This and That

I've been away from the blog a while! Not because I haven't been busy; I have. Also I did get a cold and get snowed-in out of town for a week. That put a dent in production.

I finished my February do. Good Stitches block. February was a short month, it snuck up on me!  The tutorial for the block is here. I thought Louise did a really good job of making a somewhat structured wonky block.

I dug up a couple of old UFOs and finished them for charity quilts. The disappearing hourglass block and the "Dallas Nights" strip quilt will be featured on here as soon as the sun comes out.

I also picked back up an old hobby. Hand made, coptic stitched journals. Coptic stitching is great because it's beautiful and allows the journal to open flat for easier writing. I'll show more pictures of this one once it has been gifted, but here is a sneak peek.

Hoping for more frequent blogging soon.

Rainbow Mix Tape {January do. Good Stitches}

This Friday's Finish is the January quilt for my do. Good Stitches group, the NURTURE circle.  It was my month to be quilter again and I chose a foundation pieced QAYG design.

The choice for this month's block was natural since I have been on a string quilt kick lately and the best way to make string quilts is with foundation piecing; as long as we were going to foundation piece anyway it might as well be onto batting.  The fact the this drastically reduced the amount of work I as the quilter had to do was beside the point ;)

Everyone sent in their two string blocks pieced onto various types of batting by Feb. 9th and I got the quilt top assembled that very night! I tried several different arrangements but this rainbow one was my favorite by far.

I pressed the block seams open (lesson learned- not all battings are hot-iron safe.) Then applied the backing and quilted along the open seams with the triple zig zag stitch on my machine. This held the layers together and tamed the bulky seams that are the nemesis of QAYG.

Because of the foundation piecing the only quilting visible on the back is the grid of zig zag quilting that holds the layers together.

Our circle makes quilts for My Very Own Blanket, a charity that provides quilts for children in foster care. One of our members was recently able to visit them and as a result of what she learned we are trying this year to make more boy-friendly quilts and to include matching pillowcases with our larger size quilts.

Our members did a great job of picking super cute, boyish fabrics in the strings they used, like these whales and teepees.

Since I used a sheet for backing I actually had a store-bought pillowcase that matched it. I thought it was a little too plain, so I cut off the end of the sleeve and made a custom one instead. (My pillowcase tutorial is here.)

The quilt finished at 48" x 60" and will be shipped inside its pillowcase to the MVOB workshop.  Huge thank you to the ladies of the Nurture circle, who are always good sports and get their blocks sewn up in record time. Thank You!

If you are interested in making a similar quilt my original tutorial can be found here.

Linking to Friday Finishes at Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP Wednesday

It's cold outside but the sun coming in the windows is warm.

The perfect day for napping on a mostly-finished WIP.

Or for demonstrating the proper use of an ironing board placed just-so in front of a window.

Happy Wednesday! Linking to WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced.

String Quilt No. 3, Modern Lines

My string scrap busting continues with the latest in a line of string quilts.  I'm calling this one "Modern Lines." (See string quilts No. 1 and No. 2 at these links.)  For this one I wanted to make another quilts with the same traditional-type blocks as String Quilt No. 1, but a more modern setting.

I foundation pieced these 10.5" blocks on tops of newspaper. It seems like newspaper would turn both my fingers and the fabric black, but in fact I had no such problem. Best of all it tore away easily, making removing the paper not the chore it usually is.

This pretty much wiped out my black and red scraps but I still have some white and neutral left for the next quilt.

I really like the way the red strings are pointed on the ends. That was one aspect of the design I didn't see coming when I drew it out originally. I'm calling it a design feature, not a bug ;)  As you can tell, I quickly stippled the whole thing for simplicity sake.

The quilt has a soft, red, houndstooth flannel backing and finished at 60"x80".  It has been gifted to boyfriend's long-suffering roommate, who puts up with me crashing at his house and making a mess in his kitchen several times a week.

Thanks for visiting, happy Friday! Linking to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it Friday and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

Scrappy Design Wall

The sun came out! Hooray!  I have the makings of a couple of scrap quilts on the design wall.

I am still deciding what to do with those blue and low volume scraps on the bottom. I have planned to use them as 16 patches and sash them, but I like the look of them together so much! Decisions, decisions. And how am I supposed to get anything done when these two and making a nap look so good?

Linking to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Covered in Love Finish

Despite the best efforts of the weather I was finally able to get pics for a finish this Friday!  While the rest of the country has been buried in snow here in Texas we've been overcast, damp, and cold.

The Scrappy Stars quilt is the first one I have finished specifically for the Covered in Love project. This is a project that is near and dear to my heart, to bring small comfort quilts to the family members of patients who die in the hospital where I work.  I am starting by trying to turn my scraps into as many small quilts as possible to build a stash of quilts at the hospital.

The Scrappy Stars quilts measures 50" x 65". The quilts for Covered in Love need to be small so they can be placed on a hospital bed, but large enough to be useful once they are brought home by the family.

The hospital isn't a good place to die. Most people imagine they will die at home, surrounded by family, preferably in their sleep. The reality for most of us is far different. The goal of CiL is to bring a small measure of comfort to families of patients dying in the hospital when they would rather be anywhere else.

I can probably make about 3-4 quilts a month for CiL, and while each one makes a difference, that won't even begin to cover the need. If anyone wants to contribute quilts, blocks, UFOs or tops to CiL I would be very grateful. You can read more about the project on its homepage. Please comment or email with any questions or for my address.

Linking to Finish it Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

WIP Wednesday: Orangeade

This week I am working on another quilt top for Covered in Love, a scrappy orange quilt called Orangeade. Hope you are sewing, too!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.