Turquoise!

Well, hello! It's been awhile. I've been on vacation, both in real life and in blog life. But I managed to squeeze my RSC18 (Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018) blocks in during a couple of marathon string sessions before I left. 

I was excited about Turquoise month because I love the color. My collection of turquoise fabrics is not extensive, but I do have more modern pieces than I have of other colors. Can you guess which strip is my favorite in this block? 

Yes, there are modern fabrics, but do you see that dark fabric with the pink flowers? It made its first appearance in my daughter's baby quilt. She's 37 years old now. 

I didn't realize until I started arranging strips how many different colors there are that might be called turquoise/aqua, ranging from minty to bluish. Mmm, I love that yellow strip with the turquoises. 

As usual, I included a strip of a color from each of the other months in my blocks. This month, some colors worked better than others. In this block, the dark blue doesn't stand out as particularly different, so I chose the darkest one I could find so at least there would be value contrast. 

I don't think the sage green worked very well in this block. It's the one with the tiny leaves. After I finished the block, I noticed that two of the other fabrics looked more sagey than turquoise. Strange, because they seemed turquoise/aqua until I included the sage strip. Oh well. In the end it will all just be a colorful mess.

Ooh, orange and turquoise: another fun combination!

And this next block has another tiny shape that I love. 

Here are all my RSC blocks together.

A colorful mess indeed. 

I'll leave you with a few photos from our vacation that feature turquoise. First up, my take-along project: I had fun working on my Lake Michigan quilt in a log cabin by the waters of Lake Michigan in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I'm currently adding embroidered beach grass. I got the basic structure of the biggest clump done. Now I have to add more dimension. I'll keep working on this outside on summer evenings.

No, that is not a giant wave--the quilt was lying crooked on the bed.

And here are some photos of the beautiful turquoise waters of Lake Huron during our bicycle ride around Mackinac Island in the Upper Pennisula. The weather was stunning--cool and clear, while back home it was all clouds and rain.  

It's supposed to be hot, hot, hot back here at home this weekend. (Makes me wish I was back Up North, but I guess it will be pretty warm there, too.) Time for some indoor activities. I have a little sewing planned and then catching up on all the quilty posts I missed while I was gone.

I'm linking up with Angela at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! on Sunday.

This week I wish you colorful surroundings and colorful quilting, scrappy or otherwise.

TBT: Basket Quilts

This year, I'm doing a series of Throwback Thursday posts about quilts that I worked on during the 1980's and 90's when I had a tiny quilting career. You can read more about that career in posts here and here. In celebration of spring and summer, when we might gather flowers or produce in baskets, the theme of this post is basket quilts. These quilts are fairly similar to each other, but I want to make sure that all of the quilts I quilted during my tiny career are documented here. There are big variations in size. The tops were all constructed by Becky Schaefer from antique fabrics or blocks. You can read more details about her work in that second link above. I did all of the quilting by hand with off-white cotton thread. As in my last post, I'll show the fronts and backs. The backs show some of the quilting better or show fun samples of antique prints. For documentation, I'm recording the sizes, quilting dates, and amount of thread used (because that determined my pay). While I have since made some of my own quilts from Becky's patterns, I have never attempted basket quilts. I am boggled by the tiny applique and stenciling on some of them--not my crafting cup of tea, but I love how they look. So here they are, with as much information as I have available. 

Look at the tiny handles (applique!) and stenciled flowers. And the narrow inner border. This rust and navy quilt is 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches. I used 9 yards of thread to quilt tiny feather circles (my favorite hand-quilting design) as well as outlining in the background of each block. This one was finished in January 1987. 

The backs of these tiny quilts (mini, I guess, in today's terminology) were usually muslin, and the batting was a very light weight polyester as it was easiest to quilt through in those little blocks. 

This navy and rose quilt is 11 inches square. Isn't that navy striking as sashing and inner border? And those double pink fabrics--mmm! Quilting is minimal on this one--4 2/3 yards with partial feather circles and minimal outlining. More tiny applique on this one, with leaves in addition to the handles. This was another January 1987 finish. (Notice the mitten in the second photo.) 

Here are two more quilts similar to the ones above, but with more stenciled flowers. The one on the left is 11 1/2 inches square, finished in April 1989 with 5 yards of thread. The one on the right is 10 3/8 by 14 inches, also finished in April 1989 with 7 1/2 yards of thread. 

Here's another quilt of the same theme, but this time much larger: a whopping 40 inches square! This gave me an opportunity for more detailed quilting in the background. I loved working on the quick minis, but larger quilts were a real treat to work on even though they were fragile. The batting for these was cotton, with antique yardage for the backing, so it was a bit more challenging to get small, even stitches. I used masking tape to mark grid work in the background of this quilt, but I quilted leaves in the setting triangles to mimic the appliqued leaves before filling in the grid around them. I finished this quilt in November 1987 with 53 3/4 yards. 

The right border is a bit cut off. Before digital photography, you couldn't always see exactly what the camera was seeing. You took your chances that everything was in the photo. Sometimes it wasn't.

This brown, rust and yellow quilt is even larger: 45 by 54 inches. From what I recall, the blocks were hand sewn antique blocks instead of newly made from antique fabric. I used masking tape to mark the grid in the background of this quilt with in-the ditch quilting around groups of triangles in the baskets and wavy parallel lines in the border. I finished this one in July 1987 with 150 yards of quilting thread. 

Here is another quilt made with similar blocks (likely from the same batch). It is 43 by 43 inches. Quilting was mostly concentric squares marked with masking tape and some in-the-ditch work around triangles. I finished this one in October 1989 with 97 2/3 yards of thread. 

There are two more tiny quilts made from entirely pieced blocks. I like the quiet colors of this first quilt. It is 11 inches square. I quilted it in the summer of 1988 with the usual partial feather circles and outlining plus some horizontal detail across the widest parts of the baskets, using 6 2/3 yards of thread.The interesting detail in this one is the double inner border. I'm not sure if that tan fabric in the background and border is old. I had newer fabric with the same design, but perhaps it was a copy of an old motif. This one has a tiny checked fabric on the back instead of the usual muslin.

I have no clear information on this other one of the same design with a simpler setting, so I'm guessing that I finished it between late 1989 and 1991 when my documentation was more haphazard. I'm guessing that it was about 10 1/2 by 14-ish inches. No circles on this one. Instead I used double outlined hearts and a bit of detail in horizontal lines across the baskets. No photo of the back or record of thread used. What I like about this one is the variation in prints in the baskets even though they are all the same shade of red. 

One more basket quilt--a cactus blossom design quite different from the others. Again, no notes with my photo. My receipt records show that I used 62 1/2 yards of thread, so I'm estimating that it's about 36 to 40 inches square. I'm not sure if these are antique blocks or newer ones made from antique fabric. I'm guessing antique blocks by the irregularity of the work. The photo is not real clear, but I think I quilted clam shells in the lightest areas, and parallel lines at different angles in the pink triangles and around the outermost area of the borders. I really like the design of the pieced border. I finished this one in December 1989.

So that is my collection of photos of basket quilts. I have a lot more quilts to share. I think I'll plan some more theme collections for the remainder of the summer TBT posts.

By now you know that those of us who use Blogger are having some communication difficulties. We no longer get email notifications when others comment on our posts. This makes it challenging to reply. There seems to be a work around for this, but until now I have been otherwise occupied (Grandkids here--Yay! Sewing preoccupation--Yay! Tooth restoration and crown prep--Boo!), so I'm not sure how well it works. I plan to try it, though. In the meantime, thank you so much for your comments on my last couple of posts. I appreciate all of them so much but can't see my way clear to respond to them individually. I will try to do better now. However, I have to say that I sincerely hope this is a temporary workaround. And that the Blogger folks don't think that we bloggers have fixed the problem. I am really, really hoping they will restore the email notification to the way it was before. 

I hope June is treating you well. Ours is gorgeous at the moment! I just bought a pop-up screen house so I hope to do some hand quilting outside in a mosquito-free zone very soon. Maybe you will get some time to sew outside, too. The lighting just can't be beat--especially for hand work.

I'm linking up with mmm! quilts for Throwback Thursday. Thanks to Sandra for giving us this opportunity to share our pre-blogging oldies.

Pink!

It's been Pink Month around here. Well, actually just Pink-the-last-few-Days. It took me a long time to get around to the RSC (Rainbow Scrap Challenge) color this month. But I finally did it. And it only took a couple afternoons to get my string blocks done. So I'm still on track. Looking ahead to the rest of the colors? It's going to take some discipline to keep making these. Summer is heating up in a lot of ways, but I'm determined to keep up.

At first I thought I might not have enough pink to sew these. Well, not enough pink that I liked. If you look at my drawer, there are a lot--I mean a LOT--of 80's pinks. You know. It seems like every color of the rainbow had gray tones during those years. 

I did a lot of dithering. How far to go in each direction of the color--how corally is a pink before it tips into orange? Or how mauve before purple? Or how dark before maroon? I think this was the first block I made, and I HATED it. 

But then I made more and started feeling better about the whole scrap thing.

I put the little extra color strips in in the order of the RSC colors for the year (so far anyway).

My favorite pinks were the bright clear ones. I resisted the urge to use them all in one block.

But in the end, I had to include some of my favorites in the middle and in the triangles.

And by then, I was perfectly comfortable with even the grayed pinks. I guess that's what scrap piecing is all about. 

Here are the newest blocks with their friends from other months.

I almost forgot to take pictures, but the light yesterday evening was just right on the deck. I didn't think to stage them with my plants, so I went out and took some separate photos because, you know, PINK!

We planted our flowers a whole week earlier than planned because the weather was perfect for it--cloudy and cool. (I am not a hot weather person.) We went and bought the plants and then couldn't resist getting them in the ground and the pots. With our gardening finished for the moment, we took a ride on Wednesday out to the west side of the state with my dad, brother and sister-in-law. We visited three lakes, including Lake Michigan. Because we went from winter to summer in a week's time this year, Lake Michigan water temperature was still in the 40's, but the day was heating up to nearly 80 inland. When the warm air hit the lake, the air temperature dropped to the low 50's and we had a lovely day of sun and fog. Because of the fog, we never really saw Lake Michigan even though we were right by it, and when we went to the smaller lakes nearby, the fog moved around like smoke. Truly beautiful. And in the sun, the temperature was perfect.

It's hard to capture the beauty of fog, but I tried.

Now we are up to the holiday weekend here in the states (Memorial Day), and summer has definitely arrived. Temperatures will get to the 90's. We plan to do some early morning bike riding and then hunker down in the air conditioning. I'm glad we got those flowers planted early. I think I'll enjoy the indoor weather and start my next project. Here are the snippets I cut from the corners of my fabrics before throwing them in the washer and dryer to prep. I have some big deal quilts to make!!

I'm linking up with Angela at SoScrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday and with Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap! on Sunday.

Enjoy your weekend, whether you have a holiday or not!

Sir Bear Quilt

A few months ago I won some sweet fabric through Bernie's giveaway of Art Gallery Fabric on her Needle and Foot website. The line is Capsules Nest, a smooth poplin print in mostly black on white. The bundle included three panels about 35 by 43 inches as well as several fat quarters. I set it aside, knowing that eventually an opportunity would present itself to make a quilt for a wee youngster. 

That opportunity came in the annual Hands2Help Challenge hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. One of the donation options this year is Little Lambs Foundation, an organization that provides quilts to children transitioning in a variety of situations to foster care, shelters or hospitals. 

I knew that the designs on this fabric would be perfect for a huggie quilt to give comfort in a stressful time. I chose the Sir Bear panel to start with. I should have taken photos before cutting, but I was so eager to get started that I completely forgot. Here's the link to the fabric as it was showcased on Bernie's website along with other fabrics that were provided by Art Gallery Fabrics. (An awesome array!) My first thought was to take the panel with Sir Bear in the center of it and quilt it in colorful thread. But almost the entire panel was white with just the bear and two strips of print along the edges. While this would be really sweet in a nursery, it did not seem practical for a quilt that might be traveling around. So I went to my Kona stash and found several teal scraps to fill in the white space. 

Here's what I made:

I cut Sir Bear out and surrounded him with cuts from one of the coordinating fat quarters, then added teal strips to each side (each about 5 inches wide, cut) and then to the top and bottom. I cut the printed strips from the sides of the panel and attached them to the top and bottom. I also cut the side strips from a similar panel with some cute sheep in the center. (Sorry, sheep. You'll find your way into another quilt, sometime, I'm sure.) I put those strips along the sides. There is still a fair amount of white in the quilt, but the print on it will hide signs of wear love better than solid white, I think. 

Since I had used up most of my teal scraps, I made a trip to the store for the quilt back. I was hoping to find a little print, but nothing seemed quite right, so I bought more teal. After I got home, I decided to add in just a bit of black and white to pep up the back. I had just enough of the fat quarter from the front to make a narrow strip to insert between the two shades of fabric I bought. 

This quilt went together so fast!! We had a rainy weekend, which was perfect for sewing. I didn't overthink the plan--just laid out my fabrics and cut the strips to sizes that fit the easiest. Making the back was really easy because the quilt top fit easily on a width of fabric. (Apparently the operative word here is EASY.)

For quilting, I knew I wanted to do wavy walking foot lines. I was going to stipple around Sir Bear, but decided at the last minute to outline him and then quilt around parts of his clothing. I was too lazy to change to my FMQ foot, so, I just worked freestyle with my walking foot. Then I filled in the background with wavy lines extending across the quilt. 

For the binding, I used the leftovers of the two solids from the back, reversing the colors, so that the lighter binding was against the darker part of the back and vice versa. I'm sure no kiddie will care how it was done, but it was a way to amuse myself while finishing the quilt. I was going to machine sew the whole thing, but my walking foot got tired and didn't want to sew the binding down, so yesterday evening, I competed with sunset and whipped that binding down by hand in time to get some photos outside before it got too dark. I think it will be sturdy enough to stand up to washings, I used short lengths of double thread so it should be pretty secure.

How about some tree shots?

And a close up of Sir Bear, himself--

Even closer--

And the signature--

 Now, some stats:

Pattern: Improv piecing. 
Fabrics: Capsules Nest from Art Gallery Fabrics: Sir Bear Panel, Finger Paint fat quarter and part of One Two Sheep Panel. Kona Solids in Jade, Capri and Azure for front and Jade and Pool for back and binding.

Batting: Leftover piece of Warm and White 
Thread: Superior Masterpiece in Granite for piecing; Superior King Tut in Mint Julep in the top (yes, I'm STILL using that cone and there is still a little left) and Aurifil 40 wt Mako in Light Jade in the bobbin; Mint Julep for hand sewing on binding. 
Binding: Cut 2 1/2 inches wide and folded in half;. 
Size: Quilt: 34 5/8 by 41 1/4 inches pieced and quilted. I haven't washed it yet, but it will likely be a little smaller.  

Machines: Singer Featherweight for piecing; Singer 115 Treadle for walking foot quilting.  

I hope a little child--maybe a baby or toddler will find comfort with the cute little bear and cheerful colors. I think it's just the right size for a huggie quilt that will fit in a backpack. I still have other parts of the fabric bundle left, so I think a similar kind of quilt with what's left of the sheep panel is somewhere in the future. Thanks to Bernie and AFG for helping me pay this forward. 

Here are three quick things I learned with this quilt:
--You can almost free motion quilt with a walking foot.
--Rainy weekends are great for making little quilts--especially ones that fit on width-of-fabric backs.
--I can hand sew a binding really quickly when I'm in a race with the sun.
--I really will make a panel quilt someday. I think. 

I'm linking up this week with Sew Fresh Quilts for Let's Bee Social and with crazymomquilts for Finish It Up Friday. Later this month I'll also link up with the big finale linky party at Confessions of a Fabric Addict where we can all share our Hands2Help quilts.

Have a beautiful week, quilting, hugging, or whatever else you enjoy.

(I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products or services, I'm just documenting what I used or liked.)