Sunday, June 25, 2023

HQAL, Slow Sunday Stitching

It has been a busy couple of weeks.  I have been working on a lot of Community Service quilts.  Last month on workday at my house, our bin of quilts/backs was emptied for the first time in 10 years apparently.  The members of our quilt will donate tops, and we will find backings.  Then workday at my house consists of cutting the batting and binding, and bagging them up.  Gail @ Cozy Quilter asked several weeks ago how many members belonged to our guild.  We have 146 members, and usually have about 80-90 attend guild meetings.  

Because of our empty bins,  I decided to make a couple of scrap quilts before the workday at my house next week.  I asked several people for their scrap flannel, particularly children's prints.  I have been making a modification of the potato chip block by Brenda @Conquering Mt. Scrapmore.    Instead of two 2.5 x 4.5 inch rectangles in the center, I am just cutting out a 4.5 inch square, usually fussy-cut.  I've spent quite a few hours cutting up scraps and have a nice assortment now, of boys and girls prints. 


My daughter Katie,  and granddaughter Klara came over two weekends in a row and helped me lay out blocks enough for 4 quilts.  Klara thought it was fun to lay the blocks out.  



These are the two I completed this week.


I went to Joann's this week to get some backing for the Community Service Quilts.  They had some for $3.99 on sale, which is a great price.  I spent $32 and saved $49!  

My SAHRR from this year, a Stay At Home Round Robin hosted by Quilting Gail will also be going into the Community Service Bin this next week.  


Last week for the When Pigs Fly challenge, hosted by Joan @Moosestash Quilting, one of the projects I had gotten out of the closet to work on was a project I started in 1996 from a quilt along with some online quilting friends.   This quilt is called the Blessings Quilt. 


Back that many years ago, I finished 1/4 of the quilt.  


I had hoped for the challenge to have this project finished .  I have spent the past month embroidering the motifs and got this many done.  




I have finished all the motifs except this squirrel, and another large flower motif.  



This will be my project for Slow Sunday Stitching.  Check out what the other hand quilters, and piecers are working on below.  

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie


I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.    Head over there and checking out what those quilters have been working on.

My yard is looking pretty good.  The trumpet vine is attracting hummingbirds like crazy.  I have it trained to grow almost like a tree.  


The dahlias are blooming.


I have some hollyhocks coming up amongst the moss rocks which I didn't plant.  



Thanks for stopping by!
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Wednesday, June 21, 2023

When Pigs Fly Challenge, My Day

 


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The When Pigs Fly Challenge started on Monday,  hosted by the fabulous Joan @Moosestash Quilting.   The challenge this time is to get those projects out of bags, bins and closets.  PIGS-Projects in Grocery Sacks, UFO's-Unfinished Objects, WIPS, Works in Progress.  There have been so many great finishes the last few days.    


Many thanks to Joan for this great challenge, as I have innumerable works in progress, I really don't have Projects in Grocery Sacks, but I have a lot of those scrapbook boxes filled with projects, plus I have a lot of those zippered bags that sheets come in filled with projects up in my sewing room closet.  


Back in May, for the Little Green Apples Challenge, hosted by Carol @ Just Let Me Quilt I got a  UFO out of the closet.  This was started in the late 1990's when I was a fairly new quilter.  I took an Apple Core class at the local quilt store.  I cut out tons and tons of apple cores, assembled 5 rows, and it has been in the closet ever since.  For the Little Green Apples Challenge I assembled the whole quilt top.    I even had the backing in with the rest of the box of apple core pieces.   For this PIGs flying challenge, I quilted it, and bound it, and it is ready to gift to my son-in-law Jeff next week for his birthday.  It was a windy day to take a picture so had to clamp it to the fence.






The second project I finished up was a relatively new one.  Last year I was working on Kathy Schmitz's Gathered Blessings.  We were supposed to complete one section each month.  Mine was stuck at the half-way place, June,  and we were supposed to have finished by December.   I finished the embroidery, and even did a simple hand quilting.  





My next finish is a relatively new project.  Last year I made my brother Bill and sister-in-law Char a lighthouse quilt.  This was their payment for putting a new kitchen floor in for me.   I finished last fall and gifted it to them when they came up for Christmas.  For the past 6-8 months I have had 8 leftover Storm-At Sea blocks, plus fabrics I used for the quilt sitting in a pile in my sewing room.  I intended to make some pillow shams to match the quilt.  I made a point for this challenge of making these pillow shams.  I think their king sized pillows are larger than mine, but here is the quilt on their bed, and the pillow shams.








My fourth intended finish was an over-ambitious thought, considering a lot of it involved hand embroidery and 3/4 of the quilt was unfinished.  Back in 1996, I was in a yahoo group online quilting group, and we had a quilt-along for a quilt named Blessings by Jennifer Lokey and Karen Roosien.   It consisted of four sections, and each section came in a separate book. Each section could be a stand alone quilt, or could be put all together.  I finished the first section.



This is the entire finished quilt from the book.  


This was another project in one of the zippered sheet bags.  I had all the fabrics I intended to use, plus the instructions.  I traced out all of the designs, and these are the ones I finished the embroidery on for this challenge.    I have 2 left to embroider.  I still need to assemble the pieced portions of the quilt.  But it is out of the closet, and I hope to finish this one and give to a long time friend.  



So that was all the PIGS I was able to round up and get finished this time.  I even have a tiny blank space in the top of my sewing room closet.   Thanks again to Joan for the encouragement! 


Be sure to visit the other bloggers.  The entire schedule is below.  

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Sunday, June 18, 2023

When Pigs Fly Challenge Starts Today


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The When Pigs Fly Challenge starts today, hosted by the fabulous Joan @Moosestash Quilting.   The challenge this time is to get those projects out of bags, bins and closets.  PIGS-Projects in Grocery Sacks, UFO's-Unfinished Objects, WIPS, Works in Progress.  

I can't wait to see what everyone has finished up!

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Wednesday, June 14, 2023

ScrapHappy, June

It’s time for showing off our scrap projects! ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, jewelry, dolls, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of scraps is eligible.   Welcome to Hannah for joining us.  

I've worked on several scrap projects this past month.   I finished Winter Blues by Bonnie Hunter.    It is now a flimsy.  The top was entirely made of scraps.  I am waiting on the backing and I will be having someone quilt this for me.  


This month I have also worked on potato chip scrappy blocks. These are the potato chip blocks originated by Brenda @Conquering Mt. Scrapmore.    I am co-chair of community service for my quilt guild.  My co-chair recently gave me a box of flannel scraps leftover from projects we have made for community service.  I cut about 1/3 of what she gave me up.  For my potato chip blocks, I am using a 4.5 inch center fussy cut square instead of two 2.5 x 4.5 inch rectangles.   I am currently making community service tops for the guild.  These will be two smaller quilts for children.  I need about 4 more blocks for a girl, and 8 more for a boy.  


Saturday my daughter and granddaughter came over and helped me set up more blocks for me to sew.



Another project I did this month was make another garden bed out of leftover paving bricks I had in the side yard.  



If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn it into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving it to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either e-mail Kate at the address on her Contact Me page, or leave a comment on her Scrap Happy Post. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long-term commitment or even join in every month. Regular contributors receive an email reminder at least three days before the event.

Check out what the other members are making with their scraps this month.

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,  Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy,  Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Gwen, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, Edith Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Debbierose, Nóilin, Viv, Karrin, Amo, Alissa, Lynn, Tierney and Hannah

Thanks for stopping by!

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Sunday, June 11, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

Last week it was another busy one.  Tuesday I attended youngest granddaughter Klara's next-to-last day of school BBQ at her lunch time.   Had a nice hot dog and chip lunch and somehow managed to get mustard all over my leggings!  


Last week I did finish the top of Winter Blues, a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  This will be a wedding gift for a friend's daughter.  I need to get the backing, and I am having someone quilt it for me.  

This week I hosted my quilting mini group on Friday.  Thursday I had some friends I have known probably for 41 years come to lunch.  I recently was able to reconnect with them after a long period of time.  

Because of my company I needed to pick up my quilting things.  I usually sew in my kitchen, and my cutting/ironing station is in the dining room.  So Tuesday I picked up everything, and didn't do anymore sewing until Saturday when I got things out again.  

Early last week my co-chair of the Community Service committee brought me a box of scrap flannel which I had requested.  Our guild does a number of things for children.  We make pillowcases for children in the hospital, we also make a small 18 inch quilt for preschoolers which we hand out with a book and stuffed animal.  Cathy cuts up the kits for these for members of the guild to take home and bring back completed.  She uses a lot of flannel.  She brought me a box of scraps.

I spent 2-1/2 days cutting up scraps, mostly to make potato chip blocks.  You can find out how to make these blocks on Conquering Mt. Scrapmore with Brenda.    The blocks are cut out 2.5 x 4.5 inches.  I also decided to modify the block some, instead of having two of these rectangles in the center, I also cut out 4.5 inch blocks for the center.   They are called potato chip blocks because like a potato chip, you can't just make one.  I probably got 1/3 of the scraps Cathy brought over cut up.  She has some more for me this next week.  




After I was able to get my sewing machine back out, I did start 9 blocks.  I just need to add a strip of 3 rectangles to the sides of these blocks.  These aren't necessarily going to go together.  I think I will make girls and boys versions.  



When I had my friends, and quilters over last week, I made some goodies, but the highlight was these 6 minute caramels you make in the microwave. 


You can find the recipe here.  They are spectacular, and you can't eat just one!

I also worked quite a bit in the garden cleaning out beds before guests arrived.  Still have one more to work on.   My hydrangeas are in all their glory.  I even brought in a few in the house. 



My hollyhocks are getting ready to bloom.  I had to cut them back last year when they had blooms all ready to bloom, but the leaves had some brown spotted disease, I had to cut them back to the ground.  I am keeping an eye out for that this time.  This has a dark almost black--purple flower.


I am still working on 3 projects for the When Pigs Fly Challenge coming up in a few weeks.  Two will be easily accomplished, the third is a maybe.  

This is what I will be working on for Slow Sunday Stitching.  


I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  

I found this on Facebook the other day.  


Thanks for stopping by!


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