Tuesday, March 30, 2021

March's Mini

I'm imagining that many us save 
photographs of quilts.
Maybe it's a design we like,
or a color combination that's interesting,
or the quilt just speaks to you.

For my March mini I decided
to take a look at the photos I'd been saving.
I used this quilt
which appears to be from the collection of the 
International Quilt Museum.
(Sometimes it's hard to follow the trail)


 I found the image on Pinterest.

Here's my interpretation.
Rocky Mountain Snow Keeps Fallen
17" x 24"

A couple weekends ago when we had our 
"Big Snow",
I found myself looking for something to do
rather than volunteering to go shovel.
I remembered the quilt photo I had saved,
and began digging in the stash for fabrics. 

I hadn't used many of my stripes and plaids for a while
so it was fun to reconnect with many of my favorites. 

One thing that appealed to me about the original quilt,
besides the use of the color,
was the symmetry of the center.

It has a calming effect and 
a sense of order despite all
 the different fabrics.

Maybe the original quilter had strips
long enough to do the center in that fashion
and then had to piece the remaining rows.


I enjoyed the free use of the fabrics,
just adding pieces as I went. 


I added a little stripe as the binding and
did some hand quilting
down the center of each row.

Some ticking that I had
been saving was perfect for the backing.


It was a fun mini to make for March.

Be sure and check out the other Mini Makers
on Wendy's blog, the Constant Quilter.
It's fascinating and amazing how each participant
creates a unique little quilt each month.


Until Next Time-
Kyle





Friday, March 19, 2021

Snow and Hearts

Springtime can
take on a very snowy appearance
here in Colorado.

Last weekend we braced ourselves for 

A March blizzard.
2 feet of snow outside my door.
Spring time snow can be different than
winter snow,
very wet and very heavy.
It always looks beautiful outside 


a landscape of white,

but hard on the trees.

  Then reality sets in and it's 
 time to start digging out.

Two days to uncover the driveway, even with a 
snow blower, which was not very happy to be working so hard. 

Stepping out the side door, it took me 5 passes with
the shovel to get down to the driveway.
It was that deep and heavy.
The snow was past my knees.


The piles got pretty high, over 5 feet. We ran out of
places to put the snow!
You can see we're a hearty bunch here,
34 degrees and we were shedding our coats.

The sun has been out for the past few days and
it's beginning to melt.  We have desperately needed the moisture
this snow has brought, remembering the fires we had last summer. 

But while the wind was howling and the snow was blowing
I concentrated on finishing up my next set of donation quilts.

When I was trying to decide what to do next,
a friend gave me several pieces of fabric 
large enough for backings.
This time I chose a pattern based on 
 these two pieces.

Hearts, Red


and Pink

I gathered pink and red fabrics




from the stash and used 
Cluck, Cluck, Sew's free pattern
for making heart blocks in multiple sizes,
which you can find Here.


I made the blocks 6 inches finished and staggered the layout.
Super easy and fun to make.


Red Hearts
41" x 53"


Pink Hearts
Both quilts with flange bindings.

Hopefully, it won't be long before I can give these,
plus the other quilt 
I've already made, away.
For now though, I'm going 
to be concentrating on a few of my own lingering projects.

Snow and hearts, 
that's what the week has been like here.
I know underneath all that snow,
the grass is turning green and spring is on its way.

Until Next Time-
Kyle

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Hooked on Bags- February's Monthly Minis

 I have to admit that this
monthly mini took on a slightly different shape
and direction than previous months.


I've been hooked on making
vinyl project bags.
Since I shared my newest obsession 
in an earlier post  (Here, Bag It)
I have been making a few (lots) more.

I am not the originator of the pattern. 
I followed Jen's YouTube video, 
but altered the size to make it just a little bigger.

My friend, Liz, gifted me a few more
vintage towels and I have definelty 
been having fun.



I have been trying to use fabric
from my stash, 
the green is an older Mary Englebreit 
print but worked perfectly with
the colors of the mint plant.
 A trip to the LQS helped
to find just the right fabrics to accent
some of the other embroideries.


I love the little chicks.  
The embroidery is crayon tinted and 
the piece was originally the front of a child size
apron that had been well loved.


Now I want to keep my eyes
open for some more cute vintage embroidered towels
looking for an new job.

But it can also fun to use other
cute fabrics.

Why not use some of my favorite
Dutch fabrics, bright colors,
and big prints.
The possibilities are endless.
I counted and I have 10 more
16" zippers left.
I see more bags in my future.

I'm linking with Wendy and the 
Take a look at what wonderful minis these
fabulous quilters have been 
creating.  I hope I haven't stretch
the definition of mini too much
for February!

Until Next Time-
Kyle