Category Archive: quilts
I took the photo of this quilt hanging over the quilting machine so you could see the quilting. It’s amazing the time dark, rainy days provide for sewing. Now that the sewing and quilting are done, only the binding needs to be attached. I believe I’ll get this project done THIS month. Then I’ll work on my Churn Dash again. I’d like to get it done as well. I’m not sure what the best way to quilt it is, so I’m open to suggests on that.Churn dash; and a surprise!
Churn dash:
This churn dash flimsy is finished because several of you were kind enough to give me suggestions to help this quilt be more acceptable. Thank you so very much for the suggestions. Here are the added embroideries.
Look at what a difference they made and also the borders. Sometimes, it’s just hard to see where to go, when you get surprises like all the white it had. That’s when it is so great to have friends like you. I’m happy with it now. Mary came over today and we spent the day playing with this and catching up on life. I love her visits!
SURPRISE:
I had given up on this Cormo ewe getting pregnant – she didn’t last year – and she sure didn’t look like she had put on weight. But yesterday morning when she didn’t show up to eat, I went looking for her and this little girl was just learning to stand. She is so cute and precious! Under the mud the back leg is white. I am delighted with this surprise.
Churn Dash near flimsy stage; yardage report for 2/17/16
Churn Dash almost flimsy
OK, I am in trouble this time. I didn’t map this out and didn’t realize how much white there would be. And I didn’t calculate yardage so I am out of the dark blue with the little bears. But I did have enough with small scraps left. So I think I will just use a plain dark blue to match the dark blue in the quilt as a border. But what am I going to do with all that white space? I need suggestions here. There are 15 squares and 6 big diamonds.
Weekly yardage report for 2/17/17:
Used this Week: Feb 10 5.875 yards
Used this Month (Feb) 10.875 yards
Used year to Date 36.875 yards
Taxes, eye exam, a churn dash block!
Here is one churn dash block so you can see how this quilt will look. Not much sewing/quilting was done with all the other “important” stuff. I’ll spare you the tales of a full eye exam including eye dilation and getting information together to do the taxes. Stay safe, dry, and warm until we meet again tomorrow.
Finished: Stars a heart, homeless folks
STARS:
This little 36″ star quilt, Little Bits “Double star Duo“ is a paper pieced pattern by Cindi Edgerton with a print date of 2003 on the instructions. It is now waiting to be washed and gifted. It was cut out, who knows when, but sewing started just before Christmas, so once I pulled it out, it went quickly. It is a perfect size for a new baby or a table topper.
The Heart:
This is the heart I purchased the pattern and supplies for several years ago to make for my mil. She has been gone awhile, but since I had the ingredients, I wanted to make it. I started it Jan 2, this year and it is now finished and I can check it off my list. My friend, Mary, helped me with the roses and leaves. I am pleased with the results.
Homeless folk:
Now about the homeless men and the quilts. I got several responses to my questions yesterday and some great advise. As you know quilts are not inexpensive in either materials or time. Sally send me the following information:
“there is a project called Ugly Quilts. They make homeless quilts but I don’t advocate their method unless you really want to use any and all recyclable fabric objects. They are adamant the quilts should be ugly so they don’t get stolen (and possibly sold for cash at a pawn shop).
http://www.thesleepingbagproject.org/help-us/instruction/
Our group in WW, made nicer quilts but out of any sturdy fabric. They liked that old polyester double knit and I took boxes and boxes of the stuff to them. They used thicker batting than what you probably quilt with but the quilts were turned and tied. They might have used the inexpensive sheets for backing. We do for our Survivor Quilts and get them at Fred Meyer when they are on sale for 3.99 for the single size, perfect for the 60 by 80 inch quilts we make. They are poly-cotton and tough but not so bad to tie through. This is a survivor top:
She was then kind enough to send me the page for the sale that Walmart is having on sleeping bags for under $10 each. So I purchased some of them to give the church. When I talked to the church secretary, she told me they have some regulars and there were some that probably would sell them to get what they wanted. So for $10.00, I think this will help them and save a lot of lovely fabric from being wasted. We do want to help, but sometimes it’s difficult to see what that help looks like.
Chinese coins, Churn dash quilts
The Chinese coins quilt is cut out now and partially sewn. It is so wet here and the church wants quilts for the homeless, but how do they stay dry? And how do they clean them when they get filthy? Does anyone know or do they just throw them away and ask for more?
The Churn Dash for a young child is also now cut out. I will probably use fleece on the back of this one. All I need now is time to piece these two quilts together, and then time to quilt them and to bind them. So easily said and not so easily done.
I did go to the gym this morning and will have my steps in for today. And in the middle of the day, we took the time to have lunch with our youngest daughter, but other than that and chores, it has been a studio filled day.
St Patrick’s placemats; 2/10/17 stash report
Finished 4 St. Patrick’s placemats for our own use. All the fronts were from scraps and I used one piece of fabric for the back, which also made it easier to quilt them all at once.
My prayer is that each of you will have a very restful and safe weekend.
2/10/17 STASH report
It appears that I will have to work harder if I’m going to get anywhere near this goal. I will be making some more of the coin quilts in the coming week because they go together fast and I can use dark colors for the homeless men.
Used this Week: Feb 10 5.875 yards
Used year to Date 31.125 yards
Goal: 300.00 yards
Yards to goal: 268.875 yards
Added this Week: 0.00 yards
Added Year to Date: 3.00 yards
New Yards to quilt goal: 271.875 yards
Net Used 2017 28.875 yards
Donation quilts, fencing, new socks
Donation quilts:
I finally put together a pile of quilts for those with fewer resources than we have and took them to the church. It’s cold out there. The secretary said they have men sleeping in the doorways at night now. I need to make some simple, but warm quilts as she said at this point, anything helps them.
Then it was lunch time. I like a simple tostada with a shell, beans, and lettuce, and of course guacamole throughout. I found that if I order it as a side, I get a bit more.
Fencing:
Remember the fencing, I spent an hour repairing yesterday with baling wire? Since the sheep have nothing better to do than to eat and then figure out how to dismantle things, they achieved the dismantle by pushing the 2 x 4s down. So today I dragged a cattle panel to the pen. It completely fit that area, so we tied it up and hope that it will last until Sunday and we can get it put up more securely. But one never really knows. These sheep are small as they are Shetlands, but they are mighty when they decide they want to be somewhere else.
Knitting:
That was enough fun for this crazy day. So I spent some time knitting a new pair of socks. These are on a size 3 needle and 100% wool, so I will add nylon to the heel and toes to reinforce those areas. I put the socks on hold that were needing more attention. These are going fast because I don’t have to think much and it is a larger yarn. As you can see from my note on the page, I’m only working on 48 stitches. Maybe, I’ll get these done before the month is over and can go back and work on January’s socks.
Hang on tight and enjoy life’s crazy roller coaster ride.
Why I got out of bed today
Today I got out of bed to face challenges – several of them. I started by bringing a bale of hay by wheelbarrow to the sheep. That was enough. I decided that the roads were too dangerous to have me on them yet and I had just had a workout, so didn’t get to the gym. When I went to add bedding to the sheep night quarters, I found that they had for the most part taken these two panels apart. So taking twine, I jury rigged this and hope it holds until the snow melts so I can bring a new panel with which to repair this.
And here is part of the crew supervising. OK, sheep taken care of, time to quilt.
And here is the quilt that does not want to be a quilt. It was paper pieced and that went good. Quilting it was another story. The first thing that happened was the thread jumped out of the disks and I had a big mess on the bottom. This happened not once, but twice. I finally conquered that and the next thing was the machine tried to eat a hole in the fabric when the needle got stuck. Eventually, after a few hours this little 33″ square is quilted and tomorrow I will put the binding on and some little baby will be wrapped snuggly in it.
Why did I get out of bed this morning? Sometimes, it’s hard to know why these challenges are in our day, but I’m hoping that meeting them makes me a better person. They sure do wreak havoc with my plans.
Scrap play; car trouble
I made the 4 placemats 14 x 19 and have the binding ready to put on them as well. After they are quilted, each will get a green shamrock in the corner.
I know that some of you mothers who read this blog will enjoy this photo. Dear son thought the snow would be nearly non-existent as it usually is when forecast. However, he opted to park by the barn under a tree – just in case – so he wouldn’t have to deal with the hill. Note: The tree is bare. You see two sets of tires. DH had snow tires put on before Christmas just in case. The tires are usually kept under the deck. DS realized his mistake in not having the studded tires put on and grabbed the first set of tires, dragged them up to where his car was parked, got a tire off the car and realized that the tires he had dragged up there were his father’s normal tires. Back to get the studded tires, he went. He dragged them up there and mounted them. Then tried to get out. He did get to the paved road, but the snow was too high for the car to go over. He came back home very tired and vowing to get the tires changed before Christmas next year. Now just to make things really good, all this happened on his 50th birthday. Maybe the birthday was just too exciting to think clearly. But I did enjoy a good laugh.