Chilhowie Quilted!

Chilhowie is quilted! 

I do think this one needs a label so I'll be setting it aside until the next time I do a batch of labels, and then I'll finish binding it. The backing I ordered turned out to be perfect, so I'm glad I took a chance on it.

I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out.

I quilted this quilt primarily with Christy Dillon's Orange Blossom set, but the original plan done entirely with these blocks felt like too many of the same flowers so I substituted in the alternate blocks with Donna Kleinke's Lady of the Lake 2 Block 1.

As usual, I used Quilters Dream Green batting and MaxiLock thread in the Lauren color. I had intended to use Glide thread, but I just didn't find a color I liked among my supply.

Linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss
Put Your Foot Down
Brag About Your Beauties
Finished (or Not) Friday
Off the Wall Friday
TGIF Friday

Sewing Weekend

I had a friend visit this past weekend for a mini-sewing retreat. It was pretty fun. I had several of my own projects lined up to work on, then I just ditched them and worked on her projects. LOL

First, we had to make a quick run to JoAnn Fabrics so she could buy the backings. Then we quilted up this little lap quilt for her. I used the Nebula pantograph from Christy Dillon. I love how it turned out. Christy Dillon has definitely become my favorite designer so I'll be sure to not miss her 50% off sale on Black Friday.

She also picked up small pieces of fabric that coordinated with this in-progress scrappy quilt. It is so bright and fun; her niece will surely love it. If we had spent a little less time goofing off/sleeping we definitely would have finished it before she left Sunday evening.

Since it just needs another hour or two of work, I had her leave it with me to finish the long arm quilting. That is on my list for this coming week.

I did finish my Paducah quilt in time for it to travel down to California with my husband. I started a blog post on Friday but didn't get it finished before my friend arrived. I'll try to get it posted later this week as well.

I'd also like to work on my pile of quilted-but-not-bound quilts. I'd like to start 2024 with a clean slate.

• Flower Paths
• Cosmic Cabin
• Morris Garden
• Chocolates & Roses

I'm linking up with Tuesday ToDo, Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss.

Another Paducah Flimsy

The flimsy is finally finished!! I am so glad. I'm really hoping I can finish it by Saturday because that is when my husband is taking off for California to visit his mother and he'll be able to drop it off for me. I've made this quilt as a wedding gift for my brother.

I used a lot of William Morris fabrics and quite a few other earthtone fabric scraps. These are my brother's favorite colors. I really didn't like them when I started the project, but they've sort of grown on me. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.

My plan for the week is to make a backing, quilt it, and get it bound by Saturday.

(This is actually the second Paducah Log Cabin quilt that I've made. This is the first one I made last year.)

Linking up with TuesdayToDo, Midweek Makers, and Wednesday Wait Loss.

Paducah Blocks Finished!

I've been hard at work this past week and I've finished making all the blocks for the Paducah Log Cabin! That's 144 for the center portion and then another 52 for the border. I'm so pleased.

For the coming week, I'd like to assemble them into the quilt. My goal is to finish this project within the next 10 days so I need to keep up my pace. I think I can do it.

Linking up with

Tuesday ToDo

Change of Plan

About 3 weeks ago I came down with a pretty severe cold. It probably wasn't covid, but I wasn't tested. The cold wasn't debilitating, bit it left me with no energy or motivation to do anything. I mostly sat around and streamed movies.

I did finish the last of the eleven charity quilts. I am not going to show photos of all of them, but there are a few I'm pleased with. I tried out new pantographs and played with some new techniques to get them cropped right at the edge.

Avril pantograph

Cherokee Rose pantograph. This was a little fussy to get offset correctly, but I really like it so I'll definitely have to do it on one of my own quilts.

West Wind in Autumn pantograph

I don't need to finish the binding on these quilts and they'll be returned to the Quilts Beyond Borders charity.

A couple weeks ago, I spent most of a day cutting out the Snake River log cabin quilt, and then I realized my brother needed a king size quilt. I tried to figure out how to make the Snake River bigger, but I just didn't like any of the ideas I came up with, so ultimately I decided to change the plan.

I wasted so many hours trying to come up with another idea that would use at least some of the fabric I'd already cut out. Finally, I decided to make another Paducah log cabin quilt. The finished size was a couple inches bigger than the Snake River and it would be a LOT easier to add an extra border strip. It should end up about 100"x100", which is big enough.

This is one of Judy Martin's suggested layouts and I liked it when I first decided to make this quilt again, but now I'm not sure I do, I may
change it to the more traditional log cabin layout. 

These blocks only use a few of the same length pieces, but because all the strips are the same 1½-inches wide, I can cut them down to the smaller lengths with not a lot of waste.

Finally over the weekend, I felt like sewing again. This is about a quarter of the total blocks I need for the center section.

My brother's favorite colors are brown and olive/drab-greens; I appreciate the chance to use up some of these old William Morris reproduction prints I bought way too much of more than a decade ago.

My ToDo list for the week is simply to continue making blocks. I need 144 total of the center blocks and 52 border blocks so it will likely take me more than a week to finish this one.

Linking up with Tuesday ToDo, Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss.

Cosmic Cabin Quilted!

I was on a real roll from Sunday afternoon straight through to Monday evening, only pausing for a well-deserved sleep break! I've been absolutely set on completing these two quilts by month's end, and that resolve has turned me into a quilting powerhouse. It's been all about stitches, patterns, and fabric - until these quilts are done, my world revolves around them!

It's 92x92 so a little large for one person to hold it up

Here's a glimpse into my quilting strategy...

I employed Donna Kleinke's Spiral Pantograph (slightly tweaked to make it a block design) on the Comet blocks, while her Simone's Gems Corner block brought the log cabin blocks to life. The border was adorned with her Simone Feathers Border and Corner Set, and oh boy, did it turn out beautiful! It was rather thread-hungry, practically devouring a whole 3000-yard spool, but it was worth every inch.

The backing of the quilt sports the 108" Dream Cotton Solid in a rich Hunter Green from Marshall Dry Goods. The quality-to-price ratio is just stellar, and I'll likely incorporate more of their fabric into future projects.

As for the batting, I opted for Hobbs Heirloom 80-20 Premium Cotton Batting. It was the perfect width, so no piecing necessary! I bought a 15-yard bolt several years ago and I've been slowly using it up. After this quilt, there is just a remnant left, freeing up some much-needed space in my long arm room.

And let's not forget the stitching! I used a budget-friendly MaxiLock serger thread in a delightful Tea Rose shade. It was conveniently on hand, and this year, I've been on a mission to finish projects without splurging on extra supplies.

So there you have it, the cosmic journey of my Cosmic Cabin quilt. I should have just enough time left to finish quilting my Comet's Revival before the end of the month!

Linking up with:
Wednesday Wait Loss
Brag about Your Beauties
Friday Foto Fun
Finished (or Not) Fridays
TGI Finished Friday
Off the Wall
Peacock Party

Log Cabin Finished

I finished this one as a gift for my mother, so it will be shipping off very soon. I decided to call it Myrtlewood, after the name of the street where I grew up.

This was actually a quilt I started in about 2002! Yes, more than 20 years ago. I don't remember why it got set aside, but it just kept moving with me until I decided a couple years ago to focus my efforts on finishing UFOs.

I used Quilter's Dream Green batting and Harmony variegated Violets thread. 

For this quilt, I actually used pantographs without any substantial changes. For the blocks, I used Quiltable's Open Diamond Quarter. (It looks like it comes as part of the Delicate Bay 10-piece set.) And for the border, I used their Sparkle Field E2E. This was my quilting plan.

It stitched out really well and I like how it turned out.

Oh, and it has a neat pieced back. 

I was surprised at how many of these fabrics I still had in my stash after 20 years, but I did have to use some new ones that aren't on the front.

I'm linking up with 

Midweek Makers

Wednesday Wait Loss

Needle & Thread Thursday

Put Your Foot Down

Finished (or Not) Friday

Friday Foto Fun

Lake Cabin Quilted

I've been a little distracted the past couple of weeks and before that, I spent at least two weeks ironing fabric so my productivity has not been that great this year, so far. But my workspace is way cleaner and I don't feel so cramped in my sewing room.

I finally needed a break from ironing fabric and for last week's Friday Night Sew-In, I finished putting on the border and quilting the Lake Cabin scrappy quilt. This pattern was designed by Kim Brackett, from her Scrap Basket Sensations book.

I quilted it with the Crystal Gem pantograph which came with my ProStitcher software and is available from Quilting Daily. The pattern had a lot of backtracking and it didn't match up as perfectly as I would like, but it looked good with this border fabric.

I used four different 80-20 cotton-poly scraps for the batting. I used the trick where you just keep adding pieces, as shown in this video.

And today, I finally got my Finger Lakes Log Cabin quilt on my quilting frame.

Now I just need to get brave enough to start. I published my quilting plan several days ago.

My plan for the week is to work on this quilt until it is finished.

Linking up with Tuesday ToDo.

Tuesday ToDo #64

I got really distracted since my last Tuesday ToDo post, but since I was spending my time cleaning and organizing my quilting supplies I do not regret it. I did not get my blue Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks made this month, but I did finish both my Arlington Square twin size quilts. 

The Arlington Square pattern is is a nickel quilt designed
by Pat Speth from her Nickel Quilts book

When I originally made these blocks during last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge I had intended to make a queen size quilt, but by the time I got to the end of the year I decided I already have too many big quilts and I split the blocks and made two smaller quilts to give away. These were not my best effort but they are done. I'm glad about that.

I did manage to assemble the Lake Cabin lap quilt but it still needs the border. This was a leader-ender project I'd been working on for a couple of months that I finally picked up as my main project when I was procrastinating. This was made primarily from my scrap bins. The outer border will be from yardage.

The name of this pattern is Lake Cabin by Kim Brackett,
from her Scrap Basket Sensations book

For this coming week I would like to:

• Put the border on the Lake Cabin lap quilt
• Label and bind the purple log cabin quilt
• Start working on my Blue and Pink RSC blocks
• Cut out the Aged Elegance bonus crib quilt
• Continue ironing and organizing my fabric

I'm linking up with TuesdayTo, Midweek Makers and Wednesday Wait Loss.