Second April finish............

Finished just in time to be included in April is this Economy Block quilt made with Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics.  When I started making these blocks I had no idea I would be using the Sharks Teeth print for sashing and binding.  I also never imagined I would be using the pink pencil print for the border.  They all work so well together.

This quilt ended up 64" x 80", a nice big throw quilt.  It could be used as an extra cover on a bed but doesn't have enough drop on sides or end for even a twin bed.

The backing is a Martha Negley print, such a large print that it would be hard to use it cut up in little pieces.

I'm finishing up sewing the 6" triangles for my all triangle quilt top so that will be ready for my monthly recap tomorrow.

 

Just a little bit more.............

I have about 12" left to hand stitch on the binding.  I may do another post late today when I finish it.

I cut the last 6" triangles for the outside rows and sewed the squares.  Now I just have to decide on their arrangement before I sew the final rows.

Big storms are expected today and night so I picked these few flowers in my backyard to save them.

 

Binding............

The first thing I had to determine is whether this Sharks Teeth print was dark navy or black.  After I saw it was the navy I went searching through my Brandon Mably stash to find it.  I only had one piece 11" x the width of the fabric and a fat quarter; just enough to cut the strips I needed.  I started the hand stitching last night while I watched TV and have one long side and part of a short side done.  It is pretty wild as a binding but I can't see that anything else would be a better choice for it.

Out in the back yard there are a few clumps of purple violets blooming.

The white violets grow mostly in the grass but there are a few clumps by the Forsythia bush.

You would have to click on this photo to enlarge to really enjoy it.  It is one of the larger Lungwort plants in full bloom.  It isn't in a spot where I like it so it may get moved when it warms up enough to work outside (and not have 40 mph wind gusts or rain).

 

Another one quilted.............

Another quilt might get finished this month.  As I was unpinning it from the leaders I was thinking about binding fabric.  I think it has to be the same shark's teeth as the sashing fabric.

I really love my backing fabric choice.

The Sedums are getting big.

Here are the other 4 on the other side of the front porch.  This is some of my new grass planted when the landscaping project was happening last year.  I'm hoping it will grow into the bare spots.

The last bud is starting to open on the Lenten Rose plant (bottom left).  There is a bunch of the invasive spreading blue bellflower coming up in this area so when it gets warmer this weekend I need to take care of that.

 

Center section sewn...........

I knew I had to take the center 4 sections off the wall and sew them together so yesterday was the day.  I added the 2" triangle squares into the 4" rows because that was the one place the math didn't work out.  Miraculously all of the rows fit with no problems.  So all of the 2", 3" and 4" squares are sewn together.  The 6" column on the right is sewn but all of the rest of the 6" squares are loose on the wall.  I need to cut pieces for 7 more and then possibly do a little rearranging before I can sew it all up.  It should end up around 54" x 72".

When I had looked at triangles long enough I finished this dish cloth. The color is azalea, not quite red or pink but something between.

Earlier in the day I started cleaning up around the Coral Bells in my new front garden but it was chilly out so I didn't last long.  Today will be even cooler so I'll work inside again.

 

Spring Pastel 16 patch............

This is the first finish for April, just like the last few months I wait until the last week to get busy.  This one ended up at 63" x 79".

I'm really happy with the mottled pastel batik for the binding.  I think it would have been impossible to pick just one color for the binding.

I got the seam sewn in the next backing and got it loaded on the longarm.  I need to trim the batting to the right length and then it will go on the longarm too.  

 

What's on the design wall............

Lots of sewn sections and loose pieces fill my design wall this past weekend.  I still need to sew 14 more 6" triangle squares.  There will be a row across the top but I can't reach that high.  As I start sewing sections together I'll move it farther down on the wall.

I decided on a pastel mottled batik for the binding on the Spring Pastel 16 Patch.  I decided to do it all by machine too.

Here you can see how much the mottled batik changed from area to area on the binding.  I'll measure it today and take its formal portrait for tomorrow.

 

2 big jobs........

My first big job yesterday was mowing my front and side yard for the first time this spring and doing it in 2 sessions.  The back yard doesn't need mowing yet.  It was 80 degrees yesterday and rain predicted for today.

Then I quilted the spring pastel 16 patch.

I also sewed 13 six inch triangle squares for my ongoing project.

I really love this batik that is on the back.  There will be a wide piece to cut off that I can use in other projects.

Now I have to decide on a binding fabric.

 

Rows and rows of triangles..............

I got the side rows of 3" triangles sewn to the center made of 2" triangles.  Then I sewed the rows of 4" triangles.  Here is where the math doesn't come out even and I need to add two 2" triangles into the side rows to make them long enough.  I decided to sew the rows and then I'll pick out the seam where I need to insert them.  I put some 6" triangles up on the design wall to show where it will go next.

Earlier in the day yesterday I sewed the one long seam in the backing for the pastel 16 patch and got it loaded on the longarm.  I cut the batting next and then just laid the top on there.  I need to vacuum the whole area around the machine before I do the quilting.

The Lungwort is in full bloom in most of the areas in the backyard.

I'm happy to see my new Compact Burning Bushes starting to leaf out.  They are getting lots of good rain this month to make up for last summer and fall's dry season.  We got another .6" rain yesterday.

 

Downstairs, upstairs.............

I was determined to find at least one backing for a finished quilt top yesterday.  I ended up with this Martha Negley print for the back of the Economy block quilt.  I have 2 large pieces of it so there will be some left to use in another quilt.

Then it was back upstairs (main level of the house) to work on triangles.  I sewed a batch of 3" triangle squares and then created 4 columns with them.  They aren't sewn to each other or to the panel of 2" squares yet.  I need to press them first.  When those seams are sewn it should match up in size to the 3 rows of 4" triangle squares at the top.

It was in the mid 60s yesterday so I went out to check all of the pots along my garage.  I knew some of them were just dirt and others had perennials in them.  I didn't know I had any Sedum still in a pot.  I thought I had planted all of it.

There are a couple pots with Hardy Geranium in them.  I think this one has white flowers.

I think this is from the same plant but I'll find out later.  I had to dig out everything I wanted to save from the front flower beds before my landscape project happened in June last year.  

This is a Columbine that has been in this container for about 5 years.  I really need to plant it this year.

Today we are supposed to have a lot of rain so I will stay inside.

 

Cutting and sewing............

Cutting and sewing and grocery shopping and laundry is the whole story.

I got the center panel sewn for the new triangle quilt.  This section is the 2" finished squares.  It is 2 rows wider and 3 rows longer than the one in the original quilt.

I had the iron on and pressed everything in sight while the washing machine was running.  This pile of 3" light triangles was cut to go with the dark triangles I already had.

I knew it was going to rain in the afternoon so I filled the bird feeders and then checked on my Lenten Rose plant.  It has grown about 4" taller and has another new bud near the bottom on the left side.  The bud up higher is starting to open too.

The first flower that bloomed is still there too.  It has been a cold April so far so I think that is why this flower is preserved so well.  Now we will have 3 or 4 warmer days so maybe more buds will open.  There is one more bud on this side too.

 

Sewing and counting.............

This is the batch of triangles I sewed last night while watching TV.  I have been referring back to the quilt top I made in 2016, counting how many of each size I need and then counting how many I have already sewn.  I want to make this one a little larger than the past one so that it would be a good throw quilt size.  I have an overabundance of the 2" finished size so 2 rows of them could substitute for the place a 4" row was intended to go.  I am really lacking in the 6" size so I will get one of the boxes of batik large scraps and cut a bunch today.  I also needed 3" finished triangles so I went back to the box in the basement and found a stack.  I need to cut light triangles in that size to match up with a stack of dark ones from the box.  All of this is referencing what I wrote in my blog post yesterday in case you missed that post.

It was still cold outside today so I only did one walk through the back yard and picked up more branches that came down since the weekend.

Here we go again............

This is a scene of mid-April in north eastern Illinois.  My neighbor mowed his grass wearing shorts (48 degrees) on Sunday and overnight into Monday this happened.

There is a dove and a bunny in this photo, hard to see when everything is white, gray and black.  They are cleaning up under the bird feeders.

Inside where it was warm and toasty I tackled my 3 tier triangle storage container.  Since it is in an awkward place at the end of my longarm I usually just toss everything into the top tier even though the bottom 2 tiers are partially sorted.

After going through and sorting everything in the top tier I organized all 3.  This is the bottom tier, all 2" finished, both triangles and squares.

The middle tier is an assorted group all labeled now.

The top tier will continue to be a catchall for assorted odd pieces plus any triangles I need to quickly have a home for.  Organizing will get done when I need a certain size of triangle for a project.

All of these batik triangles got pulled out  of that 3 tier box.  I decided it would be good mindless sewing last night while I watched the 2 NCIS shows.

There are 2", 4" and 6" finished size triangles in that assortment so last night I sewed the 4".  I would like to make another quilt top something like one I made back in 2016.

 

A month of Sundays...........

 

A month of Sundays could have a couple different meanings.  My first thought was the number of Sundays in a month, 4 or 5.  Then I did a search and found the most common meaning is an extremely long time.  That's how long this project is going to take because I'm only going to sew on it on Sundays.  This is just a sample of strips I have pieced so far, not the final layout.  I won't press any of the finished strips until I do figure out the layout so I can press the seams in opposing directions.

Back in December Cathy posted a photo of an antique quilt on her blog.  I knew I would have to make my version of it and that is what these will be used in.  Julie also liked it and has made her version already.

Snow predicted overnight into early this morning and 80 predicted for Saturday.  Just a little taste of April in Illinois.

Finished top and other things............

The mottled batik 16 patch quilt top has been pressed and photographed.  It is 56.5" x 72".  I considered adding a border but changed my mind as I like it just like it is.

I found a large enough  piece of mottled batik for backing that is a mossy green with red-purple splotches. 

While looking through my batik yardage I found a piece large enough for the back of the pastel batik 16 patch.

I sewed side borders on the piece I showed a few days ago.  I cut and pressed the backing fabric and pieced some batting and trimmed it to size.

Here is a close up of some of the fabrics.  This type was very popular in the early 1990s.

Here are some from the opposite edge.

My friend Anne of the Agilejack blog and I did a little trade of fabric and she included these 2 key fobs in my package.  I don't like fiddling with hardware on projects so I was so happy to get these.  Aren't they pretty?  She also makes pouches, tote bags and quilts so check out her blog.

For those of you who use Blogger who haven't figured out how to get rid of the big space at the bottom of your post, just scroll to the bottom and put your curser there and then hit backspace until your curser is right under your last entry of photo or words.  This post would have had a 3" blank area on the bottom if I didn't do that.

Happy Easter to all that celebrate it.