Frolic, Clue 4

As expected, I got behind on the clues last week because of Christmas travel.  When we got  home, I finished clue 4.

My color selections are not like Bonnie's.  My yellow is consitant instead of scrappy.  It is the remains of a yellow backing, and I think I have just enough.  If I mess any pieces up, the replacements will have to be another yellow.   The gray is supposed to be a lighter color than the yellow.  I am counting on the fact that yellow is a color that demands attention, and gray is a color that fades into the background.  We'll see if it works, anyway.  I didn't want to go out and buy fabric for a scrap quilt when I have tons of scraps at home.

I should be able to finish clue 5 before Friday when the next clue comes out.  I just need to sliver trim a bunch of HSTs.

Quilts Finished in 2019

I finished 12 quilts this year.

Treasure Hunt:

Red and White Hunter's Star:

Good Fortune:

Goose In the Pond Variation:

Will's Quilt:

Sew Many Strips, given to my cousin Dan:

Fall OBW:

Summer Stars on Fawn Lake, given to my sister Angie:

                                                         Fish Hope, a graduation quilt for Zach:

                                                          Focus 2, Jill's Quilt:

Witch's Night Out:

Sedona:

My Kissing Ball

I am a minimalist when it comes to decorating for Christmas.  If it were up to me, the tree would get put up every other year.  The only reason it is up this year is because my kids and husband did it.  I have a small, ceramic tree, and I would be fine using that as our tree.  We have the whole family here for Thanksgiving, and no one comes to see us at Christmastime.  It seems silly to go all out decorating when the kids don't even live here anymore.  I don't hang the stockings or use the tree skirt my MIL made because they are all cross stitched, and I don't want the dog near them.  Not that I really think he would chew on them, but what if he did?

This year, though, I decided to try making something with real greenery.  I had been to the Candlelight House Tour in Fredericksburg on Sunday with my mom and sisters, and was struck by how lovely the houses with real greenery smelled.  So I decided to make a kissing ball.  You can find many You Tube videos on how to do it, but they look pretty easy to do.  I cut cedar, Leland cypress, holly, and pine out of my yard.  I bought a couple of fir branches at the greenhouse because they smelled so good.

Then I went to town making my kissing ball.  It is pretty shaggy, and not completely round, but it is ok.

If I make another next year, I need to find a more attractive way to hang it than plain twine.  I should also add another bow and some more berries.  But for this minimalist decorator, it is fine!

Donating Tops to Charity

Maxine left a comment on my last post asking where to donate unquilted tops.  I have sent them to a couple of places.

Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict will accept unquilted tops.  Her church ministry donates them to people in her area who need them.  If you want to send one to her, you should email her for details.  Here's her blog:  https://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com.  I have sent her completed tops and also just blocks for a quilt I didn't want to finish.

I have also sent tops to Jo Kramer of Jo's Country Junction.  She was getting so many tops, she couldn't keep up with them all, so she put together a list of organizations that will accept unquilted tops.  Some of them also take fabric and batting you don't want.  Here's a link to her post where she has the details of charities that will accept your donations.  http://www.joscountryjunction.com/find-a-place-to-give-your-unwanted-projects-and-fabric-to/

Jennifer Ofenstein who runs Fandom In Stitches will accept tops and 12" blocks for a Project Linus charity she supports.  I have given her orphan blocks before.  I love the patterns she makes available for free, so I'm happy to support her charity. http://www.thelinusconnection.org/p/faq.html

If you want your donated tops to be for someone in your own community, you will have to work a little harder.  You can find a new longarmer who is trying to build her skills.  Ask at your local quilt shop or quilt guild.  They sometimes know of a new quilter or an experienced quilter who will take the occasional charity top.  Some longarmers do not take charity tops or are inundated with people who want a free charity top done.  Please be mindful that some longarmers quilt for a living and can't afford to quilt for free.

A Layer Cake

I used to have very few precuts in my stash.  My rule was one jelly roll at a time.  Somehow I ended up with a few layer cakes with no plans for them.  A few weeks ago, I pulled out a fall colored layer cake and decided to do something with it.  The fabric was mostly dark.  The colors remind me of Civil War prints.  I found a simple tutorial on the Missouri Star website for this quilt.

All the colors were dark except for 2 fabrics, so I decided to add another light fabric.

I like the crow fabric I added, but in retrospect, I don't think this quilt needed it.  And by adding a fabric, I ended up with 3 extra blocks that don't fit in the quilt.  My biggest frustration with this quilt was that my layer cake had duplicates of a lot of fabrics.  It was hard to get the fabrics spread over the quilt in a pleasing way.   In the end, I just gave up and sewed it together.  I am not sure if I'm going to keep this quilt or not.  I don't love it.

I might donate the top.  I could add a border or two and keep it for when one of my brothers or brothers-in-law get sick since it has a masculine feel. Without borders it is 48" x 64". A nice fall pantograph of leaves, acorns, squirrels and pumpkins might change the way I feel about this quilt.  Using flannel or minky for the back would help too.

Stash Report:

Used  this week: 2.5 (Fall Layer Cake quilt)

Used year to date: 140.375  yards

Added this week: 3 yards

Added year to date: 126.625 yards

Net Used: 13.75  yards

Linking up:  https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/2019/12/design-wall-monday-december-16-2019.html

Frolic, Step Three

It was a cold, rainy day yesterday, and I only left the house to go to the  mailbox.  I spent all morning working on step 3 of Frolic, making over 150 HSTs.  I am out of the right size triangle paper, so I did the them Eleanor Burns way (eight at a time) and trimmed with my Bloc Loc ruler.

I am easily keeping up with the first weeks of clues, but my schedule gets busier around Christmas, and that is usually when I get behind.  

Washing the Red and White Quilt

My Sedona quilt had a spot of sewing machine oil on it, and I was a little (just a little because I'd tested the red fabric) concerned that the red fabric might bleed.  Sedona, and all my red and white quilts, are made from Moda Bella Solid Christmas Red and Kona Premium Ultra White.

 I believe that using white fabric that will not accept excess dye is as important as using a red that does not bleed.  I have had an issue with one of my red and white scrap quilts where some of the red fabric bled, and some of the white and cream fabrics picked up the excess dye.  But only some of the white fabrics did, and they were generally Modas.  That is why I chose Kona white for these quilts.

To remove the oil spot, I squirted blue Dawn dishwashing liquid directly on the stain.  Then I filled my laundry sink with warmish water, added a color catcher, and soaked the spot for about a half hour.  After soaking, I transferred the quilt to my washing machine, added a few more color catchers and washed the quilt in warm water.  I was willing to risk a bleeding red to have a better chance of removing the oil.

Fortunately, all the oil came out.  Fortunately, I had also added the color catchers!

I love the way this quilt crinkled up after it was washed.  Now I'm feeling brave enough to wash my other red and white quilts.

The one hanging on the wall has been up for about 3 years and is looking a little dusty!