JT2

Finished the last 3 blocks in Set 4 ~ Just Takes Two this week.

JT2 ~ Set 4 ~ Blocks 14 thru 18

Not one to give up easily, I decided to keep going on this Mystery QAL until I run out of my red fabric. I do love the crispness of the red and white as well as the challenge of these blocks. Each one is very different, both in appearance as well as construction techniques. One of the newest blocks posted for set 6 is no exception! Lots of curved seams, it may need to be hand pieced! :0# what!?!

This week I finished Blocks 14, 16 and 18

Block 14 ~ Pinwheels was easy peasy with HST:

JT2 ~ Block 14 ~ Pinwheels

 Block 16 ~ Pine Burr which was a challenge with Y seams

JT2 ~ Block 16 ~ Pine Burr

... and Block 18 ~ Turkey Tracks was fun! I used the same technique as the four hearts block to prep for appliqué. In place of hand stitching, I machine stitched a blanket stitch :0) With a turned edge instead of raw edge, I really like the look

JT2 ~ Block 18 ~ Turkey Tracks

Close up of Turkey Tracks stitching

Click on my JT2 page to see finished blocks for this QAL

Here is today's view from my sewing room window...

Flowering is a Red Bud in the back ground, next to the garden house we built (from scratch using many left over and re-used items). To the left is what's left of the Star Magnolia's flowers. The wind and rain blew most of the petals away. Chico had 2 inches of rain so far this week with lots of wind. More on the way. The foothills around us are getting much more. Sue, up in Grass Valley reported this morning that she will have 10 inches!

Have a wonderful weekend :0)

Design Wall Monday

Made progress over the weekend on my UFO Challenge quilts #8 and #7 :0) Simple Scrappy Pleasures is a 2002 BOM from Claudia's Quilt Shoppe, Click on the link for her current website. I made it in 2 sizes. UFO #7 is 80 x 88 and #8 is the wall hanging a quarter of the size at 40 x 44. On my design wall is the wall hanging: (notice my cheering bear and mountain goat squad :0)

Simple Scrappy Pleasures 40 x 44

Here is the lower left corner on the big quilt with its HST inner border:

Simple Scrappy Pleasures 80 x 88

Both have pieced outer borders with nine patch cornerstones. The wallhanging has 2 navy blue fabrics for the inner border and both have four patch inner cornerstones. Fabrics are all calico scraps from a sewing job I had in the '80s

Check out what other folks have on their design wall today at Patchwork Times. Judy is working on a gorgeous quilt she is doing for her Color Palette Challenge

JT2 ~ block 18 is prepared and ready for appliqué. This morning I took another look at Vintage Rouge BOM on Aunt Reen's blog. Check it out, it starts in May. I've been drooling over this quilt for a week!  Doreen also has a Modern Jane blog and QAL starting this month that I pulled fabric for. It's so hard NOT to start new projects and Brandie isn't setting a good example! ;0) 

We have rain in the forecast for this week, so far it's sunny today but a bit nippy and windy. Clouds over the weekend but not much rain so far. They say it's coming and possibly for the next two weeks! We need it and it always makes for nice quilting weather! Have a great week.

It was a 3 letter week

JT2, QAL, BOM and UFO! LOL!!! :0)

I worked on a few blocks for JT2.

JT2 ~ Block 15 ~ The Basket

JT2 ~ Block 17 ~ Broken Heart

Unfortunately I printed the directions for this QAL the first day and did not check back. There were too many red pieces and not enough white for the flying geese. I found out later with corrections, it was because the geese should have been white. Oh well, my block stays as it is as I don't have enough red fabric for any more do overs!... Lots of folks are dropping out of this QAL because of all the paper piecing, blocks turn out too small and corrections. I have to say, I'm not really "feeling the love"...

I did figure out another technique for appliqué that is working for me. After finishing the handles for my baskets I hand stitched the hearts for block 6 of JT2

JT2 ~ Block 6

I used freezer paper, a water soluble glue stick and Roxanne's. Cut the paper into the heart shapes and ironed them to the red fabric. Cut out the red fabric with a small seam allowance. Used the glue stick on the back and pulled the fabric over the edges of the freezer paper. It makes the shape of the heart nice and smooth. Once the glue dried, cut the middle of the freezer paper away, leaving 1/16 of an inch along the edges. A few dots of Glue-baste-it to hold them down on the white background fabric and hand stitched.

Wednesday we had our Block of the Month at Cathy's. We made block 7 - Water Wheel for Color Me Happy. Here are five of Kathy's blocks, Water Wheel is in the upper left corner...

Kathy's blocks

Linda's blocks

Not everyone brought previous blocks for pictures. We all have blocks to make up, last month I cancelled block 6 when I was sick.

And for UFOs, I pieced the outer borders for Simple Scrappy Pleasures wall hanging, appliquéd the basket handles for a second UFO and have half of the rows for that top put together.

The weather has been beautiful. We even worked out in the garden, getting beds ready to plant. Mom and I sat outside yesterday while I finished my appliqué. Rain is forecast for next week which we desperately need. Once piece of sad news, a family member lost treasured possessions in an apartment fire in Princeton, NJ on Tuesday night. She was in Texas at the time but flew out there yesterday. Georgine, my heart is with you this weekend. Haven't heard anything from my brother or the person renting my mom's house to know how they fared after last weeks tornadoes. Hope all is well...

Design Wall Monday

2012 UFO Challenge ~ UFO #8 Over the weekend I appliquéd the handles for the baskets for the wall hanging and this morning finished the basket blocks. 

I have to say that I am starting to like appliqué! This was pretty easy. Made the handles from bias cut strips, sewed them lengthwise, trimmed the seam allowance and then turned them right side out using Fasturn tubes. Pressed. Using Roxanne's glue-baste-it, glued down the bias strip to the top half of the block. Next day sat outside with Mom in the garden while I stitched. She tried to help but decided it was not for her :0)

This morning I sewed the two halves of the baskets together and finished that row. Pinned the four finished rows onto the design wall.

Finished one more small row and sewed all of the rows together. Now to add a dark blue inner border, 4 four patch corners and a final pieced border with 4 nine patch corners. Almost a Ta Da!

Next up

UFO quilt #8 for Judy's 2012 Challenge at Patchwork Times to be completed in March:

I pulled out the pizza box where this quilt has been living since 2002! An online block of the month by Claudia's Quilt Shop called Simple Scrappy Pleasures. Directions were for a twin size quilt which I did along with a smaller version I calculated to be half the size. It is scrappy! All of the fabrics, mostly calico are scraps from a job where I worked in the 1980s. I was head seamstress and designer for a company named Accents by BK. Barbara and Karen were the owners. We made giftware, samples would be made and taken to the big gift shows... Houston, Atlanta and LA. The shows were for shop owners and Barb, Karen and the sales reps would come back with box loads of orders.

We always had piles of scrap that were thrown away and I took some of it home. It was fun to look at all the fabrics when I pulled the box out. Brings back memories of all the different products we came up with, very country at the time!

A little more to do for this UFO than what I remembered: All the blocks are done except three basket blocks. Baskets with appliqué handles which would be the reason they are not done ;0) Pieces are all cut including the bias strips for the handles. 3 of the rows are completely pieced. The row with the baskets and one more small pieced row thru the middle left to be finished.

HST for the inner border (not cut) and 4 four patch units for the corners (made). I made notes with a plan to make it a solid navy blue border in place of the HSTs. Will wait and rethink that...

Piece the outside border, pieces are all cut and there are 4 nine patch blocks for the corners (made). That will finish the top. Then to quilt, bind and label. Lots to do for this month.

Four more blocks for JT2 were posted yesterday. One big feathered star block, 2 strips of flying geese and a small block. Not too bad. Heads up for anyone doing this QAL, there were mistakes in the first post... corrected at the end of the first day.

Terrible weather and tornadoes today from the gulf to the Great Lakes of the US. Kansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana are taking the brunt of it. Hoping my two brothers and mom's house are OK. Glad she is here with me :0)

Wishing everyone a pieceful weekend

UFO Finish for February

Here is my red and white ~ two block quilt ~ finished for February's 2012 UFO Challenge. This quilt finished at 73 x 86

Borders were added to top, quilting and binding finished. Photos of finished quilt:

Finished quilt

Quilt top before borders

First rows of quilting with swag feathers, cable borders and alternating block designs.

Blocks quilted with feather wreaths and floral motif

Close up of outer mitered border with feather flower corner

Feather swag and cable borders on finished quilt

Corner of finished quilt

It was a good thing it was leap year :0) I made good use of the extra day to get this quilt finished last night!

Little Finish

This flu bug won't let me go! Not sure if it's a relapse or another phase, last week it knocked me down for another round. Stayed down for 2 full days. Spent the rest of the holiday weekend sewing bindings on 3 quilts while sipping tea under a pile of my quilts.
#1 Sewed the binding down on a large quilt for Pearl.

#2 Binding is on this little UFO. It's last on my UFO Challenge list and now it's finished ahead of time. Hope that gives me some wiggle room. My February red and white quilt has been loaded on my longarm since last week Thursday. Only one row of blocks were quilted. Hoping I can get it quilted and binding on before the end of the month. Good thing it's leap year and we have one extra day this month! lol Did OK today... have almost half of the quilt quilted. Also got out and filled up my truck with gas before prices go over $4/gal!!!

#3 I took off... yes, I am going backwards... took off the red binding on my Connected Friends UFO quilt and replaced it with a blue binding. I like it so much better!

After ~ with blue binding

Before ~ with red binding

Apologies for not keeping up with blog posts. Also missed a quilt show meeting for ASQG. Luckily no classes this week as I don't have my voice back yet. Weirdest thing that has happened since I came down with this flu, is that my vision changed, the same week I was taking some heavy duty antibiotics. Nasty stuff... Looking forward to getting back to "normal" ;0) whatever that is.

ps NO is the answer to the question in my last post. I am sticking with getting UFOs completed and getting my body back up to snuff...