PQ 14.6 Facing Your Fears

Often, I need a day or two to come up with an idea to suit the challenge but this week’s prompt about facing your fears resonated on the second idea. I usually toss around ideas for the first and second day,  then get down to sewing.

My first thought was fusible applique.. this technique really scares me! But my next thought was of another project that has been lurking in my sewing room. I put my late husband’s shirts away with the intention to make quilts for the girls and me and, honestly it’s been hard to think of taking scissors to them. Of course,  it’s another late  night finish so here’s a quick late-night picture of with Milo making an appearance. I think he approves!

More in the morning! So, here’s the better picture…

The wind was gusting just enough to make getting a photo tricky and Milo has apparently bonded with this one! Although,  when asked,  I’ve always said that the cats’ favorite quilt is always the one I’m currently working on. The pattern is Scrappy Mountain Majesty which is a free pattern at Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville website.

The back is yardage that was earmarked for another shirt.

I’m glad I had the PQ challenge to push me along it this.  It was a tough emotional project but I love the end result. It’s been a great season of Project Quilting and I’m grateful for all of Kim and Trisha’s work to put this together!

Happy quilting,

Beth

Dust Off a Book

Bea from BeaQuilter invited a bunch of bloggers to dust off a quilt book and play! Well, dust was a literal thing when I took a deep dive into my bookcase and looked for a book. After I finished sneezing, I landed on the very first quilt book I owned. (Not this copy…I actually had one of the comb bound editions that were among the first ones.) I had recently done a log cabin for the “Novel” challenge and was reminded how much I love log cabins. I made my first quilt using Eleanor Burn’s Log Cabin Quilt in a day in the early 80’s. I wish I could show it to you…it was soooo bad! Suffice it to say that my color sense and sewing skills have come a long way since then! I had been eyeing up a pile of nice browns and tans and wanted to give them a place to live. I added a bit of red for the center and some blues for the other side and I’m loving how it’s coming out. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much done as I wanted. There are 25 blocks in various stages of done-ness and just not enough hours in the week!

In my first log cabins, the style was six colors and a center square. Now, I’m pretty much in love with a scrappy approach. My “novel” log cabin used one fat quarter pack of “Little Women” fabric and I simply sorted the fabrics between light and dark.

The great thing about log cabin is how many variations there are…this is another scrappy version of the quarter log cabin.

Be sure to hop on over to the rest of this talented group and be sure to thank Bea for pulling all this quilty goodness together!

Happy Quilting!

Beth

March 6th

Quilting at the Farm

Lemon Tree Snippets

Creatin in the sticks

Natalie (on Beaquilter)

March 7th

Quilting Gail

Thrift Shop Commando

High Road Quilter

Moosestashquilting

March 8th

Kathleen McMusing

Words & Stitches

Isabella’s Whimsy

DesertSky Quilting

March 9th

LC’s Cottage

Cynthia’s Ark

Ms P Designs USA

March 10th

Beaquilter

Karrin’s Crazy World

Quilting Patchwork Applique

Julie’s Quilts and Costumes

PQ 14.5 – Sew not a Square!

This week’s challenge was to make a quilt with no squares and that didn’t end up to be a square. I had such fun using up a cute fabric bundle with the last challenge that I decided to do it again. A friend who is excellent at scouting thrift stores and garage sales had brought me this little gem and I decide that this was the time to use it.

I wasn’t sure where I was going with this but I got out the accuquilt and cut the entire collection into 1/4-square triangles. My original thought was to do something with flying geese. Then I changed gears and decided to make the triangles into squares – after all, they’re still triangles.

I spent a fair amount of time debating background and layout. I had 50 blocks and no really solid idea…I just kept coming back to a quilt that was a PQ fail…I didn’t end up with time to finish because my daughter had routine surgery that ended up requiring a second emergency surgery and an overnight stay. I really loved it and finished it up later. Recently, I hung it in my cubicle at work.

I decided to recreate this with my triangles but had to do some seriously fancy footwork to stick to using only rectangles to set the triangle units in place. Retangles were allowed but no squares. (I don’t see the triangle units as squares since they’re really just a bunch of triangles getting friendly.)

I just managed to keep to the brief and the quilt is barely rectangular finishing at 54×60. I’d really love to try this one again in a bigger version. I think this could be a really fun bed-sized quilt.

As usual, this is a late night finish so I’ll add a better photo tomorrow.

Happy Quilting!

Beth

Sweet on You

The Sweet on You hop is this week and I was inspired to dig out a UFO that was in desparate need of a rescue! With one thing and another, aka Project Quilting (see my last post for the challenge quilt), I didn’t get the binding on yet but I’m excited to see this little quilt rescued from the “what the heck was I thinking pile.” I made this quilt back before 1996 and then something happened.

I suspect it was a cat vomit incident but some kind of spill caused me to wash the quilt top…in a washing machine. Long story short….the edges frayed horribly and the top needed some serious TLC. I kept sort of moving it to the “later” pile and this hop made me move it up to the top of the pile. Quilt projects are so very patient, aren’t they? My original thought was to take the cone blocks apart and make a super cute birthday cake block I’d seen and surround it with ice cream. But, for whatever reason, my younger self used a seriously small stitch length so I decided to try to rescue the whole thing instead.

The first thing I did was remove the old borders and fix a few little frayed spots. Then, I added new borders (thanks to my oldest for spotting the colorful border in the stash.) A bit of Frankenbatting and a quick seam to size up some leftover backing and, voila! Not bad for a very old UFO. Thank you sew much to Joan at Moosestache Quilting for putting together such a sweet week!

Be sure to check out all the other sweet offerings from the rest of the very talented bloggers!

Monday Feb 20

MooseStashQuilting

Karrin’s Crazy World

Quilted Delights

Selina Quilts

Sew Cute and Quirky

Days Filled With Joy 

Scrapdash

Tuesday Feb 21

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Quilt Schmilt

Ms P Designs USA

The Crafty Grammie

Vroomans Quilts 

Words and Stitches

Wednesday Feb 22

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilting Gail

Just Because Quilts

Bea Quilter

Samelias Mum

Kathy’s Kwilts and More

Lynns Blog

Thursday Feb 23

Just Let Me Quilt

crazy’bout quilts

Quiltery-For the Love of Geese

Pinker n’ Punkin Quilting & Stitching

Inflorescence

Purring Cottage

PQ 14.4 “Novel”

Sometimes the quilting starts just align.   When we were in Vegas (more on that later),  I discovered there was a “Little Women” fabric line from Riley Blake.  I’m actually named after the Beth in Louisa May Alcott’s classic story.   My mom always thought it was terribly unfair that Beth died.  Hence my name which is,  incidentally,  just “Beth”.  My mom didn’t like the other derivatives of Eliabeth.  

Anyway,  how often do you see fabric from the novel that gave you your name?  Of course I got an entire fat quarter bundle!

When the challenge was announced,  my brain went right to that bundle.  I turned to the internet and only found one quilt made with this line…a chunky log cabin.   Then I talked that the Log Cabin Quilt in a Day book was my first quilt book…. what a perfect pairing….one of my earliest novels with my earliest quilt book!

I cut the entire stack into 2.5 inch strips with my trusty accuquilt.

Then,  I started building scrappy blocks.  I mostly used light fabrics on one side and dark on the other. Some fabrics were wobblers so they show up as different values in different blocks.

I quilted this with flowers and loops,  freehand,  on my Qu,nique 21 pro. The flowers were a new one for me and I’m excited about how they came out.

I used a dark blue binding as a nod to Louisa’s service as a nurse in the Civil War. And here it is…bad lighting and all!

It measures 72×72 and I’m so pleased with it…who knows how long that fabric would have been on the shelf without this challenge?

Happy quilting!

Beth

PQ 14.3 – Fifty-four Forty or Fight

The challenge this week for Project Quilting ws the traditional block 54-40 or Fight. There’s a great history of the block on the Persimmon Dreams blog. It’s a block I’ve always liked, especialy the optical illusion of curves created when you use an alternate block. I had a fasle start with this one, I actually starting cutting out a different size block from other fabrics but it wasn’t sparking any joy. My friend found a photo online of a very scrappy version and I decided to scale down to 9 inch finished blocks. Primarly, I did this so I could use both my Accuquilt cutter and my Bonnie Hunter “Scrap User’s System.”

My Tri-Recs Ruler was a huge help to cut the triangle in a square pieces and after a couple of blocks, I adjusted my cutting so that each star is made from a single fabric. It’s not a great photo but I’ll post one tomorrow that shows the colors a little better. Everything in this was was made from bits and pieces around the sewing room. The light fabrics range from pink to peach to purple, white and yellow and the medium/dark contrast includes some fun bits including dragons and pigs. The border was the leftover 108″ wide back from trimming the pink quilt from the last challenge. Even the thread was a leftover 1/2-spool from another quilting project. I quilted it up with my favorite free motion swirls on my Qu’nique 21 Pro.

Now, I’m off to bed before the kitties riot. (We’re way past bedtime here!)

Happy Quilting!

Beth

Do you have the blues?

Have you been getting all the gorgeous blues this week? Even though pink is my favorite color, blue is like that reliable best friend that you know will always show up and be awesome. Blue is versatile and has that ability to range from sweet and soft to dark and moody. And, blue paired with tans is one of my favorite combos. In fact, I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate that palette into my house! Unfortunately, I also love color so while the thought of a coordinated theme is attractive, I’m not ready to give up my cranberry living room.

I had pulled a favorite UFO out determined to finish it for this event but life intervened. But, I did move this project along towards a finish. Just an inner border and a pieced border are left to go. This is Bonnie Hunter’s Jamestown Landing which can be found in her String Fling book. I used all kinds of blues in this one and a wide variety of lights.

I took a little stroll down memory lane and pulled photos of some of my other quilts featuring blues.

I love how many blue moods there are!

A huge thank you to Carla at Creatin’ in the Sticks for putting this together. I’ve been tapping (or swiping) this out on my phone because this is happening at my house…

A double snuggle!

So, if you haven’t checked this out yet, be sure to check out all the beautiful blues!

Happy quilting!

Beth

Monday, January 23rd

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Desertsky Quilting

Selina Quilts

Just Because Quilts

Scrapdash

The Joyful Quilter

Tuesday, January 24th

MooseStashQuilting

Kathleen McMusing

Den syende himmel

Karrin’s Crazy World

Artes de Paula Louceiro

Days Filled With Joy

Beaquilter

Wednesday, January 25th

Just Let Me Quilt

Inflorescence

crazy’boutquilts

Kathy’s Kwilts and More

Quilted Delights

Quilt Schmilt

VroomansQuilts

Thursday, January 26th

Ms P Designs USA

Lianne Makes Stuff

Quilting Gail

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Words & Stitches

Just Sew Quilter

Project Quilting 14.2 “Pink Tint”

I was SO excited when this week’s challenge was announced. I love, love, LOVE pink! It’s a color that I love in all of it’s many shades. I love eeverythings from soft blush pinks to bright flamingo pinks and into the deep dark shades of fushcia and the purply-pinks that live at the deepest part of the purple/pink spectrum.

I was out of town until Monday so I decided to go with a simple rail fence. This is my go-to quilt to teach as someone’s first quilt. It’s quick and easy and works up great in scraps. So, how’d I crank this one out in a week…it went like this..

Sunday – Challenge announced…I’m out of town so good musing time…I thought a lot to make.

Monday – Fly home, pull a random assortment of pink fabrics from the stash. (Also, grocery shop and get the pink solid for the borders and binding.)

Tuesday – Accuquilt to the rescure…all 64+ strips cut and ready to .sew.

Wednesday – make most of the blocks…seriously, these work up really fast!

Thursday – finish the blocks – internal detabate on how big to make the quilt- my original thought was “larger than lap sized” – did I mention that I lOVE pink?

Friday- Piece the quilt top, add borders (after debating the size for the piano key border nad resign myself to the fact that is going to end up in excess of 80×80″.)

Saturday – Get the quit on the frame and quilt like crazy until it’s time to the quarterly quilters tea then come home and continue quilting (I quilted this with my favorite looping quilt patter.) Resume quilting after tea and, eventially, finish quilting, trim and bind.

Saturday – swear to self that I will not make another 82×82 quilt for a PQ challenge!

Throughout the process, I had excellent kitty supervision.

All kidding aside, I’m really excited about my new pink quilt! Thanks, PQ team for getting my you-know-what in gear! (scroll down to see the finished quilt!)

Happy quilting!

Beth

Project Quilting 14.1 – “1”

It’s BACK! The new season of Project Quilting started on the first so the theme is “1”! (You can read more about the challenge, Project Quilting and see all the awesome entries here.) So, I interpreted the theme with a quilt I’d seen out in the interwebs that is One big bear paw. As an added benefit, I used a layer cake that I “won” on a previous season of Project Quilting. So it’s a 1 won one. (I’m laughing too hard at my own joke here, just FYI.)

Everything for this project was already hanging around the sewing room. I had the silver-grey Kona yardage hanging around and the purple binding was from a leftover piece of backing from another project. Even the batting was a Frankenbatt (leftover batting sewn together with a wide zig-zag stitch.) I did alter the directions slightly as they were intended for working with two layer cakes. I also added a 2.5″ border because, well frankly, I don’t like the odds of keeping my points sharp if I have to have them all the way to the edge of the quilt! The finished quilt measures 60×60 and, I’m proud to report that I’m not up until 2 am to finish it. I didn’t quite meet my goal of having it done early enough to photograph in natural light on Saturday but I was close!

In the process of finishing this, I utilized the random bit of grey, the layer cake, two partial spools of thread (no one will ever notice the slight variations in the thread colors) and two pieces of flannel that had been hanging around. You can find the tutorial I used here. Oh, and the cute furbaby in the photos is my grand-cat, Bart.

In other news, December passed in a blur of a sciatica flare-up, a full week in bed with Covid (my first experience and one I’d like NOT to repeat, thanks so much.) I’ve got some fun things happening in the sewing room and a new blog hop around the corner. Like so many, I was super excited to hear that Tula Pink is releasing a deja vu line for Nightshade this summer. I’ve already reserved my bundle at the Fat Quarter Shop (not affiliated.) I’ve got my new habit calendar from Free Period Press all up and running (also not affiliated…I just really like their stuff!) My goals for this year are focused on simple and manageable. I’m not setting lofty goals to finish all my UFO’s, etc. I’m just working on integrating small improvements into several areas of my life. One is exercise, I’m happy to report that I lost over 25 pounds last year and I’m hoping to do at least that well this year. I’m also working on a steady de-cluttering of my home. I’ll never be anyone’s idea of minimalist but I’d like to lighten the clutter load in my home. Except fabric, I don’t want to declutter my fabric…I just want to use up a LOT of it!

Thanks for stopping by and, as usual, I’ll add a natural light photo tomorrow.

Happy Quilting!

Beth

Cookie Time! (And a Finished Phantom)

One the many joys of the holiday season is cookies!  And friends,  and friends who make cookies.   Except that not having gluten ( among an assortment of nut allergies) can put a damper on the whole cookie thing.    Luckily,  GF has come a long way and the internet is bursting with allergy- friendly recipes.

So for today’s exchange, I decided to try an old (pre GF days) favorite…. chocolate shortbread cookies.   I used this  recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring. It’s a very simple and forgiving recipe….if, for instance,  someone didn’t read the part about softening the butter before adding it….. don’t ask… all’s well that ends in cookies!

We were enjoying a rare (for our part of the Pacific Northwest) snow fall today.   Not enough to stick but enough to make a lovely backdrop for my cookies.   Oh, and before you ask… those are hearts.  Somewhere along the way,  I pitched all my cookie cutters except a few hearts,  my ninja bread men and one gingerbread man. But the holidays are all about love… and people we love… and traditions we love and …ok, it’s a weak argument….but I was using what I had on hand in the grand quilterly tradition. (So says the queen of “let’s just sneak in a smidge more fabric”!) I love how my “just plop it on” approach to the top sugar made them look like they’d been snowed on.

Last time,  I promised to show the back of the Phantom quilt. I used 5 1/2- yard pieces and one longer piece of chandelier fabric. It’s quilted in freehand allover swirls in a color my friend (and long arm guru), Bonnie, calls “baby puke green” although the real name is something like “tarnished gold.” I’m really pleased with it and the sister it is going to is super excited (I’m pretty sure she thought she’d never see it. )

Carol at Just Let Me Quilt has done a sweet job of rounding up the tastiest bloggers for a week of sweet treats. Please be sure to stop and thank her here.

And here’s a list of where you’ll find your next cookie break….bet you can’t want just one!

Happy quilting,

Beth

December 5

Creatin’ in the Sticks
DesertSky Quilting
Karrin’s Crazy World
Days Filled With Joy
Just Because Quilts
That Fabric Feeling
For The Love Of Geese
Words & Stitches
 
December 6

MooseStashQuilting
Just Sew Quilter
Ms P Designs USA
Beaquilter
Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
Stitchin At Home
 
December 7

Inflorescence
Crazy’boutquilts
Patchouli Moon Studio
Texas Quilt Gal
Pinker n’ Punkin Quilting & Stitching
Needled Mom
Quilted Delights
 
December 8

Just Let Me Quilt
Quiltscapes
Songbird Designs
Patchwork Breeze
Quilt Schmilt
Homespun Hannah’s Blog
Happy Cottage Quilter