Binding chosen.................

When I saw my binding choices from yesterday in daylight I decided the rosy one was leaning toward purple.  I went through 2 stacks of batiks and came up with these two new choices.

This one was the winner.  I named this quilt shimmering fish and the setting triangles look like water ripples.  I decided this aqua and green batik would carry that feeling of water the best.

I got it sewn on and started the hand stitching.  Some of the setting triangles are blue but none of them made it into this photo.  I will spend the day today finishing the binding.  

I used the Hunter Star die to cut the pieces for the block in this quilt.  

The Kaffe strippy quilt got pressed and the right side edge trimmed.  It is 47.5" x 67".  I will look for a flannel for the back after I finish the binding.

 

Rows sewn, not pressed...............

All of the rows are sewn but I haven't finished trimming the right side.  I need to take it down to the basement to my big table for that.  After I press it, it will become clearer how the trimming needs to be done.

My other project is trying to find a binding fabric for this quilt.  Here you can see the backing fabric which has little shots of green in addition to the red and yellow.

I have a lot of pieces of batik that are between 1/4 and 1/2 yard so some of them are automatically eliminated.  This photo shows the fabric in the photo above along the edge of the quilt.

This one is a rose color that I thought might work.

This one is more of a neutral gray blue and burgundy leafy print.

This one is a goldy caramel color.  The stripe at the edge of the quilt has a lot of pink as well as the blue.

This one is a little lighter caramel color.  I need to see them in daylight before I can decide if any of them will work.

Here is the whole quilt; the top was made in 2020.

 

Progress as I look at it........................

The color is way off in this photo, but it is showing the progress from yesterday.

The top 8 rows are all sewn together, trimmed at the left edge but not on the right side.

Below that is 2 more rows sewn together.  The next row is at the sewing machine, and  the bottom 4 rows are waiting to be sewn.  I decided to just lay the bottom row on the floor instead of pinning it to the design wall.  I think this one will end up around 47" x 67" and I'm thinking about putting flannel on the back so it will be a cozy nap quilt.

This little box of 2" triangles is sitting on my sewing cabinet calling to me every day.  I will ignore it though until next month.

It got up to 52 yesterday so I went out and filled the bird feeders.  I really haven't seen many birds all winter.  The squirrels have been raiding the feeders so I only fill the feeders every 2-3 weeks.  Then I watch the squirrels search for seeds on the ground.  Once it is cleaned up well, I put in more seed.

Playing with the design wall.....................

This is the view from my sewing chair while I'm watching TV last night.  I should have started this up a little higher because I have one more row to add on top or bottom.  I'll try to add one more row at the top today.  I actually have enough pieces left to add 2 rows so the other one would have to be pinned onto the wall at the bottom.

The largest sections are approximately 5" x 12" now.  The half sections are 5" x 6".  I can unpick the excess at the beginnings and endings of rows and use it to fill in the short rows.

Now I have to decide if I'll get this top sewn together or do the binding on the second quilt for another finish by the end of the month.

Or buckle down and get both done.

Playing with orphan blocks...........

I took a day off of working on current projects and went through the orphan quilt block box, regular print fabrics. (other boxes are Kaffe and batik)  There are some nice blocks in this box but what I was looking for was small projects.

I found enough blocks to make 2 small pieces which will become table toppers.  The one on the left is 15" square and the one on the right is 12".  I thought maybe I would look for backings and cut batting but decided to just have a relaxing day.

It got up to the mid 40s yesterday.  A week ago we were starting out close to 0 in the morning.  Today we may get up to 50.

 

Trial layout............

Finally I got the strip pieced blocks cut into 5" strips, 2 each from most of the blocks, just one from a few of them.  I pressed all of my seams open so I didn't want to have to match seams. By offsetting the strips with the narrow strip meeting the wider strip of the ones above and below it, I shouldn't have any problem sewing it together.  I did just enough of a trial layout to see if it is going to work and now I'll plan the layout of the colors.

I had 4 Amaryllis bulbs outside in pots for the summer and then brought them into my 55 degree garage and put them in a dark place in 2 batches, 2 at a time, about 3 weeks apart.  I brought 2 of them in over a month ago and they only had leaves up until last week.  One has finally decided to send up a bud stalk.  This was their last chance since some of these bulbs are from a few years ago.  The other one just has leaves.  I brought in the last 2 yesterday and started watering them.  Any of them that don't bloom this year will be tossed.

A finish! Yay!........................

My green Rosy quilt (a Kaffe design) is finished.  I just love this quilt.  What's not to love about green; it goes with everything.  Nature shows us lots of green and it goes with every color of flowers.

I have it photographed upside down to the way I designed it so a couple of one way designs are upside down here, but I'm short, and this quilt is taller than me, so I didn't want to unpin it and turn it around.

If I had flipped the photo above, then it wouldn't match this photo that shows the back.

I bought this Kaffe backing fabric specifically for this quilt.  I love the fan print.

The quilt is 51" x 69" so it's a nice nap size.

Here is a closer look at the backing and binding.

The few touches of blue and gold/orange are nice mixed in with the green.

Here is a closer look at one section I especially like.  I used 2" finished squares in the 9 patches.

I especially like the 2 rows of different size squares around the perimeter.  They are 2" and 3" finished sizes.  The original Kaffe quilt is shown on this post with the book it is in.

Now I have a choice of what to work on next.  I need to cut the strip pieced blocks into 2 strips each and I could start piecing the Tilda quilt.....or I could do a little of both, my favorite way of working.

 

All cut............

I finished pressing and cutting the rest of the fabrics for the last two shapes for the Tilda Whimsey quilt.  I have also cut strips for a 16 patch and one other quilt.

I spread out the fabric for each group and also added 4 fabrics at the bottom right that I can add if I need more contrast in one of the shapes.  I might not start sewing these into blocks until Saturday.

I worked on the hand sewing of the binding on this green Kaffe Rosy quilt last night.  I have about 3/4 of one short side left to stitch.

Did you ever have a dream you wanted to repeat?  A couple weeks ago in my dream I was talking to friends and digging to the bottom of a chest of some sort to show them some quilt tops I was really excited about.  They were tops someone had given to me and had large folk art type applique on them.  I had the dream again but couldn't get to the bottom of the chest to find them in that dream.  I really want to see those quilt tops again.  

 

Pressing, cutting, gathering..........

I pressed one more batch of Tilda fabrics and then cut the first 2 groups into the size pieces for the left side of the blocks.  I usually don't cut a whole quilt at once but I need the whole variety of fabrics (about 25 of them) so I can do the layout of each block.

I did more hand stitching on the green binding but no photo.

I decided to go through all of my Kaffe fabrics and pull all of the purples.  I know a couple are missing from this photo and I'll look for them today.  I also need to go through the Brandon and Philip fabrics because I know there are some more purples there.  Some of these may not make it into the quilt if I decide to go ahead with my idea.

It's still cold here, 2 yesterday morning and I think the high was around 10.  Last night around 5 degrees.  By Monday we will be in the 40s.  

2 projects..............

Five more strip sets were sewn yesterday and all 20 from the last few days were pressed.

One batch of Tilda fabric was pressed too but I didn't get to the cutting yet.

I trimmed the green Kaffe Rosy quilt and looked for binding.  The stripe was one I was considering when I made the top but then I saw this newer green print.

I tried them both against the backing and decided the stripe would be too busy with the folded fan fabric.

I only had a half yard of the green print so all that is left is a 3" strip which I will put in my Kaffe scrap bin.

I sewed the binding on and started the hand stitching last night.

 

2 quilts back home..............

I got 2 quilts back from my longarm quilter friend so I'll be looking for binding fabric soon.

While she was here she helped me slide the bag off my new 30 yard roll of batting and get it up on the tables.  Now I can cut batting for a few more quilts.  

I spent a couple hours choosing and grouping Tilda fabrics for her Whimsey quilt pattern.  Then I made notes for each group with what I need to cut for that quilt plus 2 others.  There has to be a 16 patch quilt made from these fabrics too.  I didn't get around to pressing any of the creases out or any cutting.

Meanwhile I continue to sew strip sets.

My 2 grandsons will turn 35 this year, one of them today and the other a month from now.  

More no brainer sewing..........

I had so much making these strip sets Saturday night that I chose some more pairs and kept sewing.  There was one more under the needle when I took this photo so 9 strip sets last night and 14 sets on Saturday night.

I decided I'm going to cut them into 5" sections so I made some half sets for more variety, and also to use some shorter pieces in the boxes of strips.

Here are the next 13 paired sets ready to sew tonight.

I got my large Crooked Cobblestone top 3/4 basted yesterday.  I should be able to finish that today and then it will be ready for quilting on my Pfaff machine.

It's bitterly cold here, around 0 to start the day and even more wind chill than today predicted for tomorrow morning.

No brainer sewing.............

It was either turn on the iron and press fabrics for the next project OR just do some no brainer sewing  last night.  I chose the second.

This is all of the combinations I sewed while watching TV.

On the right is a whole block and 2 folded blocks, trying to decide whether to cut them into 2 strips or 3 strips.  I am using 2.5" and 1.5" strips of Kaffe collective fabrics that have been cut over the last 10 years.  I would like to get them all used up and cut new strips as I need them for future project.

I really like this combination.  The large print is one of those hard to use fabrics but it is great for this project.

The deep freeze is coming, below 0 overnights for 3 days.  Monday and Tuesday will be single digit daytime highs.  It might feel good to turn on the iron this week and get lots of fabrics pressed.

 

It's finished!

I found a nice stripe in the mid-tone of the quilt for the binding and got it sewn on.  This quilt is 39" square.

The backing is a grayed purple even though it seems to be brown in some lights.  The quilt is much softer looking in person, not such high contrast.

I used Hobbs 80/20 in this quilt.

The close up shots show some of the colors in the quilt, like this green print.

There are browns, rust, blue and gold tones.

Burgundy check and a burnt orange are in this shot.

Up in the top left is a grayed purple. 

This shot, after trimming and before binding is closer to the real colors.

Here are some of the Tilda fabrics from the fat 8th pack I showed yesterday.  Not shown is the gray background group.