Monday, November 30, 2020

Design Wall Monday: 2020 Stash Buster Challenge

 

I finally jumped on the bandwagon that is the 2020 Stash Buster Challenge by the Border Creek Station.  I stumbled upon this challenge way back in January via Facebook.  


The block is the Square Dance and the challenge is to use your scraps to make 52 blocks by the end of the year to be entered in a drawing.  That's a block a week. A whole year.  No problem, I thought.  Ha, ha!   But other things and other quilts took priority and before I knew it, the end of the year was less than 5 weeks away.  


I've made a couple yellow and blue quilts in the past years and had some leftover yellow floral fat quarters.  I think they're pretty but it's time to use them up.  This stash buster was perfect.


So far, I've made 24 blocks and can't decide on a layout, although I am leaning towards #1.  I'm also wondering if all that floral is too busy and maybe I should add some tone-on-tone yellows.  

I am enjoying working on this project and am fairly sure I can meet the 52-block challenge by year-end.  But the quilt won't be finished until January so it'll be my first one for 2021.

If you'd like to see more quilting goodness and see what others are up to, please visit the following which I'm linking up to:  

Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Oh! Scrap @ Quilting Is More Fun...

Until next time ... 
Be happy and keep on quilting!


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Friday, November 27, 2020

Weekly Finish...Or Not: Grassy Creek Mystery Starts Today!

 

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving Day.  Hubby and I spent a quiet day and did a Zoom dinner with my sister and nieces.  I must say I definitely miss our in-person get-togethers but Zoom is better than nothing.  

I have not been together in-person with my sister since February when we celebrated her 90th birthday.  I have been to her home but can only visit her from the driveway.  She comes out to her balcony and we have a little chat with me underneath in the driveway.  She's Rapunzel to my Eugene LOL.  We're all very protective of her so I'm okay with that.  I am SO looking forward to 2021.

My sister is an amazing person

This will be my second Bonnie Hunter Quitville Mystery Quilt, and for once, I'm starting on day one.


Last year's Frolic Mystery was my first ever and it took me out of my comfort zone. I'm not a pink person but I think this color combination is stunning; and the blue matches the blue throughout my house. It was a challenge and it is not perfect but I am proud to have finished it.

This was definitely a learning experience and one of the things that stuck with me was not to overthink the colors.  I fretted about exactly matching the colors with the ones Bonnie showed.  I worried that I had too much of one fabric and not enough scrappiness.  But in the end, it didn't matter as much because the pieces are so small.  What really mattered was the contrast.

Gold, Red, Green, Orange, Gray, and Neutral

For this year's mystery, I pulled most of the fabrics from my stash.  I already had plenty of gray, red, and orange, and surprisingly, I even had some light green color.  But I did have to add to my gold and white neutral stash and now I'm good to go.

I do want to give kudos to all the talented and creative quilters who are comfortable putting together their own color combination and be fairly confident that it will be remarkable.  I am not that imaginative but I am inspired by you all.  I can't wait to see your beautiful creations!

I'm off to start working on Clue 1 which I'll post about as my work-in-progress.

Until next time ... be happy and keep on quilting!

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Friday, November 20, 2020

Weekly Finish #17: Charming Christmas Quilt 2020

 

Yay! I finally finished my Charming Christmas Quilt, more than a week before December!  I can't believe I was able to finish this quilt in 3 weeks.  I posted about my work-in-progress here, here, and here.


I am really glad I decided to do a pieced border.  It's much more interesting than a plain simple border.


Many of these prints are from 1/2 yards and FQs I bought over the past couple of years, but about half of the fabrics are from a bag of scraps I bought at the thrift store last year.  The scrappy white background and inner border also include cotton sheet scraps.


The original design uses 25 Jacob Ladder blocks but I decided to make my quilt smaller with only 20 blocks.


The pattern instructs you to make the blocks before deciding on a layout, but somehow I missed that part.  Instead of making the blocks individually, I laid out each 4-patch and HST unit in rows and columns and then sewed it together.  It probably would have been easier to follow the instructions.  Oh, well, in the end, it all worked out.


I pieced the backing with Christmas fabrics that have been in my stash for a few years.  I also used leftover 4-patch units from the top.


A mob of nutcrackers


Coca-Cola and Santa Claus

Angry Bird ornaments ... they look a little cuckoo to me

The red-and-white striped fabric I used for the binding was the only one not from my stash.  I did a bias binding so the stripes would be diagonal and sewed it on by machine.


I quilted it with an edge-to-edge pantograph named Picket by Golden Threads.  I decided to use a "round" design that I thought would stand out against the straight lines of the blocks.  It's not a dense design so it was another one that was fast and easy. And, I used lightweight polyester batting.  The quilt measures 56" x 68"

I can't believe this is the one and only Christmas quilt in my collection.  What's up with that?  Ok, well, I do have my Very Coriander Christmas BOM quilt in progress, and hopefully, by next Christmas, I'll have 1 or 2 more for my collection.

If you'd like to see more quilting goodness and see what others are up to, please visit the following which I'm linking up to:

Until next time ... be happy and keep on quilting!

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Wednesday, November 18, 2020

WIP Work In Progress: I've Been Sew Busy

 

I've made some progress on my Single Wedding Ring since my Monday Design Wall post.




Each block measures 15.5" and so far I've made 9 blocks.  I think 20 blocks plus sashing and borders will make a nice size quilt.  Maybe not a bed size but large enough for my friend and hubby to cuddle under while watching TV. 

And my Charming Christmas quilt top is on the frame ready for quilting.  I pieced the backing with Christmas fabrics from my stash, and you can see a bit of one of the prints in the picture.  I haven't decided on a quilting design but I hope I can get this quilt finished by Friday.

I don't know if this is real progress, but I have my fabrics ready for Bonnie Hunter's Grassy Creek Mystery.  This will be my second mystery quilt and one thing I learned from my first mystery, Frolic, is to not sweat the color choices too much.  I fretted so much with Frolic that my colors weren't an exact match, but in the end it all worked beautifully.  I am so excited for the first clue to be released next Friday!


I fell in love with this table runner when I saw it on FB.


The pattern is from The Guilty Quilter.  I've always wanted to make one of his patterns but they looked a little complicated.  This table runner seemed small enough to give it a go.  It is made with cute Halloween fabric and he was offering a kit.


And, as if I really needed another project, I ordered a kit which arrived today.


It's Halloween fabric but that's okay.  It's never too early to start!



Or, I can use a different fabric.  I love both these colors.

If you'd like to see more quilting goodness and see what others are up to, please visit the following which I'm linking up to:  

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication
To-Do Tuesday @ Home Sewn By Us
Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Until next time ... 
Be happy and keep on quilting!

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Monday, November 16, 2020

Design Wall Monday: Single Wedding Ring

 

A couple months ago, I received an email from a very dear friend announcing her recent wedding.  Due to COVID, she had a very intimate ceremony at home with only her nuclear family.  Of course, I was surprised because I had no clue but I was also very happy for her.  

You see, forty years ago she became a widow with two school-age children. She deeply mourned the loss of her husband and refused to date for many years ... until she met the man who recently became her husband.  They dated off and on for many years, and they are now both in their 70s with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  I wish them many happy years together.

To celebrate and show some love, I decided to gift them a quilt, and I knew I wanted to make a wedding ring quilt. I thought about a Double Wedding Ring but knew it would take me forever.  Instead, I opted for a Single Wedding Ring design, also known as the English Wedding Ring and Crown of Thorns.


I found this free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop and I also viewed this video from Missouri Star Quilt Co.  In the video, Jenny uses the Magic 8 method to make the HSTs.  I know I'm late to the game as this is my first time using this method and I love it.  

So far I've only made the 4 blocks and haven't decided on a layout.  These are a few of the layouts I'm considering.  I really like the look of the on-point design as it just seems more attractive.



I made these two quilts in 2005 using another version of the Single Wedding Quilt block.  I really like this on-point design and may use it for this quilt.

If you'd like to see more quilting goodness and see what others are up to, please visit the following which I'm linking up to:  

Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Oh! Scrap @ Quilting Is More Fun...

Until next time ... 
Be happy and keep on quilting!
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Friday, November 13, 2020

Weekly Finish #16: Floral Lucky Stars 2020


I finished the top for this quilt more than 2 months ago and posted about my work-in-progress here and here. I am so happy to finally get it quilted and bound so I can gift it.


Lucky Stars by Atkinson Designs is one of my favorite patterns and I love the floral fabrics in this quilt.  I have enough to make another quilt and I'm tempted to make one for myself.😃


The backing is reddish-pink paisley that complements the red and pink overall color scheme of the top.  I also used the same fabric for the binding which is sewn by machine.




I quilted it with a simple loopy heart E2E pantograph which is a fast and easy design that goes well with this pattern.  And, I used lightweight polyester batting.

The quilt measures 57" x 69" ~ a nice size to wrap herself in love with her children.

If you'd like to see more quilting goodness and see what others are up to, please visit the following which I'm linking up to:

Until next time ... be happy and keep on quilting!

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