Quilting Progress

I’m walking again!

I’m taking it slow and wearing a brace, but the knee is ok for walking again! I’m so happy about being outside again.

Here’s “Big Slice”–made from block 5 in Tara Faughnan’s Block 2 online class–finished. Now I need to find a backing for it. I’ll use that midnight purple for the binding, and it is already cut.

This quilt had to be either 60 by 60 or 80 by 80, so I stopped at the smaller size. I’m intrigued by how circles form around some of the checkerboard squares depending on what colors surround them. I added the light blue and the brighter pink to Tara’s palette as I needed more variety.

I used the same paper templates for ALL of the curved pieces–which is a method Tara Faughnan teaches. You can use regular printer paper and a bit of glue–and you have no trouble with the templates sticking to the fabric–unlike what happens with freezer paper now that the formula has changed for the sticky side.

I’ve put the leftover fabrics back into my stash for the moment. I do love the scrappy forms of this block though…

The Scrap Cabin quilt came off the longarm Wednesday and got trimmed yesterday. I’ll put its binding on today. Recall that this quilt came from an online quiltalong hosted by Rachel Hauser of the Stitched in Color blog. I guess I’ll also call mine “Scrap Cabin.” The quilting texture in this quilt is awesome.

“Improv Sandbox” is totally done now–the binding is finished. I know you’ve seen this quilt many times now, but I do like to post final pictures when I finish a quilt.

These blocks are handmade–and were done over the winter when I ran out of handwork. Then I set the squared-up blocks in an improv arrangement. I just pulled existing scraps and made “funky” squares–many with a log cabin focus, but not all of them. I started with the grey square in the middle, as I had a lot of grey scraps in various sizes and strings.

A lot of the squares have some sort of fabric print focus that is…fun…like the ice cream cone in this square.

I’ve had this lime green fabric for many years in my stash–not used because I could never find the right use for the 2 yards I had. The print features peanuts, and I bought it as it reminded me of a cherished memory from my childhood. I was at my grandparents in Georgia–a small rural town–and my farmer uncle dropped in mid-morning with a bag full of freshly boiled and salted peanuts. The family women were sitting on the “north porch,” a screened porch that was cool in the morning–probably shelling peas or snapping beans for the noon big meal. My aunt, married to my uncle, LOVED boiled peanuts, and we stopped our work and enjoyed the treat he had brought to us. I can get teary-eyed even thinking about this special moment–one of many from my childhood days spent at this family compound of multiple houses.

The 2 yards was not quite wide enough, so I cut it and used this neutral fabric to create the back. I don’t like to see a thin strip of fabric located at the center of a quilt back–as that means two seams right at the center back. I prefer this method, which spreads out those seams more. For whatever that is worth…

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

A Friday Update

It has been a productive week in the quilt studio.

The 4th quilt top in my series of 4 using the Hurty ruler designed by Latifah Saafir is done. AND, the math on the final border MATHED. I’m calling it “Gradations.”

The backing should come in the mail today. But I have to quilt the quilt presently on the longarm, the yet as unnamed “Scrap Cabin” from Rachel Hauser’s recent online sewalong.

Grandmother duties took me over to Bryan and Corinne’s, where I got a picture of the white camellia now blooming in front of their house. I think a white camellia is in my future. Their pink camellia has been blooming for some time now.

One of our new neighbors stopped by with a little gift for me. They bought a house here some months ago and are exploring this region.

This new neighbor’s mother sews quilts, and my neighbor follows my blog. She made the covering for this mug using a Cricket machine. That’s new technology for me. I can’t even…

What a sweet and thoughtful gift!

It is bright and sunny and cold here, after a big storm front went through earlier this week–significant enough so that they closed the schools. But we got some much-needed rain and escaped the possibility of tornadoes. There have been big fires north and west of us as the state is–or was–very dry. BIG fires.

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Design Wall Is Very Busy!

And, the scrappy log cabin quilt done during Rachel Hauser’s Sitched in Color online sewalong–Scrap Cabin–is on the longarm. I haven’t named my version of this quilt yet.

And, the block for the online class Blocks 2–month 6–the final month–from Tara Faughnan dropped March 1st. It’s called “Grid Work.” What a very fun year this class has been.

And, I’m sewing down the binding on the improv quilt I made called “Improv Sandbox.” (The mural background below is the Ravenal Bridge which is famous here in Charleston, SC.)

Here’s the very busy design wall:

The wedding ring quilt (month 5 of the Blocks 2 class) kind of speaks for itself. I’m entranced with it. I have one more row to make it 60 by 60 and have the fabrics for that row organized. I would like for it to be bigger, but… I’ll likely call it a day on this one as 80 by 80 means another row plus 4 more end-of-row blocks.

The quilt on the left is the 4th and last of my series on the half-rectangle triangle ruler made using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler: “Gradations.” The outer border is working well–all the pieces are cut and sewn, and I’m really liking the fabric choice. So far, the math for this border is…mathing. Whew! I’ll sew more of that final border later today. So, this quilt will be off the design wall soon.

Above the wedding ring quilt is the start of a scrappy something–using the smaller Cat’s Cradle ruler’s 4-inch size. The sewing and cutting are proceeding as leader-ender blocks. The big block up there is made using the bigger ruler at the 8-inch choice. Not sure where this one is going…just playing and using up a LOT of scrap pieces in my stash.

Yesterday I went to Home Depot to get a folding lawn chair that isn’t one of the “beach chairs” that are so low to the ground. I want to sit in my driveway or back yard to get some sun. I, came home with plants and wearing a shirt that got dirty while carrying the plants to the cashier as I didn’t get a basket along the way.

Pansies and a red cyclamen.

Spring is almost here. The birds are all singing again. And the grass is trying to green up.

Tonight we will have thunderstorms and, hopefully, some rain.

Folding Stored Quilts On The Bias

I have been storing the quilts I’ve been making for my grandchildren for some years now–each grand (of course they all already have quilts from me) will have a handmade quilt from me when s/he is ready to have actual homes of their own. Plus, choices of other stored quilts and from those around the house. And also I have quilts that will be given eventually to family, friends, and various charities here in the Charleston, South Carolina area.

This new house is the first time that I’ve had space to store these quilts where I can see them. The storage area pictured below does not include the quilts I am using or have hung around the house. But you can see that I have whittled down the available quilts for giving away considerably (only a few now in the shelves on the bottom right below)–which feels really good.

Refolding quilts to prevent folding lines in the quilt from folding along the straight grain is an ongoing chore. But recently, I thought I’d explore more about folding these quilts on the bias–so refolding wouldn’t be needed.

Below is a video on how to fold small, medium, and large quilts. It took me a chunk of an afternoon to refold all of mine, but…DONE. It’s EASY, and it is also possible to refold quilts that are at the bottom of beds by just draping the longer ends over the sides–and the diagonal lines of the quilt are interesting to see when the quilt is folded this way.

From Hailey Stitches on You Tube: how to fold a quilt on the bias – Google Search

“Dancing Hourglass Diamonds” Quilt Is Done

This quilt is the 3rd quilt in my series of 4 using Latifah Saafir’s Hurty Ruler for making half-rectangle triangle blocks. (I’m sorry about the feet of the ladder showing–I can’t get rid of the feet without losing the edges of this larger quilt).

I felt that this busy top needed a border to stop the visual motion that comes with this block. I wasn’t thinking of blue at all when pawing through my stash, but found myself “just wondering” about this blue fabric–leftover from a wideback backing. I had been thinking about red or green. With this blue, however, magic happened instantly.

This pic lets you see the center in a bigger way–and I’m betting your eyes will do what mine do–which is to “see” all the diamonds that form, big ones and little ones dancing all over the place.

To make this hourglass unit, one first makes the half-rectangle triangle unit with the ruler. Next, you cut that unit on the diagonal. Next you pair those two pieces with other pieces to get the four colors of an hourglass block.

In some places, I sewed this hourglass unit to colors that made a more solid diamond, in order to draw the eye around the quilt.

Here’s the backing–a Tilda fabric with which I instantly fell in love. I like the thicker texture of these Tilda fabrics too. The rest of the quilt has been made using my stash, which is partly the goal with this quilt series.

I used the “Lovely” pantograph from Denise Schillinger (sold on Urban Elementz), and I used an ice blue thread. Isn’t the texture wonderful?

This quilt is No. 236, and I am so grateful for this quilty journey.

A Cold Thursday

We are having a period of freezing weather that meant I had to cover my camellias again yesterday and drip water last night. Kalanchoe and the thriving geranium came back inside yesterday. There will be two more nights of this freezing weather here, with tonight being the coldest.

We were getting spoiled with some beautiful sunny and warmer days. The grass was starting to turn green. But, it IS February, and back in Maine, those folks are getting a lot of snow.

Kalanchoe’s floral gifts are still madly ongoing. She’s a crazy lady, for sure. And she brightens up every space she occupies.

Son Bryan covered his camellias with our last freezing spell and was rewarded with these beauties last week.

Camellias have the prettiest foliage too. The leaves are so glossy, green, and sturdy looking. His white one hadn’t opened yet, and I am now coveting a white camellia. That plant is full of buds.

I mounted another block on stretched canvas on Tuesday. It’s 10 by 10. I wanted to play with the Cat’s Cradle ruler. The block size here is 2.5 inches, but this ruler goes up to 4 inches and down to 1.5 inches. Yikes that little one would be…little. I think there is a bigger ruler for this block available now. Hmmm…

I’ve never seen a line of diagonal little squares that I didn’t like, and I wanted to play with that arrangement. Now I’m making 4-inch blocks from scraps–as a scrap buster project–as I have a lot of smaller scraps I can use.

I figured out what to do next with the 4th and final quilt for my half-rectangle triangle series project–made with Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler. I’m excited. This quilt is…bold.

The online sew-along project (Scrap Cabin) from Rachel Hauser’s blog Stitched in Color is done and needs to go on the longarm. Yesterday was Patchwork Gals meeting, and we heard about a new apartment project that will house homeless first responders (fire) and vets. I’ll be donating this quilt to those new occupants. The building will be finished in 2026, and the goal for area quilters is to provide 90 quilts, one for each bed.

This project is ongoing in other cities around the United States. And I’m so glad people are doing something about this homeless situation for our fire and soldier veterans. I sure hope it works to help them get restarted with their lives.

Design Wall Projects and Other Tidbits

First, the taller camellia (a birthday gift from my son and DIL) is BLOOMING! Five or six buds survived a fall drought and the freezing temps we had this winter. (Nationwide, this winter is the coldest on record since 1988.)

This bud was small and partially damaged, and I can’t wait to see some of the bigger buds open up. Isn’t it gorgeous? I think it is gorgeous, and I’m going to add 2 more camellias to my garden this spring by removing two gardenias that are so not thriving. The smaller, lower spreading camellia on the other side of the house turned to blooms in the late fall and only now quit opening up buds. It is a deep pink.

The top of my “Scrap Cabin” quilt is done. Thanks Rachel Hauser (Stitched in Color) for this pattern and for the online sewalong in January. Note: Rachel is going to have another sewalong in March if you want to check out her blog. Her new sewalong is a pretty quilt, and there is a nice learning method involved.

This “Scrap Cabin” quilt has chewed up a LOT of scrap fabrics, which was the point. And next time, I’ll not use the lighter greys in the neutral areas of the center as they dumb down the white areas, which are more flamboyant if kept to the white/light family.

Also, I made dumb mistakes while making that fabulous border. Each individual block unit measured properly, but the some border lengths were too long, and the outer edges were too big for the sewn edge. I knew the center was square. Anyway, I was sewing early evening, wanted to finish this top and didn’t measure the length of each border strip against the center before sewing. NO NO NO. I do know better. When I put the finished top back on the design wall, the borders were rippling in places along the edges and the quilt wouldn’t lie flat as one border in particular had to be eased in too much. Ugh! I was able to fix the problem with another long session of fixing the too-long border and tightening up the edge sewing. So I didn’t have to take off all the borders and start over. I know I got out of that mess lightly. MEASURE A BORDER AGAINST THE QUILT BEFORE SEWING.

Here is a link to Rachel’s finished top below so you can both admire it and see what I mean about these neutrals.

https://open.substack.com/pub/stitchedincolor/p/scrap-cabin?r=a3dgf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

My little hand-sewn improv blocks–which I installed into an improv quilt top with my domestic machine–is on the longarm. It’s not large–a small lap size–so this project will finish fast. And it is…cute. I love improv projects. And as you must know if you read this blog at all, I love hand sewing at night.

Waiting in the wings is Month 5 of Tara Faughnan’s online Blocks2 class. The ironed fabrics and all the templates are just…waiting. And the 4th and last quilt in my half-rectangle triangle series is waiting to be finished. And I’ve been making some blocks from Annabelle Wrigley’s “Prickley Pear” quilt pattern to try the alternative setting. I don’t know where this one is going–and maybe not far at all. Maybe, only to the stretched canvas frames. Maybe the trash can, LOL.

Have a great week everyone!

“Dancing Hourglass Diamonds” is Quilted

And, she is trimmed and her binding has been installed, which happened in last Sunday’s quiet–after a long pause in finishing these steps. Recall that this quilt is the third in my half-rectangle triangle series made with the Hurty ruler designed by Latifah Saafir.

The texture on this quilt is really “lovely,” and is from the pantograph “Lovely.”

I’ve been using a small square ruler to trim. my quilts–this one is 9.5 inches. A smaller ruler gives me a lot of control, so thanks to this suggestion months ago from master quilter Bonnie Hunter on her Quiltville blog.

By early evening I had organized the binding and label–and was JUST going to install the label and ONLY start the binding. I had already set up this sewing area which involves surrounding it with extra flat surfaces (ironing board and a table). But everything went along so smoothly that I kept going. I usually sew from about 3 to 7 pm, and then eat and watch tv. I finished this binding by 7:45. I don’t look gift horses in their mouthes, so when something I’m sewing goes this smoothly, I…can’t stop. And, anyway, I needed some night handwork like sewing down binding on a large quilt. Besides, I ate a very late big meal at almost 2 pm.

And here it is–waiting for me after I eat a light supper while watching tv.

This final step is fun for me as it means a quilt is almost ready to share.

Let There Be Light!

My wonderful neighbors have helped me with the light situation in my house. The original lights were/are so, so, so dim–which meant that my upstairs quilt studio was really suffering from the lack of good light. Both rooms!

But, LOOK! See all the light in this room (no windows here) with this new light? I don’t have to turn on the longarm light bar now unless I am actually quilting with it.

We put the same light in the adjacent room where my sewing machines, cutting tables, and design wall live. When dusk happens, that room goes really dark despite all my added floor lights. I am so happy and grateful to my neighbors.

I’ve ordered more of the lights–these big ones as seen above and some flat ones that will just replace the very dim lights in other places in the house. Son Bryan is also on hand to help with this big replacement project–and all the new lights are now here and ready to go.

Below see my very FIRST Tilda fabric–bought for the Dancing Diamonds (third in my half-rectangle triangle block series) that is draped over the longarm in the picture above. (And which is now being quilted.). ***(I finished the quilting on Sunday late afternoon–post to follow soon.)

I love this fabric!! I love the print, of course, but I love the texture and heaviness of it. I am sick and tired of all the quilting fabrics that are so thin that it is difficult to work with them. At the same time, the quilt fabrics are more and more expensive. Quilters now are having to use starch to even cut straight lines on these thin fabrics. Bad Quilt Industry! Go Tilda! Go Kona solids.

I’ve got the center of the scrappy long cabin project done. Recall, this January sewalong is the work of Rachel Hauser’s Stitched in Color blog. Rachel Hauser is a VERY creative and fun scrappy quilter. I’m working on that awesome border now–the corners are all made.

At first I thought the blocks with really strong colors had to be maybe balanced with softer blocks–but I’ve changed my mind. The strong blocks are what are making this quilt sing. AND, this whole project is eating up a ton of the fabrics in my scrap bins. I’ve even had to cut some strips from fabrics in my stash to get the colors I wanted. ***(Now I’m making blocks for the awesome border.)

Tara Faughnan sent us a picture of the block for month 5 of our ongoing Blocks2 online class–along with the new fabric palette. I am so excited about this next block and can’t wait to start working with it. I have the fabric palette assembled, washed, and ready to go. February 1st came in due time, of course–and I’ve got all the materials organized, printed, videos watched, etc. But I will curtail my anticipation until I wrap up a few other projects.

I continue to love my air fryer–especially for french fries. Here, the fries, baby bok choy and some red peppers and carrots (also cooked in the air fryer), and some leftover meatloaf. The air fryer works with only a tiny bit of added oil.

Have a great week everyone!

I…Have Always Archived Information About My Quilts

I’ve been actively sewing quilts since about 1996. From the beginning I’ve archived information on every quilt I’ve made. And I can’t believe how many times I’ve gone back to check on some detail about a finished quilt.

I use big notebook binders, and inside the binders I use plastic sleeves that will hold my quilt information and that open on the top only. The pictures below are from volume 4.

What do I record? EVERYTHING about a quilt I might need to know down the road. Always, I include pictures, the number of the quilt in the completion lineup, the completion date, the patterns involved (sewing, quilting), the size, the backing fabric, information on the front fabrics if needed, to whom I gave the quilt or why I’ve kept it (quilts saved for grandchildren), thank you cards or pics sent to me by recipients, and so on.

Below, the left page is more information about the quilt on the front side of that sleeve, and the right side is the first info for that particular quilt. On the left you can see there is a thank you note included. You can see each quilt has a page where I take notes as I work on the quilt.

On the left below you can see I included the pattern for the quilt on the front side. On the right side you can see the backing of that particular quilt.

Another set of pages:

The back side of the right page above:

In the book I reserve pages for quilts under construction–so I keep all the numbers in correct order for when I create a quilt’s label.

I hope this post encourages the quilters who read this blog to start archiving your own quilt work and/or other sewing projects. YOUR work is important.