Sewcialites Quilt Along, Block 17

 The 17th block for Sewcialites came out on Friday and I was able to make it on Saturday.

Block 17 Peace.

And here are all my 17 blocks so far.

Really liking these colour saturated fabrics and the block designs.

Dear Jane

 On Thursday some of my Dear Jane group got together for a half hour zoom call.  Before that I was able to make 3 more blocks.

I 13 was paper pieced.

I 13 closeup.

J 1 was paper pieced.

J 1 closeup.

J 13 was pieced and then appliqued.

J 13 closeup.

I now only have 17 left of 169 blocks to make and, as always, still having fun!

Sewcialites, Block 16

 I sewed up this Friday's Sewcialites block choosing a lovely dark purple fabric.  Here's block 16 called Friendship.

Here are the previous 15 blocks.

It would be fun to take any of the above blocks and make an entire quilt using just the one block... or use two and alternate... so many ideas!

Jelly Snowflake Quilt 4 and Gift Bag Completed

On Wednesday I got the 4th Jelly Snowflake Quilt quilted.  I've used this snowflake pantograph so many times in the last two months I think I could quilt the design with my eyes closed!  Here's what the quilting looked like right off of the frame on the backing.

On Thursday I pieced the binding and made the gift bag.  On Friday I sewed the binding on and got the quilt washed and dried.  It shrank from 51" x 64" to 67" x 59".  I didn't take a picture of it on Friday as I wanted to wait to get a picture of it on fresh snow which I did this morning.  We have only had snow 3 times this year and gone back to bare ground in between.

Here it is in the gift bag ready to give away.

I hope my d-i-l's niece will like the llamas and enjoy snuggling under it.

Jelly Snowflake Take 4 with Piano Key Borders

Yesterday I added the called for borders to the Jelly Snowflake quilt and then added piano key borders to the top and bottom edges in order to make it longer for a tween.  I then added another border top and bottom same as the first border called for in the pattern.  Today I pieced the backing so I'm ready to quilt.

As indicated in the title, this is my fourth quilt using this pattern and with the addition of the piano key border, I think it's my favourite one so far.  It reminds me of a Nordic sweater. 

Sewcialites Block 15

I sewed yesterday's Sewcialite block today.  

Block 15 Genuine

 And here are all 15 so far.

Orange isn't one of my favourite colours but the print fits with the other colours in the fabric line with the inclusion of the pinky purple colour.

Jelly Snowflake Quilt Take 4 Centre Completed

I was on a roll with the Jelly Snowflake again today and made four of Block 4 and also the central block.  The previous quilts I made I decided on a checkerboard central block, but today I made a plus block.  I think I like it better than the checkerboard block.  Here's the completed central part of the quilt.

Now all I need are borders and quilting.  I'm going to add some extra borders on the top and bottom to make it more rectangular for a tween.

Jelly Snowflake Quilt, Take 4 Progress

 On Wednesday I cut and sewed the pieces to make 8 of block two for the Jelly Snowflake.  Here are two of them alongside block 1 how they will be positioned in the quilt.

On Thursday I didn't get into the sewing room until late in the day and instead of working on Dear Jane, I decided to continue working on the Jelly Snowflake and I cut and sewed 4 of block 3 and then pieced together blocks 1, 2 and 3.  Here's one of those sections.

I simplified block 3 by leaving the pink rectangles as rectangles instead of snowballing their corners.  I think it worked out better that way in the thicker flannel fabric.

First Finished Quilt of the Year - A Baby Quilt and a Matching Gift Bag

On Friday I got the backing flannel washed and on the frame and found a piece of left over batting that was the perfect size.  I usually try to mount my quilts sideways so that each row of quilting covers a longer distance and also there are fewer times you have to roll and reposition the quilt across the shorter width.  This only works if the quilt or pantograph or both are non directional.  This baby quilt has a definite top and bottom and also the pantograph has a right way up as well.  I decided to attach the quilt from the bottom so that I could quilt the pantograph the right way round to make it easier on my brain.  You can see in the picture here, that the quilt is upside down and what you can see of the pantograph in the background is also upside down so when completed they will both be right side up.  Clear as mud?

I started quilting on Monday and only had one row left to do on Tuesday.  Here is what the quilting looked like on the back when I took it off the frame.  I was looking for something with stars and moons so the cow jumping over the moon fit in with the nursery rhyme theme of the quilt.

Here is a close up of the central panel on the front of the quilt.  I like how a cow jumping over the moon just happened to end up in the night sky right above the owls and the mother owl appears to be looking up at it.

Here is the finished quilt on the rocking chair that was in both my children's bedrooms.

Here's a closeup of the checkerboard binding and the label and the quilting on the back after washing.  The cow theme was also appropriate because the woman I'm making the quilt for, Auntie Kim,  called her niece, who is expecting the baby, Moo Moo when she was little and Moo Moo has already asked her Aunt to call her baby-to-be Little Moo Moo.

Since this was a gift, I made a gift bag for it.

I was thinking I would have to go to the fabric store to get something to use for a drawstring but then I decided to use the selvedge edge of the fabric for ties.  It's nice and sturdy and worked great.  I ironed the raw edge under by a quarter inch and then ironed the folded edge to meet the finished selvedge edge and then top stitched close to both edges.  I'll use this method again.

Sewcialites blocks 11 to 14

I kept up with making the three Sewcialites blocks that were published in December, but didn't have time to blog about them.  Block 14 came out yesterday, so here are the four I have made since I last posted.

Block 11 Cheer

Block 12 Faithful

Block 13 Joy 

Block 14 Serenity

And here are all fourteen so far.

I really like these blocks and this fabric bundle.

Dear Jane, Five More Blocks

I have been trying to work on my Dear Jane Quilt every Thursday, but was too busy working on Christmas projects in December so was very glad to be able to work on it yesterday.  I was able to get five blocks made and even started on the sixth because several of them were on the easy side.

G1 was applique which is not my favourite.

G1 closeup.

 G13 also included applique.

G13 closeup.

H1 was easy to piece.

H1 closeup.

H13 was also very easy to piece.

H13 closeup.

I1 was also an easy one to piece.

I1 closeup.

I now have 147 of 169 blocks and 7 of 56 triangles made.  I started this in June of 2018 and I'm still having fun!

Jelly Snowflake Mystery Quilt Along, Take 4

 As mentioned in a previous post, I am planning on making two more flannel quilts using the Jelly Snowflake Mystery Quilt Along pattern.  This one will be for my d-i-l's niece.  Check out the cute lama fabric!

Here are the first four corner blocks of the quilt.

The accent fabric, which will become the snowflake, is a perfect match for the hats, scarves and boots the lamas are sporting.  Since there are four different blocks that make up this quilt, can I say that I'm already quarter done this quilt?

First Project of the Year - A Baby Quilt

My father's care giver asked me a few weeks ago if I could make a baby quilt for her niece.  I agreed and showed her some fabric I already had which she liked so that made things easy.  Here's the fabric I showed her.

I don't usually buy panels, but I got this fabric bundle at a yard sale from another quilter who was downsizing.  It was too good a deal to pass up!  There were stars in quite a few of the fabrics so I decided to make some star blocks to make the panel wide enough for a crib quilt.  I fussy cut the centres of the stars and chose various fabrics for the star points so the stars are all different.  Since the sashing on the printed panel was red, I used one of the red fabrics to sash the stars and since the panel had dark blue at the top and bottom, I decided to add a border of blue fabric.  Here is the completed quilt top.

I think it is cute.  Kim wanted more green in the quilt, so I will be looking for a green flannel fabric for the backing and then all that will be left is quilting and binding which I should be able to easily complete within the next week.  I also will be looking for a quilting design including stars.

Happy New Year / Needle / Rotary Cutter Blade / BOM - Mayflower Quilt Guild Scott Flanagan Block of the Month

I decided to start the new sewing year off right with a new needle in my machine plus a good machine cleaning and oiling.  It's amazing how much quieter your sewing machine is when it is well oiled and has a sharp new needle!  I also decided to put in a new rotary cutter blade.  It had been missing a couple of threads all through my December sewing projects.  You don't realize how much harder you are having to press to cut your fabric because it changes so gradually, but once you have a new blade in there you hardly have to press at all!

Since the quilt guild I belong to continues to be unable to meet in person, we are going to do a couple of mystery quilts and a block of the month (BOM).  The first block for the BOM came out today.  First up was choosing the fabrics:  Red, green, purple, blue, gold and a neutral is the colour scheme.  Here are my choices:

The reds are leftovers from various projects.  I don't have quite as much as called for, but can always get some more if required.

The green has been used here and there in various projects and is paler than the colour suggested but I think it will be ok.

The purple is a fabric that was donated to me and has more white in it than I would have chosen if I were buying fabric, but I think it will also be ok.

The blue is also a fabric that was donated to me and I think it's great.

The golds are leftovers from various projects and I may not have quite as much as required, but I can always get more of these too.

The neutral is a very light gray left over from the background of another project.

The first block is a traditional Broken Dishes Block and here's mine.

I think this new sewing year is off to a great start!  Now, because I allowed myself to start a new project, I have to finish an old project.