Under the Needle: January

I felt like I got a good start on my sewing projects in January. I might make more progress if  I concentrate on one project at a time, but I bounced around and worked on whatever caught my attention when I found myself with time to sew.

I pieced a little baseball quilt and will be binding it next week:

I pulled, cut,

sewed, and pieced a top and made the binding for a quilt to donate to a VFW Post:

I had emptied my stash of 2 1/2" squares and strips when I  made my last 2 scrap quilts so I spent some time replenishing that with fabrics from my stash. I know it takes more time to pull fabrics and cut a 2 1/2 strip, but I like to keep my fabrics in bigger pieces because I never know how I'll want to use it. It's what works for the way I like to sew:

I cut matched sets from those strips with the Easy Angle Ruler and sewed a whole mess of little hsts:

I set them to the side to use as leader-enders during the year. I will match them with more low volume prints:

I think I bought most of these low volume prints a few years ago when I worked on one of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts and they have been sitting in their bin ever since. I pulled them out when I began making the HST Chaos quilt and fell in love with them all over again. Suddenly, I want to find more and make everything with them:

I also pulled and cut fabrics for the baby quilt I'm making

pieced it (I don't have a picture of the full top on the computer) and will take it to Jackie on Monday:

And I posted about my finished Color Box Quilt:

I hope I can carry that progress into the coming months!

New Project

The other morning I woke up to this text from our girl:

"Brooke told me yesterday that Nat's gonna be a big sister; she's due in July...
So this is my formal request for a baby quilt."

I'm tickled our girl asked me to make a quilt for these friends and co-workers. They are going to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender. I love that. Life seems to be so micromanaged these days - I think it's nice to have a surprise tucked in there every now and then.

It DOES make choosing fabric for a baby quilt a little more challenging and I spent a lot of time looking online. Then I found this print at Hobby Lobby.

I think this could work and our girl said she loved it. I found a few prints to coordinate:

But I need to settle on a pattern before I move forward. I may make something similar to this quilt I made a few years ago:

Or I may make a triangle quilt for a more modern look, but in that case I need a few more coordinates so I turned to my stash:

Time to play!

Good for the Soul

This dear gal is exactly that:

And we don't get to see each other nearly enough. We live almost 4 hours from each other and it's been entirely too long since we last got together. It is just silly to let 3 years go by without seeing someone whom I cherish so much. Our attempts to meet up have  not worked out, but when she texted me the other day and asked me what I was doing Wednesday, I replied, "Meeting you in Lubbock!!"

2 quilt shops. 1 good visit over plates of amazing green chile chicken pasta. More visiting as we strolled the aisles of Costco. And we topped it all off with a stop at the Cheesecake Factory for a decadent dessert.

Friends like this are rare. We can count on each other and I treasure her fellowship, laughter, stories, tears, honesty, advice, and prayers.

Thanks so much, M. I needed that! And we're not waiting another 3 years to do it again. Yep. Good for the soul.

Color Box Quilt

In 2011 I saw this quilt on this blog: Lollyquiltz

                                           

And I knew I wanted to make one like it. Problem was, I was a new quilter and had yet to collect a fabric stash of colorful scraps. However, that problem was quickly remedied as fabric was purchased, cut, and stitched into quilt after quilt...after quilt. I soon had a bin overflowing with promise.

And then I set myself a goal in 2016 to empty the bin. I made this quilt from it:

                                               

And still had enough left for a second quilt. I finally began making blocks:

And once I got it pieced into a top, I took it to Jackie. She chose a pattern I love called Pretty Paisley:

My quilt holders tried in vain to make it behave:

But the wind simply wouldn't cooperate:

I backed it with the remainder of this green and white print that I also used on a previous quilt and I bound it with a solid navy:

In an attempt to capture a photo of the whole quilt, I tried in indoor shot - I like the stained glass effect. It doesn't show it's true color, but makes me think I ought to make one using cream-based neutrals or shirting fabrics with reproduction scraps:

Dragging the step stool out to the chicken yard was my last option:

At 74 x 86, it's the perfect snuggle size. I finally got a shot:

And my oldest UFO is now ready to be loved.

A Quilt I Didn't Make

Today I'm sharing a quilt I didn't make, but I was honored to have a hand in finishing it. When our girl was working on her Masters, she became friends with a sweet girl and in turn, her entire family took her in. I went down when she had her wisdom teeth removed and they stopped in with a thoughtful care package. They are a family that was quick to open up their arms and home and hearts to our girl and when Steph found out I was a quilter she asked our girl if I would finish a quilt. Her grandmother made the patchwork blocks and her mom added the alternate blocks, bringing it together into a top

                                                 

This quilt is a great example of how using what you have makes a perfect quilt. Even some of the individual squares are patched together and I think it just adds to the charm of this quilt:

It took me a while to settle on a backing, but I love this print that I found:

                                            

And Jackie worked her magic with a fun swirl design:

                                               

I bound it with a black Swiss dot

                                               

It finishes at 64 x 82 and I am just tickled that Steph allowed me to finish her family quilt

She wrote me a beautiful note and our girl shared this picture that makes my heart happy!

2020 Quilt List

I am a list maker. I love to write out lists and check items off as they are completed. Thus, a list of quilts I want to make during the year is a given. It changes - sometimes weekly, but it gives me a starting point. Many of the quilts on this year's list have made appearances on previous lists, but for some reason, they have been pushed back when other projects took priority

1. Baseball Baby Quilt - This little group of fabrics is up first this year.

2. A Hunting Themed Quilt -

3. A Donation Quilt for the VFW Post



4. HST Chaos - I am always drawn to scrap quilts and this one will probably be my leader-ender project for the year.



5. Wildflowers - This was on last year's list



6. Dizzy Daisy - another one that didn't get made last year



7. Modern Greek Cross - and another (looks as if I didn't make much progress on last year's list)



8. Economie Zoologie - another from last year's list



9. Jellystone - And, another...sigh



10. A Scrappy Quilt like this one



11. Follow Your Heart - a kit I bought a few years ago by Sweetwater



And I'd better stop there before it gets out of hand. This list does not include quilt tops already made - Jackie has quite a few and there may or may not be numerous tops hung in the closet. I think I had better get started.

Quilts of 2019

Last year I made 12 quilts. That's a good number for me although I truly believe it's not about the number of quilts, but rather the thoughts and prayers sewn into the seams.

Sewing time is hit or miss for me and I didn't sew a stitch for 4 months last year so I was surprised the year included 12 finishes. If it wasn't for my blog, and you asked, I would probably tell you I didn't accomplish much, but posting about each quilt, helps me keep track of what DOES get done.

Here's a quick review with links to the blog post if you click on the title

1 ~ For Love of a Horse

                         

2 ~ Tail Feathers Quilt for Chris

                        

3 ~ On Ringo Lake

                                                 

4 ~ Pink and Brown  Baby Hourglass Quilt

                                               

5 ~ Rocking Horse Baby Quilt

                                  

6 ~ Cathy's Quilt

                                      

7 & 8 ~ Twin Gingham Baby Quilts

                        

9 ~ Monkey Business Quilt

                                

10 ~ Spring Splash Baby Quilt

                            

11 ~ Scrappy Navy Hourglass Quilt

                                      

12 ~ A Quilt For Our Boy

                           

This is a fun way for me to remember the quilts I made last year