Friday, January 31, 2025

A finish for January 2025..........


I'm so happy to finally have this batik colorwash finished.  I finished designing and sewing the quilt top in April 2023 and it waited 1 3/4 years to be basted and quilted.  I chose the back and cut the batting 6 months ago.

It is 31.25" x 50.25".

The pieces in the colorwash are 1.5" x 3" finished.








I need to record the details in this online journal.

The backing is a green/orange/gold batik and the binding is a brown design batik. The batting is Warm and Natural.  I used Invisifil thread to ditch quilt it.

I'll prepare my January monthly recap today and post it tomorrow morning.

 

Thursday, January 30, 2025

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


I found a binding fabric and cut it and also cut the hanging sleeve from the leftover backing fabric.





The binding was sewn on and I started the hand stitching last night.  I'm over half way around it now.












A view from the other end.

It was 46 degrees yesterday and the wind finally died down.  We are expecting rain Friday morning.  We have a had a very dry winter so far.

 

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Quilting..................


The basting was finished a week ago and I finally got around to the quilting on this colorwash.  It is designed with 1.5" x 3" rectangles.  It took 3 hours to complete the ditch quilting and had 5 colors of thread used.  I'll look for a binding fabric today and maybe squeak in one finish this month.


I sent 2 quilts with my longarm friend to be quilted for some February finishes.  They are a couple of my favorites.


It was 45 degrees yesterday and will maybe be 50 on Thursday and again on Sunday.  Quite a change from our subzero temperatures.  The neighbor kids were out riding their bikes in the afternoon after school. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

And then there were 3...........


I continued working on the hand finished binding of table runner #3 and got it finished last night.  They are all close to 15" x 31".









I remembered I had some blocks made with Australian fabrics.  I pulled them out yesterday and my note in the bag with them told me 3 were the same size and the 4th one is a little smaller.  When I put them in the bag I hadn't decided if I was going to make more blocks or just make a table runner out of the 3 that are the same size.  They are 12" finished blocks so I could add 1" sashing and 1.5" borders to make them into a table runner.

Monday, January 27, 2025

Another runner quilted.............


It was a lazy day yesterday but I got the second table runner in these fabrics quilted.  This photo is too light, still struggling with cellphone photos for my blog.




I did ditch quilting following a fabric, turning corners every 1.5".  This photo is a little darker than the fabrics really look.





I also finished the binding on the first one and took the photo with both finished table runners since I didn't show a whole view of the Kaffe fabric one yet.

I spent over an hour trying to come up with fabrics for the back of the Kaffe blue pinwheel quilt.  I'll continue looking today.  I want to keep the back all blue if possible since both sides of a throw quilt are visible at the same time when it is in use.

 40s all week if we can believe the predictions.  Back to the lightweight winter jacket.

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Sorting and binding............


I needed to clean up all of the Kaffe fabrics now that the Plaid-ish quilt top is finished.  I pulled all of the most pastel pieces out of the stack of light scraps.  I want to use them soon.

The afternoon was spent finishing working with the end of the batting roll.  I had to throw 2 of the pieces in the dryer with a damp towel because they were so wrinkled.


Last night I started the binding on the table runner I quilted last Sunday.  I hope to quilt the other table runner with the same fabrics today.  The binding is already cut for that one to so maybe I'll even get it trimmed and binding sewn on.

Saturday, January 25, 2025

It's really sewn now..................


This looks a lot like the photo from yesterday but it's really sewn together now.  It is 46" x 64" as predicted.  All of the Kaffe collective fabrics came from the bin marked 'large Kaffe scraps' except 2 prints that I cut from 6" strips.  One print, used in 2 colorways, is from 2010.  There are a couple other oldies in there too.

The largest part of the day yesterday was spent cutting the battings and making backings.  I didn't take any photos as I was working.  I had 6 batting pieces I wanted to cut and I got 4 of them out of the end of the old roll.  There is one leftover piece that I can use for a small quilt.  Now I need to move the huge new roll up on the table.  I think maybe I'll wait a few days.  I made backings for 2 of the 4 quilts so I'll work on the other 2 backings next.

 

Friday, January 24, 2025

Only one photo.................


There were lots of tasks yesterday but I only took one photo.  All of the blocks for the Plaid-ish Quilt are sewn and on the design wall but this isn't the final layout.  I need to move some of the medium value blocks so the same fabrics aren't near each other.

In addtion to sewing the last 9 blocks I sewed the binding on the other table runner that I quilted last Sunday.  Then I cleaned off the table where I cut my batting and made a list of all of the pieces of batting that I need to cut.  I have 6 pieces (at least) to cut and I'll use up the end of one roll of batting and open a new roll to finish.  I chose some backing fabrics that I also need to piece.

In addition to all of that I need to sew hanging sleeves on 2 quilts that my east coast grandson and his wife chose when they were here the first week of the month.  I have the sleeves made, I just need to pin them on and hand stitch them in place.   

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Finished table runner and prep work............


I finished the hand sewn binding last night on the red Kaffe fabric table runner.  It is 15" x 31.5".  Now it is time to sew the binding on the other table runner.








I have decided to go with the smaller size Plaid-ish quilt so I got all of the remaining blocks prepped yesterday morning.  There are 2 finished blocks here with the 5 remaining to be sewn.




I had prepped the four dark blocks the night before.  I have enough light blocks already sewn.

I had to take my van out for a ride yesterday to keep the battery charged up so I ended up getting groceries at two places.  It was 23 degrees so it didn't really feel cold.

 

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Layout and binding...........


All of the sewn blocks have been pressed and are on the design wall.  There are lots of the medium value blocks so I need to do lots more cutting.  There are 2 more rows in length to be added and I'm not even half way across the width.  I have 8 of 20 dark blocks, 10 of 31 medium blocks, and 6 of 12 light blocks made.  I have 4 dark, 2 medium, and 1 light block ready to sew.  I don't know if this one will be sewn by the end of the month.  The quilt will be 64" x 82" if I follow the Plaid-ish pattern.  To make it smaller and still have the same layout it would only be 46" x 64".


Last night I started the hand sewing on the binding of the red Kaffe table runner.  I'm not quite half done.  I like how the muted stripe looks.

Yesterday started out at -10 and got up to 0 by mid-afternoon.  Today is supposed to be 22 degrees at mid-day and above freezing on Saturday.  I hope we are done with the sub zero weather for this winter.

 

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

A sewing day..........


I started the day yesterday choosing bindings for the 2 table runners.  I like this stripe with both the front and back of the red Kaffe runner.








This diagonal brush stroke fabric in rust is good for the second table runner.  I cut enough for 2 because I have another similar one ready to quilt.








While in the basement I found 16 blocks I made many years ago and sewed them together into a table topper.








Jack Frost was busy on a cold day that started at -2 and got up to 9 degrees.  It was 0 by bedtime and going to get colder by this morning.  I asked my son to drive me 8 miles to my pacemaker doctor appointment this morning.  I didn't want to be alone on the roads in this kind of cold (wind chill -24).


Last night I sewed 13 more blocks for the Plaid-ish quilt but it was too late to press them and put them on the design wall.

Monday, January 20, 2025

Cutting and quilting


 Yesterday morning I pressed a pile of fabric and cut 7 more light blocks for the Plaid-ish quilt.  I thought I would get them sewn but instead I decided to quilt 2 table runners.





The first table runner was pieced last year from some leftover Kaffe fabric 4 patches.





This is the backing for the red table runner and will make a nice reversible runner.






This was the second table runner that I quilted last night.  Today I will get both of them trimmed and choose and cut binding.

It was 7 degrees yesterday and today and tomorrow are probably going to be colder.  I feel bad for Houston with a forecast of deep snow.  Our roads are clear and most of the little snow we had gotten has melted.

Sunday, January 19, 2025

A quilt top!...............


The flannel quilt top is finished!  It has been hard to get a good photo of this quilt.  It is a little more rust toned than it looks here.  The contrast between the light and dark is also softer.  If you go back to this post you can see the original quilt I planned this layout for.




I took some close up shots to better show the colors and patterns in the fabrics.









The colors in this photo are truer than the photo of the whole quilt top.









This photo is also truer color but the contrast if off.  The light colors are darker than they look here.










I also made 5 more medium value blocks for the Plaid-ish quilt.

For the last 2 weeks I have been taking the photos for my blog with my cellphone and it has been difficult to get the color and contrast correct.  Mainly that is because the photos on my phone are very bright and I do the amount of editing that I think will work.  I then email the photos to myself and bring them into my photo editing program so I can resize them and send them to a folder in my computer.  From there I select them for my blog post and hope that the color will look correct.

All of this is because with the latest updates of Windows 11, the computers no longer recognize my Canon camera via the cable.  I do have a Windows 10 very slow computer in the basement that I can transfer photos to and I may go back to doing that.  

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Now this is better.........


I cut several flannel fabrics into 4.5" x 8.5" rectangles and some into 2.5" x 8.5" rectangles.  I left a few of the darker pieces in it and added more medium value rectangles.  It flows much better now.  I sewed a lot of the triangles into squares last night and made more blocks.  I have to make two more blocks with 3 vertical strips of triangles to finish the layout.  This will be 40" x 40" when sewn together, a nice baby quilt size. 

I have one more baby quilt size top that I sewed last year and didn't get it quilted yet.

It got up to 44 yesterday so I gathered all of the things I had ready to take to the thrift shop and delivered them.  Then I got two small packages ready to mail and went to the post office and did another errand.  When I got home I filled the bird feeders. The snow has melted almost everywhere except by the north side of the house. Now the temperature is going to start dropping with -5 predicted for Monday morning.  

Friday, January 17, 2025

Cut, sew, cut.............


I needed to get the Plaid-ish pieces off the design wall so I sewed 3 of the 4 blocks, then sewed 3 more dark blocks.  After that I cut more pieces so I can  make more medium color blocks.  I only had about a third of the medium color pieces cut after an hour.




Last night I pressed all of the sewn blocks for the flannel quilt and did a trial layout.  I can see that about half of the rectangles that are already cut are too dark for this quilt so I'll cut some more light and medium values today.  I won't know if this layout is working until I remove and replace the dark rectangles.  I also need to get the rest of the triangles sewn into blocks.  These 2 projects may make it to the quilt top stage by the end of the month if I don't get sidetracked.

 

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Taking count..........

 It was an errand day yesterday, in addition to baking a batch of cookies.  I didn't get much sewing done so I did counting instead.

Single columns of flannel triangles.  The original quilt I designed (shown on Monday's post) has 7 of these.



9 Double columns - most would be like this because I have 8 in most of the sets of triangle squares.  In my original quilt I have only 4 of these so I can add one more strip to 5 of them to make triple columns.






I only have 4 of the triple column blocks sewn and there were 14 of them in the original quilt.  I don't have to follow the layout of the original exactly but I thought I would start out doing that.

I have lots more to sew into blocks so I'll concentrate on the triple column blocks.



I brought the box of flannel rectangles up to the main floor studio so I can check out the colors.  When I put the flannel blocks on the design wall they don't want to stick.  I think it is because the seams on the pieced blocks want to curl a little.  I'm going to have to pin some of the non-sticking ones which will slow down the design time.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Plaid-ish mock-up.............


I cut enough pieces to make a mock-up of all three blocks that are in the Plaid-ish quilt.  The medium value blocks are in both vertical and horizontal positions.  Red/pink/orange is my medium color for my version of the quilt and I needed to be sure there was enough contrast between the dark and medium fabrics.  I think it is going to work so now I have a lot more cutting to do.


I only got 2 blocks sewn of the flannel triangles.  I baked one batch of cookies and mixed the dough for another batch that needed to be refrigerated.  

We are expecting the coldest temperature of the season early this morning and then a warm up will start.  We will be above freezing for 3 days.

 

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Several things.........


First in the morning yesterday I made a couple new labels for boxes of pieces and parts. These are all strips, triangles and scraps.  They are on the highest shelves because I will be looking in them the least.  This is the top 3 shelves of a 7 shelf bookcase.


I put the pieces for one of the 20 dark blocks in Plaid-ish up on the design wall.  I have more than half of the pieces cut for those 20 blocks.







Last night's full moon is called the Wolf Moon.  I took this photo before dark, not knowing if I could get a good photo after dark.








This photo was a little trickier.  My phone told me to hold the phone steady and it took a couple seconds before the shutter closed.  I think I didn't hold it still enough but after trying 3 more times I decided this was the best of the four.  We had another half inch of snow on Sunday morning.  Now they are saying we will get another half inch early this morning.  It was 7 degrees yesterday morning and is predicted to be colder this morning.


I started sewing triangles into blocks last night.   







Here are a few more blocks plus pieces left to sew into blocks.  I showed a quilt yesterday that is what I'm prepping for.  

Monday, January 13, 2025

Discoveries and an idea..........



My post today will be in reverse order to explain how I get ideas.

This is sewing from 2 nights, 82 blocks.  (total number from several days = 269).  As I was sewing them, I was considering an all triangle square center of a baby quilt.  I was trying to decide if all of the ones with the same 2 fabrics would be grouped together or if I would spread them out in a random grouping.  Then I started thinking about how else I could use them: a small center with a border around it and then another round of triangle squares and a final border.  Then......I thought about one of the boxes I found in the basement earlier in the day.


The top box is the one I am talking about, with 4.5" squares and 4.5" x 8.5" rectangles.  Then I remembered a quilt top I have made fairly recently.


What if I used the triangles to make a quilt top similar to this one (which is Marcia Derse fabric)?  The larger rectangles are already the right size and I would just need to cut the narrow rectangles.  I could use this as my master plan but change the layout if I thought it needed to be changed.

This solidifies my idea that keeping busy and making pieces for the parts department keeps the designing mind active.


So, back to yesterday morning, I found these 2 boxes on one shelf below the boxes of flannel pieces.  I have used some of the Kaffe flying geese in another quilt top...one I can't decide if it is finished or needs more (like a calming border).


I have LOTS of drawers and boxes full of strips, all labeled.  When I have a project in mind that will use strips, I usually search through the boxes and drawers to see if I can use the strips in them or would be better off cutting new strips.

I need to keep looking to see what I have missed.  I have about a dozen project boxes I haven't looked in yet.