Bee, Myself & I in April

Bee, Myself & I was created by Carla over at Granny Maud's Girl as a way get in some sewing purely for her own pleasure, not out of a commitment of any kind. I'm finding it helpful to give structure to my calendar of projects.

This month I've used BM&I to get a top built out of blocks I've been making over the course of four years. Not that the blocks were all that difficult to make. On the contrary. They're probably my favorite block, and they're not hard at all. The traditional Churn Dash.

These happen to finish at 10." Usually I make a variation out of scraps that finishes at 6" and is called Hole in the Barn Door because the center square is larger and the side squares become rectangles. Another name for this version is Monkey Wrench. If you use your imagination you can see the head of one or more wrenches in the design.

Back when I started making these blocks it was to preserve in a quilt for myself some prints I was especially fond of that were in danger of being used up. Another goal I had was to float the blocks on a single background print. At the time I didn't have a clue what the end product would look like or how big it would be. I've had a name for it all along though: Final Wrenches.

When it occurred to me that I probably had enough - or more than enough - blocks for a personal quilt I got the box out of the Parts Department and counted them up. Sure enough, there were more than I needed for a 60" x 80" quilt top. But there were also those that didn't play well with the others when I tried arranging them on the design wall or featured prints I was no longer so in love with.

In some of my recent quilts I was able to create a rainbow effect with block placement or to graduate the colors across the surface of the quilt. I tried to do that with this one at the outset. It didn't work. This is a true scrap quilt in that the colors and prints cross a whole spectrum of values and styles. This is the arrangement I ended up with:

And now I know why so many of the old (and not so old) Churn Dash/Monkey Wrench quilts had whole cloth alternate squares or sashing. Sewing these blocks to each other was no picnic. Matching points doesn't normally bother me but some of the background patches must not have been cut precisely or something. Then there's the bulk created when two sets of half-square triangles come together. I lost track of how often I had to rip out part of a seam and try again. Halfway through I had to take a break. I also lowered my standards along the way.

Pressing seems to have been a big help. The points are matching better than I expected. I'm sure close inspection would reveal inconsistencies but at this point I don't care.

By the time this gets quilted I'm sure I'll be happier with it than I am at the moment.

And now I get to figure out what to do with those leftover blocks! Who knows, I might even figure out a way to include them on the back. 😊

Checking In - H2H 2020

Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict has set up a linky party for us to share the quilts we're working on for Hands2Help this year. I'm doing better than in years past at this point! It helps that my focus this time around has been on baby quilts for the Little Lambs Foundation. I'd have three for them now if it weren't for the fact that I decided to send one to a niece who is having her first child in May. 😊

This one has been quilted...

Just with a simple meander. It's about 40" square. This top is next to be quilted:

It's a bit bigger at about 45" square.

I've just finished the binding on this quilt out of my Parts Department:

An exact destination hasn't been determined yet. It may go to our local foster care program. It's roughly 58" wide and 75" long. I was delighted to be able to use an old blue fabric printed with gold metallic swirls that sort of mimic the swirls James used to quilt it.

It was one of those prints I'd never found an appropriate use for. Now it's nearly all gone and I don't have to deal with it anymore. Except in scraps of course. 😉I do need to spend some time cutting scrap patches. Several quilts have been trimmed and bound lately, which means I have cuttings from the backs that have accumulated. At the same time my stack of scrap blocks to sew between seams (i.e. leaders and enders) has diminished to one, and it's partly assembled already. Might be time to break out a new blade for the rotary cutter too!

The link party is here in case you'd like to see what others have been working on for Hands2Help this year. 💜

Halloween Is Always A Good Idea

I have been busy putting bindings on quilts and sewing them down. Because they are smaller quilts than I've made historically I don't want to go to the hassle of hanging them in the studio to take their pictures. But wouldn't you know, when I'm finally ready for a photo shoot the weather turned wet. So I guess you'll have to wait a bit longer to see them in all their finished glory. However, I have a new top I can show you. 😊

This began with some Hourglass blocks/units I started making over a year ago as leaders and enders. I didn't have a clue what I would do with them when I began but just cut some black tone on tone prints and assorted yellows, cheddars, and red-oranges. At some point they got set aside when other projects took precedence - before I had enough to really do anything with them. Then I saw someone else's quilt online that used Hourglass blocks between whole cloth squares. That was the inspiration I needed to move this project forward. My Hourglasses finished at 5" so I cut 5.5" squares of more of my more juvenile Halloween prints. In spite of my best efforts I still hadn't used them all up!

Eventually I had equal numbers of Hourglasses and Halloween squares. The next step was to decide how to arrange them.

You can see here I chose to keep all the lighter, yellow Hourglasses in the center of the composition. I did my best to scatter the prints in the holes. I had several squares of some prints but only one or two of others.

This is what I ended up with:

I debated whether to put a framing border around it before calling it done. Nothing in the stash really called out to me for that purpose though. It will be about 50" x 60" if I just bind it the way it is. I have a wonderful diagonal orange stripe in my stash that will make a great binding. What sealed the deal was learning we are to have a new grandbaby in October. What could be more perfect?! 😁 The child may not be ready for a quilt of this size for a year or so but you can never have Halloween too often or too early in my opinion!

April Stitch Along

Not to be repetitive, but it's hard to believe it's already been three weeks since our last stitch along check in. Apparently time is dragging for some folks due to the sequestration required in many places by the corona virus pandemic. I'm so used to isolation that things have hardly changed for me. It's easy to let the news depress my spirits though, so I have to be careful to limit my exposure to that as well as the other toxins my body takes exception to.

I've been doing more embroidery of late but not necessarily on the dish towel I had designated as my project for this SAL. We each work on our own projects in this group as opposed to everyone doing the same thing. My work tends to range from needlepoint to surface embroidery and back again. Let's see, I believe this is what the central part of the towel looked like the last time you saw it:

And this is what it looks like now:

Just some stem or outline stitching and a few lazy daisy leaves. Frankly, I've been distracted by activities in a group on Facebook with Tilly Rose, the author of Stitched Memories. She's walking us through the basic embroidery stitches at the moment, with an eye to other projects down the road. After doing some of the assigned "homework" I was prompted to trace off this little finch out of a coloring book and transfer it to fabric so I could stitch it up.

I'm pleased with the way it turned out. Might have to give him a branch to perch on though!

And back on the needlepoint front, I've made some progress on the case my friend asked me to stitch up for her.

Nearly all of the background is done. I'm down to the more fiddly bits now so progress will be slower from this point forward. Actually, this photograph might be helpful. I can see the contrast between the two shades of pink more easily in the picture than in real life.

This SAL has grown yet again as we welcome Sherrie to our ranks. I'm looking forward to seeing what she's working on, and what everyone else has accomplished since I last visited them. 😊

Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, 
Sunny, Hayley,Megan, Deborah, MaryMargaret, Renee, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, 
Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Sherrie

By the way, will you leave me a comment - if you can - letting me know whether my photos are showing up? The last couple of times I've visited my own blog half the pictures are missing. Not being technically inclined, I have no idea why or what to do about it. Thanks.

Scrap Happy in April

It's time to share something we've made out of scrap materials, whatever they may be. Most often mine are fabric scraps, and most often I'm using them to make more quilts, like this time! 😉

Last year I made a string quilt out of strips that had been cut to 8.5" long. Some of those strips had been cut to specific widths, others were used at whatever width they cleaned up to be. This is the finished quilt:

It ended up being about 60" wide by 80" long. I was surprised at how many strips were leftover after building it. Well, needing some mindless sewing recently I pulled those leftover strips back out to see how far I could get with them. There were off-cuts from recent quilt backs that I cut into strips and added to the pile as well.

When I had six columns of strips assembled I decided to try for a different layout this time. Short sections of binding strips had been accumulating. Rather than piece them together for a scrappy binding I sewed the shortest ones together end-to-end to make vertical sashing between the columns.

When that was done I decided I also needed vertical sashes on the outer edges. I used some raw 2" strips for that (so they finish at 1.5"). Then, to bring this one up to 60" x 80" as well I found yardage in my stash and put a border all the way around.

The yardage for the border was sent to me in error from a vendor a few years ago so I don't count that as new fabric. And for the back I was able to use yardage I've had for a very long time. I'd toyed with the idea of making a set of pillowcases for the granddaughters but was never entirely sold on that prospect. They would have been fun but I think this is a better use of the prints.

It also made it easy to name the quilt. I'm just going to call it Sweet Dreams! There's enough of the border print to bind the quilt when the time comes too. You can just see it at the top in the photo below. It's a batik print of knives and forks and spoons.

Kate and Gun are our hostesses for Scrap Happy Day on the 15th of each month. Their names and links are at the head of this list of links for the others who regularly participate in Scrap Happy Day. Not everyone posts something scrappy every month but their blogs are worth a look-in any time. You're welcome to join us if you'd like, just leave a comment on Kate's or Gun's blog. 😊

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny and Kjerstin