March Sewing

We took a five day  trip to Atlanta, GA to visit my brother and his three kids.  We toured CNN, the World of Coke, the aquarium, the zoo, the Atlanta History Center,  and the site of the first Chic-Fil-A, which we stumbled upon by accident.  We also went to two T-ball games,  to dinner twice, and read lots of bedtime stories.  I taught my niece to cross stitch.  We had a fun trip.  I was expecting it to be warm, but it never really got to 60, and I was glad I had packed my sweatshirts.

I had hoped to post before my trip, but I never got around to it.  I have been cross stitching and quilting.  I made a St. Patrick's Day ornament for my friend Sue, but failed to take a picture of it.  It was an Old World Santa kit by Mill Hill.  I didn't like the way they had done the beard in the kit, so I made mine out of Whisper, which is fuzzy and looks like real hair.  I was sure I had a picture of it, but it isn't on my phone or camera, so I guess not.

I have been working on one of the red and white quilts.  This one is a modified Goose in the Pond, set on point.  All the blocks are made.  I just need time to sew them together.

I have also been working on some wool applique ornaments, a kit I bought several years ago.  I want to get as many kits as I can stitched and out of my sewing room.

Wool applique is really fun to do. I can see how I could get hooked on it. It is much faster than cross stitching, and the stitching can be imprecise and still look ok.  It probably took an hour to make this ornament.  Five more to go!

Sedona, March

I finished Sedona's March row a couple of weeks ago but held off on posting until March.  March's row is the one that looks like a red, four-petalled flower on a white background.  This block was time consuming, requiring cutting, squaring up each quadrant and more sewing. All this manipulation made it easy to make mistakes. I am not exactly sure which step was my problem, but my blocks are all a little off.

 I think it will be ok once the quilt is finished and washed.

Linking up:
http://whatahootquilts.blogspot.com/2019/03/boms-away-heathers-graduation-dahlia.html

Fall Panel OBW

I  don't think I have blogged about this quilt yet.  My friends Jen and Kate got me 7 Northcott panels when a LQS was having a big sale last year.  I wish I would have taken pictures of the original panel, but I can't find one.  Here is the quilt I made from the panels:

This quilt is 56"X 53".

I usually put an original, uncut panel on the back of my OBWs, but I had to cannibalize the 7th one to get enough of the brown to finish the front.  I was able to use some wide back Northcott that I had left over from a different quilt.

Denise Zapf of Quilting Mojo did the longarming.  She chose the pattern, which is full of swirls, and looks great on the quilt.  It is very hard to photograph, though, because the beautiful brown King Tut thread disappears on both the front and the back.

Linking up:  http://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2019/03/design-wall-monday-march-4-2019.html

Stash Report:

Used this week: 13.875 yards

Used year to date: 43.25 yards

Added this week:  0

Added year to date: 38.375 yards

Net Used: 4.875 yards

Summer Stars At Fawn Lake

I have been working on this quilt for so long, I can't even remember if the name of it is Summer Stars At Fawn Lake or Summer Stars On Fawn Lake or Summer Stars Over Fawn Lake.  I think I have referred to it as all three of these!  In any event, I put a border on this quilt this weekend, and now it feels done to me.  Except for the quilting, of course.

This is a big quilt.  With the borders it is 93"x 105", a little small for our king bed, a little large for our queen.  Maybe one of my sibling can use it.

Used this week: 1.5 yards ( SSAFL border)

Used year to date: 29.375 yards

Added this week:  6 yards ( backing for SSAFL, Will's quilt)

Added year to date: 38.375

Net Added:   9.0 yards

Rainbow Scrap Challenge, Yellow

It's been a long time since I have been a regular participant in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I have made a lot of string blocks during this challenge that I have yet to put together.  I have also made an Inverted Star Quilt with RSC blocks:

Last week, I pulled out my yellow scrap bin and made blocks for Melissa Corey's End of the Rainbow Quilt.  This is the cover quilt for her book Irish Chain Quilts.  I asked for it for Christmas several years ago but have never made anything from  it .  The cover quilt is my favorite in the book, but there are others that I really like.

This quilt would be quick to make except that the colored pieces are all cut from fabric made of scraps.  This added step slows down the process quite a bit and adds bulk to the seams, but I love the improv look of the patches.

Fingers crossed that I get the other blocks made during this RSC.

linking up: http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/2019/02/scraphappy-saturday-7.html

Stash Usage: Used this week: 5.5 yards (Surrounded by Scraps back, RSC blocks)

Used year to date: 27.875 yards

Added this week: 4.125 (Summer Stars Over Fawn Lake, border& backing)

Added year to date: 32.375

Net Added:   4.5 Yards

Red and White Hunter's Star, Quilted and Bound

I am making progress on red and white quilts for my foyer.  Here is the second one, quilted and bound:

This Hunter's Star quilt was made using Deb Tucker's Rapid Fire Hunter Star Ruler.  It was a big help for my accuracy and speed of piecing.  There is some waste, but I have more fabric than time, so that is ok with me.  This is a small quilt, 42" x 52".

For some reason, the backing looks pink in this picture, but it is the same Bella Solid Christmas Red as the front.  Vicki Johnson of Threads that Bind Us did the longarming, and she chose the cardinal pantograph.  One of my next projects needs to be to label my red and white quilts,  so I can remember who did the quilting on them.  Since I have been working at the quilt shop, I have used several different quilters.

I have room for at least 3 more red and white quilts.

Linking up:  http://busyhandsquilts.blogspot.com/2019/02/field-trip-full-size-quilt-in.html

http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2019/02/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-supersmall.html

Surrounded By Scraps, Top Done

I'm so happy to have this quilt top done and off my design wall.    I like getting scraps used up. It makes me feel virtuous that all of my scraps won't end up in a landfill. It is just hard for me to be enthusiastic about a quilt I don't love.  Sometimes if I put is away for a while, I like it better. Sometimes getting it quilted changes my mind about it. Maybe it will grow on me.

This quilt is 70"x87".  I'm planning to piece together some big scraps for the backing.

Stash Report: Used this week: 7.375 yards (Surrounded by Scraps Top; Hunter's Star, backing and binding)

Used year to date: 22.375 yards

Added this week:  4.0 ( backing for Good Fortune, sale FQs)

Added year to date: 28.25 yards

Net Added: 5.875 yards