I don’t do anything complicated but I love stitching these little doll quilts by hand. I debated whether to add some more stitching or not but I think I’m going to call this one done with just the simple cross hatching in the gray blocks.
Big Stitch
Assembled
The Map Happy Block top is done. In the past, most of my Happy Blocks quilts have been “I Spy” type quilts with a variety of novelty prints but since I haven’t found the bin with novelty scraps I decided to use just 3 fabrics for these … they are so quick to cut and assemble that I got 3 done this month. Can’t wait to see what Stephanie pulls out of the hat for February.
The Owl and Cat Happy Blocks were 9 inch finished blocks but I went with 10 inch finished blocks on this one. One reason was to give me a larger center block for the maps and the other was that this is more likely a quilt for an older child or adult and it finishes larger at 50 x 70 inches. One nice thing about these blocks is that you can cut your centers and framing strips a variety of different sizes and they all work!
Here’s an example of one of my other scrappier Happy Block quilts.
Here’s a version made using Charm Squares for the centers.
And here’s a twisted version. One of these days I’ll do another one of these.
Whatever version you choose to make, these are fun quilts to make.
Quilted
I spent a few hours this afternoon in the sewing room making the rest of the Happy Blocks for the Map quilt and then loaded one of Mom’s tops on the longarm. I came down tonight after Keith went to bed and got it quilted. This was a kit from her local quilt shop and the pantograph is Leafy Love.
Quilted
At the end of the year I always make a big push to get as many of my tops quilted and bound so I go into the new year with as few UFOs as possible. In January, I try to finish up any tops here that aren’t mine – like this HeartStrings top sent to me by Sue to quilt and donate. It’s the last of the group tops here and now I just have 3 of Mom’s tops to quilt and I’ll feel all caught – not to say I don’t have other tops of mine waiting for quilting but I will have accomplished my goal of “catching up”. Pantograph is Steam.
Snow Day
I wandered downstairs this morning and puttered around a bit putting things away and straightening up from the last couple projects and debated whether to start a new top … but the snow and windows were calling me so I layered a small doll quilt and sat myself down to hand quilt (using crochet cotton and the big stitch method).
Finn is NOT a fan of snow … so it’s a good thing he wasn’t with us during our Minnesota years!
As I stitched, I watched several deer stroll by but only caught one on camera.
This afternoon Keith and I played some Upwords … again, sitting in front of the windows watching the snow come down. I’ve really missed snow since we left Minneapolis 7 and a half years ago. Now that we’re here in North Georgia permanently, I’m hoping we continue to get some now and then.
Beautiful in all seasons
It’s been a while since I’ve been out on my favorite trail – lots of reasons and excuses but today I did two miles along the creek. I love being among the trees even in the winter.
I didn’t get down to the sewing room today but I did knit while watching the Lightning play. After my walk, I spent more time cleaning and reorganizing the upstairs and we moved back up! So happy to have the painting done and to have the house put back together!
Winter in North Georgia
I’d laugh at how everything shuts down in the south with just a little snow but I know that these winding mountain roads are no joke with snow and ice so we’re preparing to hunker down at home this weekend. Keith is at the grocery store right now stocking up.
Assembled
I had a productive day. Not only did I get a good start on cleaning the upstairs and took my walk, I assembled these two tops.
My Strips and Strings Log Cabin
And the Cat Happy Blocks.
I must have gotten a really good sale on this cat fabric because this is the second quilt I’ve made with it and I’ve still got more of it.
Bound
This HeartStrings group top sent to me by Sue to quilt and donate is finished. I’ve got one more group top here to quilt and 3 of Mom’s and I’ll get started on quilting them next week.
The painters finished up late this afternoon and I’m thrilled to have them gone! We won’t move back upstairs for a couple days – we’ve got a lot of cleaning, rehanging pictures, and moving furniture back into place to do and that will give the paint smell time to disappear too.
Jane is back
My Babylock Jane spent several weeks in the shop and Chris brought it back to me on Christmas Eve but I’m just now getting her set back up. She is my favorite machine to piece on and I did a quick set of Happy Blocks today. Now I have two sets of blocks to assemble, these and the Strips and Strings Log Cabin blocks I finished making yesterday.
