This 'N That

November has been jammed full of activities. I haven't had time to sit and power sew quilt blocks but I have made some progress on various smaller projects.

Four of the five quilts that Lori quilted have had the binding attached but poor orange sherbet is still waiting for her finish, maybe next week?

The little blooms/bouquet quilt has  her borders now, machine quilting will happen sometime this winter. I'm not sure if she'll become a charity donation quilt or not. She won't be going anywhere though until she's finished.

I had bought autumn fabrics and made napkins to be used for autumn and Thanksgiving.

I thought the grandsons would especially enjoy the fabric with the squirrels.

Then I decided to make winter napkins. Nothing says winter more than red cardinals and blue snowflakes! These will be used through the winter, not just at Christmas.

The zigzag stitching was done on my mother's old Elna which was probably purchased back in 1966 or '67? I use it all the time to wind bobbins. New modern machines don't fill bobbin completely full which I find very annoying. 

On my way to the Jane Stickle retreat in Shipshewana, I browsed at Gohn Brothers in Middlebury. The prices were so reasonable I bought 4 -1.25 yard pieces of baby flannel to make receiving blankets. The raw edges have also been finished with zig zag stitching. These have since been delivered to The Center in Nappanee. It's been cold here and they'll be used!

If you're wondering how to pronounce Gohn, most people pronounce it so it rhymes with John. However my mother always scoffed at that and said Goon Brothers. I assume that is the German pronunciation.

While searching through the Christmas fabric tub, I came across several yardage pieces. I hemmed them with my rolled hem foot. They turned out very nicely and will be used this Christmas season as table toppers.

I've also sewn bindings on several comforters that were knotted at church. There are several women who sew bindings besides me. The pictured comforter is one I pieced. 

It's probably a good thing I've been busy because I haven't started any new quilts. I was so inspired by all the quilting beauty I saw at retreat that I was ready to start at least 5 quilts the first day home!

It probably sounds crazy to most of you but December is actually a slower paced month for me. I'm glad, I'm ready for some stay at home sewing time.

Linking to Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Peacock Party, Whoop Whoop Party, Finished or Not  Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Blooms or Bouquet

One of my projects at retreat was the little Bouquet or Blooms quilt. I had EPP'd the hexie flowers last March, it was time to move this project forward.

The hexie flowers were appliqued to the center white squares and the corner pieces were pieced. I didn't have enough fabric to for a border but that will soon be rectified.

I spent the better part of three days hand appliqueing then sewing the rest of the pieces! Small projects always take longer than I think they will to piece. She'll be machine quilted sometime.

Here is a link to the prior post. In this post, I linked to a post from A Quilting Life. That link no longer works for some reason.

When I bought the pattern last spring it was called Blooms, now the title is Bouquet. Here is a link to the pattern but sometimes online it comes up as Blooms!

I did some shopping on the resale table and purchased this Tree of Life applique kit. I remember my mother appliqueing a similar quilt years ago. I don't know when this quilt will be moved into the rotation but I just couldn't say no.

A wannabe purchase was this Crabapple Hill snowman pillow but I couldn't find the price on it. When I asked the seller what the price was, she gave it to me! I don't know when this project will happen either but winter is so very long and dreary!

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday Musings

Blooms Quilt

I thought about starting an EPP (English paper piecing) project last fall but just couldn't decide what design. I thought about making some random hexie flowers but I didn't want to just start something without know where it was going to go.

Years ago I had made a grandmother's flower garden quilt. I enjoyed the process but I didn't want to make another one. 

While perusing quilt blogs one day, I came across A Quilting Life hosted by Sherri. Her February 1st post was titled January 2022 Favorites and more. When I saw the picture of her Bouquet Quilt, I knew what my next EPP project was going to be, hexie flowers but also piecing! This was very doable so I immediately ordered the pattern.

I decided hexies would be perfect for a traveling project. I prepped squares and took them along to Phoenix. Here are the flowers that were EPP'd.

And yes, I do baste right through the paper on the back of the hexies. That's fine if you don't baste your hexies this way, just don't Quilt Police on me!

I didn't buy special fabrics for Blooms, I'm just pulling from my stash, the backgrounds fabrics too. Right now I'm planning on this quilt being a red and white wall hanging with 12 blocks.

In Sherri's post, she calls the quilt Bouquet but the pattern title is Blooms so that is why I'm calling my wall quilt Blooms.

I'm not in a hurry for this project to be finished. I do have a quilt I'm appliqueing (Hearts & Wreaths) and a quilt in the hand quilting frame (Welsh Beauty) besides other quilts to be pieced. This project was not on my list of Challenges for 2022.

I also took along a skein of cotton yarn and knitted a dish cloth which I left it with my daughter.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday, Monday Making, Handmade Monday, Design Wall Monday