I have a lot of PHDs. Projects Half Done. It seems as if the results of Covid have hung around and I flit from one thing to another. I’m determined to finish a few of my PHDs.
Two of my community quilts have been basted and are ready for quilting.
This quilt is made of leftover blocks. I’m not sure how I will quilt it. Maybe each block separately or maybe with a cross hatch across the whole quilt.
In January, I am taking an online course with Angela Walters. It will be dot to dot machine quilting. I will use this quilt for the class projects.
This postage stamp quilt came back from the long arm quilter and is now bound. I’m breaking my rule of giving all my quilts away and keeping this one. I’ve started another box of 1 1/2″ squares to make another one, which I will give away.
I did finish this table runner.
Two quilts came back from the long arm quilter today. They need binding. These two are made with the Robert Kaufmann Japanese fabric. I have almost used it up.
Flying Geese
Cat’s Cradle
This is a bonus quilt.
There are many more quilts waiting to be finished. I’m still working on the Hexagon Star quilt in the evening. It will be a long, long term quilt.
I have had a time out. Very unexpected. When you see the pink strip on a Covid test, you are in denial. No. No. It can’t be. But it was, and I spent quite a few days on the sofa and sitting in a chair. I’m very thankful that it was as easy as it was, even though my energy has gone. I hope that it will come back soon. I’m finally warm enough without heated corn bags.
I decided that even though I couldn’t sew, I could do something worthwhile while sitting in the chair. I pulled all the folders from the library shelf and the file cabinet in the office.
This is a small portion. Many more on the table. I went through everyone and only kept what I thought I would use. I worked in slow speed, and it took me over four days to finish this project. I have a box of empty folders and sleeves. I also found several projects that will come back to the top of the list when I can get back into the sewing room full time.
Then I asked for You Tube quilt shows on the TV. I spent quite a bit of time with Kate from the Last Homely House. The word homely must have a different definition in England than here as her house was not homely in a bad sense. It is beautiful. Maybe, it means home-like. I felt like I had a chat with Kate every time that I watched. Her website is not a tutorial, but just a friendly visit with a friend. There was another lady that I visited. Every time she started to talk, one of her neighbors decided to mow his lawn. It didn’t bother her a bit. A grandchild came in on one show. She gave the little one a hug, sent it on its way and continued talking.
I had a community quilt on the sewing table. It had been there for a while, and it bothered me. Frankly, I was overwhelmed with thinking about it. It was ready to quilt. Angela Walters was another quilter that I watched. She said that that the reason there were so many quilt tops unquilted was because people didn’t start. That was obvious. Then she showed an easy quilting pattern that worked up fast. I went into the sewing room and quilted one row with this pattern. Then, I walked out and shut the door. The next day, I quilted one more row. The quilting consists of a star and a curvy line. Every star is a little bit different.
Amazingly, the quilt top was quilted and ready for binding. The binding strips are cut. Another day, I will sew them together and press. If I have enough energy, I’ll sew the binding on the quilt. If not, I’ll do it another day. As long as I do a little bit each day, I will finish something eventually.
I used all my energy today to take Miss Molly to the spa. They left her coat long this time because it is winter. She is very soft and fluffy. Her black saddle has turned to gray and red. She has examined this quilt and approved.
I’m working a little on the Hexagon Star. A friend sent a picture of a Hexagon quilt, and the border is exactly what I will use after the star is finished. This is a very long-term project.
The quilt that I made at last year’s retreat came back from the longarm quilter. I didn’t like the quilt when I sent it to her, but her quilting made it come alive. It may be a keeper for me, rather than a giveaway. The binding is on and ready to tack down. Maybe, fifteen minutes at a time. Eventually, it will be finished.
It was good that I had to slow down and do things a bit different for a while.
Summer is over. The days are getting crisp. Most of the yard work is finished. All the deck furniture is in the shed. The plants that summer outside are back in the house ahead of the frost. The new AC, which I only used three times, is covered for the winter. Some of the gardens still need cleaning up, but they will be ok even if I don’t finish the job. Maybe, I can get back to the sewing room and finish a few quilts.
I had been working on the star hexagon quilt. It is relaxing to sew hexies together in the evening while watching tv. All the parts to the center are finished and mostly together. I’ve started on the star points. Then, I decided to purge a little bit from the attic. I found a box of frame parts.
There are enough pieces in the box to make 21 little quilts. Years ago, my husband made the frames, and I made the little quilts. I sold a few and gave most of them away. I did keep a few to hang on the wall.
The frames in the attic are the leftovers from that project. Making the little quilts is easy, but I have never made the frames. This will be interesting. Setting the star hexagon aside for a while, I have made all 21 little quilts. They are all hand quilted and ready to go into the frames when I make them.
Thia is a few of the little quilts. I still have to gather some of the supplies to put the quilts into the frames. Also, the courage to do woodworking. I may find another passion. Or I will decide to never do that again. Most of the frame pieces are painted white, but some are natural wood. I can paint them to coordinate with the quilt.
I was able to make two community quilts from the $1.00 strips and the gifted fat quarters. Miss Molly really liked this one.
They are both alike. After seeing the picture, I’ve decided to add a blue strip to the top and bottom borders. I think that that will look more finished. During the last week, I also matched backings with most of the tops that are hanging in the closet. Now that I will be spending more time in the house, I can add the batting and finish some of them.
Two of my machines are at the spa and ready to come home. They were both working fine but hadn’t been checked over for a while. One of them will travel to Maine to be with one of my daughters. She has just started making the most awesome hexagon quilts and decided that she finally needs a machine. The other one has an embroider unit. I have a lot of quilting patterns and will probably embroider a quilting design on the community quilts. It would be quicker and easier than free motion quilting.
I have enough work (fun) ahead of me to last the whole winter.
The latest community quilt top is finished, pressed, and on a hanger in the ufo closet. I had trimmed the strips of Japanese fabric to 2″. Most of them were about that size. Looking at the patterns in my books, I decided on a very simple block using four patches and two rectangles.
All the fabric was dark so I chose white fabric to lighten it up.
It didn’t take long to make the tops. Simple blocks are the best way to go for speedy quilts. I made the sashing first and the blocks fit in perfectly. All the remaining Japanese fabric is in two bags. One is strips and the other is pieces. They will be mile a minute blocks when I want to do some easy block making. I will wait a while to start as I still find pieces of the fabric where it isn’t supposed to be.
I have another top packaged and basted. It is ready to quilt. Then, I decided to take time off from quilting and organize the fabric drawers.
In the first drawer, I found a bunch of 2 1/2″ strips that I bought for $1.00 at a guild quilt show. They were pastels. Instead of putting them back in the drawer, I decided to sew them together. Four strips were sewn together and cut into 6 1/2″ segments. The leftover small pieces were cut into 2 1/2″ squares. The remaining fabric was placed in the mile a minute bin and the trash. Also in the drawer were fat quarters that were given to me at various times. The were mostly pastel calicos and went very well with the strips. I cut the fat quarters into 2 1/2″ strips, sewed them together, and cut them into 6 1/2″ pieces. Twenty-four strips make a good size community quilt. I have ten strip sets. If I use five strip sets for a quilt, with sashing and a border, I can make two quilts. When I go through the remaining drawers, I’ll find sashing and border material. Then, two more quilts in the ufo closet. Winter is coming. I can quilt the quilts then.
There still are a lot of treasures in the drawers. I really am trying to purge, but it is hard.
The long-term project, the hexagon star, is still fun to sew. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished while watching TV. The hexagons are 1 3/4″. The star would be too large with a larger hexagon. Several components are sewn. When they are complete, they are sewn onto the center.
I’ve finished the top of one more community quilt made with the free Kaufmann fabric. I’m not sure how many quilt tops have been made with the free fabric at this point. I’ll have to count them before I pass them along.
This is the second Miss Rosie book in my library. I made all 13 from the first book. There are 13 in this book also, but three are repeats from the first book so I intend to make the remaining ten.
The first quilt in the book is Due South. It has 212 flying geese and 11 stars. I did have to adjust the size of the flying geese as I used strips from the Kaufmann stash. The original geese were 3″ x 6″. The new geese are 2″ x 4″ which makes a much smaller quilt.
I would have been much quicker to use the Lazy girl flying geese ruler. It makes four geese at a time. Where I used cut- off strips, I used Kimberly EInmo’s flying geese ruler. It makes one goose at a time.
The cut geese with the white sky.
Stack of geese.
The finished top.
After I finished the top, I pulled out all the remaining strips and cut them down to 2″.
I’m not sure what I will do with them, but they are ready when a pattern comes to mind. There may be another one in the Miss Rosie book. The remaining Kaufmann fabric is in a mile a minute bin. It seems good to see the end of this fabric.
I’ve been making a lot of tops and decided to put them all on hangers and get them ready for quilting. I can’t believe how many I found around the room. It will take forever to quilt them all. Only one is basted and ready for quilting. Last Friday, as I was coming out of a restaurant, I had a chance visit with one of my long arm quilters. It’s serendipity. I think that I’m supposed to send some to her. She can quilt the larger quilts and I can quilt the smaller ones. I don’t mind quilting by check.
The sewing room and I seem to be apart this summer. I just came back from a nice vacation in Maine. While there, I attended the Maine Quilt Show in Augusta. There were so many beautiful quilts and lots of inspiration.
I organized the sewing room again. Just enough to not know where things are. There are thirteen community tops to quilt plus another four larger ones. It’s time for the basting frame to come down from the attic. I pin basted a scrap quilt today. I haven’t decided if I will free motion quilt it or use the even feed foot. The inspiration will hit when it is under the needle.
I’ve finished the top of another quilt made with the Japanese Kauffman fabric. It is made with a dragonfly fabric. There wasn’t enough to make the size that I wanted so I added some floral fabric. It’s called Dragonflies In The Garden.
This is an easy pattern. Stripes were sewn together. Squares were trimmed from the joined stripes. The squares were cut on the diagonal. Four were sewn together in a pinwheel. Then sashing and two borders. It’s a masculine quilt.
I can see at least three more quilts using the Kaufmann fabric. One will be the first quilt in a Miss Rosie book. It has flying geese on the diagonal with some stars here and there. Then I will make mile a minute blocks with the rest of the fabric. They can be used in many ways. It will be great to use another fabric. I’ve made a lot of quilts with the free fabric.
I had been saving my small scraps in flannel pillowcases for dog beds. An article on Facebook stated that this was not a good idea. The dog would chew the pillowcase and swallow the scraps. I’ll have to come up with plan B and figure out what to do with the scraps. The pillowcases can be joined for backings for baby quilts.
The Hexagon Star quilt is coming along slowly. It’s enjoyable to sew the hexies together while watching TV in the evening.
Miss Molly is temporarily out of a job. She is an excellent quality control inspector, but there have been no new quilts to inspect for a month. Hopefully, I will be able to go back into the sewing room soon and produce some new jobs for her.
The garden has been neglected also. It’s a good thing that we have had rain and I haven’t had to water. The weeds are filling in the empty space between the flowers. At this point, it is a hopeless mess and will stay that way. Green is a neutral color. From a distance, the garden is beautifully alive with flowers. I’ll stand back and enjoy the color.
My favorite specialty ruler is the Tucker Trimmer..
I use it all the time. It’s great for half square triangles, quarter square triangles, and just for trimming to the correct size. I was introduced to the Cat’s Cradle ruler. It’s my new favorite ruler. The Cat’s Cradle is a block with triangles. It’s one to avoid for quick piecing. The Cat’s Cradle ruler eliminates triangles and uses squares and rectangles. It also makes two blocks at a time.
You can make several size blocks with this ruler. Cutting instructions are printed on the ruler.
The squares and the larger triangle are the focus fabric, and the smaller triangles are the background. You cut two squares, two small rectangles and one larger rectangle. .
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Sew the squares to the rectangles. Press towards the rectangles. When the two pieced rectangles are sewn tougher, the bottom piece seam should be facing down so it won’t twist.
Snip to the seam in the middle of the piece. Press each end toward the rectangles.
The ruler has a drawn square that is placed on the stitching on the wrong side of the piece. There is a cross hair at the edge to place where the seams cross. Draw a line at the edge of the ruler.
Place the larger rectangle under the above piece, right sides together. The instructions say to sew on the lines, but I have found that the seam needs to be one needle to the right of the line in order to cross where it is supposed to. . The pencil line is outside the edge of the ruler. Aim for the spot where the two seams cross.
Cut 1/4″ away from the line. There is a tiny scrap cut away.
You will have two cat’s cradle blocks. Open up and press towards the rectangle. Trim them to the size that you want. I use the Tucker Trimmer for this step. The more that you make the faster it will go. I’m trying to use up the Japanese Robert Kaufmann fabric so started making Cat’s Cradle blocks and ended up with a quilt that is 11 x 11 blocks. It took no time at all to make the blocks. I’m not putting a border on this quilt. The binding will be the border. It’s very important to take a picture of the quilts before you think they’re finished. There was a twisted block in the middle of this quilt. It was very obvious in a picture. A little unstitching, turning and resewing solved the problem.
There is still a lot of that fabric to use. The bags don’t seem to empty. I have another quilt planned. Then there is a big bag of strips. I haven’t decided what to do with that. The inspiration will come. All the small scraps go into two bags, one for strips and one for pieces. That will be for a Mile a Minute quilt. I can sew them on a day when I don’t want to think about matching seams and being accurate. I can see at least four more quilts before that fabric is gone. I’ve made or will make a lot of quilts from the free fabric.
I haven’t been in the sewing room as much as I would have liked. Today, I decided to focus on what I have finished or worked on, not what I think that I should have done.
I did make a list of the oldest ufos. Some are many years old, and some are fairly new. Dear Jane border is on the list and will be the one that I work on first.
The border consists of fifty-two pieced or appliqued triangles and almost as many one colored triangles. Paper piecing seems to be the easiest way to make the triangles. It’s a good thing that I like to paper piece. The first three on the top row are pieced. I am not making the newest block of the month so making Dear Janes will take it’s place.
I did finish piecing the postage stamp quilt. I no longer cut out the small pieces to make a quilt. I’ll use bigger pieces for beginner and enders. The small scraps all go into a flannel pillowcase for dog beds.
Another top finished is the blue basket block of the week. My baskets are not all blue. The border was supposed to be appliqued vine with flowers and leaves. After working two evenings appliqueing a vine, I decided to scrap that idea and use a plain border.
Miss Molly likes this quilt.
I don’t like the quilt top that I pieced at the retreat. The colors are wonderful, but the pattern didn’t take advantage of the colors. The pattern is in the round file. The quilt will be cut in half, a new border on the fourth side and it will be two community quilts.
Spring is here. The early flowers are beautiful and are a reminder of what is to come.
Memories pop up on Facebook from time to time. My neighbor showed me two photos that popped up on hers. She has given me permission to share them with you. Years ago, her daughter came to my house to learn to quilt. She was then and still is my favorite student. While it took me weeks to learn the buttons on my Janome 11,000. Abigail learned the buttons and remembered how to use them when told only once. She was amazing. She even learned how to use the embroidery unit.
There was only one problem. She sewed FAST. I moved the slow down button and she would move it back up again when she thought that I wasn’t looking. Her color sense was awesome. What a joy to teach her. She later made costumes for school and can do so many crafts that her Mom has taught her.
Time has flown by fast. Abigail will celebrate her 18th birthday this month. Where did the time go? I know that she will succeed in whatever she wants to do with her life.
Abigail was 10 when she made this quilt. It is a mile a minute quilt. Miss Molly was her quality control inspector. Mr. Max also inspected her quilt but was not available for the picture.
Miss Molly quilts 