Placemats, MHMH blocks, and Nature Pretties

 So, it's been a minute. May was a busy month for our family. We went to the Chicago area on the train for our granddaughter's choir concert (so good!), then we went back by car for her 8th grade graduation (and more singing), her weekend volleyball tournament and our grandson's baseball tournament. In between I did a tiny bit of sewing. That's what Meals on Wheels placemats are for: tiny sewing when you don't have a lot of time. I sewed the binding of one during one of our trips, but didn't really have time to finish the other two until we got home.  And here they are.

You might recognize the fabrics from this first one. They are the leftovers of the double churn dash quilt I made in April. Each set of churn dashes had one unused set of HSTs so I stitched them together with the leftovers of the backing fabric.

I had just enough fabric for the back along with a very old scrap for the binding. I used an old spool of rainbow colored thread for meandering quilting. As usual, the size is 18 by 14 inches.

For my next placemat I used my new favorite way of construction, using a leftover piece of fabric (this one is from a pillowcase I made for my granddaughter a few years ago) and finding bits of scraps to make a colorful strip and some binding.

I was able to use more of the black print for the back, but had to make another colorful strip to make it fit. Quilting was with the same rainbow colored thread I used on the first placemat.

I found another larger scrap for my third placemat. Leftovers of a top I made a few years ago in a sew along with Bernie of Needle and Foot. (Thanks for the memory, Bernie and the fabric which I bought from you, too.) It was fun picking out browns for the strip.

There was plenty of fabric left for a simple backing. I quilted wavy walking foot lines with off white thread, and used a leftover bit of a tiny brown check for the binding.

I thought these photos were a bit boring, so I tried a bit of staging. Meh. I'm not a still life photographer. Backgrounds and good lighting are a mystery to me. Oh well. 

Okay, one more look at all of them together and then we'll move on to June's progress so far.

This quarter of the Many Hands and Many Hearts block collection hosted by Cynthia is a version of the Potato Chip block made in complementary colors. What fun for another project that can be done a little at a time. (I won't promise that it will keep things neat. Those little scraps pile up everywhere.) I had so much fun choosing scraps. I started with my bins and used up whatever could be cut to the right size. Then I dug in my drawers for other pieces. These are still mostly scraps, but they are bigger than the ones in my bins because I can wrap them on a piece of cut-up comic book board to fit my drawers. I tried not to repeat too many fabrics. 

First, orange and blue.

Red and green.

And, yellow and purple.

The lighting is not great in these photos. Our house tends to be darker in summer than in winter because of trees. Imagine them as brighter. I found that I tended to place fabrics sort of symmetrically with similar hues or values placed across from each other, often diagonally. This seemed to bring a bit of order to the scraps and helped me place more modern and more vintage fabrics in the same block. 

Here they all are together.

Kind of saturated. It will be fun to see how they get placed with the blocks of other contributors. 

So enough of the dark interior photos. Let's finish with what's going on outside this month. 

Peony

Spike Speedwell

Liatris coming up

More spikes with penstemon

Baby Spikes

First daylily of the year

Cute deer on our bike ride this week

And a gorgeous rainbow at golden hour out our front door

And one more just for fun. The sunrise bothers me three hours before I'm ready to get up, so I finally did something about it. I grabbed some old soft knit scraps from long-ago baby or doll clothes sewing,  rough-cut three layers, sandwiched some tee shirt mask tie loops from Covid sewing days and messily sewed them all together. As soon as the sun comes in, I grab the mask, and it's back to sleep I go. It actually works. Perfect. But probably a bit scary looking to my husband. Maybe someday, I'll make a pretty quilted one. But probably not. Ha Ha.

That's it for this month. I have some ideas swirling for another quilt, so we'll see what happens over the next few months. I'm linking this up with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap on Sunday. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying projects whether big or small as well as the beauty of nature. 

Hope. Such a wonderful word. Something we all need now more than ever.

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with ( any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores, I'm just documenting what I used or liked, not officially promoting anything.) 

Blocks, Pet Mats, and a Quilty Field Trip

April was a busy quilting month. Yay! I have already posted about the quilt I made (just go back one post after you read this one), but before that I finished two small projects and went on a field trip. It was good. Too much for one post, so here is post number two.

This year I have enjoyed making quilt blocks for Many Hands and Many Hearts, a block drive hosted by Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework to make quilts for various programs in Oregon. There are several ways to support the program, which you can read about here. I like this because sending whole quilts across the country is getting really spendy now, but sending a collection of blocks is reasonable. In addition, there are parameters for what blocks to make every few months, and that gives me a chance to see what I can use from my stash and to try out a pattern I might not have made before. The sewing is simple, and the projects can be made a bit at a time. Perfect for when you want to do just a little something. And best of all, these blocks get combined with all sorts from people all over to make a quilt of comfort. What a great community project to show compassion for others. 

So, during this quarter of the year, the blocks were to be Mini Square in Squares made with contrasting batiks. I have quite a few batiks which I have used in landscape quilts over the years, so it was fun to go through them to see which ones were big enough. I think I teased you with this photo at the end of March.

Here's how they ended up:

I tried to make pairs when I could, but I didn't always have enough fabric to do that. I enjoyed this so much. Of course, the real work will be done by Cynthia and others, to make the tops and quilt them. I encourage you to join this project if you can. It's so satisfying and for a wonderful cause. Thanks to Cynthia and all the others who put so much work into this.

My other project was like nothing I have done before. My local fabric/candy/gift/toy/boutique/best store ever collected mats for dogs and cats at the local animal shelter. These mats are used by each rescue animal while they are at the shelter awaiting adoption, and then they go to the pet's new home for a bit of comforting familiarity while they adjust to a new, better life. Patterns were provided. I had a dog named Peggy when I was a kid. I haven't had a pet since then, but this was just an appealing project. 

First, the dog mat, approximately 36 inches square.

I had enough baseball fabric (Dogs like balls, right?) and matched it up with some red fabric for the bone and two navy fabrics for the background (because I didn't have enough of the printed navy). 

Here's a close up of my meandering quilting:

For the back I used my everlasting navy and red paisley leftovers from a quilt I made for our bed years ago.

You can see there's no binding. That's because the directions recommended an "easy" no binding method, of sewing around the edge and turning the whole thing right side out before quilting. I had never done that before and it was not easy for me. Impossible to get everything smooth. So the resulting mat is a bit wavy on the edges. I figure a dog won't mind, but I won't be using that method again. 

Since I don't have a pet, how about my old stuffie puppy that I got for my eighth birthday 60-some years ago to model on the quilt?

His name is Surprise (because I was so original in naming things--he was a surprise). I had to really prop him up because the stuffing has shrunk to flatness. He's still super soft, though. 

Another pose, because he's such a good boy:

The cat mat was smaller, about 23 by 24 inches. I chose to make a Ginger cat. 

Here's a close up.

The binding is leftovers of a quilt I made for my brother-in-law in the early 1980's I think. Time to use it up! 

Because the mat will get washed a lot, I machine sewed the whole binding instead of doing the folded over part by hand. I don't do that much. I got 50% of the miters right, but the cat won't mind. 

Here's the back:

My favorite stuffed animal when I was a kid was a leopard named Leppy that I got for Christmas when I was 3. (Well of course. I told you I was original in my naming). She was the softest stuffie ever. Now her fur is almost gone. Except for on her tail which is as soft as ever--fascinating because I remember rubbing it on my face as I fell asleep every night. You'd think it would be worn out. Anyway, she's a perfect, if somewhat flat, cat model. Looks pretty good for someone in her late 60s.

They did so well, they wanted to pose together.

I hope the mats will find their way to some very good pets. What fun!

So the other thing this month: the field trip. We have a new art quilt gallery in the nearby tiny town of Williamston. It opened about a year ago, and has different shows every few months.

So far there have been three other shows, the first by the owner of the gallery, Pamela  Loewen, as well as another solo show and a juried group show with artists from all over the country. Quite something for this tiny town. We've attended all of them, and they are beautiful. Right now there is another solo show by Pat Budge, a quilt artist from Idaho. 

These quilts are stunning. They are densely quilted with luscious texture. Here's my favorite:

And a close-up.

See that texture! Must be seen in person.

This is my kind of quilt show. I am easily overwhelmed by major (and even smaller) quilt shows. Kind of like Stendhal syndrome light, maybe? This is a small, intimate venue, with just a few (maybe 30 or 40?) works that I can look at at my own pace. I'm so glad it's available in my community. It's been a great place for a date with my husband. He says he knows nothing about quilts, but his observations are always interesting and enlightening. 

 

The gallery has no admission fee, so I'm glad that there is a way to support it. There are calendars, puzzles, notecards and calendars of some of the quilts that have been shown. I bought one of two choices of sets of note cards of Pat Budge's quilts. (And also got a freebie bookmark and keepsake mini poster.)

There are four different quilts pictured on the cards.

If you are ever in mid-Michigan, try to visit the gallery. (There are limited hours and gaps between shows to allow for set-up, so be sure to check before you visit.)

So that was April. It was a hard month for me in several ways, but I am so glad that I have been able to be productive. It certainly helps to make for others and to treat my soul to beauty.

I'm linking up to Michelle's Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty today and to Cynthia's Oh Scrap post at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. Of course!

Keep quilting and finding beauty anywhere around you.

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with ( any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores, I'm just documenting what I used or liked, not officially promoting anything.) 

Double Churn Dash Finish

A few weeks ago as I entered our township library, someone was plopping a stack of quilt magazines in the exchange bin (think little free library for magazines). I did a quick page-through, and my eye was caught by a quilt in the American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine of August 2019. I don't often make quilts from magazines, but I knew I had to make this one: Dashing Duos by Melissa Corry. The quilt was a little bigger than I needed, so I scaled it down and simplified some of the patches. I couldn't remember the original name as I was working, so I now present to you my version: Double Churn Dash.

The white background and black and white sashing and binding were what drew me to this quilt. 

I had lots of colorful fabrics on hand--a bit brighter than the ones in the magazine quilt, but that's okay. First I went through them using paper versions of the block parts to determine which pieces were big enough to use.

Then I paired up my favorites.

Cutting and sewing were pretty straightforward--some strip piecing, some half square triangles, and squares. I simplified the white areas using one large square instead of three smaller ones and a modified "sew and flip" corner instead of a HST. I used that method rather than a "sew and flip" square because I didn't have enough of the black and white floral fabric to waste on the corners. I've used this technique before: I measured out where the seam needed to be then laid a ruler marked with masking tape on the white square a 1/4 inch closer to the corner.

I pinned a triangle against it, sewed the seam and flipped to the corner. (My presser foot makes a nice scant 1/4 inch seam if I sew this sort of backwards way.)

After I sewed my blocks, I found myself wondering if I'd like an alternate layout more, with five large white squares instead of four. I tried it out.

Then laid them out in as in the original plan. 

How about those feet?

I waffled and spent way too much time trying to figure out which I liked more. I also laid out the sashing with both plans. 

And I kept rearranging the blocks to get a nice distribution of color and value. I got tired of moving blocks, so I printed photos and cut them apart to rearrange on paper. 

Much easier for all my dithering. I consulted with my Quilt Advisor and my daughter. Both liked the original plan, but QA advised maybe make another quilt in the alternate layout. What an enabler! Maybe I will?

I also needed to make a decision about how I wanted the cornerstones to look. Like this? 

Or this? 

You know by now what I chose. What I had really wanted was stripes like in the magazine quilt, but the only ones in my bins were 1/4 inch wide--too big for my scaled down cornerstones. But this works fine.

I quilted with a meander--quick with lots of texture because I wanted to get this done this month. (May's going to be a busy one for our family.) Well, quilting was not as quick as I'd like because I accidentally sewed the edge of the backing underneath the quilt. TWICE!! 

My excuse is that I was distracted by falling tree limbs--our trees were getting a major (almost-30-year) haircut, and I kept jumping up to see if there would be any tree left.

But once that was done, I could relax to hand sew the binding. I really like the light white and black binding in the magazine quilt. I didn't see anything suitable when I bought my backing (isn't it pretty?), so I cobbled together bits and pieces from my scraps--some dots, ovals, music notes, and a tiny bit of the floral leftover from the quilt top. Some are a bit vanilla, but they worked fine.

Here's the back on the garage. 

So soft, and the colors are perfect with the front. I bought it full price, but that's okay. It supported my favorite local shop, and the rest of the quilt cost me nothing new. (When I went to buy the white background and black/white cornerstone fabrics at a different store, I discovered that I had accumulated a nice bit of fabric cashback over several years through their punchcard reward, so they were free--and I still have some cashback leftover. Whoopee!)

So, a few more views while I show the stats. (I did not take the quilt on location because it's mud and grunge season here.)

Pattern: Dashing Duos by Melissa Corry

Fabrics: a variety from my stash with new background, backing and cornerstones.

Do you see my initials at the bottom and date up the side?

Dimensions: 54 inches square pieced; 52 1/2 inches square quilted; 49 3/4 inches square washed. I downsized the blocks from 15 inches to 11 1/4 inches finished and the sashing from 2 inches to 1 1/2 inches wide finished.

Batting: Hobbs 80/20

Thread: Superior Masterpice in Granite for piecing; King Tut in Temple for quilting; Treasure in Old Lace for hand sewing.

Machines: Singer Featherweight for piecing; Singer 115 treadle for quilting and sewing first seam of binding.

This is probably the closest to the colors; outside light was a bit harsh. The white is a true white, though. Tough quilt to photograph to get the right color saturation.

This quilt will be donated to a postpartum therapy program to bring comfort and a cozy hug for someone during sessions.

Washed and cozy

I'm linking up with Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl for Favorite Finish. You have no idea how I hurried to meet the posting deadline. Sometimes that's needed to get something done. I'm glad to have had a wonderful sewing month--it's a good antidote to grief and anxiety about all sorts of existential and social threats. And believe it or not this isn't the only project I did during April. I made a couple of fun mini projects. I'll try to get them written up and posted this weekend. I hope you have had a good sewing month and have a favorite finish to celebrate, too.

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores, I'm just documenting what I used or liked, not officially promoting anything.)