{Post #988} Scrappy Bargello Top Finished

This is a big one!  I think it's about 85" x 94".  Truly large.

I like the way the borders turned out.  I had enough of my two favorite shirts to make 2 sides from one and 2 sides from the other.  The second shirt had a smallish chunk off one corner to lack making the whole side, so I just pieced another chunk onto it, ironed it over, and cut it square.  Since the sleeves and shirt bottoms and other places on the shirt have curved edges, there are lots of strings and odd-shaped pieces to work with.  As they are squared up, there are even MORE strings and odd-shaped pieces.  

Here is a close-up of the border that needed one tiny piece to make it complete.  See the brown thread seam?  For reference, the blue and white striped block in the background is 2" square!  Finally figured out how to use the macro setting on my camera.

We went from having 16 here for nearly a week down to having 3 :)  ~  (think what you will...)

I have an eye doc appointment in 45 minutes.  They are notoriously late and slow, so I will have some time to read or whatever in the waiting period.  When I get back, I have a few chores to do, then I'm going to piece the back for this and start the quilting.  I am going to use navy blue thread and do dwirling a la Pajama Quilter.

~Joan 

{Post #987} Side Benefit of Insomnia

Coming right on the heels of my "mostly dead" post...I woke up at 4 AM and could not get back to sleep.  I stayed in bed with high hopes of going back to sleep, but it didn't happen.  So I got up at 4:30.  Eventually I started finishing the piecing for this quilt...Scrappy Bargello.  I just needed to cut and add 4 pieces to the panel, then slice and resew, then sew all 6 sections together, then put on a yellow inner border.  You'd have done the same thing, right?

The first picture is the center hanging over my quilt frame. You can see about half of it.  The second one is it on my design wall.  I had two yellow shirts that were very similar in color, so I alternated strips of the two shirts.

Now I'm deciding if I should make do for an outer border with a variety of dark shirts or buy (eek!) enough of a dark plaid to have the same fabric for the outside border.  I think I'll probably sew dark pieces end to end and hope it doesn't look too bad.  I am going to use brushed cotton plaid for the back...just big rectangular pieces enough to make a backing, nothing fancy.

~Joan

{Post #986} Mostly Dead

Princess Bride is probably my favorite movie.  At least in the top three.  If you've seen it you will understand this, "I've been mostly dead all day."


My daughter Susie had her high school graduation this past Saturday.  So much fun packed into a few hours.  All week we were shopping and planning and shopping some more and planning some more.  That was just for the party.  All my children came home by Friday night (Elisabeth was a surprise guest!).  My parents, Susie's friend Abby (from CO) and 3 of my sister's children were here.  Whew.  No wonder I've been mostly dead all day.


Got up at some early hour this AM and went back to sleep.  That is rare for me.  Then I went to the sewing room (where I've been very little the past week) and pieced a few blocks while I did laundry (it was after noon, as in after 12:00).  Had laundry from DH and me as well as 3 loads of towels and 2 loads of sheets.


Speaking of laundry detergent, I just made a second batch. The first one lasted us SIX months!!  I love it.


Here is what I've been working on today.  Had just a few blocks finished when I started this AM.  I took pics of straight set as well as on point, then I started sewing them together on point with string-pieced triangles.

I took the pic with my hand to show perspective on size.  The alternate squares are 5-1/2" square.  The ones with the shirt squares sewn around them are 3-1/2" square.  

Here is what it looks like now with the top left two rows sewn together.  

My design wall is 48" wide, and this nearly fills it.  Many more blocks underway.  I need to piece lots more setting triangles.  

Seems to me that I prefer quilts set on point.  How about you?

I saw this online somewhere and liked it, but it was straight set.  I thought it would make a good recycled shirt quilt.

~Joan

{Post #985} Fancy Hairdo ~ Twisted Headband

We had lots of people at our house the past few days.  ALL my children were here at one time.  At one point that wouldn't have seemed so noteworthy, but now that the oldest 4 are gone most of the time, it is a force to be reckoned with.


Emily had the prettiest hairstyle, and I tried it out.  Looks better on her, but hey, that's what nearly 50 does for you.  This is a sloppy rendition...might try it again later now that I've done a test run.


Here I am sitting on the bathroom counter so you can also see the back:

I basically started at my left ear and worked my way all the way across.  I couldn't remember what Emily did with her hair at that point, so I gathered the rest into a ponytail and wound the twist around that.  This would be nice (for me) for a fancy dinner or something.  


~Joan

{Post #984} Bricks in the Barnyard Top Finished

Went ahead and put the plain blue border that matches the triangles on this baby quilt.  The backing is in the washing machine (it's a brushed cotton, and I expect shrinkage).  I hope to get it quilted and the binding sewn to the front so I can hand-sew it at one of the baseball games this week.  Forty inches square on the dot.  This is made from salvaged men's plaid shirts.

i

{Post #983} Barnyard Center Finished

I also laid out a potential border for the Bricks in the Barnyard quilt.  The center of this is all pieced and sewn together.  After the center was finished, I spied my stack of yet-unused rectangles and squares.  I laid them out on two sides of the quilt.  I wanted a thin border, and this might fill the bill.  Maybe a plain blue one would be better?

Without the border, the quilt is 36" square.  If I make that border and add it to all the sides, it will be 40" square.  That is about the size I like to make all my baby quilts.  One WOF fills the back, and it's not too big to lug around with a newborn.  


One nice thing about having all these baby quilts to finish is that I get the pattern "out of my system" and have a nice finish as well, albeit a small one.  Do you have a pattern you just HAVE to make?  I have books full of them!


This is for my daughter's SIL.  I was hoping to finish it by the time my daughter arrives on Friday AM.  Isaac has FOUR baseball games this week.  That seriously cuts into my piecing time.  As it was, I stayed up till after midnight getting this one finished last night.  


I will be feeding 18 people most meals from Friday AM until Monday afternoon, so a lot more time in the kitchen for me.  I have a plan in place, but time will tell if it actually works out.  Lots of shopping, cooking, and cleaning in my next few days.


~Joan

{Post #982} Bricks in the Barnyard

Here are the humble beginnings of my next baby quilt.  I need to make 9 more blocks for a 6 x 6 layout.