Something New, Something Blue

I'm not the kind of person who
let's obligations or commitments
slide to the last moment.

Remember those big science or
Social Studies project in school?
I would get right on those as soon as
the assignment was given.
 (The other kids hated me for that)

Even now
I still can't put things off
 especially, if I've promised 
something would be done by a certain time.

One of the quilt groups I belong to
has promised to make baby quilts for a church's ministry.
This has allowed the quilt group to meet in the
building for insurance purposes.

So when the calendar page flipped,
I decided to get a baby quilt made.
(I'm not totally deviating from 
the wool applique.)

I friend gave me an
 unwanted charm pack and

I knew it would make a fun
modern baby boy quilt.

The pattern I decided to use is from the 

Missouri Star Quilt Co.

It's called the Tipsy Tumbler Quilt.

You can watch a video here.

I used the cardboard from the back of the

charm pack to create a tumbler shape

and cut out 25 pieces.

The whole idea of Jenny's method is to
start with a tumbler shape, set it on
a 10" square and iron and fold

the square over the raw edges and sew.

The raw edges are

enclosed in a seam.

Then do it again 

with the opposite sides.

Look a tumbler block.

Trim the outer edges to make an 8" square.

Here's the back.  You can see

how those

seams are all enclosed.

I was afraid it would make the seams

feel too thick, but it didn't.

Doesn't it look like I had to cut out a lot 

of different shaped pieces?

I laid out the blocks on

my design floor and 

I use these nifty preprinted

plastic lay out squares

by Quilt Dance.

(I couldn't find them online anywhere, sorry)

So here's the quilt

sewn together.

 You could add a border if you wanted,

but I wanted to keep it under 40" so

the backing would be one piece.

I'm hoping those

seams fade away more once the

batting is laid underneath.

(I think they're showing up more being on a wood floor.)

My neighbors have been gone for awhile,

so I went next door for a photo shoot.

They have Grecian statues

next to their pool.

Doesn't she seem thrilled with the quilt top?

Until Next Time-

Love It or Leave It

This project has been lurking 

since 2004 or 2005.
Nevertheless, it's 10 years old.

It's time to either love it or leave it.

Each year
 I continue moving
this wool applique over
 to the next new year to finish.

Every once in a while,
 the guilties

have surfaced
 and I've stitched a little bit more on it.

But the question is

why haven't I finished it?

 Are there things I can do to

make me keep going or

is this year for a final good bye?

It's a design that was is the Spring/ Summer

Quilt Sampler Magazine, 2004.

The wool applique , I think,  is patterned after

an applique kit

 called Poppy Wreath by

the Progress Company.

(This photo is of the quilt Mary Schafer made in 1953
which is from the book Mary Schafer, 
American Quilt maker by Gwen Marston.)

I really like the pattern, but there's a whole
list of reasons why it's been neglected.

First, the finished size is about 55" x 70".

It's all wool and very bulky to work on as one big piece.

Fun factor = 0

Secondly, I originally didn't want to fuse
 the wool pieces onto a wool background.

I didn't want the top to feel too stiff.
(Remember, products have changed in the last ten years.)

  So it was a challenge

placing the pieces and then keeping them in

their proper places.

Fun factor = 0

We, meaning my other quilting friends
who wanted to make the same quilt,

 

 had to create a giant plastic overlay pattern

in order to place the pieces properly.

The pattern got slightly skewed

so when it came to using it, there

was quite a bit of adjusting that 

needed to happen.

Fun factor = 0

I decided to use wool that I already had.

I liked everything but the gold wool.  It

had a looser weave so it tends to look ravely

 around the edges even though all

the wool had been prepped properly.

I should have gotten a different piece, but I didn't

Fun factor = 0

The pattern suggested buttonholing

around each piece, but I decided,

in my wisdom, to just whip stitch

around each piece.

It would be fast.
 Thinking back, maybe if I had buttonholed

the edges would have been more defined

and less ravely looking and 

maybe I would have gotten it done....faster!

I have way too much done to start over.

Fun factor = 0

I also decided to use DMC wool embroidery thread to do the stitching.

It blends in nicely, but

again doesn't create crisp edges.

Fun Factor = 0

Oh, one more thing,

when I do eventually quilt this,
 probably with black perel cotton using a big stitch,

it will be black on black.

Fun Factor,  a great big = 0

Okay I know, it doesn't sound like I want to go on,

but I'm going to see if I can.

Really, 10 years is way too long to have something lingering.

I have to start with more whip stitches around the pieces, which are all

in place.  I think, I must have glued the final pieces.

 Sounds like I did one thing right!

I'll keep you posted if the fun meter changes.

Until Next Time

Falling Charms

 Despite having the flu

(yes, the real flu)

And putting holiday decorations away,

And visiting with family and friends,

I finished two quilts that

had been waiting to be machine quilted.

Both of these

 

"Little Charmer"

"Falling Charms"

are a Missouri Star pattern,

Falling Charms Quilt.

It's a simple, fun pattern and

finishes fast.

I wanted to use up some more of

the line of fabric I had been storing for

about 18 years.

It's the Sandy Gervais line,

Pieces From My Heart,

that I had used last year for a

ABC sample,  Ewe and Me,

 offered by the Quilt Show.

It's on my list for 2015 to finish.

This one is a baby quilt for

 

 36" x 44"

my new great niece, Sophia.

I wasn't working with a charm pack

so

these squares were cut at 4 1/2"

and the strips cut at 2".

I didn't have anything left to
use in all

 4 borders so

each one is different.  

I love the look.

I quilted straight lines in the strips

 

  and 

diagonal connected flowers in the squares.

 I used a little stripe

 

for the binding.

The mini one

" Little Charmer"
22" x 22"

is for me.

This time the squares were cut 2 1/4"

and the strips 1 1/4".
 I quilted it the same as the other one.

After holding on to "that fabric" for so long

I needed something for me to keep.

And, yes, I still do have fabric left over.

I'm on the look out for something equally as simple

so maybe,
"that fabric" will make one more small quilt.

 Until Next Time-