{Post #789} Green Candle Mat Piecing Finished

Duh!  After going through great lengths, I realized the corners I had to add to the cream squares in the center were the same size as half of one of the squares plus a 1/4".  At least I figured that out before I sew the red one.  This is 17-3/4" square as is.  I might hand quilt it with green thread.  Time will tell.

I am all sewn out tonight.  Spent some time with son #3, painted my new porch decorations, and solved an interpersonal relationship problem, so it's been a full day.

Just talked to my newly-married daughter and her deliriously happy husband.  His only problem apparently is his face hurts from smiling so much!  :)  Hee hee!!

~Joan

{Post #788} Two Candle Mats

So, I was playing with my 26 extra blocks.  I came up with this layout for a candle mat.  I was thinking of trying to put a cream block in the center to finish out the red triangles to make is a square on point.  Don't know if I'm up to doing the math, but I'm going to give it a try.  Why do I want to keep everything I make??

~Joan

{Post #787} Christmas Runner (top) Finished!

Considering that I've started with pieced BLOCKS, these projects have taken a really long time!  I pieced a table runner for myself.  I hear all the time how DARK my quilts are, and it is true.  It's because I sew with Thimbleberries nearly 100% of the time.  The border on my runner is old, Old, OLD.  From Mistletoe Mountain.

Here is a chronological sequence of pics from the process.  Don't need many words.  The runner finished at about 16" x 47".  Our kitchen table seats 12, so I can use a long runner.

As I finished piecing the runner, I used every last 1-7/8" HST from my Past and Present quilt.  There are still 26 broken dishes blocks for me to use up somehow.  Kind of burned out on sewing right now, so I'll post this and then go stretch my legs.

My broken dishes blocks accumulating on my cutting table:

Rows ready to sew to each other:

Close-up of border fabric:

Piecing finished!

 

{Post #786} Christmas Broken Dishes

Here is my finished top...it measures 24" square.  I will use the same red as the inner border for the binding.  Before I quilt it, I am going to lay out a table runner with a very similar style.

Upward and onward.

~Joan

{Post #785} Broken Dishes Layout

I plan on getting a LOT of sewing done today.  All of my family at home except for one son went to Carowinds and won't be home until after supper tonight!  Yippee for sewing time.

Last night I cut out new sashing strips for this quilt.  I thought light brown would be the best color, but as I looked more closely at the border, I realized this dark gold matched very well.  I am going to experiement with a 1/2" finished red inner border.  Will post pics after I get the inside section actually sewn together.  Likin' it!!

What do you think of the new sashing color?

~Joan

{Post #784} Broken Dishes Layout

Here is my first layout idea for the Broken Dishes blocks.  I put up busy and solid-looking cornerstones.  I am leaning towards the solid ones. 

Here is the quilt layout with my planned border fabric plus using extra blocks as cornerstones.  What do you think?  Should I add a solid-looking red border before the outer busy border?  Use a different border fabric altogether? 

This would be a wall hanging or a table topper.  I'll put a hanging sleeve on it so the new owner has that option.

Give me your input on colors, borders, etc.  I alternated red and green blocks here.  Would all one color block be better?

It's fun to have so many little blocks to play with.  The blocks are 3-1/4", the cornerstones are 1-1/2" square, and the sashings are 1-1/2" x 3-1/4".

~Joan

{Post #783} AM and PM

This AM I did this...

Yes--that's a rotary cutter cut.  Your initial reaction to the picture, plus a drip, drip, and a throb, throb, and, yeah...that was the first thing I did today.  I wasn't even USING the cutter when I got cut.  I was cleaning up my cutting table.  I don't remember what I reached for because my consuming thought for the next 15 minutes was, "WOW, does that HURT!".  The day got better though.

This afternoon I made this...

My Past and Present blocks are finished.  Each block finishes at 6", so this is 48" x 60" so far.  I will add an inner and outer one-fabric border.  Probably will work on it some tomorrow. 

You should SEE the pile of little broken dishes blocks I have accumulated!  I will be making a couple table runners and wall hangings from those.  For now I will take these off the design wall to web.  I'm going to play with a layout for the wall hanging, so there might be yet another post tonight.

Daughter #1's "suitor" is coming over for supper, so I think the rest of my night is pretty much gone.

{Post #782} Crumb Quilt Completely Finished!

Wow, is this a horrid picture!  The crumb quilt is washed and dried and all quilty crinkly.  It measures 72" x 88".  I looked way back at the dimensions of the top.  It lost nearly 6" in width and length from the quilting, washing, and drying.  It started out being 77" x 94".  

Good news--I used a "color catcher" sheet in the washer...not a speck of color bled from the Thimbleberries fabrics! 

Here is the back...one of my friends saw it recently and said, "Oh--surprises on the back!"

~Joan

{Post #781}

My crumb quilt is in the dryer...pictures to come.

{Post #780} Past and Present...Then and Now

This afternoon I was ready to call it quits at this number of blocks.  But then Susanna asked me to sew with her tonight.  While that actually never happened (hey--life gets in the way sometimes), I sewed by myself.  Notice that it's daylight in the following picture.

This picture was taken about 9 PM tonight.  I made one more strip of green and one of red, yielding 6 more blocks.  Then I had to rearrange them a little so all the new ones didn't just fill in the holes of the above picture.

So I can go clean up the kitchen now and go to sleep...all is rounded out on my design wall.  That is just how I roll...don't know why! 

I think I will make one more row of 5 blocks to add on the right.  Actually, it's 20 more blocks, but 5 sounds like less work.  That will yield a nice throw-sized quilt for some lucky recipient for Christmas this year.

~Joan

{Post #779} Binding and Birthday

This girl needs her pancakes!!  Rachel asked me last night if she could take me out for my free breakfast at Denny's this AM.  So we did! 

There was no end to the fun of the AM...we went from Denny's to Leonard Truck Supplies to have a hitch put on our Pilot...Rachel and I both brought hand sewing for the two-hour wait.  Here she is working on a pair of pants for Jacob.

And here are my 49-year-old hands stitching down the binding on my Crumb quilt by hand.

When Susie gets back from a grocery run, she wants to sew with me the rest of the night!  Whoo-hoo!!  Fun times ahead.

~Joan

{#778} Past and Present

Made 3 more sets of these Past and Present blocks today.  I see a mistake in the layout above.  Do you?  I was in a hurry to come up here and order some flowers to send to my mother...you see, tomorrow is my birthday!

Then I took these little broken dishes blocks...

...and tried this layout.  I don't have enough sewn to get the full idea (there are 8 blocks' worth on my sewing table, trimmed and at the ready), but I wondered how they would look radiating out from the center?

Off to meet with oldest daughter's suitor and his parents for dinner tonight.  Should be a grand time.

~Joan

{#777} Creative Rachel

Rachel is one creative girl.  She is always busy knitting, sewing, reading, crocheting, etc.  All those -ing things.  When my husband's stepmother came for Emily's wedding last week, she brought Rachel a box of cast-off clothing for her to use as the basis for some doll clothes.  Rachel made her "twins" the above pink items out of a pair of lounging pants.  The stirrup straps that went under the foot are the straps on baby girl's outfit.  The ribbing was used very creatively, too.  All her sewing is done by hand.

~Joan

{#776} Crumb Quilt Quilted ~ Whoo Hoo

Finished quilting the crumb quilt this AM.  I only had about 12" to go.  Since my frame is in my bedroom, I rolled out of bed and started it before I even changed out of my jammies. 

I started counting the number of pieces in it, but forgot if I had counted one block (fortunately, I was only on the second row of blocks when this happened).  Statistics to come.

Several times when I was rolling the quilted part ahead, the batting felt lumpy (like I had picked up a sock or something).  I flattened it out best I could.  I think it was just the seams from the blocks in the pieced back.  I would hate to think that I had ACTUALLY quilted a sock into my quilt!

Had a strange but fun phone call yesterday.  I had a cell phone call from a number I didn't recognize (didn't even know where the area code was from).  I didn't answer it, thinking it was a wrong number.  The person left a voice mail, so I listened to it.  It was a woman asking if I could enlarge a quilt I made for her.  A plaid rag quilt, black and cream, with red stars.  I knew right away she had the wrong person.  The only plaid quilt I made was about 18 months ago, and I'd never sold a rag quilt as far as I could remember.  So I figured I better call her back and let her know she had the wrong person.  She insisted it was me...wasn't I at the Boise show last year?  Black hair?  Um...NO.  Yet she was sure it was me.  After all, she had Joan Quilt on her phone.  Well, at least that part was right!  As I kept explaining that the person she sought was NOT me (I've never been to Idaho or Iowa or any other place she thought I'd been), I told her about my one and only plaid quilt.  She said, "Oh--I bought that from you on eBay!"  Sure enough, she had bought these two tops.  Ends up she never had them quilted, so she's sending them back for me to quilt.  I have only machine quilted for a handful of people, so this was a nice surprise.  

Have a great day,
~Joan
 

{#775} Crumb Quilt on Frame!

I'm on a quilting roll...I did Diane's Scrap Bag Stars, then the secret quilt, and now I pinned on my Crumb Quilt and am making progress on that. 

~Joan