RSC18 Wrap-up

The last several months have been filled with non-quilty activities--some celebratory (the holidays and my dad's 95th birthday) and others related to cares and concerns. My mother-in-law broke her hip early in November, and then entered a time of rapid decline in her overall health. She slipped away from her earthly life early this month. This past weekend, we met with family and friends in the Chicago area for a memorial service and celebration of her life. It is sad to have lost her, but she lived a wonderfully active life physically and socially until the last couple of years, and it was a joy to have her in our lives for such a long time. She would have been 95 on January 28.

I didn't feel much like quilting lately and even less like blogging about what little sewing I did, but now that our lives are on a more even keel, it's time to get back in the flow. (How's that for nautical-speak from a landlubber?) Anyway, at long last, I have a finish. Two finishes actually: my remaining RSC18 quilts. (Never mind that I did not meet the one little goal I had for January, finishing these quilts in time to mail them before the US postage rates increased. It's all good.)

These quilts started with 8 string blocks a month in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colors of the month (hosted by Angela at So Scrappy) from January to October. The one "rule" I made for myself was to include a strip of one other color of the month in each block. If you'd like to see the blocks as I made them over the year, click on the RSC18 label in the list on the right or at the bottom of this post. There were 8 blocks (pink and purple) that I did not use in one of the quilts. They became this Butterfly quilt. (You can also see it with its mates in the above photo.) I replaced them with blocks in the other colors, bringing the number of my RSC string blocks for the year to 88).

I played with some fun layouts throughout the year, but I pretty much knew how I wanted these quilts to look when I first started making the blocks, with a simple layout and sashing. The other layouts would have had bulky seams, and I didn't want to mess around with those. For the first quilt, I used Kona Snow for the sashing, and laid out the blocks all in the same orientation, with random placement of the colors. 

I'm leaving that sunshine in the photo. We need all we can get in this deep freeze.

For the backing, I found an awesome digitally printed rainbow fabric: Gradients by Moda.

I wanted a more playful look for the other quilt. In a sale bin at my local quilting store, I found a llama print that coordinated with the scrap colors without overwhelming them. For that quilt, I laid out half of the blocks in one direction and half in the other facing direction.

I bought some extra llama print for the backing, but (purposely) not as much as I needed. I knew I had some solids that would work to make a pieced back, saving myself a little money and using more of my fabrics on hand.

I quilted these two quilts last week while waiting for our trip for my mother-in-law's memorial service. It was good therapy. At first I wasn't sure how to quilt the one with the Snow sashing, so I set it aside. On the other quilt, I used my walking foot to stitch through the center and outer corners of the blocks following the direction of the layout, then filled in with more lines between those to create a giant chevron. You can probably see it a little better on the back in this photo. I really like the texture it gives. 

By the time I finished that quilt, I just wanted to be done. I hadn't done FMQ in quite awhile, so I decided to stipple the other quilt. It went really fast, and I do like it. (What's not to like about stipple quilting? No, don't answer that. I know it's not a favorite of some quilters. But it is so relaxing for me.)

I was planning to make a scrap binding for the Snow sashed quilt, but when the time came, that seemed like too much work. I had bought a little piece of another Gradient print for the other quilt, but decided to first use that print on the Snow quilt. It's the fabric on the right in this photo.

(When I showed these fabrics on Instagram, I think some people thought they were quilts. The print is tiny, though. The hourglass squares on the right are only about 1/2 inch on a side.) It just kind of blends in with the backing, but I love how it looks on the front. I stitched it so that it looks like a stripe. I did not have enough to go all the way around on the llama quilt, but there was a bit of the backing left from the Snow quilt (the fabric on the right in the above photo), so I alternated them around the Llama quilt. I had just enough. Yay! (I guess in the course of this post, I have named the quilts. Ha!)

Do you see the subtle change from one Gradients fabric to the other?

I'm really pleased with how these finished. Here are my initials and the dates:

They are going to go to Margaret's Hope Chest, and ultimately the Mother and Baby Program (treatment program for mothers with post-partum mood disorders) at Pine Rest Hospital. The mothers use them as a comforting shawl during therapy sessions. 

So here are the stats:

Design: String blocks made for RSC18. Blocks were trimmed to 5 1/2 inches before quilt construction for 5-inch finished blocks. The sashes finish at 2 inches wide with outer borders finishing at 3 inches. Using a print background for the Llama quilt was inspired by this quilt by Mari at The Academic Quilter.
Fabrics: Scraps from nearly 40 years of quilt-making. 
Snow quilt: Kona Snow for sashing; Gradients in Triangles by Moda for backing, Gradients in Bars by Moda for binding.
Llama quilt: JuxtaPosey Toss by Betz White for Riley Blake for sashing and backing; Kona solids in Robin Egg, Laurel, and Sunflower for backing; Gradients in Triangles and in Bars by Moda for binding.
Batting: Hobbs Premium Heirloom 80/20

Thread: Superior-- Masterpiece in Granite for piecing; King Tut in Temple (Snow quilt) and White Linen (Llama quilt) for quilting; Treasure in Old Lace for hand stitching binding.
Binding: 2 1/2 inches cut, double layer, machine sewn to front and hand stitched on back
Size: Snow Quilt: 60 by 39 inches; 59.5 by 38.5 quilted and bound; 56 by 36 inches machine washed and dried.
Llama Quilt: 60 by 39 inches; 59.5 by 38.75 quilted and bound; 56.5 by 36.75 inches machine washed and dried.

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

One more photo--just out of the washer and dryer in all their crinkly drapey-ness. And I am so happy to say that there was no dye migration--even from some of those very old fabrics. Yippee!

I had so much fun doing RSC18--even if it didn't really use many of my scraps at all, and I bought even more fabric to make the sashes and backing. Oh well, I used up what I bought, and now I can keep doing RSC. I have some ideas--I want to make some butterfly blocks, maybe some crumbs and/or more strings, and maybe long lines of strings. I have other ideas, too, but need to restrain myself a bit. I want to see just how much I can use up, though. The only thing is, I have only one more day of January as of this writing to get my reds (color of the month) finished. I may double up January and February colors. If you would like to participate in RCS19 check out the links here and here. I have already bought my background fabrics for my quilts (Mexicali Fresh Beaded Paisley from Benartex and Stella Tossed Flower from Red Rooster). Still mulling over how I'll use them.

I'm linking up this week with My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop,  So Scrappy for ScrapHappy Saturday, Wendy's Quilts and More for Peacock Party and Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh Scrap!

Now, let the RSC19 sewing begin! Since we're in the deep freeze in my part of the world, and I am windchill bound, I should make a lot of progress sewing! If you are also in a cold area, stay warm and stay quilting!

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

TBT: Hand of Friendship

Well, Happy New Year! I am off to a great start. I just spent several hours working on this post. I even got my husband involved scanning old photos of quilts I was going to share. Then I started jotting notes for what I wanted to say about them. It was going to be another post about my tiny quilting career, which--as you know--I've been writing about for a very long time, it seems, in my Throwback Thursday posts. I wanted to tell about my craft show quilts. Somewhere into this little time-consuming project, I decided to check something and pulled up pictures from the blog. Uh, oh. It seems I already did a whole post on these quilts back in December 2015. I had forgotten to label the post and had forgotten it was there. Well, that's a fine kettle of fish! If you'd like to read that old post, go ahead. I'll wait.

So here I am starting again. I do have a quilt to share that sort of fits the theme of those old quilts I was going to write about because--as they were--it is a one-block quilt from that same era. I don't really think of these as minis--just a framed block. (This one is 18 inches square, machine pieced and hand quilted with cotton thread. The batting is a very lightweight polyester made by Mountain Mist, I think. It was a dream to quilt.)

Given the colors and style, you probably can tell I made this in the 1980s, the summer of 1986, in fact. The block has a number of names, but I chose to use "Hand of Friendship." You see, that year I was the stay-at-home mom of a preschooler and a toddler. We often took walks around our neighborhood. We liked our neighborhood, but there weren't a lot of people our ages. One day, as we were walking around the corner of the next block, a woman came running out of her house to introduce herself. She and her family had recently moved in. She didn't know anyone nearby, but had seen our little family on our walks. She was watching for me. It turns out that we were both a little starved for some adult contact during the day as well as some playmates for our children. Her son and daughter were just a bit younger than my daughter and son. Soon we were spending lots of time together. In fact, her son developed a little preschool crush on my daughter. It was wonderful. And then came the day not long after we met that she told me her family was moving because of a job transfer. To Florida.

Of course, my way of handling the disappointment was to make her a little quilt. And because it was the 1980s, and my idea of Florida was sherbet colors and warmth, I chose pastel country colors from my stash for a Hand of Friendship block. I wanted her to embrace Florida as her home but not forget her time in Michigan, so I chose quilting designs to represent both states: a pine tree and a snowflake for Michigan and a sun and a shell for Florida. In the border, I quilted waves--for Lake Michigan and the Atlantic Ocean. 

I wish I could tell you that our friendship has continued to this day, but that was not to be. After her move, we kept in contact for awhile, writing letters and exchanging Christmas cards. (It was before the era of social media.) Our friendship was in its infancy, so as our kids grew and we got involved in other things, it was hard to keep the friendship alive long-distance. Her husband's job required a few more moves. One Christmas, she wrote that they were moving again. There was no return address on the envelope and when I wrote later to the previous address, the letter was returned with no forwarding address, and we lost contact. 

Life moves on, but it's nice to remember this little friendship at a time when we both needed it. I still have a photo of our kiddies taken just before the move. That, and these quilt photos are sweet mementos, but isn't it wonderful that social media makes it easier to keep in touch these days?

As always, I'm linking up with Sandra at mmm! quilts for Throwback Thursday. I'll be back next month with more TBT quilts from my tiny quilting career (yes, there are enough for at least a couple more posts), and today I found more loose photos from my personal quilting, so it looks like I'll keep sharing TBTs for a little while yet this year.

2018 Wrap-Up

It's time to summarize my quilting activity for year. I'm not sure how many of these kinds of posts I have done in the past, but I'm not always aware of how much I finish in a year, and it feels good to gather it all in one place, so to speak. 

This year I finished 12 quilts and two tops. Seven of the quilts were donated and the two tops will become donated quilts. Three quilts were gifts and one was sort of a commission/gift. One quilt was for me. I also made three doll hospital gowns, two sunglass cases, two cosmetic bags, and three blocks for donation. And I helped my granddaughter make a quilted pillow in her first sewing experience. There were a few other recent projects--holiday sewing--but I'll keep this list mostly quilt-related.

Here's a quick view of each one. You can click on the title for the link to the blog post, which will also have attributions and other details about the quilt.

QUILTS
1. Quilt for California Two--a twin sized quilt for victims of the Thomas fire in California. (January)

2-4. Doll Quilts--donations to A Doll Like Me. (February)

5. Between the Lines--a twin size quilt commissioned by/gifted to my daughter and son-in-law as a throw for their bed. (April) 

6. SOC (Stream of Consciousness) Quilt--a throw size quilt donated to Little Lambs Foundation through the Hands 2 Help Challenge. (April) 

7.Sir Bear--A kiddie sized quilt, also donated to Little Lambs Foundation through the Hands 2 Help Challenge. (May) 

8. Mariposa Quilt--throw sized, a gift for our newborn grand niece. (August)

9. Saint Helena Island Lighthouse--a mini wall hanging made as a souvenir of our 40th anniversary trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (August)

10.A's Quilt--throw sized, a gift for our newborn grandson. (September) 

11. Lake Michigan Quilt--wall quilt, a gift to our daughter and son-in-law. (October)

12. Pink and Purple Doll Quilt--a donation for A Doll Like Me. Made mostly from Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2018 blocks. (October)

OTHER PROJECTS
1-3. Three Doll Hospital Gowns--donation to A Doll Like Me. Made from an actual hospital gown I once wore. (February)

4-7. Cosmetic Bags and Sunglass Cases--donated to Safelight, a residential shelter for victims of domestic violence. (April) 

8-9. Blocks for Quilts for Broncos--donation of blocks for quilts for families of victims of a bus accident that took the lives of hockey players in Saskatchewan. (April)

10. L's Pillow--sewing lesson project with my granddaughter. (May)

11. Log Cabin block--donation to my church's denomination to make a quilt representing our congregations across North America for office art. The quilt has now been finished. I'll share it in the new year. (September)

WORKS IN PROGRESS
I'm including these tops because they represent a significant part of my sewing year. They are made from almost all of the blocks I made throughout the year for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I made a total of 88 blocks. There are forty in each of these quilts and the remaining 8 are in the pink and purple quilt above. As you can see, they are basted and ready to quilt. (October/November) 

So that's my year, and a good representation of the kind of quilting I like to do--mostly for donation, but some for gifts and a bit for myself. It's been a good quilting year. Can't wait to see what comes of quilting time in the new year. 

Over the next few days, I'll link these up with the next linky parties at Sew Fresh Quilts, Wendy's Quilts and More and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Happy New Year to all!

"Planning" for a New Year

Yvonne over at Quilting Jetgirl is having a planning party for 2019!

I've never planned my quilting year. I've mentioned off and on that I'm averse to timelines having endured too many in my pre-retirement life, so planning and setting goals for each month or quarter or even the year is not me at all. That's kind of funny, because in the rest of my life I am a list maker, and I love the idea of pretty planners. It's also funny because my quilting style is very much a planned (although messy) approach rather than improvisational (although my forays into improvisation have always been fun). I'm probably afraid my passion will become like a job if I make what feel like assignments for myself to fulfill. Really, I like to just make what comes my way, whether it's a gift opportunity, a plea for a donation, or something I'm inspired to try for my home. Anyway, just for fun I've decided to do some "planning" this year. We'll keep it really laid back.

First of all, I had fun doing the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this year. (I suppose in a way that was a plan, but I didn't see it that way. It was just a directive from Angela that I followed each month.) But I did not get the two resulting tops quilted because of other life happenings. So I do know that I want to work on those during January. I even have something of a goal: get them done in time to ship out to my favorite organization for donations before the postage rates increase on January 27. (Penny pinching incentive, but if I don't make it, no biggie.)

I'm on a long-term mission to reduce my on-hand fabric. (Yeah, I guess that's a goal of some sort, too--really just trying not to be a burden to my kids sometime in the future when they have to clear all this STUFF out), so I will probably participate in some way with RSC again, but maybe a bit more informally. We'll see.

I have a bin full of fabric that I have set aside for donation quilts. Some has been given through the generosity of quilters and companies, and some I bought as souvenirs on vacation. I know I will want to use up as much of that supply as I can (see above goal and consider that there are so many needs for donated quilts that it seems a shame to have the fabric sitting in my closet). Here are some of the bundles. There are also a good number of random fat quarters. I have a vague idea of what I want to do with some of these, but am clueless about others. We shall see...

I have some potential quilts to make for family members, and maybe a bed runner for our bed, a long-term hand quilting project to finish (a wall quilt for our living room--my only WIP/UFO), and then there are always those opportunities that pop up anywhere and anytime to make quilts for donation. 

Oh, one other thing. I've been slowly documenting all of my pre-blogging quilts on Throwback Thursdays (first Thursday of the month with Sandra over at mmm! quilts). I do plan (yes, plan!) to finish that up in the first few months of the year. 

I think that's about as planny as I can get. Don't hold your breath waiting for me to get these all done! It will just be fun to get to the end of the year, look back, and see what came of it all. 

Seriously, though, my actual plan/goal is to keep blogging. This past year, my blogging was definitely down. I tended to write a very long post at the end of a project rather than doing in-process updates (except for RSC, which I shared each month). I think that trend started because I was having trouble balancing quilting with blog reading/commenting. (I was also frustrated by the issues some of us bloggers have had this year with commenting access.) I don't think I'm alone. It seems to me that many quilters have reduced or abandoned their blogging or shifted over to doing quick Instagram posts. At least that's my perception. I like looking at Instagram even though I'm not consistent at commenting or acknowledging that I've seen a post. That just gets me back into the dilemma of finding time to sew/quilt/read/comment. Seeing photos of what quilters are making with a brief note is fine, but I do like the detailed stuff, too. And for me, the blog posts are the way I document my quilting history, so they are almost always detailed. But who has time to read (or write) all of that? I have some thinking to do about how to proceed. Writing is an arduous process for me, but I don't want to abandon it, and I hope other quilters don't either. So please join me and keep blogging. I'd love to hear your thoughts about it, though. 

Okay, now I'm going to read what everyone else has planned (or not) for the year. I love to read those plans and see all the quilty goodness that comes of them. 

Be sure to hop on over to Quilting Jetgirl and share your plans/not plans and see what others are doing. (I hear there are prizes involved, but don't let that be your sole reason for sharing.) Thanks, Yvonne, for setting up this party!

One thing I think we all can agree on as far as planning goes: Have a happy, quilty New Year! And make the world a better place, one quilt at a time.

Holiday Sewing

Still no quilting going on here--it's been about 2 months now. Definitely a dry period. I was hoping to finish up two small quilts to donate, but I'm realizing now that I'll enjoy the quilting more if I wait until the new year. The quilting "studio" has been used from time to time this fall as a guest room, and now I don't want to mess it up only to have to clean up again in a few days. We've also been out of town a few times this month for family-related needs and gatherings. I wasn't going to do a blog post, but hey, I have done a little sewing, and even though it's not quilting, there were layers of fabric involved, so I can share them. They are surprises, but for little folk, so if their mothers happen to glance at this, I'm sure they will keep the secrets safe.

First up, a few weeks ago I suddenly realized that our littlest grandson needs a Christmas stocking. So I scrambled through the fabric bins to find fabric that coordinated with the stockings I've made over the years for his cousins and brother. These projects are always made on the spur of the moment with less than stellar sewing techniques--super homemade-y, but fun. I managed to find some bits of the dark green I used for his brother's stocking (I had to piece three scraps to get the size I needed) and found most of the fabrics (or close enough) I had used in the other stockings for the light bulbs. I only had to buy a little twill tape for the "string." Here it is waiting to be filled. I've rubbed out most of his name for privacy.

I also made a little soft book for A. It's from a panel by Shelly Comiskey for Henry Glass. 

This page cracks me up. Unicorns are real, people!

Each year, I make ornaments for each of my grandkiddies based on their Halloween costumes. I don't know why I started doing that, but by now it's a tradition. Sometimes I quilt them, but I also like to make them from felt. This year, L was the Princess in Black, based on a book about a princess (dressed in frothy pink) who turns into a super hero (dressed in black) to thwart monsters who are going after the country's goats. (Really.) The princess's logo is a magnolia blossom, so L is getting her own magnolia ornament this year. Through the magic of technology, I can show you the front and back at the same time.

C was Thomas the Tank Engine for the second year. Since I gave him a Thomas ornament last year, I had to come up with something else this year: the windmill from the Island of Sodor (where Thomas lives). I used a brad to fasten the windmill blades so he can turn them.

Little A didn't really wear a costume, but he did wear his little bear fleece, complete with ears, to make the rounds for Trick-or-Treating. So, of course, he needed a little bear. I found  this one as a coloring page online. Now I can't find it, argh! But there are lots of similar ones.

I was stumped when it came time to make E's ornament. He had chosen the Bumblebee transformer costume this year (never mind that he had no idea who Bumblebee was). I had no idea how to make the character in felt. Finally, I found this pixel coloring page math worksheet, and made it in counted cross stitch. What fun. I hadn't done cross stitch in quite a long time. In this version, Bumblebee transforms into a Camero, I think. In the new movie, I think it's a VW. Kind of abstract, but it does relate to the costume of choice this year. I used 18-thread cross stitch fabric and made the X's over three threads, except the date, which is over one thread. 

I thought that might be the extent of my sewing this season, but the other day, my daughter-in-law asked if I could do a tiny project. E had been asking for a super hero cape. She sent me the links to these two tutorials: Pennies into Pearls and The Bears Four. I mashed the two patterns using the neckline from the first and the width and logo of the second to make a cape worthy of a super hero. And, why make one cape when you can make four? Here's E's cape (modeled by Mr. Bear):

And here they are all together:

 Little A's is really a bib, but definitely not a drool-catchy one. I figure he can wear it as a cape during tummy time. It will give him super power to endure it. I made these all out of two layers of satin, with the shiny side out on the top layer and the matte side facing out on the lining. I'm hoping that will make them a little less slippery against clothing. It also made it a snap to sew without slippage. (I can't guarantee there won't be static, though!) I don't have a zig-zag sewing machine, so the shields and letters were a little fiddly. I used freezer paper for patterns for the shields and some stabilizer behind the letters, which I turned under and appliqued with a straight stitch. Except A's. His letter was so small that I did raw edge applique with the stabilizer (yes, I know fusible web would have worked, but I had the stabilizer on-hand) and put some fray inhibiter on the edges. The logos are cotton fabric instead of the recommended felt because I wanted the capes to be machine washable. (That also reduced my fabric scraps somewhat.) Well, that was a fun project. Not as tiny a project as my DIL envisioned, but now we can have a whole houseful of superheros. As opposed to squirrels, as these capes certainly were for me.

But I wasn't done yet. I decided that A needed some fresh bibs for his stocking, so I kept sewing. The bigger bib is based on one similar to this one (I don't know where I got the original), but I modified the shape to fasten it on the side. The other style is this bandana bib. These are so much fun to make--kinda like eating potato chips. You can't stop at one. Just keep going until you run out of fabric.

They're reversible.

I had to put that baseball print on in honor of my husband's and son's favorite baseball player of all time getting voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last week. Go Harold Baines!

So there they are, not quilts, but layered sewing projects. I guess I did more sewing than I thought during the last few weeks (mostly the last couple of days). 

I may try to do a planning post (yes, me, planning--or maybe I should say "planning") as well as a year end wrap-up if I can in the next few days. We don't start hardcore celebrating until after Christmas, so there may be time. 

Meanwhile, here's my view from my chair: our Charlie Brown tree. Since we were out of town, we waited to get our tree until the 17th. There were only 5 left of the kind we like at the tree lot we go to. This was the best. And hey, when you get a tree that late, it's 50% off. (Not going to be a tradition, though.) Actually, the tree is okay. Lots of stiff branches and spaces for hanging ornaments. I just really get a kick out of those random poky branches sticking every which way. It looks a little bare under there. I'd better get wrapping.

Oh, and how about some comfort food? My daughter shared this Skinny Crockpot Loaded  Potato Soup link with me from The Chunky Chef. We added the optional carrots and celery as well as some leftover chicken. YUM YUM! (And good eats for a sewing day).

I'm linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, with Wendy at Wendy's Quilts and More for Peacock Party, and if there is a DrEAMi party at Sandra's mmm! quilts at the end of the month (I'm not sure of the holiday schedule), I'll link up there, too, because there were definitely some squirrels this month.

I hope you are enjoying your holiday season this year. I'm going to try to be back in a more regular way next year. I have lots of pent-up quilting energy, so there may be more quilts to share. 

Together, let's enjoy the new year the way quilters always do, changing the world for the better, one quilt at a time.