

This is looking south down our driveway. I'm standing in the curve of the drive.

I'm still standing in the curve of the drive but looking west towards the house.

That branch leaning over on the fence isn't broken. By evening the temperature rose, the snow/ice on the trees melted and that tree stood back up.

Frosted trees don't happen all the time, I'm glad I could share the pictures with you. 

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Clever Chameleon, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday

The White Border

 When I left you last Sunday, I had completed the 3" blue border. I rolled and started quilting the white border which is  9" wide.

The blue border had a nice quilting design but the white border is special with the feathers. Feathers just add elegance to a quilt. This stencil is #SCO-183-7.5 and was purchased from the Stencil Co. 

The white border has been quilted to a little more than the center of the quilt. I've stitched in the ditch around the applique with white YLI quilting thread. For the cable/feathers I'm using a variegated dark blue 12 weight Sulky thread.

Someone asked last Sunday what my quilting frame is, it's a Grace hand quilting frame which takes up a lot less space than my old sticks and stands frame.

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

Circle of Squares

The circle of squares block take so much more background fabric then it does colored fabric so I didn't use much pink from the 2.5" strip box.

I made two blocks, a lighter pink and darker pink.

The blocks finish at 12". Here is a link to the pattern.

I am linking to a post from the Crafty Quilter. In this post she gives links to free quilt block and applique designs. We all love free patterns! I'm sure there are some wonderful patterns that would be perfect for a RSC quilt in case you are at loss for an idea.

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday.

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

The wedding quilt is making progress. Several sections of the Jacob's Ladder blocks are pieced and displayed on the display wall. The picture looks more green then what the fabrics really are.

This is a very different colored quilt than I normally make but I think it will work. 

The design the 4 patches make when coming off the cabinet is pretty.

The pattern is called Climbing Jacob's Ladder designed by Colette Belt. Last post I said I couldn't find the website for the pattern. My friend Jan investigated and found the pattern here. Thank you Jan!

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

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

I have a nephew getting married and he needs a wedding quilt. I had my SIL ask him what colors they like. He likes autumn, she likes neutrals. Neutrals? 

I remember buying a pattern, based on the Jacob's Ladder block, made with neutrals years ago and pulling fabrics for it. I actually found the pattern and fabrics in a box on the shelf without trouble. It wasn't buried too deeply, it was the 3rd box down in the stack.

The pattern is called Climbing Jacob's Ladder designed by Colette Belt. It was distributed by Quilter's Paradise, Clovis CA. The website is quilters-paradise.com but the site wouldn't pull up when I googled it. The copyright is dated 2001, revised 2011. I probably bought the pattern in 2011 or 2012 at the Sauder Quilt show, Archbold, Ohio.

My version of the quilt is going to be slightly different, I need to enlarge the quilt. I have some taupes but a lot of my fabrics will be from the honey brown family. I do plan to add applique. Those red flowers really add some life to the neutrals.

I've pieced the HST's and sewn strip sets for the 4 patches. Hopefully I'll have more to show you in a few days.

It may be a new  year but I'm keeping the 2020 tradition of sewing from my stash and not purchasing any additional fabrics for this quilt.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Midweek Makers, Clever Chameleon, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday

Hand Quilting in 2021

 My hand quilting project to start 2021 is blue Stars Around the Garden.

I always baste the edge of my quilts, I think it makes binding much easier with the edge laying flat. While I was basting the edge, I also stitched in the ditch along the edge of the narrow yellow border. 

I rolled and started quilting the cable. The narrow blue border is 3" and I'm using white YLI brand quilting thread. The thread can be purchased at Yoder Department Store or Lolly's Fabrics, both located in Shipshewana, Indiana. It is also available online.

This cable design is one of my favorite quilting designs. I have stencils in three different sizes for this design. While I quilt the cable, I also have a separate needle stitching in the ditch along the edge of the blue border. 

I used a Sewline white chalk pencil to mark the stencil on the darker blue fabric.

After I had finished appliqueing the border for blue stars, did you wonder what I was working on in the evening when I wasn't hand quilting? I pulled out this older Darlene Zimmerman panel and embroidered another block. 

I purchased the panel several years ago at Yoder Department Store in Shipshewana, they no longer have it in stock. I don't know if it is available online anywhere or not. You'll have to look for it yourself if you are interested.

There are 8 blocks on the panel, I've now completed 5 of them. A picture of the other completed 4 is here.

The pattern for Stars Around the Garden is available here.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

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