{Post 1,528} Quick I Spy Quilt

I whipped up a quick I Spy quilt for a baby gift this past Friday night. The shower was Saturday AM (yes--very last minute).  I picked up a pack of bright charm squares at Walmart. I keep a stack of 4-1/2" squares of I Spy prints at the ready.  I picked out ones that matched the colors in the charm pack.  I thought it turned out nicely in spite of being thrown together quickly.

I backed it with Minkee and did not put batting in. That makes it nice for snuggling.

{Post 1,527} Selvage Blocks

I started making these selvage and eggplant purple blocks a couple months ago.  I finally finished them all.  Here is my quilt with the top 5 rows sewn together and the rest webbed. After this is pieced, there will be one more row of pieced blocks all around the outside and then a border of the purple. Each block finishes at 5".

{Post 1,526} Test Run For Blogging From IPad

I have been absent for months. I am practically chained to my iPad...my computer and I don't see each other often.  I want to try blogging from the iPad. Does anyone see this post?  Is it acceptable?

I made this Wonky Star quilt for a dear friend who lives in FL with her husband and 7 children.  It is 97" x 80".  I mailed it today. I hope she likes it. Here is the whole thing.  It was made from scraps except for the two borders.

Here is a close-up of the only perfectly cut and pieced block.  It was the first one pieced.  After that, wonky was the name of the game.

Here's a closer look at the border.  I was very adventurous.

{Post 1,525} Quick Catchup

If you're anything like me, you have those quilts that haunt you until you make one.  One of those for me is Scrappy Mountains Majesty from quiltville.com.  Below are my first blocks.

This is Bonnie Hunter's quilt below.  Love it.

And JUST that fast, my finished quilt top is below.  In truth, I started the blocks October 10 and took the picture below on October 25.  That does not seem possible, but those are the dates on my pictures!!

We are having guests from tomorrow until the week after Thanksgiving, holiday preparations, customer quilts to work on, etc. So no hurry in getting this one finished.

Tomorrow I will share another quick finish.

{Post 1,524} Catching Up After a Long Dry Spell

Hello to both of you who are still reading!

It has been so long since I have posted.  To be honest, not a whole lot of sewing or quilting has been happening.

I went through a freshen-up-the-house spell.  I painted the foyer, hall, and one kitchen wall cream.

Here are a few pictures from my foyer.  My husband built the shelf. It has 6 double hooks for coats. I repainted the umbrella box, and the antique table was slenderized by 6" of depth, had a shelf added inside the door area on the left, and was repainted after being fortified.







Last item for this post is a bargello quilt I made for my oldest daughter.  It lives in her kitchen. It is 44" square.

[Post 1,523] One More Post For Tonight

My fellow blogging friend, Julie, has one of these quilts as her blog header picture.  I just winged it and am making one from hers.  No pattern.  One of my daughters has claimed this as her Christmas quilt this year.  I am making a piano-string border.  This is the center completely sewn together.

One of my friends made me two little "shelves" for under my sewing machine and desk area.  They allow my knees to bend at just the right angle and make less strain on my back.

Here is the back of an I Spy quilt for one of my little guys.  I forgot to take a picture of the front, but it was bold 4-patches alternating with novelty prints.

One of my long-time friend's daughter is getting married this Friday.  W-a-y back on April 29 she came over and we pieced this together.  We took turns.  I cut while she sewed (and then I pressed), and then I sewed for a while while she pressed.  In a short time, we had all the blocks sewn, pressed, and laid out.  She took them home to sew together into a center (no borders).

[Post 1,522] More Catching Up

This is one of 4 chairs my FIL gave my daughter for her new house.  The seats were long-gone, and that was one of the challenges.  The other was that the paint on them was really reluctant to let go.

Eventually I had 3 chairs sanded down and stained.  Then I put 2 coats of polyacrylic on.  This step alone took hours.

After a couple experiments, we decided to weave seats (that's me weaving) out of strips of fabric in greens, golds, and browns.  My first one had the largest learning curve, of course.  I was glad to improve on each one.  The 4th chair is at my house now. I painted it black.  It was the one that had the must stubborn paint.

Here is a chair partially stained.

"My" chair, with a pile of fabrics torn and ready to use beside it.

Here is a finished seat.  It is remarkably comfortable to sit on.  The weaving was grueling, and awfully hard on my fingertips.  Back-breaking because of the odd angles I had to be in.  But I did it for love, not money.

Here is one of the quotes painted on the kitchen wall.  From Truett Cathy of Chick-fil-A fame.  

The closing picture is some of the best food on the planet being prepared...strawberry pretzel salad.  Mmm-mmm.

Thus endeth another good week.