May Mini Quilt with Wendy

Can't believe it's been since January that I've finished a mini quilt!  Don't know what I've been doing!  Well, I do read more than I have for a long time!   And, I go to bed early now.....used to stay up until midnight stitching!  Anyway, I finished this block that @oldpatchart on Instagram offered a pattern for an old block she acquired, about 12" square .....I loved the colors so I made it!  Photo colors aren't as true as I would like..........it was fun to make after searching for browns.......I really need to do the gargantuan job of shelving my fabrics by color instead of by designer as I've always done.  Sounds like a good job for winter when it's cool upstairs!

Have another little quilt that I've been working on (from the cover of an old quilt book).....hope I can finish it for June!  Be sure to check out Wendy's blog for other mini quilts!

Nov-Dec Mini with Wendy

 Took up Janet's challenge to find a package of scraps and use for a mini quilt..........problem was Which to Choose?  Too many to choose from!  Can't believe the boxes of scraps I found when I started digging around!  I found these selvage edges in a couple old check boxes and this is what I came up with!  There are over 130 fabrics (one duplicate......can you find it?).   Aimed for even strips but did not accomplish it!  Found a favorite old fabric from Jo Morton for the border, machine-quilted in the ditch.   Might go back and handquilt my favorite wavy lines in the borders.   Love the backing toile of country cottages which is Beatrix Potter from an English company.  Sorry photo is not very good.....should have waited for daylight tomorrow!

OOOPS!  I missed the duplicate pinks!  The one that stands out to me is a red directional....however, in one place it is cross grain and the other lengthwise grain.

October Mini with Wendy

 Finally!  Finished my replica of an antique doll quilt I've seen kicking around the internet for a while!  Anyway....it was started in June but just couldn't find time to seek the fabrics I wanted to use.  I can sometimes remember What fabric I want to use but can't remember Where it is!  I spent far too much time seeking fabric and I hope I don't get that urge again!  After I had the quilt sandwiched, I found another fabric I liked better for the sashing but did not have the gumption to take it apart!  

This is the 1870 doll quilt I was copying.  No idea whose it is or I would give credit.  The block in the lower right is the one that gave me fits trying to match fabrics!

Now to decide on what to make for November!  First, tho, I need to make a few tablerunners/table toppers for the Church craft fair later this month.  Check out Wendy's blog "theconstantquilter" to see what others have made!

September was a long month with not much quilting accomplished!  I am terribly behind!  Got my two machines home yesterday after being serviced and am ready to make one more last pieced strip for my Quiltmania #132 quilt...I rarely name my quilts but really should think of a name for it!  BUT the highlight of this post is to show you the darling little quilt gifted to me by Janet Olsen (roguequilter) on her visit 26 Aug!  Cannot tell you how honored I am to own one of her quilts...........it's exquisite in every way!!  I will treasure it always!

As you can imagine, Janet, Wendy and I spent a few glorious hours together discussing quilts, fabric, life and whatever else came up!

This is my version of the cover quilt on Quiltmania #132 tho it is much larger now.....can't wait to finish it and start handquilting it..........note that I should finish my Hewson panel medallion first!  Am working on the final Flying Geese border and the quilting goes fast if I just sit down and do it!  

Hewson panel quilt (in progress since around 2013!)  Sometimes got involved in other things.....many other things........I am sure you understand!

Till next time...............Cyndi

Oh, Yes, I Do Have a Mini Finish!

 Thought I did not have any new finished mini but I do, if you can count a tablerunner!  I made a Courthouse Step runner years ago but my daughter wanted it so I let her have it.  Missed it so I made another using random strips from a box that has been accumulating for several years!  Then, I decided it should be handquilted and now it is on my table where it belongs!

For more little quilts each month, check out Wendy's theconstantquilter

Certainly don't need another project but need something for pick-up work while the summer heat is here!  Seeing lots of "Circles" quilt lately inspired me to go through the scraps (real scraps plus the ones I Make!).  Peaceful stitching!

This little tin lunch box that contained the kit for "Hope" quilt several years ago is now the container for the circles as well as some Applecores that is my longest-term project.....started in 1994 from issue #8 of American Patchwork and Quilting!  It is nearly done......find that hand-piecing is relaxing and enjoyable!

Created the draft for this post Sep 8 and then forgot to post it!

Til next time!

July Mini with Wendy

Killing two birds with one stone here.....always trying to do two things at once!  Received a pattern from Pam Buda (Heartspun Quilts) and here is my version of her Teeny Tiny Stars Sew Along!  Two inch stars took me longer to make than larger ones!!  Check out her blog for Sew Along instructions!

For many other beautiful Mini Quilts with Wendy, here's her blog  theconstantquilter.  My little quilt with poison green did not yet get done!  Still looking for the right fabrics!

May Mini with Wendy

 This month's Mini Quilt with Wendy is one that has been in the works for a Long Time, so I just decided to Finish It!  Looking at it now, other fabrics I own come to mind that might have been closer to the original.  Do you Second-Guess your choices as much as I do? I handquilted with the big stitch as it seemed appropriate for this piece.

Here's the original AND I found extra photos in another File!  I enjoy studying the old fabrics.  This was said to be from PA, looks like it might have been done by a child.  Some of the fabrics look pretty early!

This was said to be the back, but it looks too small!

   

Already know what I want to do for next month!  Another reproduction of an antique doll quilt!  Involves poison green.

April Mini with Wendy

This was actually my March Mini that did not make it!  So I am sliding in under the wire for April!  Felt good to get back into handquilting again!  Finished binding last evening!

The basket props are a reminder that in another life I was a basketmaker.....liked mini baskets too!  Now to go see what everyone else has made on Wendy's blog!  Hope to see you next month with another Finish!

February Mini Quilt with Wendy

 

Joining Wendy's Monthly Minis at Constant Quilter blog.

Well, not really That Mini because it is 18" square.  Thought about stopping at four blocks but didn't!  Might revisit that tho!  My quilt is based on a Pinterest photo I found a year or so ago and just loved.    Their 4-patches look to be about 2" but mine are 1"......love using the tiniest bits instead of throwing them away!  Someone else loved this quilt, too, and made her version of it.....Lori D of HumbleQuilts blog     Check it out!  Was not able to create links.....sorry.  

My quilt is machine-quilted hidden in the ditch as I am not a good machine quilter.  I may use the quilting as basting and handquilt........found a sweet little feather wreath that would work in the four squares!

And just this morning I found a quilt pattern I'd like to try for next month!  Love this not working business but will open the shop again in April IF the covid numbers stay down!

January Mini Quilt with Wendy

 When I noticed that Wendy (The Constant Quilter) had added me to her mini quilt list, I thought I had better produce!!  Long story on this one is that as you can see, Jo Morton's pattern is dated 1995 and I believe that is when I made the two stars.  Well, I either lost them or put them away (you know how that is....can't remember much any more!).  Every once in a while they would resurface and I would tell myself to finish the quilt......but didn't!  Well, now it is finished and here it is a day late.....finished the binding at 10pm last night!  

I have lots of tops that need finishing and with my so-called free time due to Covid, I should be sewing!  However, I now find lots of time to read that I haven't had since I was raising kids (when they were in school!)  AND, I have a new favorite saying ........"Maybe I'll do that tomorrow".  Anyway, I am enjoying a slower life than I have had since I opened my shop 30 years ago!  Next time I go out to the shop (after pending snowstorm!), I'll find the first little quilt of Jo's that I made and add it to this post!

If the link to Wendy does not work, you'll find her on my sidebar.  Blogger has changed the way links are made from when I posted regularly and I am not sure I did it right!

Doll Quilt Swap

Recently participated in a Doll Quilt Swap on Instagram.  Requirements were to make a quilt you will find hard to give away, handquilted and size minimums/maximums.  I had already started the center star for my quilt when I learned of the swap and was accepted so I decided this would be my swap quilt.  (My previous idea will wait until the next swap!)   Originally, I was planning to join Pam Buda's Heartspun Quilts  Blog SAL for this antique quilt block replica.....both pictured below.  Check it out for yourself!  Couldn't figure out the new way to create a link but you can easily Google it!

This is my backing....a darling Beatrix Potter toile.

Original block Pam was using for her SAL.  This is a single block in an antique quilt....great idea for a small quilt, don't you think?  I once enlarged a quilt block "Massachusetts" for a small wallhanging.....Look for more blocks to use!

Pam made her quilt in patriotic colors. 

And, last But Not Least, is the swap quilt I received from Jeanne Lex!  This is a perfectly made Pineapple quilt and looks Beautiful on my dining room table.  On days when the shop is open, I take it there to be sure my customers see it!  

Life Goes On......................

No excuse for not writing on blog.......just didn't happen.  

It's hot/humid here today so I needed to find something to do that didn't require much moving around!!  No A/C in upstairs sewing room so will need to work on the laptop downstairs.............hope tomorrow is cooler! 

Life is slower, for sure, these days and I find I am enjoying it immensely!  So much so that I am calling myself "semi-retired".  On Feb 1st, I started my Retirement Sale and then was sidelined for 4 months.  Life has changed for the forseeable future and it's not too hard for me to cope with that as I am a Homebody at heart!  Am sure that there have been many Good Things come out of this situation, especially for quilters and others with hobbies.  In fact, I read somewhere that the Shutdown was what Quilters had been waiting for!  On June 19th I re-opened the shop for Fridays and Saturdays only by appointment only for one or two people at a time......Retirement Sale will continue in this manner until I decide it is over!  Probably won't be for a year, maybe more, now that 4 months have been lost.  Even then I am sure all the fabric won't be depleted!!

My first Shutdown project was, and continues to be, the quilt on the cover of Quiltmania #132.....no idea why the quilt appeals to me so much, other than being Scrappy, Scrappy!  Well, yes, there is another reason.....I found two other quilts on a MA antique dealer website that had that unique red hourglass center and were from Eliot, Maine.  Probable that the QM #132 quilt has a connection even tho no info about the quilt was known......no owner, no location mentioned in the magazine.  Anyway, it's been enjoyable to work on the quilt.......picking up scraps around the sewing room and looking for old favorites that come to mind.  AND, here and there, there are tiny quilt blocks interspersed throughout the borders.  Maybe that was the appeal!  Anyway, I've made a few tiny blocks.

One thing that hasn't changed is my penchant for having Many Projects on the go at any given time!  No willpower to resist starting something new that interests me!  Didn't someone once say that Variety is the Spice of Life?

This is the Quiltmania cover quilt. Original quilt finished size is about 49" x 70", so I will just not add the rows that elongate the top and bottom.  Only about 3" from being a square quilt which is what I prefer if planning to use on my own bed.

                  

         

Close-up showing the odd bits and tiny blocks inserted here and there....the maker made mostly 4-patches and hourglass blocks......

Small crib sized quilt made only with the Hourglass blocks.

This was my beginning

3 borders added

 

 A few more borders added...sorry for the dappled sunshine!

Some 1-1/2" blocks

Tiny Ohio Star block that I made about 20 years ago from antique fabric !

There!  That's it for now....hope to be back again soon to tell you about a quilt swap in which I participated this summer!

Still here!

Though I've been inactive for several months, I am still here!  Still doing what I always do!  Not much changes and that's how I like it (highly resistant to change!) Running the shop, Starting new quilts, Finishing a few!    Working on several (actually Many!) projects at one time so it is a long time between "finishes"!  And, I will admit that I have found Instagram and have made a few postings there which I find quick and easy!  BUT, if you count the time I spend perusing everyone's postings, I've lost the time I thought I had found!

Long Time Gone in Repros...this is the upper left corner.....made my own mini version of the Jacob's Ladder section.  Plan to make a few other changes too.....smaller Bow Tie blocks, postage stamp block instead of Trip Around the World, center chimney Log Cabin blocks instead of "off-center log cabin blocks".......you know how it is, we are inspired by patterns written by others but change them according to our own likes and preferences!

Stack of  eighty 6" log cabin blocks that need one more round of logs!   For an 84" x 84" quilt,  I will need 196 so have started a stack of 116!  Rather enjoy "mindless"  chain - piecing while listening to audiobooks......currently it is "Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate, based on the true story of a notorious woman named Georgia Tann who ran an orphanage in Memphis for about 30 years ending in 1950.  Other books I've recently listened to are "Where the Crawdads Sing", "The Tatooist of Auschwitz", "Cilka's Journey", "Auschwitz Lullaby","The Clockmaker's Daughter" by Kate Morton, "The Great Alone"and "Winter Garden" both by Kristin Hannah......slow start to "Winter Garden" but glad I hung in there for the Real Story in the second half of the book!  

Using 1" strips as "Leaders and Enders" I have made 3-1/2" Railfence blocks.... 607 made and need 177 more for an 84" x 84" quilt.  Pictured above is a quarter section of my planned quilt.  I think I will find it easier to handquilt if I do it in sections and then join together.  This Quarter section is 14 rows by 14 rows, which means 196 blocks and 1176 log strips!  And guess what!  There is a Duplication in two blocks that are close to each other!  Happens every time!  Don't care!!

Made the darling Diamonds quilt all by hand this summer  (well, except for borders/binding!).  Quite enjoyable to sit and piece by hand during quiet times in the shop and then quilting by hand.  Pattern is from Betsy Chutchian's book "Quilts For All Seasons".  The "change" that I made in this quilt is that I made 2" diamonds as I had an Ardco window-template for that size.....Betsy's were 1-1/2".  

Glad to see these horses, bunnies and keys!

Chesapeake by Di Ford

New fabric arrivals this week from Andover Fabrics....."Watts Valley" wonderful shirtings by Australian duo Max and Louise......Conversationals even!  And the always wonderful offerings from Di Ford (another Aussie!) with her "Chesapeake" line!  Her blue is the closest we've seen to Prussian Blue for a long time!  Even better in person!  Next to arrive will be Sarah's Story byBetsy Chutchian.

Will end today's post with a bit about our 19-year-old Maine coon cat, Sally.  She was dropped off here as a very tiny kitten (too small to be away from her mother!) in the fall of 2000.  My husband found her lying on the back of a resting cow.....we then knew she would be resourceful, and even opportunistic!  She's had a great life!  Roamed and did as she pleased for many years!  Still does in the summer months, but now her favorite spot is right beside the woodstove and vocalizes if it runs out of heat!  She disappeared a couple times.....the last time for about 5 days......when she dragged herself home (wish I could know where she had been!), she was thin and scruffy-looking and had a single deep wound in her neck.  My husband (farmer who has nursed many animals over the years for many maladies) pulled her through.  Though I thought she was goner, she is not.....has gained weight, appears healthy and has returned to her mostly ornery and aloof self!