Hands 2 Help 2022

I've sort of dropped the ball this year with Hands 2 Help, which most years is hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and this year by Mari of The Academic Quilter in support of Sarah who is taking time away for self care. Thank you to Sarah (and it's good to know that you are doing well) and to Mari. I wanted to have three quilts ready to donate, but one is stuck at the block stage--well not stuck but wading toward completion. I do have two quilts that I am donating that I completed right at the beginning of the H2H Challenge this year. 

They are Confetti quilts from a pattern by Rachel Hauser. I thoroughly enjoyed making them. If you'd like to check out my progress as I made them (I sure took my time!), click on the Confetti label at either the right sidebar of this post or at the bottom. 

Instead of sending these across the country, I'm donating them closer to home to Margaret's Hope Chest, an organization that supports the Mother and Baby Program at Pine Rest Hospital. This is a program for mothers with post-partum depression or other peri-natal mood/anxiety disorders. The wonderful thing about the program is that it is day-treatment which includes care for the babies. Each mother receives a quilt of her own as a comforting hug of hope during therapy sessions. 

I'm linking up with Mari's Hands2Help2022 party over at The Academic Quilter and looking forward to seeing everyone's quilts for Hands2Help this year. Again, thank you, Mari, for taking this on this year in addition to everything else on your plate. 

(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.) 

Confetti Party

Happy Spring in my part of the world! And woohoo! We had sunshine and unseasonable 70-degree temperatures on Thursday--just right to photograph my just-finished Confetti quilts.

You've seen a lot of these blocks before. (If you haven't, you can click on the Confetti label on the right sidebar or at the end of this post to see some of them. I may have missed some labels.) It's fun to have these finished. I started blocks last July, making a few at a time. They are from a pattern of the same name by Rachel Hauser, with a combination of chain piecing to width-of-fabric background strips and foundation paper piecing in four different blocks that can be arranged every which way for a random look.

I made the blocks in batches of about 12 to keep the mess down as I was also working on other projects. By the beginning of December I had 48 blocks. I thought I'd make 1 more block for a 7-by-7 block quilt, which I did at the end of the month. But I had so many colorful fabric bits left that I just couldn't stop. I still had a fair amount of background fabric, so I ordered a bit more and made 35 more blocks for two 6-by-7 block quilts. (I almost kept going, but it was time to wrap up this project and get on with some others. 

Trying to photograph in between warm (!) breezy gusts.

I quilted these up a few weeks ago using one of my favorite motifs for one which my husband calls Piedmont. I mark wavy lines diagonally from corner to corner and then quilt the four quadrants in different directions with walking foot lines following the waves about 3/4 inch part.

 I stippled the other quilt with my free motion foot. 

I wanted to highlight the black and white background in the binding. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted at my two nearby fabric shops but did choose a black fabric with scattered tiny blossoms. I had buyer's remorse almost immediately, thinking the black was a little too stark. I wondered if turquoise would have been a better choice. But then, while I was photographing the quilts on the driveway, my neighbor (who also quilts) stopped by to see and volunteered that she really liked the black binding framing the quilt. Whew! And yea! My regrets disappeared. 

I really do like how these finished. The pattern designer highly recommended a scattered print for the background fabric, but I did not want to spend the money on the premium fabrics available. So I ordered the regularly spaced dotted fabric from a major craft store, and I think it worked fine with the small sized dots. With all the fabric cuts, it ends up looking scattered.

Initials/date on washout marker. Oops. Some stray threads there. How did I not see?

Happy backing

I do have to share that I had a heart-stopping moment when I pulled the quilts from the washer. There was color showing through around many of the colored parts. I realized that the fabric--because it was my cheap alternative--was rather thin and would show seam allowances when wet. I took a deep breath and dried the quilts anyway. They came out fine except for a wisp of peach around a couple of orange bits. Then I remembered that I had the same trouble with that fabric when I used it in a quilt for my granddaughter more than 10 years ago. (I've used it since, but not next to white.) Rewashing helped that time, so I rewashed the new quilts and now only myself or another picky, overly observant quilter would ever see the remaining hint of peach. Sorry I don't have after-washing photos showing the yummy texture. It is too dark and rainy today to take them.

More initials/date. They'll disappear to texture with washing.

I do have a favorite of these look-alike quilts. I always like stipple quilting, but the Piedmont one is a bit more dramatic, so it is the winner.

These quilts were time-consuming but so enjoyable, and they used up a surprising amount of scraps. I think it would be fun to try one sometime with a more limited color palette. They do require quite a bit of background fabric, but I suppose neutral scraps might work as a variation. 

Here are the stats:

Pattern: Confetti quilt by Rachel Hauser

Fabrics: Years of scraps; dotted and floral fabrics from big box craft store for background and backing; Riley Blake Blossoms for binding.

Batting: Fairfield 80/20. (My machine loves this.)

Thread: Superior Masterpiece in Granite for piecing; Superior King Tut in Temple for quilting; nondescript hand quilting thread in black for sewing down binding (label is missing)

Size: Pieced 48 1/2 by 56 1/2 inches

         After quilting: Piedmont 48 1/2 by 56 1/4 inches; Stippled 48 by 55 3/4 inches

         Washed: Piedmont 46 by 53 inches; Stippled 45 1/2 by 52 1/2 inches. 

Machines: Singer Featherweight for piecing; Singer Treadle 115 for walking foot and free motion quilting and for machine work on the binding.

I will be donating these quilts to Margaret's Hope Chest for the Mother and Baby Program (treatment program for mothers with postpartum mood disorders) at Pine Rest Hospital. The mothers use them as a comforting shawl during therapy sessions. 

I plan to register them with the Hands2Help Comfort Quilt Challenge. By the way, sign-up is today with Mari over at The Academic Quilter. She is standing in this year (in some pretty big shoes) for Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict while Sarah takes some time for self-care. Thank you to both Mari and Sarah!! 

I'm linking up today with Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty for Beauties Pageant and Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap.

Okay, time to get back to sewing all the yellows for Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month. We need a bit of sunshine-colored fabric with all the dreariness of this poor old world, don't we? Quilting time is meditation/prayer time, and there is much to contemplate. 

(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.) 

The Turquoise Bin

I finished my projects for Rainbow Scrap Challenge (hosted by Angela at So Scrappy) early this month, all because the backing fabric I had ordered for two quilts took its time getting here. So let's look at turquoise.

First, I made four more blocks for 52 Weeks of Scrappy Triangles (pattern by Leila Gardunia).

If you want to see the rest of the blocks, just click on the label on the right side bar or at the bottom of this post. I guess I'm on week 60? I'm still following the RSC colors for this, but next month might be the last before I break out on my own and just make all the rest of the blocks. After I get the Confetti quilt finished I'll be eager to finish this one.

Next, I made another quilt-as-you-go strip-pieced placemat. 

If I had been paying attention, I would have positioned those two center strips a little differently. Oh well. These aren't meant to be works of art. I'm just using up old strips. 

I found a piece of aqua for the backing.

It looks kind of solid here, but there's a little light figure in it. I had four (!) solid turquoises to choose from for the binding. More fabric out of the way. This placemat looks quite different from last month's red one. That did not have as much variation in value. I like them both, though, and am looking forward to using more strips this way throughout the year. This placemat is 14 by 18 inches. And the batting is Hobbs 80/20, I think. 

I got kind of carried away with the adding machine tape foundation piecing this month, but I was still waiting for my quilt backing to arrive, so I just kept sewing. Altogether about 20 feet of turquoise scraps!

I was going to sew one long strip, but that was a bit unwieldy. I cut the strips about as long as my sewing table. The colors are more vibrant than you see here. Winter light is tricky for indoor photos. It's either dark (snowing) or way too bright if the day is sunny, and you have a lot of snow (we do). 

It took two cones to roll these strips this month. I'm so glad I have a use for these old cones.

Sheesh. More bad lighting, but that's the way it is.

And now, drum roll, please. This is all I have left of turquoise print scraps. My bin is pretty much empty.

I could have cut these up for the adding machine tape, but they are big enough and versatile enough to easily use in other projects. 

I made more Bear Paws with solids, focusing on turquoise scraps. The solids bin is overflowing, but we'll not think about that right now. 

Still mulling over how that print will come into play. I do have another idea bouncing around, but there will be lots of time to figure it all out. 

Then, just when I got all of this done, my fabric arrived after a long trip through all kinds of nasty weather. It is not as vibrant as the last batch I ordered of this print.

See how the lower piece has more punch? Not a problem as I didn't plan to use the old piece in the backing, but that's interesting isn't it? It doesn't say that this is a digital print, but it is a print that can be ordered with custom scaling, so maybe? I was a little disappointed, but the lighter print is fine for these quilts. I did get both Confetti quilts (Rachel Hauser pattern) basted this week and am about 3/4 done with the quilting on one of them. I'm doing my "Piedmont" walking foot quilting, which is so fun, but there is a lot of thread burying in the evenings. That's okay. It's cold here, so having a quilt to work on in my lap is cozy. Here's a peek at my progress. 

I think those confetti bits are going to look like they're swirling around in a breeze.

I'm linking up with Angela at So Scrappy for Scrap Happy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap on Sunday. 

Next time you see a post from me, I hope I'll have a pair of quilts to share....Until then, have fun with your scraps and rainbows or whatever else strikes your fancy.

(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.) 

 

(Almost) All the Reds

I actually had a plan for this month. (This year?) Are you surprised? While I do admit to trying to complete projects I start, I don't usually like to plan too far ahead. But I started the year with a list of eight things I wanted to do. And I did seven of them. I even accomplished a couple of goals that weren't really on my list--although they were implied. So here goes:

1. Finish Confetti quilt blocks. At the end of 2021, I had completed 49 blocks of my Confetti quilt (Rachel Hauser's pattern). I thought that might be it for a 7 by 7 block quilt. But I still had some fun colorful bits left. I impulsively ordered more dotted background fabric for curbside pick up and during the first few weeks of this month I made 35 more blocks.

I quickly laid them out and sewed them up.

And can you believe I almost made 12 more blocks to expand those quilts to 48 blocks each? I reined myself in, though. The quilts are an appropriate size for the organization I plan to donate them to. And it is time to move on. 

I do need to buy fabric for backings. I really like some of the large modern floral prints I've seen lately, but couldn't find any in the colors/price range I had in mind. I had a bit of two other prints that have worked with other rainbow colored quilts, so I auditioned them.

I chose the second one because it has a bit more variety of colors,and I like the crisper print with these blocks. I've had to order it and just got a message that there are delays in shipping, so the tops will be sitting for a few days before I move on. 

2. Continue making Triangle blocks for 52 Weeks of Scrappy Triangles Hmm. This project might need another name, as it has now been more than 52 weeks since I started Leila Gardunia's pattern. My intent was to try to finish this quilt quickly this year, but since I was full bore on the confetti quilt, I continued this with Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2022 color for this month: Red. I need 38 more blocks for the quilt, so first I chose which patterns I wanted to use from the 52 patterns from last year. Then I made four blocks. If you remember, I was trying to reduce my multi-colored scraps bin last year. Yeah, it's still overflowing, although the choicest sizes have been used up. So for these blocks, I supplemented some of the scraps that have red in them with other red scraps. 

If you want some idea of how this quilt might look when it's done you can see here. After I finish the Confetti quilts, I'll probably pick up the pace to get this finished.

3. Cut the rest of the patches for the handsewn four-patch quilt The blocks for this quilt sew up surprisingly fast, and I'm always running out of squares. So I decided to cut the rest of the patches I need. Then I'll always have a hand project ready to work on. I have sewn 144 blocks. I need 36 more. So I cut 144 squares from old jewel-toned fabrics. 

4. Start a Bear Paw quilt with solids This one's been in my head for awhile. Remember this block? 

I made it as part of the Quilter's Color Quest workshop with Rachel Hauser in 2020. I have a bin full of solid scraps and another of larger pieces. It's time to do something with them. So I plan to follow the RSC22 colors this year. First I ordered some Kona black and white pieces for curbside pickup. After I got them home, I realized that I had used Kona Snow in the original block, so I did a little surgery to replace the claws of that block. Then I made several combinations with reds and other colors. These are fun blocks with the added challenge of a tiny partial seam to get those yellow centers in. I cut the colorful rectangles a bit oversized so I can trim the paws to 4 1/2 inches before I add the claws. The yellow centers finish at 3/4 inch. Not sure what I'll do when the color of the month is yellow, but I'll figure that out later. Maybe I'll skip yellow since these centers will stand out enough on their own.

The rainbow fabric you see is kind of the inspiration for the solids and the combinations. It might work its way into the quilt as background or as the back side. I had rejected it for another quilt last year. It's has a sort of rough feel to it, but I do want to use it somehow.

5 and 6. String piece red strips/make placemat I had a bag of red strings that didn't make it into a rainbow stripped quilt a couple of years ago--probably because they were mostly dark red and not my favorites. It was time to get rid of them. Also, I had been wanting to make more placemats this year for a collection for Meals on Wheels. It dawned on me that an all-red placemat might appeal to someone that wasn't that crazy about patterns and colors. Then it occurred to me that I could string piece AND quilt at the same time. Yup, a quilt-as-you-go placemat. First, I sorted the strings into piles of like widths. Then I pieced those piles into long strings because I knew that most were not long enough to cover the width of a placemat by themselves. I found a larger piece of red fabric (leftover of a quilt I made years ago for our bed) and a scrap of batting and away I went. Such fun. I found another piece of old fabric that worked for the binding. And what do you know? I like it. A lot. Who knew a bunch of old dark red fabrics could actually be attractive? I think I'll be doing this again with old strings in other colors. The placemat finished at 14 by 18 inches.

7. Start an adding machine tape quilt This project came about unexpectedly. I was shopping at a local general style gift store that carries some fabric, and in their bargain basement there was adding machine tape on sale at half-off. On impulse, I bought a pack. It is two spools and says 126 feet. I don't know if that's each spool or both together. Either way, that would be a lot of stripped fabric. I decided to string together the rest of my red scraps. A lot of my scraps were bits of slabs I made awhile ago, I cut chunks big enough to cover the tape and added in other scraps from my bin. I ended up with a fabric strip about 80-85 inches long. 

The tape is 2 1/4 inches wide. 

And now I know what to do with all my old thread cones until I make these into a quilt.

I really don't care for making slabs with random shapes/sizes of scraps, but this was somehow fun. And the best part is that this is all I have left from my red scrap bin!!!!!! (There are really not enough exclamation marks to convey how I feel about this.)

There was one item on my list that I did not do: Make foundation paper pieced block(s) from Carol Doak's book Easy Machine Paper Piecing. These pieces would work for that, but I'll wait a bit. 

I am thrilled that my old red scraps are almost used up. I would be dreaming if I thought that I could keep this up for other RSC colors this year. It turns out my red bin was probably my smallest batch of scraps. But I'm going to enjoy the delusion for a bit. It makes me feel good.

So that's January. So many projects. There are some wonderful Quilt Alongs (QALs) happening right now. I would have liked to do at least three of them, but I just do not have the space to work on more projects. What I have going right now is pushing the limits for me as you can see by the state of my living room and guest room.

I guess I'll have to do my version of a QAL: Quilt Alone Later. For now I have two quilt tops finished this month. My goal of sorts for February will be to get those quilted. And then continue with all these other fun projects. I can't wait to see what the color of the month will be to tackle.

I'm linking up this week with Angela at So Scrappy for Scrap Happy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap. 

I hope your new year's quilting projects are bringing you joy and a bit of a mess whether you are doing a QAL (or several) or following your own path through the scraps and stash.

(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.) 

Scraps, Sale, Squirrel, Scenery

 Another month, another post about small steps. My progress has been slow. But that's okay. September and October are our favorite months for sightseeing, so there has been a lot of time on our bicycles and on foot enjoying nature. Here are the bits I got done this month. First up: my Rainbow Scrap Challenge/52 Weeks of Scrappy Triangles. The RSC color was lime. I think I used some limes in my last go at green scraps, but that's okay. I have a lot of  limes. Surprisingly, there are not a lot of multicolored scraps with lime in them, so I didn't deplete that multicolored bin by much, but even using up some mostly-lime scraps is okay.

This month's blocks have a lot of tiny bits in them, so it's probably best that my fabrics were more green than other colors. I'm not real pleased with the top left block. There's not a lot of contrast in those sawtooth parts. But I'm not bothered enough to redo it. It will be fine with all the other blocks in the end. Last month I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I'd do one more orange block or a green one for the last week of September which was also the beginning of October. I did make one more orange block. 

Yeah, it doesn't look like an orange block, but if you look closely, you'll see there is at least a tiny bit of orange in each fabric.

I think this ends the colors for RSC this year, but there are still 9 weeks left in the 52 Weeks of ScrappyTriangles. I might just mix up the colors for the rest of the year--or I could repeat the colors for each month. Then I still have to decide if this project goes into next year for more blocks or if I will just finish it up. I do need more blocks to make a decent sized quilt. 

I didn't buy fabrics to go with RSC for the last several months, but made up for that a bit last week. My daughter had given me a gift card for a local store that has a small quilting area. I almost bought a new shirt, but the quilting fabric was too much of a pull. and it was all on sale! So I selected some turquoise and orange bits. I could have bought some limes, but I bought those back when green was the RSC color.

Hey, these would make a great quilt by themselves!

Oh, wait, I did buy lime--in the little embroidery scissors. How about that?!

My other project was the Confetti quilt, of course. But first---there was a Squirrel. 

A little blurry, but I wanted to zoom in so you could see the peanut.

And, hey, it was lime!!

Our temperatures took a nose dive this past week, and so I went searching for the slippers I knitted last year. Uh, oh. Not good. I had worn major holes in them. So I found some leftover yarn from an afghan I made years ago, and quickly knitted up some new ones. I used two strands of two shades of lime, hoping they'll last a little longer than one season. The pattern is similar to one my mom used to make that she called CuddleMocs. There are lots of versions of this online. I just winged it making the rectangle a little shorter than my foot so they'd fit nice and tight. I really do like knitting, but I hate sewing knitted things together almost as much as sewing a hem on a dress. So please pardon the wonky seams. I sewed on the little buttons from the old slippers to kind of disguise them. My mom used to put big fuzzy pom-poms on hers. Anyway, my feet are toasty now. This squirrel was so distracting, I made Sandra's awesome links in the post about her latest amazing quilt finish wait until I got these done. They didn't take long to make. I did them at the same time on the same needle. 

Then it was back to the Confetti quilt. Here are this month's blocks. 

You can see that each row is a different block, but they still look all random. It's not the way I'll arrange them, but fun to see them together like that. I now have 36 blocks. I'll make at least another set and then see where to go from there.

I'm still working on the hand pieced four-patches. I think there are about 100 now. I need to cut more squares.

So that's my makings for the month. Here's what else we were up to. I was going to post more vacation photos, but I'm past that now that we've roamed closer to home. 

We took a bike ride on the Falling Waters Trail, which I love. 

And Wednesday, we celebrated the 44th anniversary of our first date by hiking along the ledges in a nearby town. A unique geological formation right through town that gives it its name of Grand Ledge. The trail winds along the river at the base of the rocks, sometimes a bit precariously. It was a little chilly and foggy-ish, but perfect for hiking. 

The color is finally starting to come--the latest I've ever seen it. And look at those flowers still blooming like crazy in the park. 

Soon it will be too cold for these little excursions. And then I think a lot more sewing will happen. I'm beginning to plan a quilt that probably won't be made in bitsy monthly steps. I can't wait. 

I'm linking up this weekend with Angela at So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework for Oh Scrap. And with Sandra at mmm quilts! for DrEAMi (Drop Everything And Make it) because yes, those slippers aren't quilted, but they did take me away from her blog post!! (Go check out her quilt, though! And her links to the process.)

I hope you are having fun quilting--but take time, too, to chase squirrels and enjoy nature.

(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.)