Projects, Containers, & Old Quilt Top

I think I told you in a previous post how much I like "containers".....helps keep me "organized"!!  I have spent (wasted) much time looking for something so I try to place projects in their own little space accompanied by the needed tools so I can just pick it up and go to work!  This first one contains some Jane Stickle ("Dear Jane") blocks that I started many years ago and got "stalled"!  Bet that never happens to anyone else....right?  Anyway, at first I was on Brenda's list and making blocks by hand, by machine and by paper-piecing.  Then, at some point I decided I wanted them to be all by hand and I didn't really like the muslin as I feared it might not stand the test of time.  Now I have chosen a Bella solid from Moda for my background and have two rows of blocks printed onto freezer paper for my templates.  Maybe tonight will be the night to start!  Or not!  Too many projects going on so it is hard to choose.  Another activity that slows me down is my constant cutting of 1" and 1-1/2" strips and 1-1/2" squares as I work.....need to keep those boxes full so they will be ready when I am!  

This is the container for the Jane Stickle blocks.....my Mom gave it to me a long time ago and said it had been a cigar box of my Dad's in the 1950's.....don't remember him ever smoking cigars but maybe it was a gift.  Whatever.....it is a sweet little sewing box and I treasure it!  Hopefully, tho, someday the project will outgrow this little box and I will need to find a larger container!

This is my Posey Packet project (have you noted that most of my projects are small blocks?  And involve handwork? More reasons for it taking such a long time until completing a quilt!)  from Froncie Quinn of Hoopla Patterns.  You can visit her site here.   This quilt is inspired by one made by Florence Peto of 3" NinePatch blocks alternating with 3" Applique blocks.  I think I am on #7 of 72!!!  Truly enjoy the applique and the results are so darling!  

The container for this project is a Lunch Box that Moda sold several years ago when they issued a Challenge.  The box contained Moda Neutral Fat Quarters from all their designers at the time.  They did not sell as well as I thought they would so after a while, I confiscated them for my own use!!

Another ongoing project is this Shoofly quilt (again 3" blocks).....I love choosing the fabrics and making these little blocks!  I made a small 12-block quilt from them that I think I showed in an early blog posting.....wanted to experiment with using Sashing or Alternate Blocks.  My inspiration quilt had sashing (it was a bright PA quilt but mine will be more sedate New England colors, well, except for a few brights I could not resist!) and I have decided to use alternate blocks, all different, so it will be a Busy Quilt.....that's okay with me.....I like lotsa color!  AND, it will finish earlier as only half the total number of blocks will be pieced!!  

 I found this little quilt top recently in amongst a box of old fabrics......cannot remember how I came by it!  It contains 4-patches alternating with a pink moire probably around 1850.  I have seen that orange with the brown dots in other 1850's quilts.  It is not especially well-made but I have layered it for handquilting.....will be a challenge as the outside setting triangles have the bias edge where it would be nice to have straight grain!  Lots of waves to tame!    The fabrics are in quite good condition.....why wouldn't they be?  Never used!!

 The purples are still purple since the top did not see much daylight!  They likely would have faded to tan if they had!  Love the poison green too!

 In this photo is my new ironing board cover of ticking.....bought yards and yards of the stuff years ago when we had a nice fabric outlet nearby.....the kind that had all kinds of fabric for clothing, quilting, home dec!  My ironing board is wood and while it measures the standard 15" x 54" of modern ironing boards, the new covers will not fit.  I love wood ironing boards and I guess I must be a Collector of them as I have 4......only two are in use, both with ticking covers.  

 Aren't the fabrics in the 4-patches great?  Goes to show that 19th century fabrics were Not drab, nor all brown!!

Scrap Box Winners!

The two winners of my two scrap boxes are Kaaren and Ronnie!  I've heard from Kaaren already and hope to hear from Ronnie today.  It has been fun reading all the comments and it makes me think that the upcoming year will be the Year of the Scrap Quilt!!!  I'll start making another scrap box!

Overwhelmed!

I am completely overwhelmed by the response to my scraps GiveAway!  Because of this, I will be drawing for a second box of scraps that I have worked to fill the past two days...........not hard.....the ends were sitting in two piles on two ironing boards, waiting to be ironed.  Then, I cut as many 6" strips as I can from each and the rest goes into the scrap box!  

TIME FOR A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!

As scraps collect from the ends of bolts, mistaken cuts, etc, I throw them into a Medium Flat Rate USPS box and it is now Full!!  Can hardly close it and it weighs over 6 lbs!  There are more than 120 different Reproduction prints and a few homespuns.      Most fabrics are less than 6" but are WOF strips.  Great for log cabins and other strip quilt patterns!!  And I have already started on the next box of scraps!  Will let you know when it is ready to give away!

                               Leave me a Comment, or better yet become a Follower!  Winner will be chosen after midnight Monday Dec 3!!!

My feet seem to show up in a lot of my photos!  I stand on a chair on take the photos on the dining room table.  The little Log Cabin Tablemat below is a recent Finish!  Original pattern from Prairie Women's Sewing Circle had 16 blocks, but I decided four was enough for what I needed!

Flying Geese Done and Yet More Triangles

Today was to be a Sew Day but by the time I finished "chores" (boring work that needs to be done!), it was after Noon!  Then, I could not settle down to just one thing,  flitted back and forth from project to project.....and, cutting out some new blocks for a little quilt using Edyta Sitar's "Dancing in the Rain"....you guessed it.....more triangles....which will become Pinwheels. 

Finally, made a decision after spending way too much time trying to choose sashing/border for this little Flying Geese from Jo Morton Club 11.....Geese are 5/8" x 1-1/8.  I stayed with my usual "safe" colors instead of using the new, brighter colors from Jo's New Leesburg line. 

 Here is yet another Triangle Quilt!  From Carol Hopkins' Civil War Legacies patterns, "Stars to Freedom".  When the Friendship Collection for a Cause line came in, I knew I had found the blue I wanted to use for this quilt.  (Border, tho, is from Terry Thompson's "Louisa" line).   Could have used the lovely Friendship Turkey reds too, but didn't want the same prints used twice..........definitely not hard to find Reds......love them!

Closeup of the lower triangle block.  I just let the colors fall where they may!  No planning here!  Well, except for counting to have a nearly equal mix!

Not sure if I have showed this quilt before and too lazy to go looking to see if I have..........really need to make myself an Index.......someday!  This quilt was an exercise to show customers how far a 6" Charm package could go.  Cut each charm into four 3" squares, match up with  tea-dye muslin squares and Make Triangles!  Judie Rothermel's brown/blue (contained 20 fabrics if I recall correctly) Charleston 3 is the fabric line used.....the 4 other Charleston lines were brown/pink. This quilt is 28" x 40".

This photo shows a few antique Tumbler blocks, sewn together in one long row....there are 153 of them dating from the late Nineteenth Century.  This must have been a common way to sew them "back in the day" and then just "unsew" where needed when it was time to make rows of a quilt.  Last week at Quilt Study, a friend showed a box of "stuff"  she recently acquired that contained Triangles sewn together in the same manner......except that there were Lots More single Triangles cut and ready to go............oh why didn't I think to take a photo of hers?

Flying Geese Dilemma and New Fabric!

Am having a dilemma about these paper-pieced Flying Geese....can't decide the setting/border fabrics.  These two look too bright to me tho I really like the fabrics!  Can't use brown as I used that for the first FG quilt (Jo Morton club pattern).  Maybe I should go take a look at blue again.  Black would probably look nice for the contrast but I don't care for black in my little quilts.....oh what to do?  I want to finish and get on with others! Ideas welcome!

 This is a little eye candy of recently-arrived fabrics.  First two photos are the huge line of "Metropolitan Fair" by Barbara Brackman (1840-1870)....love that it comes in 7 colorways.....(green, red/pink,dark brown, grey blue, tan, and blue......sorry, missed the tan and blue!)

 This is "Toasted" by Jo Morton.......luscious backgrounds!

Representing the "Warmth" collection (Collection for a Cause from Moda) is this little wallhanging I made from a pattern handout that is free with any charm square purchase.....simple little quilt.......based on similar theory as "Yellow Brick Road" or "Turning Twenty" in that there is a formula for cutting the 5" charm squares similar to the formulas for cutting fat quarters in YBR and TT.  When I laid out the blocks, intending to mix them up more and/or twist them, I found that I liked the arrangement of all blocks in the same position....so I left them that way!  

These bolts are from the luscious "Dancing in the Rain" by Edyta Sitar.....love her print fabrics!  

 From 3 Sisters by Moda, this is "Double Chocolate".....didn't get enough of it the first time around so more have been printed!!

Finishes and New Fabrics

Sure feels good to have some Finishes once in a while!  Like everyone else, I have way too many WIPs, but it is hard not to start something new.  I often think I can "finish this in no time" but it soon becomes a WIP as I find yet another project that I want to start........... One reason I attribute my "Finishes" to is that I have become rather addicted to audiobooks!  The cd player is in my sewing room so I spend more time than usual here as I am eager to hear more!  Just finished "Atlas Shrugged" (50 discs!) and before that "George Washington" (30 discs), and now I am listening to "Anna Karenina" which is also 30 discs........I like the Unabridged versions....don't want to feel like I am missing anything!

I joined the worldwide craze of making little 3" paper-pieced houses....goal was to make one a day for 365 and this is how far I have gotten!  I really like making these scrappy little houses but they are not FAST....at least not for me!  I may make some hand-piecing templates for pickup work, but what I Really Should do for that is to get back to making Jane Stickle Civil War blocks!  And, little 3" Posey Packet blocks from Froncie Quinn's reproduction of a Florence Peto quilt!  Both projects are neatly packed in their little boxes waiting for me!  I like "containers".......my Jane blocks are in a tortoiseshell plastic box in which my father got cigars in the 1950's......on the top is written  "For My Sewing" with various sewing implements pictured.   The little 3" Florence Peto ninepatches with alternating applique blocks by Froncie are in a little lunchbox sold by Moda a few years ago.  I'll take photos so you will see what I am talking about.......you know how a picture is worth a thousand words!

 This is a little (about 9" x 16")  runner I made to demonstrate to customers that you can create your own projects without patterns.....just make blocks (mine are 3" Shoofly, but make whatever block you like in whatever size you need!), put together with sashing (or not!), add a border (or two!) and bind!  I made this for the shop to show off 3 brown/pink fabrics from the "Addison" line by Nancy Gere for Windham.  The green sashing is by Jo Morton....was at a loss for a fourth fabric so decided to go completely different!  Have always loved brown and green together!  Actually like brown/pink, brown/blue and brown/red too!!!

After about two years of working on this Applecore Tablerunner, it is finished! Completely finished!  I absolutely love it!  There are 7 rows of 21 applecores.....147 total.....all Moda except for two.  Made from Cindy Blackberg's rubber stamp, I hand-pieced the top, hand-quilted inside each little applecore and then hand-basted the bias binding.  Went back and machine stitched the binding on and finished by hand on the back.  

Closeup of the quilting......I didn't mark any quilting lines, preferring to just "eyeball" the 1/4" and it is sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, but I don't care.  I am such a slow quilter that I need to skip any steps I can!

This was just a little fun project I did when I needed coasters for my coffee/tea mug.....tired of using a napkin or paper towel!    I did make a log cabin block a while back to use as a coaster, but could not bear for it to get dirty with use so I handquilted it and it is now a Christmas tree ornament!   As you know from previous posts, I love Cheater fabrics and this one (I think the line was called Acorn from Moda a couple years ago) seemed to be just the right size for small coasters (about 3-1/2").  Because there is no separate binding, they go together quickly!

Well. it seems the photo of the Coasters did not come through!  Could have sworn it was there last evening!  Back later!

Here is the photo promised of the finished little coasters for my coffee mug....quick as a wink to make and most useful too!  

Will leave you with one of my new fabric deliveries, "Warmth", the new Collection for a Cause from Moda!  Took photos of what came in this week but the camera I used wasn't cooperating so will retake those ("Toasted" by Jo Morton, "Dancing in the Rain" by Edyta Sitar, "Double Chocolate" by 3 Sisters, and  "Metropolitan Fair" by Barbara Brackman) tomorrow with a different camera!