I’ve had several appointments this week and my progress is slow but I’ve got all the Split 9 Patch blocks made and they’re ready to assemble. There’s also been some more knitting and I’m working on the crown decreases on hat #2. I’d hoped to get a binding on quilt #4 but I only got as far as choosing a fabric for the binding and cutting it … with any luck it will get sewn on and hand stitched this weekend.
I love how this one is turning out but my plan to use up the leftovers from the Monkey Wrench quilt didn’t work out so well… I kept digging in my scraps and pulling out different fabrics to add in and the leftovers seemed to have multiplied!
I’m done with pink and brown for now so this will all be put away for another day.
Adam and the kids weren’t able to come this weekend as planned so I had some time to sew. The Split 9 Patch blocks are coming along ….
We also decided to meet Chris for dinner … he lives about an hour and 15 minutes from us and we often meet in between for dinner. It’s one of the things I love about living closer.
We all missed seeing Adam, Caleb, and Bree but Adam sent me a photo of Caleb at his new drawing desk. I love that Adam encourages his creative side!!
I finished up the little Autumn Squares doll top today. I’ll probably hand quilt this one in the big stitch style. I love hand quilting but don’t allow much time for it so these doll quilts are the perfect project.
I always get questions about where I donate these and what size I make them. I don’t currently have a place to donate them so they’re piling up a little but they don’t take much space and I’m going to check to see if one of the places I donate small quilts and afghans can use them. I remember Chris telling me that they give stuffed animals to the kids that come through their organization. If not, I might just buy some dolls at Christmas time and donate them each with a quilt to a local organization that works with kids in need.
As far as what size I make them … it really depends on how much leftover fabric I have. In this case it’s 24 x 28. The smallest I usually go is about 20 x 24 and some of them are about 30 inches square.
I also started cutting the pink and brown leftover quilt – it’s always best to use the leftovers right away otherwise they might never become the quilt I intended them for.
I’m cutting a scrappy background for this one and it’s going to take a while! I’ve got a bin full of small odd shaped pieces and some of them are pretty small.
Luckily, it won’t take as long to cut the brown and pink pieces from the leftover fat quarters.
I debated on blocks size for this one … 7.5 inches finished versus 9 inches finished and went with the 9 inch block. I can make 48 blocks and have a quilt that is 54 x 72 without a border which is a good size for donation.
I finished the windmill blocks today and I’ll look at them on and off over the next day or so and move some around but the big question is which border fabric to use.
The one on the right is my favorite but as I was making the blocks I felt the darker one on the left looked better with the blocks … I’m still leaning that way but I’m waffling a little. What do you think?
I had a busy day so didn’t sew but a few hours today, making a start on my Windmills quilt for National Sew a Jelly Roll Day. I’ve got 24 blocks made and some others in progress and will sew a little on it tomorrow night.
So what was I doing the rest of the day? We went to watch one of Rae’s softball games. It was great to get outside and to see my girls!
Mo sat and chatted with me.
And Rae posed for a photo with us in between the game we watched … which her team won … and the next game they had. We only stayed for the one game which left a little time for sewing before dinner.
The blocks are done and ready to be assembled … with any luck over the next few days I’ll get the top done. It’s simple but I’m happy with how this one is turning out!
After finishing the blocks, I started hand stitching the binding on the Rainbow HeartStrings quilt. I’m being careful not to sit and stitch more than 30 minutes at a time without getting up and doing another activity … I’ve done 2 “ 30 minute sessions” so far and am a little more than halfway done so this will probably be finished tonight or tomorrow.
I won’t get any quilting done this week – it was kind of silly to think I’d be up to that yet but I’m very happy to be sewing and happy for the progress I have made.
I’m up to 24 Monkey Wrench blocks made … and with any luck should finish the rest tomorrow. Only half of the finished blocks are on the design wall because I’m making two blocks from each fat quarter and the others will be placed in the bottom half of the quilt.
This one is taking 18 fat quarters plus the background fabric and there will be a leftover quilt which I’ll piece when I’m done with the one above.
Assuming the plan doesn’t change …. the leftovers will become a split 9 patch quilt. I can’t believe I drafted this in 2018 and haven’t made one yet but like the rest of you, the list of quilts I want to make is a long, long list and I don’t seem to get around to all of them as quickly as I’d like.
The Maine sew-in started today and since I can’t be there in person, my goal is to sew along with them each day. My stamina is low and I’m shaky both physically and mentally but I did get downstairs today for a couple hours.
First, I pulled the fat quarters I’m going to use for this quilt. I had every intention of using a scrappy background for this one and had Keith pull several bins with neutral scraps and fat quarters last night for me.
I decided however that I needed to make this easier for me (brain fog!) and there was a background piece in the bin with the fat quarters so I’m going with that one.
I worked out my cutting and pressing plan and got started.
I’ll make 2 blocks from each fat quarter and need a total of 35 blocks that finish at 10 inches for this quilt.
I got distracted again today – intending to ignore the binding that’s waiting to be done and start a pink and brown quilt … but first, I wanted to piece a flannel back for the fish quilt. I’ve been meaning to deal with all the leftover flannel for a while. I’ve usedthe leftovers from backings for years for the back of doll quilts and given Mom a bunch for burp cloths too but it still piles up.
This is just one bin of it. There’s another bin that’s a little larger with more and I intended to just piece chunks together for scrappy backings but then Stephanie shared a simple squares quilt a while back and I decided I could use them for kids quilts maybe?!
Keith walked downstairs today and looked at the design wall and said he didn’t care for this one …You won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t particularly care for the leftover quilts I’ve been working on the last couple weeks but I just can’t let these them go to waste and I do think they are fun for kids.
First I just drafted a really quick guide so I’d know how many squares I’d need from the different fabrics for the diagonal rows.
Squares are cut 5.5 inches because that’s a good size for the narrower trimmings from the backings. Some leftover chunks are bigger than others too which is fine because I need more of some squares than others.
Blocks are set 8 across and 10 down for a quilt that will be 40 x 50. I did get started on assembling the top so that might get finished up this weekend if I find some time to work.
As you can imagine, this didn’t even begin to use up the fabric in both bins so there will likely be more of these simple ones … at least I have a plan now for these leftovers.
Earlier in the day I went for a massage and then a hike … follow that with a few hours sewing downstairs and I’d call that a really nice day! Can you believe it was a lovely 73 degrees today – in the middle of August?! And the leaves are already just beginning to change colors. It’s seems early for that but fall will be here soon and that makes me happy. We’re loving having the change of seasons again.
I saw the Dr yesterday and am happy to report that after just 2 days on meds – prednisone and a muscle relaxant – my pain has gone from almost intolerable to just being a nuisance. He feels like I have a herniated disc but that I should have been doing better after 7 weeks so I’m glad he jumped right in with the meds. He also sent me for an X-ray which showed multilevel disc degeneration… probably not completely unexpected for someone over 50 … but worries me that I’ve got more of these episodes in my future. For now I’m just happy to be feeling better.
This was NOT the quilt I intended to start today but I have decided I need to make more of the quilts I’ve drafted … this is one I designed years ago for Mom. Just a novelty fabric with an alternate block. The fish are leftover from another quilt and I had less than a yard so it worked out for this quilt. Then I dug in my leftover jelly roll strip bin for the alternate blocks.
I had two each of the blue and red strips so I’m using those in the corners and the other multicolored leftovers in the center 4 patches.
Since standing/walking is the most pain free position with the sciatica it’s easy to keep up with my daily walk/hike. I’m also doing stretches/yoga each day.
