Mrs. Chapman's UFO's

 About a month ago, Julia and I picked up a large donation of fabric from Mrs. Chapman. She heard that our guild makes quilts for Habitat for Humanity and she wanted her unused stash to be used for a good cause. Fast forward to last week when some guild friends came over to help me sort through our recent donations and to reassess our previous stash. 

In the middle of all the fabric, we found quite a few (more than a dozen?) unfinished projects. We each took a few that we thought we could finish. The rest will be offered to other guild members at the next meeting. Here are the projects I've been playing with...

There was a small pile of half-hexies that were pieced from a wide striped fabric. Rather than sewing them together into full hexagons, I had fun rearranging and combining them with solids from the stash. It was a good exercise in color and design. I found the perfect narrow stripe for the border in my own stash. This will be a sweet baby quilt someday.

There were just 10 half square triangles made from the same wide stripe. Now there is another placemat in the donation pile for Meals on Wheels.

This animal print top was almost complete. I pieced together the outer border from leftover fabric that looked like swiss cheese! It looked like she had done some fussy cutting for another project. Backing and binding fabric also came out of her stash, so this is waiting to be quilted, too.

My favorite UFO was a small pile of pieced butterflies. There were some spare parts and additional sandy fabric for the background, so it took no time at all to assemble the top. The fern border print came out of my deep stash.

The butterfly wings were cut from mirror images of the print. Isn't that nifty? If anyone knows the source of the pattern, please let me know. I didn't find it with a quick google image search.

I accidentally pieced in one of the butterflies upside down. Oops! 

I had so much fun quilting this little quilt. It took me a while to find a binding. This one is just OK. The backing was also deep stash. 

This one will go to the Adirondacks with us when we visit Julia at the Wild Center. They can hang it in their offices or sell it to raise funds.

Butterfly Wall Hanging

27" X 37"

Started by Mrs. Chapman at least 15 years ago

Completed by me 6/22/15

Sew Random Thursday

 Hello, Friends! I'm still here, sewing away the days. So many projects, not enough time to blog.

Let's start with the finishes. My sister texted me a few weeks ago and asked for a drawstring bag for her granddaughter's magnetic letters. Why use a plastic baggie when you can have something so much cuter! I had to use the scrabble print that I bought for "Sis" a few years ago. I used Jeni Baker's tutorial for a lined drawstring bag, and it was just perfect.

 I was able to finish another charity quilt last week, despite thread breakage issues. I have been in contact with Superior's thread techs. I'll let you know what we figure out. And I'll show you more of this quilt soon.

These three quilts are ready to be delivered to a Habitat for Humanity home dedication this Saturday. The one in the middle is my Bears in the Suburbs. The other two were pieced by other guild members. It just worked out that I quilted this whole batch.

Last week, I delivered this t-shirt quilt to a friend and Girl Scout leader. Julia and I helped her troop make this traveling quilt. They are seniors in high school, and plan to pass the quilt to each other when they go off to college in the Fall. We used up most of my remaining Girl Scout fabric stash. My friend was able to acquire donated backing and batting which brought their cost down to zero. The girls sewed the sashing around their shirts and tied the quilt. It is super cozy and fun!

There are lots of projects in progress...

The wedding quilt came home from the quilter on Monday. The binding was made on Tuesday, attached yesterday, and is being hand stitched while I watch TV at night. I was able to get one full side of this king-sized monster done last night. Stay tuned for the big reveal!

There's a baby on the way, so a quilt must be made! I'll be using Lorna's Elephant Parade pattern, but have modified it so I can add this fun print as a border. It needs to be done for the family party/shower at the end of April.

I started a stacked squares quilt for a cousin who is battling cancer. I'll get back to this one as soon as possible.

 When I'm not binding at night, I'm working on these Patchwork of the Crosses blocks. They make me happy!

Oh, and I have to hem a gown for Julia to wear to the ROTC military ball. It will be a challenge. The dress is lined and has a slit up the back. Wish me luck!

Lastly, I was offered a part-time job in a field I never imagined myself working in. I'll be making a decision next Monday, after a few hours of shadowing. It's exciting and scary and just plain weird all at the same time.

I'm off to piece some elephants. Have a great day!

Fun Stripes

 In an attempt to clean out some WIPs, I took out this stripey project that I started in August 2013. I made 4 blocks back then, and set it aside. Every time I look at my stripe stash, I think about this project. The time finally came to bust some stash!

The technique by Anita Grossman Solomon makes matching all those stripes super easy. You already know that I think she is a genius. This is more proof of that! With four identical striped squares, you make this large block with 2 X-centric and 2 concentric units. Please purchase her book Rotary Cutting Revolution for full instructions.

 

I had so much fun collecting interesting striped fabrics.

 

 Look at those perfect centers!

Some fabrics don't produce 4 identical squares from 1/4 yard. In this case below, I was able to cut 2 pairs of matching strips. The effect is still interesting.

 

The top now measures about 56" X 70" which is a nice lap size.

Add another to the to-be-quilted pile! I've got a little tendonitis in my wrist from all this quilting, so I might need to cut back a little. Finishes will not be coming as quickly in the coming weeks!

Friendship Stars

 My friendship star top came together over the course of Friday night and all day Saturday. I'm really excited about how scrappy it looks. 

The blocks came from swaps in two guilds. Ninigret Quilters swapped blocks last January, February and March which gave me 36 blocks. This January, it was my turn to receive blocks from my RIMQG hive, so I added 10 more blocks to the stash. I made a couple extra for a grand total of 48.

I started a Pinterest board for layout ideas. I liked the idea of creating a secondary design. I played around on EQ7 and the tiny stars in the sashing popped out. The blocks finish at 9", so I cut the sashing strips and corner squares at 2". I think the proportions work well. The top is about 65" X 86".

I pieced together a pile of leftover binding pieces, but I still haven't made a dent in that box-o-binding. It's a good thing I picked up some batting on sale at JoAnn's last week. It looks like we'll be snowed in on Tuesday- a perfect day for quilting, as long as the power stays on.

Welcome 2015

Happy New Year!

I think it's going to be a fun year. I decided to look though my WIPs and planned projects and make a list. Yikes! My main goal for this year will be to use what I've got. I expect that I'll need to buy some neutrals/backgrounds and lots of batting.

The wedding quilt is currently being quilted. The binding is ready to go! We just found out that my nephew and his wife are expecting their first baby in July! I'm happy to add a baby quilt to the To Do list!

Julia and I are planning to work on these jelly roll tops this weekend. We started them last March and it is time to add some circles and get them finished.

There are a few more WIPs in the wings!

Julia and I have always wanted to make a New York Beauty together, so I purchased block of the month kits from my LQS last year. Eleven of the twelve are waiting patiently in this bin. Where did I put block 1?

I bought this Phillip Jacobs print on clearance with the plan to turn it into a One Block Wonder. It could possibly become the most obnoxious OBW ever! NYB and OBW are bucket list quilts, so it will be a big year if I can get both of them done in 2015.

Thomas Knauer is coming to Ninigret Quilters in February. I'm planning to use these African and animal prints in the workshop. So excited!

This is the year that I will finally make a Marine Mom tote bag for myself. I have this pile string blocks, a worn out pair of Pete's pants and the pattern ready to go. I'll be looking for some red corduroy to add to the blue.

At the beginning of 2014, I made a list of twelve WIPs to finish. I only got five of them done. Let's hope I do better in 2015!