Hand Work and Dresdens

Happy May Day!

Hopefully the month of May will be as successful in the

finishing department as April was for me.

I was able to finish a number of projects that had been sitting in piles

on my counter for way too long.

One pile I pulled out of my cabinet was this applique project I started

long ago.

I only needed to make two more blocks,

but it ended up in the cabinet instead.

This past week I was able to finish one block,

so only one more block needs to be made.

This pattern has 12 blocks, but I am only making nine.

The last block is prepped and ready to stitch.

Once the last block is finished,

I will decide on sashing fabric

and put it all together.

A while back my mother went on a trip and brought me back

a pattern and a roll of 30's prints to make a mini quilt.

My mom and I have different tastes in most things,

including quilts.

I'm not a huge fan of 30's prints,

but it's been fun working with these on this little quilt.

The Dresdens are finished, except for the circle in the middle.

 The 30's prints do make a happy pile of blocks.

These will be stitched to a white square and then sewn

together with sashing made from the 30's prints.

Happy Quilting!

Hidden Treasures...

Or maybe I should say

"Forgotten Treasures."

This morning I was looking in a cabinet for

some applique blocks I had made quite a while ago.

While I was pulling things out of the cabinet,

I found a stack of blocks that were totally forgotten...

Another Disappearing Four Patch!

Who knew these were hiding deep in my cabinet??

These were left over from a larger quilt I made

several years ago!

They will soon be sewn and made into a little quilt

and out of my cabinet.

A forgotten pile will be gone.

And then I found this....

 

Why I never finished this is beyond me!

It could easily be made into a pillow or a little table topper.

It is out and on the wall and will NOT be put back into my cabinet.

Another forgotten project will be finished.

 

I did find the blocks I was looking for when I found these forgotten treasures.

Why these have lingered for so long is beyond me as well.

 

Two more blocks will be made and then they will be sewn into a

small quilt.

 

 

 

I think I'm done looking in cabinets for the day.

:)

Happy Quilting!

 

Starburst Finish

A few months ago I watched the Youtube video

from Missouri Star for this

Starburst quilt and have wanted to make it since.

I love Half Square Triangles and love to play with them...

forming them into different patterns and designs.

This one was done for me,

so I just had to cut, sew and quilt.

It is a dreary, rain soaked

day today,

so the house is dark.

The colors on this quilt pop more than they do in the photo.

I practiced my feathers in the white areas of this quilt.

 

Some look good and some...

not so much.

Practice makes perfect,

or at least makes prettier feathers!

These colors are so summery to me.

This would be a fun beach quilt.

 

I'll mark this one off of my goal list 

and move on to the next thing.

Linking up to Patchwork Times today.

Happy Quilting!

The Wedding Quilt

The last week has been quiet here on the blog

because I was finishing

The Wedding Quilt.

I started working on this in January

and I'm very glad I did.

It took many days to cut all of the various size strips

for the blocks.

Then it took many more days to sew all of the blocks together.

A LOT of starch was used!

Then it took a few days to sew the top together

into this:

The pattern is called

"Diamonds in the Deep."

There are only four blocks in this quilt,

going from a lot of green and a little white

to a lot of white and  a little green.

 

 

This design is modern, but I love it.

I thought it would be a great wedding quilt because

it isn't too feminine.

My problem was I needed to make a California King.

Do you know how big that is??

This top is queen size and I couldn't add more diamonds

without making it too big.

Borders were necessary.

I wanted to do something different with the borders,

but the bias edges and the size of the quilt made it too difficult. 

It is now a California King size.

I love the backing I found for it.

The way it is quilted and bound,

it could be reversible.

 

This quilting design is called "Clockworks" and I love it with this quilt.

When I picked it up from the longarm quilter,

she called it a monster!

 

The quilt was wrapped,

using some flowers I dried from the bouquet

I had made for her Bridal shower.

 

I wanted to get some good photos of the quilt straight on,

but this quilt is so big,

there wasn't a good place to hold it up in order to see the entire thing.

Plus, it was very windy and there is pollen everywhere!

This is the best we could do.

My goddaughter and her fiance love the quilt

and can't wait to use it.

I am very happy to have this finished and delivered!

Happy quilting!

Happy Easter!

He is risen!!

 

(Image found here.)

Wishing you all a blessed Easter. 

 

Another Pile Gone

Three or four years ago I made all of the blocks for a

Reproduction Quilt called "Second Hand Clothes."

I was kind of in a reproduction fabric phase at the time that was short lived.

After the blocks were made, I needed a quilt to donate

for a silent auction benefiting the ARC for my county.

Since the blocks were finished,

I used some of them to make a small wall-hanging size quilt.

The rest of the blocks just sat here...

until the other day.

Out they came and up on the design wall they went.

This is finished according to the pattern,

but I'm going to add borders.

 

This is going to be for my aunt who turns 80 next month!

I want it large enough to fit her bed, so borders are needed.

 

It was nice to have the blocks cut and finished.

Putting this quilt together was quick and easy.

 

I have gotten away from using reproduction fabrics

because I like the bright and bold fabrics.

These are pretty, though.

 

I was told not to point out my mistakes.

BUT....

Somehow the two purple fabrics ended up next to each other.

Oh well...

Another pile is now out of my Hidey Hole.

 WooHoo!!

Happy Quilting!

A Small Disappearing Four Patch and Socks

The other day I mentioned in my post showing

all of my Disappearing Four Patch quilts

that I had the blocks made for one more.

Well, I also had a small remnant piece of

Joann's version of Minky.

I sewed the blocks together and they fit perfectly with the minky for a backing.

I was determined to use all of the charms in this charm pack,

so some of the background fabrics are different.

These blocks are not my favorites,

but the quilt will make a nice play mat for a little one.

It finished up at around 33" square.

The Joann version of minky didn't fray or shed at all.

That was a nice surprise!

Another pile cleared off of my counter.

I have a few more things to finish and then I can start something new.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a knitting finish today, too.

The wild and crazy socks are finished and ready to give to my niece.

I really do like the colors in this yarn.

She is going to love them.

And the fact that they don't match will be a bonus for her.

Another pair of socks was started

and I was shocked when the blue started coming out of the skein.

I don't see blue here at all,

but I like it!

Linking to Patchwork Times and Whoop Whoop today.

Happy Friday!

Borders and Blocks

The borders have been added to the

Orange Flying Geese Quilt.

YAY!!

I added another narrow scrappy black and white border

and then a wider yellow border.

I cannot tell you how happy I am with this quilt.

It began as a completely different design, 

but flew off in another direction.

:D

 

I'm trying to decide if I am going to quilt this one myself.

It's larger than I normally feel comfortable with,

but it doesn't need anything fancy.

 

The colors just pop when they are all together.

 

For those who are good with names,

I need some suggestions for this quilt, please.

Last night and this morning I finished the next set of

Books of the Bible blocks

for my History of Quilting group.

I am really liking these blocks.

 

Each month we show the blocks we've made at our meeting.

The various color combinations and fabrics are so much fun to see.

Be safe today... lots of bad storms around the country.

Happy Quilting!

Disappearing Four Patch...6th Edition

Do you have a "go to" quilt pattern that you seem

to make over and over again?

Or am I the only one who does this?

There is something so soothing and comforting for me

in making Disappearing Four Patch quilts.

I think the pattern makes a great baby quilt,

it's so easy to put together

and it highlights the fabrics.

Here is my latest edition.

(And another pile cleared from my Hidey Hole!)

I had a charm pack of the color fabrics and purchased

yardage for the white blocks and the border.

To quilt the borders, I followed the aqua zigzags throughout the fabric,

all the way around the quilt.

For those who know me,

you know how much I dislike piecing backings.

This is a rookie job compared to what some of you do,

but I didn't have to purchase fabric for the backing.

This one is ready to give to the sweet little one who is due the end of May.

Just for fun, I've gone back and looked at all of the

Disappearing Four Patch quilts I've made.

I attended a "Control your Scraps" session

and ended up with a tub full of 5" batik squares.

These two quilts came from those squares and solid white.

I love the striped binding on these quilts.

These fabrics were left over from another quilt I had made.

Again, I paired them with solid white.

Another D4P made with batiks.
These, too, were left over from another quilt I had made.

These fabrics were a prize at a quilt retreat.

I purchased the border fabric to go with the 5" squares.

Believe it or not, I have blocks made for another D4P.

They are the sister blocks of the quilt I just finished,

so there will be a 7th edition at some point!

I'm linking to Patchwork Times. Visit and see what others are creating.

Enjoy your day

and

Happy Quilting!