Hello, again!

 

It's 2020.

And I'm just going to jump into today, with a bunch of quilts I've made this year!

 Begonia

Started in Seattle, 2019 Block of the Month for the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild
Pattern By Stephanie Satterwhite, Satterwhite Quilts
I loved working with Clare, Kathryn, and Joan on our blocks.

It's growing! Now living in Flagstaff, AZ.

Top completed.
Aren't these great Arizona colors?

 

 

Detail of quilting.

Mod Pop

 

 

Super scrappy!
Pattern by Julie Pickles Designs

This one is a wedding gift for Molly and Billie, who live in Florida. Congratulations, M&B!

Meadowlands/Driftless

I rarely purchase a designer's whole collection,
but Anna Graham's Driftless is gorgeous.

And the Meadowlands pattern by Then Came June
is as much fun to make as I'd been told!

 

 

 

 

On the back, a William Morris repro. 

 Saltwater Blue

Inspired by flags at a marina, and Tula Pink's
delightful Saltwater fabric collection.

Plaid-ish

Pattern by Erica Jackman of Kitchen Table Quilts
A fun challenge to myself, to make a black & white quilt.
Super scrappy, and lots of little bits of color to soften it.

 

 

The backing used up the last of some hoarded Ikea fabric.
This was my first quilt made when Covid-19 struck,
and all the directives were not black and white,
and all the numbers continually changed.

Plaid-ish 2

Pattern by Erica Jackman of Kitchen Table Quilts
This time, a colorful plaid, using lots of favorite scraps.
Photo taken at lava field, Sunset Crater

 

Fun with Free Motion Quilting

 

 

Peacock feathers for the backing seem appropriate,
I think.

2020, you just keep going, on and on!

More in the next post-

January finishes, part 2

If you go to a quilter's sew-in or retreat, you're sure to see versions of the Sew Together Bag, by Michelle of SewDemented, pattern available on Craftsy. Very clever, very cool, and quite useful, with zippered pockets for little things and deep pockets for bigger things. At the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild Christmas Party Swap, there were a few that made the rounds before going home with lucky recipients.
 
The first sew Together bag I made was for Poppy. I didn't really understand the placement of fabric, so the inside isn't as colorful as I'd intended; it's a sophisticated look. She uses it for toiletries.

Then I made one for myself, using a spiderweb block from my Beach Umbrellas on a Hot Day quilt. I love the selvage dots included in the strips. Bethany claimed this one for herself, and uses it for her toiletries and make-up.

For Christmas, I made one for my niece. Forgot to take a picture of it finished...

I want one! This one's for me: I made another spiderweb block, and used lots of favorite scraps and fabrics. And I had fun using it last weekend at the sew-in.

But that's not all. I made myself another, a mini! Isn't it cute?

Elizabeth, at OPQuilts, (look under her tutorials tab) has made a worksheet you can use to adjust the measurements in your purchased pattern to make this cutie.

I think it will make a perfect kit for the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild BOM applique project.


Oh, and speaking of kits, I made this cute Flora Supply Case by Clover & Violet, to use as my quilt binding kit. I made the small size, and replaced the zip pocket with a needle book. I think that hand sewing a binding while watching a movie on tv with my husband is the nicest way to spend an evening! Already, it's keeping me from spreading out my gear all over the coffee table, and leaving it there...

January finishes, part 1

So, I moved to Seattle, and I joined the Modern Quilt Guild, and I'm motivated to explore some improvisational quilting, and some modern design! At the same time, I am keenly aware of the number of unfinished projects (UFOs, in quilt-speak) that came with me in those moving boxes.


I linked to the APQ UFO resolution challenge to list 12 unfinished projects I want to finish in the year.  APQ announced that the project for January was whatever was listed as #6, and for me, that was an English Paper Piecing project I'd started years ago.

It began with this fabric, several yards, purchased from the thrift store in 2012. I usually consider a black-red-white quilt too high contrast for my taste, and it's more "country" style than I prefer, but it's also kind of European in its appeal...

 

I stack-and-whacked the black panels, and hand-stitched the diamonds into a big hexagon shape, then stalled out, not really having a purpose for a smallish, black, roundish quilt. It became a PIG (project in grocery bag).

Auditioning black borders in 2012

When I pulled it out again, I was far away from the investment of time and needle-pricks of the original project, so it wasn't too painful to use a seam ripper to take it apart.

The stars were rearranged and stitched back together. Yes, I hand-stitched them, again.

I even hand quilted! You know, I thought I'd be pretty good at hand quilting. It's a lot harder than it looks! My stitches are big and my lines are wobbly. I don't think I'd be welcome at an old-fashioned quilting bee! Still, I like how it turned out.

So, I have a new table runner that looks great with the faded red, cabbage rose wallpaper in the dining room. This room is in the center of the house, and provides a breathing space between the very lived-in living room and the kitchen. I try to not let it be a dumping place, and to actually dine here.

Some of the leftover stars became place mats.

Traditional fabric, techniques, and product. Still hoping to find a toe-hold in the modern quilt genre!

New stuff, old stuff

I live in Seattle, now. Ralph and I live in a charming, small Craftsman-style house just minutes from downtown. I spend a lot of time as Grandma to Poppy, and it takes me 7 minutes to walk to her house in the morning, to get her ready for school, and 15 minutes to walk from there to her school. I walk to the market, to the post office, to the pizza place, the library, and the drugstore. I have to drive to the fabric store.

The weather in Seattle, in winter, is ideal for quilting. Today is a rainy day, and the sun sets at 4:30. And sewing is a lot more fun than trying to figure the application processes for finding a teaching job in the area! Yes, I am a master at procrastination!

When we moved, we downsized pretty radically, but I still have a sewing room! And even though I got rid of stuff, I still have a lot of projects I've started and never finished. So, in addition to acclimating to a new locale and a new style milieu, I plan to finish up some of these UFOs (UnFinished Objects).

1. Christmas Medallion 2. I had hoped to have this quilt and its twin finished by Thanksgiving, and to offer them for sale. Hopefully someone will want to buy one or both for 2017! Green medallion quilt is finished, red medallion quilt is partially quilted.

2. Ocean Connect. I cracked open my Tula Pink Saltwater collection to have a project for the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild sew-in. It took a lot of concentration to arrange the links with fabric oriented the right way up! This quilt top is finished now, and needs a backing, then quilting and binding.

3. Red Churn Dash blocks. These are from the Mid Century Modern bee, which I feel so privileged to have participated in! Oh, how I wish I'd chosen a block that would have allowed the wonderful members to demonstrate more of their personalities. Nevertheless, these remind me of them, and of the inspiration of last year's Quilt Con.

4. Folksy Flower. Do you remember this awesome top, from my friends in the Stars in Their Eyes bee? I've put off finishing it because I want to make it big enough for my bed by adding another row. I'm afraid of ruining it, though! I love the Dresdens around the edge, what could possibly come next? (All suggestions welcome!)

5. Black Diamonds. I have taken apart the stars and put them together as a table runner, and I'm planning to hand quilt it. There may be some placemats using some discarded stars.

6. Birds in a Tree. Hand quilting this one.

7. Flora Supply Case. Not really a UFO, but a new project that will help make all the UFOs easier to complete!

8. Mom's quilt. Some fabric she's saved, some fabric I found on ebay that didn't match so I over-dyed it. I have a plan...


9. Snowman EPP. Elizabeth's patterns with snowman centers. Not sure what I'll do with them, but I want to make more for a wall hanging or quilt.

10. Sew Together Bag or Maker's Tote, for me. I've given away three of the Sew Together bags, and I want one for workshop supplies. Maybe I want a Maker's Tote for sewing supplies, and a Sew Together for a toiletries/travel bag.

Poppy's

Bethany's

Linking up at Karen's site, Capitola Quilter, with 2015 Finish-a-Long Quarter 1.