Wool Birthday Crown WIP

I thought when my own kids were babies I had made them everything possible. Gosh, one time I obsessively built them a canvas playhouse on a frame of pvc pipe that had an operational door, painted English garden on the outside, and would fit adults standing up. It was brilliant that I could put it up and take it down for storage when needed. The pipe got pilfered over the years, and I think the only thing remaining on the toy shelf is the door. Oh, life before an iPhone lives only in our minds. 

Orphan Quilt Block to Pillow: Spindrift

Orphan Quilt Block to Nursery Pillow

Some days, try as we might, technology fights us. So the pictures are what they are today with my apologies. Oh, well it's a Wednesday as I write this. Maybe that's it. This is a leftover block unused in a wonderful quilt Spindrift by Michelle McKillop published under Jen Kingwell. Take a closer look at the quilts progress from 2020 when Covid was just beginning.

Spindrift: It Begins

Spindrift: 2

Spindrift: 3

Spindrift: 4

Spindrift: 5

Spindrift: 6

Spindrift:7

Spindrift:8

Spindrift: 9

Spindrift: 10 The Quilting Begins

Spindrift: 11 Custom Quilting

Spindrift: 12 One More Day

Spindrift: 13 From Quilts to Socks

One Long Comeback shows the binding at last

Here is another version of Spindrift I made called It Floats.

This was a darling block, but didn't have the same vibe as the other Dresdens in either quilt. It became an orphan block until I heard I was having a grandchild. A bit of hand quilting after adding Grunge borders, and it turned into a colorful floor pillow for the nursery. For a while it was a back cushion to prop her up in her laundry basket--how DID our generation miss the usefulness of laundry baskets to child rearing? Then it morph into the mountain to climb and have some tummy time on top of. It's been a very useful piece of baby equipment happily.

The backing a stripey remnant I pieced, and off she went. Another project in the books.

Have you found any creative projects for using your own orphan blocks? Share them in the comments please. I'm not the only one looking for fresh ideas. Thanks!

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's go sew.

Another Trip Around the World

Another Trip Around the World

Here is a pattern that is fun and rewarding every time I make it. I love it so! This quilt kit was offered years ago by Craftsy, and the fabrics were coordinated by Myra Barnes at Busy Hands Quilts. The kit went on deep sale, and I snapped it up! It took me several years to pull out to piece, but it was an easy make because it was a one patch. More on one patch quilts HERE. Also, I have said it before, but my Accuquilt cutter made it a dream to go from fabric to pieces cut in a few hours with minimal waste.

Easy Modern Batik Quilt

Easy Modern Batik Quilt

This is one way to break up your stash. My batiks were overflowing with fat quarters, and I personally wanted a pink quilt. I started it a year ago (or more), and finished it last month in mid-August. No real pattern involved, just modeled after similar quilts I'd seen, and drawn up myself.

What I love most about it besides being pink? I think it's beautiful the way the batiks appear wavy with their color variations. Also, the batting is Mountain Mist Cream Rose, and very thin. It's a perfect weight summer quilt for my side of the bed.

One Patch Charity Quilts: July

Charity Quilts: July

There was a time when much of my quilting time was devoted to charity quilts. I've taken a more modified approach now, and I work as I both see need, and notice my scrap piles growing. Sometimes I get a bag of donated fabrics, and they may not fit my style. If I'm not going to use it, someone else may as well. The most rewarding quilts to make, though, are for children as these were.

Scraps and a Panel Make a Quilt: WIP

Scraps and a Panel Make a Quilt

Work in Process

Once upon a sewing day I sewed scrap after scrap together in long lines thinking one day I would need them. That day came. I found the container while straightening the studio, and figured they were almost I Spy quality for a youngster. I started with a simple block I'd made before, threw down a few fabrics as borders, and then realized it would be a very small quilt. It stared back at me for several weeks. It was just boring. It needed more of something, and so I kept cleaning and clearing.

Vintage Blocks Flimsy

Vintage Blocks Flimsy

Though I don't spend long, uninterrupted time in my studio these days, I do peck away at a lot of my quilting goals. Here is a flimsy finish I started the week before, and by adding the whole spectrum of tiny squares I completed the border. I'm waiting for inspiration before I add the embroidery.

Vintage Blocks Wall Hanging

Vintage Blocks Meet Vintage Fabric Pack

In the first years of quilting, I spent considerable time acquiring new fabric. Then I began collecting old fabric, blocks, quilts, ephemera, and so on. The day of reckoning came when I said, "What am I going to do with all this stuff?" (or my kids if I leave it undone.) And that pretty well sums up where I am at currently, and hoping to direct my quilting energy and time to correcting. 

I am a sucker for the tag sales where there are stacks of blocks stuck in a baggie for $2 with lots of pieces waiting to be sewn. It just screams, "Make me, Julie!" Mind you the fabric is from the 1940's, and 85 years later still not sewn together. It's usually a case of someone trying out a block, and it didn't come together as well as they'd planned. Many start out as hand sewn, and honestly those are the best as you can easily unpick them. It's not always necessary, though, and often I like the look of hand pieced, slightly imperfect blocks. That was the case here even after fixing a few seams that had pulled.

Halloween Spiders Half Hexie Quilt Finish

Halloween Spiders Half Hexie Quilt Finish

The spiders are creeping down the quilt, some half hidden, some in full sight. These are the friendly kind of spiders though, and have done a lot in reality to get me through some of my own fear of them. Having to look through pictures of all kinds of arachnids was unpleasant, but by dissecting the body parts to give even a rough representation here helped me compartmentalize it. 

This first photo shows what the quilt looks like hanging in my hallway finished. Dark block walls and spotlight lighting are dim, and art quilts pop. The quilting shows well, and the colors are deeper. Hanging a quilt out of direct light keeps it from fading, and if you are using delicate fabrics or embellishment it becomes even more important.

Halloween Half Hexie Spider Embellishment

Halloween Half Hexie Spider Embellishment

First of all, I am not a spider lover. I do tolerate them much better as a gardener seeing their benefit, and would never destroy one or a web, but embrace them? No. This is me trying hard to look up web images of spiders without raising my pulse and blood pressure to create these little beasties. It has helped to be honest, but they will always cause me to jump when I see a big one.