Emptying those bins!

 The nine patch bin that I emptied (that I spoke of last post), had this many blocks in it, when I sewed them today.

 All 1930's fabrics and solids.  I am going to dream about the solution of setting them together in some kind of fun manner.  Pretty colors!!  Not at all as scrappy as I am enjoying lately, but I remember loving these fabrics so much, a decade ago!!!

I would like to offer this little quilt top to any one who would like to finish it to keep, or for charity.  It also is made of 1930's fabrics, except the juvenile print border.  If you would like it, just speak up!!  If there is more than one person, I will hold a drawing tomorrow. 





I hope you have a super day today!!!


Julie

Emptying those bins and making progress!

 I finished binding this quilt...so I am happy!  It is quite large, and I called it when I made it "Starry, starry night." I am so glad it is finished and able to be used now! 

 I think this pattern would be fun in Christmas fabrics.  These are charm squares...well, not really, because a lot of them are repeated, but at the time, they were all the blues I owned!

 I finished hand quilting this wall hanging, and just have the binding to hand stitch.

 The same goes on this heart quilt.  Hand quilted and just waiting for the binding to be attached.

 I am working on this one...still some hand quilting to be finished, and the binding.  So I am in the same place on a lot of these little quilts!

 I have a lot of projects started, (surprise, surprise!!) and this one is from 2006.  At least I think it is, because the fabric selvages say "2006".  I thought to make nine patches, I guess, and had all the strips cut.

This morning, I sewed the strips together and sub cut the nine patch pieces.  So they are ready to sew.

And a nearly empty bin!  Hurrah!!



Now this is all inspired by Sharon, of Grass Roots Quilting.  She is a wonderful quilter, and she posted about her "bag quilt".  You know what I mean...those projects cut out and put in a bag or a bin, for someday!  She unknowingly encouraged me to get out one of those bins and get it emptied...please see her lovely project, from her bag!  So thank you, Sharon!



See her blog HERE.

http://grassrootsquilting.blogspot.com/2017/07/bag-quilts.html




Hope each of you is having a wonderful Monday!!


Julie

"Releasing" fabric back to the stash!

 I finished stitching this primitive quilt, just a wall hanging size.  Hand quilted and hand applique.  The whole things was made from my imagination and some stems already cut to size.  I free hand cut the flowers.  Just a silly fun thing, LOL!!

 Here are the borders, and it is on the roll top desk for a while, so I can see it, as I zoom by doing house stuff.

 This is in my dining room!  My friend Lyn made this for me, and I just love it, and use it all the time. I decided it need to be up in here, as it is just perfect for the July holiday.  Thank you, Lyn!  Like that antique wall paper?  Old, old, old!!

What I meant by releasing fabric is just this:  When I first started quilting, I thought every piece of fabric needed a plan, and was bound and determined to kit everything up and go for it!  Well......years have gone by.  I really thought I would make a certain quilt...but... years have gone by!  I furthermore cut all the fabrics into strips!  What in the world was I thinking?  Anyway, I have salvaged what I could, and released the rest of the fabric back into the stash.  That feels good!!   It means an empty project container, and yahoo!  That is good!!


Back then, I cut all my patriotic fabric up into strips too.  Idiot child!!  I sure wish I had those fat quarters back...OH well...I will come up with a plan, LOL!




Have a great day, everyone!!

The completion of the circle!!

 All of my circles are sewn together, and a small "pull" border attached. I have seen many an antique/vintage quilt that was very pulled out of shape on the borders, especially at the corners,  so I kind of like a small strip of fabric to protect the quilt edges.  Any opinion on this?

 Here is Rosie the poodle, face down and bottoms up, playing on the quilt top.

This is the block, just for Rosie.  This fabric was my mothers, and doesn't it just scream '50's?





Audrey, this was a super fun project, and thank you so much for your love and persistence in encouraging everyone to sew some "Circular Thinking quilts!"   She called her quilt "Quilty 365", and I love all the circle quilts that were made.    Please see her blog here!!



http://quiltyfolk.blogspot.com/



Onward!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!


Julie

Scrappy progress!

 Well, I thought I had all these blocks done, except for one.  I could not find them all!  Now honestly...where could they have gone...seriously!!??  So, I cut out four new blocks...see the bright green paper plates?  This is a good idea, as I can stack them up by the sewing machine and keep all the pieces straight, and then reuse them over and over with other blocks pieces and parts.


And then??  I found the blocks!  So...this quilt will have 24 blocks, instead of 20.  A little longer, just right for a hospital bed.

This quilt is one that I just started cutting out, from little tiny pieces of wool and felt.  My wool and felt are in one little box, so it gets used together.  No pattern...just started cutting out flowers and this is what I came up with.  No plan to make this quilt either...it just happened.  I love having the time for that!   Great fun!!  No rules!   and I love that...




Have a great day, everyone!


Julie

Circular Thnking!

 Alrightly, then!!  Here is my circle quilt, in all it's circular glory.  I still have three more circles to applique, and then I am calling it quits.  I loved making this quilt!!  Of course I still have to sew the blocks together, and then a border too.

I just have to have a heart circle block in there!

And some slightly off center circles, for those kind of days...

 Here are all the blocks stacked up after trimming.  It took about 3 and a half hours to trim them...wow!!!  Holey aching feet, Batman!

Some blocks are pieced circles...and many have favorite fabric scraps from my deep stash.  LOL!  Just musing here...MOST of my stash is just scraps!!  Which is perfect for this kind of project...I love my scraps!!




Hope each of you has a magnificent day!!


Julie

Neutrality, and purple and green!

 Just a wee bit of progress of the neutral string quilt.  I am putting just about anything that is in my neutral strings into this, and will probably use them all up.  These blocks are surprisingly labor intensive! Each string is a different size, and must be squared up and measured...each one!  Wheww!!

I made up my own pattern for the purple and green block for two weeks ago...these are for the Moda Blockheads quilt along.  Because...

The block to be done was this one!  It is really not amenable to purple and green as a colorway...so I made this block in patriotic colors as shown and made up my own pattern for a block to make up for it.  This is hand needle turn applique.  I am loving it!!




I hope each of you has an amazing day!!!

Julie

Some hand work...long overdue!

 I have been procrastinating finishing this Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt for a long time.  It just needed binding!  But it was black binding, and you see, I cannot see on black very well to stitch anymore!!

 But, tada!  It is done! It is some number of years old, but is done, and ready for gifting, or keeping.  Not sure...I am quite fond of it.

 I have been working on the circular reasoning quilt, too.  These are all hand applique.  The premise was to choose a fabric to suit your mood, each day, for a year.  I just went through my color bins and chose fabrics I loved.  But, I found some days, when I felt really good, like I hit the mark with my work or at home...I made a bulls eye, with a circle within a circle.  Other days, I felt fragmented, so I made circles of two colors or more.  It is great fun, and I am moving toward an end of the project.  But, more neutral circles were created, cutting the back out from behind the colored circles, so stay tuned!  I have a feeling that this project may not end any time soon. Thank you, Audrey, for your lovely circle project idea. See Audrey's blog here!

http://quiltyfolk.blogspot.com/

 This is all hand quilted and bound. Super fun, and all those tiny geese are hand quilted in the middle of each one...otherwise, they would not stay flat.  Fussy things!!

 These little decorations were from last year at Christmas...I made a ton, but never finished them.  DONE!!  Whoop!!!

And after all this hand work, I went off to a bitty quilt show.  There was a tiny lady selling fat quarters for a dollar each.  She also gave me the polka dot piece on the right.  Super fun!




Have a great day, each of you!!


Julie

Low volume strings

 I have been organizing, and with that, comes many new ideas!  One of the ideas was to make a low volume quilt, which was on my list for this year. A variable strip size, wonky, 1/4 square log cabin quilt was on my list, too!  So...TADA!!  The two ideas are becoming the above quilt!  Kind of fun, so far, to pull out the next string in the bag and GO WITH IT!!

These little blocks are 3 inches finished, and can be found on Betsy's blog, below, throughout the last several posts.


http://betsysbestquiltsandmore.blogspot.com/


I hope each of you has a wonderful Father's day!  My dad is up in heaven...Happy Father's day, daddy!!


Julie

Lavender hearts

With all this purple floating around from sewing purple and green quilt blocks, I just had to make a small purple heart quilt. 

I did something really good!  I went through all my green and purple fabrics, and eliminated those I will never use, like a piece of green velvet and a chunk of purple corduroy. I have a surprising small stack of each!!  I am making headway in using everything I have up...at least that is what I say, and I am sticking to it!

I tend to remember what I was doing, when I hand stitch quilts, and this one will be forevermore known as the day that the Baseball team in Washington was attacked...I went from hot tears to hot anger about that situation today.  I pray for swift recovery for those attacked and peace and unity for our nation.

Julie

Purple and Green!

 There is a sew along going on...the Moda Blockheads quilt along!  It is 48 different sampler blocks, all 6 inches, finished.  Well, you know me...as I had already done two samplers two years running with six inch blocks, I decided to be different.  These are 9 inch blocks (I love the math part), and very different colors of green and purple, instead of the more traditional reproductions that most quilters are using.   I do not have a green and purple quilt, so now I will have one.


One funny thing about this was...I cut out all the pieces and parts ahead of time, and labeled them. Well, I labeled one batch wrong, and ended up with a bunch of miscellaneous parts.  So...that is why I have at least one block that is not the same as the pattern...I just winged it, and made my own block from those parts!

 This block is not one of the blocks offered in the quilt along, but I made it, instead of the beehive block.  It stands for four friends at work, when we all used to work at the hospital  Everyone is retired but me!

This is a toad stool in our yard...with my foot in comparison for size.  It was a whopper!!



Have a great day, each of you!

Cutting, cutting, cutting!!

 High fiber diet, anyone?  I used the turkey platter to hold my cut out Triangle Gatherings blocks, a quilt along by Lisa Bongean.  I have had the strips cut out since January, but just have not cut out the blocks...until today!  I figured it is not gonna get done, unless I ACTUALLY do it...imagine that!!!

 I admit to being pretty smitten with all the Rainbow Quilts on this website!  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Above are some scraps from my 3.5 inch bin.  Stay tuned!  Something may be swimming toward you soon!  Does these scraps look a little rainbow-like to you??

 All these recipes from Pinterest are being saved, yep, by me...so I decided to make a few!  This cake really was delicious and super easy to make.  I used a sugar free cake mix and sugar free pudding mix too...not sure if it made it that much healthier, but maybe!

Garage sales!!  I went to one in the neighborhood recently, always on the hunt for plaid shirts.  Here is one I found...it is pretty cute though, and I may wear it a bit before cutting it up!!! One lady had VERY expensive clothing...all at $1.00 per item.  Some with the tags still on them!!!





Have a great day, each of you!!


Julie

a little rainbow fun stuff!

 So Scrappy!

  http://superscrappy.blogspot.com/

Please go and look at all the fun projects, in a rainbow of colors!  Yellow is the color for June and someone (Please let me know who?  If it is you, please let me know, and I salute you!  OINK!)  made a delightful piggy pattern!!  So, here is a yellow piggy for June.  Hurrah!!  I am going to use polka dots for these pigs.


Update!  Chantal found the piggy designer!!  Here is the link...thank you dear Chantal!


http://theobjectsofdesign.blogspot.ca/2015/11/piglet-tutorial.html
Sally Trude was the designer!

And a green block for last month.  From the 2.5 inch bin.





Thank you for all your comments on last post, about how you do your bindings.  Wonderful wisdom being shared, and I appreciate you!!




Julie

Binding

 I am working on hand binding this quilt!  I am using single fold red scrappy binding.  A few minutes each night will eventually get all my bindings done.

 Here is the whole quilt...so may I have your opinion on single fold versus double fold binding, and straight binding versus bias binding!??  This is the first large quilt, I think, that I have used single binding on.

Here are three more blocks, heading toward twenty!  Whoop!!!


Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie

A little more progress

 Part of the reason I blog is to chronicle my progress.  So...this may be a snore to you, but here is where I am now!!  12 out of 20 blocks completed.  All the other blocks are cut out and ready to piece.

 A high contrast block from today.  I am loving working with these batiks!! 

I made this last year, but I have it out for the fourth of July, coming up...it would be fun to make a whole quilt from this pattern.



*****************Nurse's notes***********************


We had a patient code... (cardiac arrest)...and was shocked over 30 times.  I got him the next morning, and he did it again!!  So, my first code blue in a little while.  My nerves were jangling all morning after that, watching him, his rhythm...just every little nuance that I could imagine to make sure he STAYED OK!! I sat in his room and watched him, minute by minute!   Miraculously, he was neuro intact after all this and was joking and playing around with the nurses and his family.  I truly think this was a miracle...so this balances out some of those tougher nursing day!!  Hurrah!!


**************************************************




Hope you are having a wonderful quilty day!!


Julie