Getting a Few Things Checked Off the List!

There's another quilt finished up for the year 2025! It's was super hard to get good pictures of it as the winter light is a little erratic these days. 

Revised is a true blue completion!

This quilt was started in August of 2022, instigated by an Adhoc Improv. challenge. 

No other option but to add a red binding...

I took the prompt, an inspiration photo or two, and ended up with this odd, funky tulip quilt. 

Loving the fan quilting on this one

Really didn't know how to do the hand quilting, so ended up doing freewheeling Baptist fans. Something that always makes me smile. Such a good way to deal with applique!

My fave blocks have the smaller tulips

I know that I flipped that picture above so it was right side up but who knows what happened? I'm in a hurry with this post because we have a big weekend and company coming in less than 2 hours....

A matchy matchy backing for once!

Yikes! The next quilt in the hoop is Lillabelle. It's so lovely in person, but looks a little greyed down in the pictures. 

Next up in the hoop!

It was also started in 2022. It's part of my Circle Game series where I take the cut-out circles from behind another quilt and use it to jump start a brand new quilt. Lillabelle is the 2nd in the series and one that my youngest daughter has already claimed!

Starting the quilting progress

And I've also managed to get the top completed for Joy Basket. It's made out of such bright colors that It was harder than you might think for me to gain any traction.

Does it read as an Audrey quilt?

I'm so very pleased with the busy, sparky hsts though. Just love how imprecise they are! Cutting and sewing improv. style is the easiest way to give my quilts the utilitarian, hand made look that makes my heart happy. 

Just scrappy enough!

And... then I went ahead and added on a bright red border. I mean, why not? I've only been wanting to do this for about 10 years. Do you ever do that? Wait and wait and wait on an idea because it's just not quite 'you'. Yet!

Makes me happy the hsts aren't perfect

I've had the fabric for years and years, slowly cutting off little chunks here and there. This quilt seemed absolutely made for it and besides, eventually all the fabric would be used up....

This one is going to be sooo cozy!

I love that this quilt was started with the cast-offs and orphans from other quilts. This quilt is exactly why I always save the bits and pieces that don't work for an original quilt idea. I mean, sure. This quilt slid in front of a lot of other very planned and purposeful quilts, but it totally makes sense now. Gotta go with our gut!

The basket turned out so good!

Probably wouldn't have ended up with something nearly this interesting if I had simply rummaged through the current fabric stack and started from there.  

It's a silly sort of quilt!

On a different note, I will be missing from the blog for about two to three weeks. Going to spend some time with our youngest son and his wife in Oregon and then also, our oldest daughter and her family will be flying out to visit for a week in March as well. Good times! Had to get a pile of hand work prepped and ready to go just in case I end up with a spare moment or two to quilt!

Up above is the results of my improv. log cabin basket I've been pondering doing forever. Still need to stitch it all down and then I went ahead and added the stems for the pussy willow style flowers that will be eventually added onto it. I have a couple border ideas in mind for the sides of the quilt, including more log cabin blocks? It's already an odd shaped quilt so we'll see what happens. Hope to seriously start working on my Bramble Blooms III after next months shenanigans are over and done with too. Lots of stuff to keep me busy for sure!

Starting January With a Couple Finishes!

This may be the brightest quilt I've ever made! Whew! It was a doozy to work on. In fact, I didn't even realize how not relaxing it was to hand quilt, until I was more than halfway through. I kept wondering, why am I always putting off picking up my hoop? 

Cannot believe that this is a quilt made
by me. Unreal. So bright you need sunglasses!

I finally weathered through and wowsers! Does it have the sweetest, just washed and dried texture! I hand quilted around a lot of the flowers in the border print and that seemed like a good touch too. 

Very sweet cuddly vibe to it when crumpled

This quilt was started in October of 2020 after a weekend with family at the Oregon coast. I'm pretty sure the blue background fabrics were directly influenced by all the gorgeous coastal blues we experienced. 

Once again, the hand quilting helps
make the quilt look soooo much better!

Though the quilt top has been done since December of 2021, it definitely took me a lot of time to come around to wanting to dive into the hand quilting. And not just because of the loud colors! The only way I could think to hand quilt the blocks was to do echo stitching around the inside of the applique. Ughh. All those layers of fabric. Otherwise it probably would have had to be some sort of crosshatch pattern and that didn't interest me at all for this quilt. 

A little matchy matchy in the setting
triangles and border, but who cares??

Regardless, it turned out to be a very obnoxious, though deceptively sweet quilt that should make my granddaughter grin when she receives it. In fact, she already knows it's hers 'cuz she's been over here visiting a time or two while it was in the hoop. She's only three but she comes over to me while I'm quilting, and pats it a little possessively.  So cute. I'm pretty sure she likes it just fine!

Orphaned bits and pieces

A new great-niece arrived just after Christmas. Once it settled down around here, I made a plan for a new little, baby girl quilt. Just kidding. You know me. I basically raided the orphaned applique totes, sewed up three quick flower-in-a-basket blocks and then belatedly started wondering about the rest of the quilt. 

Backing made out of pieces from the stash

I ended up scrounging around till I found enough orphans for the center of the quilt too. The leftover patches just happened to be from the older sisters baby quilt, which I thought an interesting connection. 

Love the little applique blocks...

I decided to make four-patches but totally forgot about seam allowance when cutting. That made me grab the old fashioned lavender prints to enable making the 4-patch units large enough for adequately sized repeats. 

Softer looking in a crumple...

Bit by bit I assembled the top, making lots of mistakes along the way. Thankfully nothing that turned out to be a complete disaster, just time-sucking things that made me question my sanity. Remind me again why I make baby quilts for every niece & nephew plus the greats? Yeah I know, 'cuz they are sweet little critters and I love my family. 

The quilt was turned out kinda cozy but a little dull looking. Big surprise. All the deliberate color clashing that I just love to play with made for just way too much tension in the quilt. Thankfully I have tricks to fool everybody into thinking the quilt looks better than it does. Just add applique. It's like magic.*wink

Even the rosy pink binding played a part
in making it look better!

In the end, I deliberately added the green striped fabric in the center applique, which just so happened to be a match to some fabric in the older brothers baby quilt. So interesting that I still had some to play with! That fabric had just enough energy to play well with the rest of the quilt and take care of the 'dulled down' factor. That and the purple tulip cut down and reshaped from a bird motif basically saved the entire quilt. 

Still needs help

You can see it above just before sewing the rows together. I'd already switched the light, white squares from a busy print in an effort to lighten things up. It should have been obvious right then but I'm kinda stubborn sometimes. Especially when I'm in a hurry. Was trying to save on postage by sending the quilt with the grandparents!

Had to sandwich and pin 2 quilts before
moving the furniture back

Also managed to get another quilt in the hoop. This one is a little folksy. A little funky. And a little awkward looking which might actually make it more loveable? 

Next up in the hoop!

Hand quilting is moving along fairly well--all freehand Baptist fan quilting with no marking. I'm having a bit of a stretch problem in this striped fabric behind the large tulip duo though. It's not 100% cotton so that's my own fault. It's a {repurposed} 3x large mechanics shirt I found for cheap at the 2nd hand store years ago. Just could not resist throwing it into a quilt! Ah well. It's going to end up 'good enough' and it's not like this quilt is going to set the world on fire, right? Having fun with my quilting therapy and that's the only goal these days...

Always Playing Catch Up!

So it's been one thing after another here, like always these days. Our washer broke down and two service calls later, we might as well have bought a new washer. Well, 15 years ago. Now it's half what we paid for the thing 2-3 years ago. But seriously. What are they making anymore? A bucket to rinse our clothes in and if we actually use it, then it breaks down and costs hundreds of dollars?

Almost finished up!

Yeah, yeah. We should have bought the extended warranty but honestly, we just couldn't afford it. So now we're crying cuz actually, yes. That would have been cheaper in the long run. Never gamble with the newer appliances. They are not made to last. Anyway, lots of everyday, but heavy drama going on over here and I'm just trying to keep my head above water and keep posting a couple times a month about quilting. So crazy when I used to post three times a week no problem!

Next up in the hoop

It's still my sanity saver even though it has slowed down so very much this year. {The quilting and the sanity. Don't even hardly know who I am anymore!} Anyway.... Flower Power is sitting in a basket waiting for the final hand stitching on the binding. I had a hard time knowing what quilting motif to put in the dark blue border, but finally went with freestyle X's. I really like the look but one side has more X's than the other which makes me laugh. Oh well.

A closer look at the daisies

Next up in the hoop is Crazy Daisy, which came to a quilt top completion in 2021. Think it was started that year too? Who knows. Sometimes I don't link things like is best for future origin questions. The pics of this quilt are not quite 'right' somehow. Just a little more orange than reality. It will probably go to one of my granddaughters. She's three right now, but next up in line for a 'grown up quilt' from Grandma. I'm thinking this will make her very happy as it's so bright and busy, but also, hopefully grow with her for a few years.

Bramble Blooms II-A

Bramble Blooms II-A has seen quite a bit of applique work lately. Thought the pic only shows two of the border units, I actually have all four stitched down now. Had to go back and add in some little basic leaves here and there as it looked a little too spare. I'm crossing my fingers to have time today to sew the borders onto the main part of the quilt and then there will just be a bit of applique to finish up on the ends of the other two borders. Bit of an overlap {on purpose}, though it doesn't completely wrap around the quilt like the applique in Bramble Blooms II-B will. 

Don't know who else is still working on Bramble Blooms quilts these days? I know many have dropped out or put the quilts off for later in order to concentrate on more inspiring projects. Totally okay. It's pretty difficult to power through three quilts in a series, back to back like we're doing. I myself can get very down on the project at times too. Sometimes it takes quite a lot of effort in order to start seeing the good stuff happen when you're primarily working with old, tired looking fabrics. If you have to take a break, don't get down on yourself. Some of the best stuff just takes time and lots of pondering!

Friend quilt

I hesitated to post about this project, but it's really been taking up the bulk of my time lately. Kind of a favor, kind of a commission, mostly trying to be a friend--this project is an answer to all of that. Blocks are from 2016. The person who organized the project is mentally not up to the task anymore and I was asked to finish up. I haven't made a formal looking sampler quilt in years and years so it's been difficult to be excited about, though the colors are fresh and lovely in their own way. I'm finally nearing completion--just taking a break now and working on some of my own projects for a bit. Will be soo glad to get back to a list of whatever-feels-good-to-work-on-today sort of mentality!

Joy Basket

I had all sorts of ideas for making the Joy Basket quilt larger, but each and every one has fizzled out. Then, a couple days ago, I saw the lovely green floral fabric in the project tote and felt like it needed to be attached next, but perhaps not in a complete surround. It happens to be a little bit clashy with the rest of the quilt, but wowsers, I am just loving the look! Can we call it a completion already? hehe  I stuck the 'joy' letters up on the quilt and it just looks like they belong there as to attitude and spirit. The white and gray of the letters are not quite the thing compared to the yellow creams in the rest of the quilt, so will have to think on this for awhile yet. So far so good with this project. Haven't managed to ruin it yet! You probably won't believe this, but I have been worried about pulling the vibe of the quilt down with generic looking borders. I mean, who does that? 

Sporadic Quilting These Days

Just gonna catch up for a minute and then disappear for a couple more weeks. I can't seem to keep up with everything going on lately, so if it seems like I've been checked out for awhile, that's probably why. I'm not at total overwhelm, but close.*Ugghh  What has happened to my life? Plentiful quilting time seems like such a luxury these days!

Another border for Peace Always

I did get all the little baskets appliqued and sewn onto the 'Peace Always' medallion quilt. Started way back when and moving forward very slowly! It's such a bright, happy quilt so far and the yellow backgrounds to the baskets just make everything pop. Love it so much already! Crossing my fingers the next border surround won't dampen this quilts enthusiasm.

ready for some handwork

'A Tisket, A Tasket' is ready for hand sewing the binding on. I've already mentally prepared to give this as a wedding present and now we know the wedding will be this fall. Lots of time to get the binding taken care....

Baby quilt on the design 'floor'

I am sooo behind on everything these days. Finally, finally got started on my grandsons baby quilt. Was wanting to keep it very simple, but as always, I try to work in the mommas preferred colors. My DIL is probably the only person in the world that I will make an effort to do that. It's so much harder for me to start somewhere besides a stack of fabric that is calling my name. I still have to sew the rows together and then add on the last two borders, but much progress has been made by this past weekend. I'm thinking it will end up with some machine quilting and then a bit of hand quilting to cozy it up.

playing with fussy cut applique ideas

On a whim, I cut up a piece of fabric my mother gave me this past winter. Lots of lovely flowers that were making me wonder what they might look like fussy cut and appliqued onto a pieced background. Hmm... what about 'Old Fashioned'? Such a simple quilt, I'm sure it would appreciate a little extra time and attention. Still haven't settled on exactly how I'll approach the layout, but it will definitely need some interesting leaves and lots of stems cut out and sewn down!

Next up in the hoop!

Next up in the hoop is Coronacrazy. It's been at the top of the hand quilting list for well over a year and I've just been finding one excuse after another to avoid doing it. Finally got it sandwiched and pinned, all snugged into the hoop. Hope it turns out well! I'm thinking about putting it into the NCW Quilt show this summer. Haven't went since 2019, so it might be time. We'll see. I love putting my quilts into shows where I can see them hang, but always feel a little bad that I'm not part of the guild. Oh well. It's too far away and their meeting times would never work for me and my commitments. Just easier to pay the fee per quilt and hope they don't turn me away!

Am trying to work on the next prompt for Bramble Blooms too. Will hopefully have something up and present by the end of June or perhaps the first week or so in July! So far, I'm not finding it difficult to work with those older fabrics. It just feels like I need a lot more time with the pondering....

 

Orphan Annie is a Finish and Other Things in the Lineup

 Orphan Annie is a completed quilt top now! So nice to get another one finished up. Still hopeful there will time for another two or three to get knocked off the list before the end of the year.

Orphan Annie all crumpled and cozy looking!

The next picture made the quilt look a little bit washed out. The actual color is more intense like the previous picture. I really love this whimsical quilt with all its imperfections. Somehow this one ended up being so very blue. For some reason I thought it would feel like a green quilt, but nope. Its one hundred percent got the blues!

Loving the mixed print background in 
the blocks

The tulips were cut-outs from behind another quilt {AHIQ Hourglass Tulip}. I just couldn't throw them away. Really interesting to see the flatter looking tulip, all cut out of only two fabrics, made up into something that really shows them off. I just have to smile at making an entire quilt out of a less than wonderful looking tulip shape. Because why not? Don't they deserve a moment to shine too?

Somehow very blendy looking

And then there's the improv. quarter triangle border. It was kind of hard to cut the triangles off at the ends and just let them be. Made for very odd looking corners for sure! Wouldn't change it for anything though as it distinctively comes across as a 'make-do' sort of look and vibe. My all time fave look these days plus it goes very well with the unpretentious look to the tulips.

The whimsical corners!

Next up in the hoop is my 'Positive Thinking' quilt. It's an AHIQ challenge from 2020 involving using old clothes and of course positive thinking. One of my favorite quotes although I'm quite sure the 'willingly' part would not always apply to me in every context of my life!

Next up in the hoop!

I've been dreading doing the hand quilting on this one 'cuz, how to properly stitch the middle of the quilt? But as always, it's merely a case of getting it into the hoop and simply getting started. I tend to make things bigger in my head than reality warrants.

So odd to have flowers without leaves....

I also managed to get Tatterdemalion to a finished quilt top stage.*sigh  All that needed doing was to to sew the last little bits of applique to the middle border.

It's a completed quilt top!

This was one of the faster quilt tops that I have made in years, all of it sewn together in about six weeks or so. I am loving the unusual color palette and the overall moodiness!

The oddities of Tatterdemalion!

Definitely a quilt that is not ever going to take itself seriously. I suppose that's the beauty of starting with orphan blocks, parts and pieces! Absolutely not anything that I would ever have 'designed' if I was sitting down to draw out the details of a brand new quilt project! 

Good use of the orphan bits

Really happy to have found a good place for some of those brownish violet and purple fat quarters that have been piling up in the stash totes too. I can only wish there was enough left to sew the backing together! There's something deeply cozy about a dark backing on a utility quilt like this one.

Can't wait to see this one quilted

QAL details: I've been thinking non-stop about the QAL idea that was thrown out there in the last post. Like I said, the odds were good that I would proceed regardless of interest, but some of the comments definitely got me to thinking about how to move forward. {Thanks for the lovely amount of interest! I am honestly blown away!} How to make it interesting for both beginners and more experienced quilters? Gathering my thoughts and trying to collate them into a semblance of order here. I recognize my hodgepodge way of throwing a quilt together might not make sense to just everybody!

Potential fabric stacks for the QAL

Also, now I'm a little antsy because what if the entire idea bombs and you all end up with hideous quilts? Ughh.  Anyway....  That's the completely compelling thing about making an improv. style quilt right? It's like rooting for the underdog. The outcome could be amazing, but there are no guarantees! All we know is that if the outcome turns out to be wonderful, we'll be even more excited than if we were betting on the sure thing. Or something like that....

So. If you think you might want to do this with me, go ahead and get digging through the stash fabric lurking in the corners of the quilt room. I've come up with these three perfectly normal looking stacks of similar looking fabrics--{you'll want stacks similar to each other, not necessarily to my fabric stacks!} Take a look, nothing stupendous and exciting! Not much in the way of larger yardage either, just a lot of whole and partial fat quarters and the occasional third of a yard.

Don't worry about what you might or might not be lacking till something becomes a real problem moving forward. We'll dig again later if needed! Also, don't worry about coming up with three fabric stacks if you really can't wrap your head around more than one quilt at a time. Or if you want to make three different color palettes instead of the one? Go for it! {I get that not everybody can stomach making three back to back quilts in the same color palette.} The main thing is to try and get a little bit of value change, plenty of various, mixed fabric prints and yeah, yeah, the old adage, lights, darks, mediums, and brights. I really don't recommend stacks of truly hideous fabrics or stuff that makes you feel nauseous. Will try to finish organizing my thoughts and have the start of the QAL ready by the end of the month!

Am still catching up to answering comments, but if you don't have a reply back by the end of this week, then you must be a no-reply commenter. Even if your name is on the comment, if you haven't received a reply from me, then I have zero access to your email address! Loraine Everard, you leave wonderful comments but I can't reach out to you! And there are several more. Apologies for how picky and proprietary Blogger is these days.

Summertime Happenings

Towards the end of June, we left on a 12 day trip. Before leaving, there was {of course} a mad rush to get the quilting sorted out so it would be easier to dive back in later. You know how us quilters think! 

Ready to the last little bit of handwork!

The funny thing was, I totally forgot about some of the prep work that had happened and so had to spend some time spinning my wheels anyway. These two little baby quilts had all the hand quilting finished up and just needed some binding attached. Thankfully I found the cut out and sewn binding in their neat little rolls just before I started cutting out a second batch. Seriously, where is my brain these days? Will have to find a good day to do the last little bit of hand sewing the binding down, but these are getting closer and closer to a true-blue finish!

When an idea starts on the floor

Two is not enough though. There is one more needed before the end of Julyd! I had a really great improv. idea all figured out and then when I got back from the trip, my brain was on severe overwhelm. Then one day I decided to dig through the orphan bits and pieces that had been set aside up a couple of months ago. Maybe one would be a good start for a baby quilt? 

Starting to take shape

This large applique block and the four churn dash blocks were given to me years and years and years ago in a larger box of cast aside fabrics. I have always liked them and thought to make a throw pillow out of the applique especially. Hmm... This baby quilt is a much better idea!

Did you notice how I put the hst on the corners of the border?

Even the blue fabric squares were abandoned from some late project or other so really, all that was needed was the in-between bits. At first I had zero intention of adding in the tan homespun fabric around the middle section, but something seemed to be missing. And then after that jumped into the quilt, well.... of course the yellow-gold cornerstones had to go too. At that point I was shutting out the lights in my quilting room to go to bed. 

Latest in the hoop!

And then something niggling in the back corner of my brain kind of spoke up and insisted that the cornerstones had to be a much brighter, happier blue than the one that I had chosen.*sigh  All the seam ripping just kinda gets exhausting sometimes! haha  I cut out mock-ups for the evening and went ahead and shut things down for the night. Next morning, I went ahead and made the changes for real, adding the same brighter blue over the top of the center circle in the applique too. Yep! That sealed the deal perfectly. Now it's all sewn together and in the hoop. Hope you can see how sweet and cozy this little baby quilt looks already!

A little bit of applique

Thankfully I took a bag of hand work with me on the trip, though I only managed to squeeze in time for nine blocks! Always soothes the soul to have some pretty fabric in my hands for those moments when there's nothing much else to do. I can't seem to hand stitch in the car like before I got my bifocal glasses. Just gives me a headache and doesn't seem worthwhile!

We love seeing the ocean

We went to my nieces wedding, which was absolutely beautiful. Love seeing the happiness of a young couple starting their new life together! After a long weekend there, my husband returned home and my youngest daughter and I started off on 'her' adventure. 

I drove these winding roads some my daughter could gawk
to her hearts content

She had it all mapped out and asked me to come along for the ride and a chance to see my 80 year old aunts. So sweet of her! We left Oregon and headed to California, taking a scenic side-trip along a little of the coast road HWY 101 and through the northern California redwoods. 

We loved getting a chance to hug these beauties

We managed to find time to hug one of these ancient trees and stand in awe of how totally magnificent they all are. I have been trying to go light on the pictures, but the mass of tree roots just from the trees lying down were larger than the car we were driving! And these trees!! They are so tall it practically gave us a neck ache simply trying to see the tops of these things. Wowsers, are they tall...

This was an incredible day

After a wonderful two and a half days with my aunties, we made our way back north again, touring through the redwoods once again even though that took extra time. Somehow my daughter also persuaded me to take a short hike through one of the forests, which is something my entire family could not believe. Me? Taking a hike? Very, very worthwhile though as we got to see more details of the beautiful redwood trees than we would have from the highway. Wish we could have had more days there!

A misty morning when we left

Totally surprising me {because I hadn't been paying enough attention to the itinerary}, we stayed for the night in Eureka, California at a landmark, historical inn. It was a fabulous experience and felt very surreal staying where a few presidents and a prime minister stayed once upon a time. 

Pro tip: Never leave home without the handwork bag!

Somewhere we picked up a nail in our car tire and ended up at a tire shop for almost three hours. Bah humbug. Look at me all relaxed and happy doing my applique regardless of the inconvenience! haha

Beautiful rocky beach here too

After the tire fix, we were in a time crunch. That meant we kept making short little stops along the coast line to gaze in rapture at the ocean instead of more leisurely visits like we originally supposed. One time we had made a hurried dash down the path to the ocean and a couple on their way to the beach started to turn around when right when we headed back. They thought it wasn't worth the hike down as we had returned so quickly! No, totally worthwhile, we just needed to jet!

An hour or two out from our camping spot

That was the day we were supposed to make our way to Winchester Bay, Oregon to meet up with some of my siblings who camp there every Fourth of July. My daughter still goes every year though my husband and I haven't made it there for over ten years! Anyway, long story short, she convinced me to end our adventure there with the fam and actually sleep in a tent for two nights. Uh huh. I told myself over twenty years ago that I was never, ever sleeping in a tent again, but yah. There I was. Thankfully she brought cots for the both of us and one of my sisters did the sweetest thing, she loaned me a skinny piece of memory foam for more padding. Yay! Two nights was about my max for these older hips of mine, but the worst part was probably having to get up in the wee hours of the morning and trek to the public bathrooms. Uggh. So not my thing. Much fun to hang out with four of my sisters and their families though! Loved, loved that part. Don't tell anyone, but I would probably do it all again in a heartbeat just for the good times!

Okay, that's it. A short recap of my incredible summer adventure! Wish my husband could have come along with us, but it was truly delightful, getting to spend this wonderful time with my amazing daughter.