Now That We Have An RV . . .

I had to make a wall hanging for our new-to-us RV.  I actually started it a couple years ago, but last fall I went through my unfinished projects and started getting some of them completed.  This is one of them.  I have about 30 more. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

When we took our trip to SD, we left Ebby at home with a pet sitter.  We want to be able to take her with us on future trips, so we kidnapped her from the house and put her in the RV.  We did not start it up or go anywhere, we just spend most of the day out there with her, so she could get used to her surroundings.  She did do some exploring but then she wanted to stay on the floor instead of looking out a window, so put her on the bed under the quilt.  She likes hiding under quilts.

So, what did I do while hanging out with Ebby in the RV?  I did some piecing!  Our quilting group has a Block of the Month challenge and I pieced my BOM and an extra one, in bright fabrics, for the quilt for my Aunt Karen.  I don't believe the photo below demonstrates just how blinding bright the yellow fabric is.  It looks pretty mellow here, but it is not.

I set up the sewing machine on the table and sewed these together.  Then I cut out some fish! If you can tell me what kind of fish these are, I will send you a custom made zipper bag (made by me).  You can e-mail me at csz@cableone.net with your answer.  I will keep this offer open until July 4.
I welcome your comments, but for some reason my blog/Google will not let me reply to your comments.

Five Projects Going At Once!

I have been so busy.  I work 40 hours a week. My husband and I just took a week and went to South Dakota in our new-to-us RV.  We had a fun, relaxing, yet adventurous week on the road from ID to SD and back.  We went to see Mt Rushmore, and decided to see some other things along the way.  I will be getting a post on my travel blog in a day or so.  I have the first day all typed up . . . I did that when we had our blow out about ten miles east of Dubois, WY, but I have not had a minute to get more typed up.  I took a lot of photos and only had a chance to look at them last night.  It has done nothing but rain here, since we got back from SD.  

A peony in my front yard. It is one I transplanted from our previous house

Last weekend, I got the binding sewed onto Dianna's quilt. On Monday evening I finished quilting Dani Jo's two-year old quilt and started the binding. Tuesday I finished the binding on both Dani Joe's big girl quilt and her doll quilt.  I need to get those triangles cut out to finish the stack n whack that is on my design wall, and get the binding on Teresa's b&w mostly quilt, then I promised A that I would put the binding on her quilt.  I got three quilts all finished up in one week! Crazy!

Dani Jo is turning two, so I made her this big girl quilt.  I used my stash of cupcake fabrics to make it and the matching doll quilt.  I quilted them both on my home machines.  I do the stitch in the ditch on my Husqvarna, and the free-motion on my Necchi.  I made some fun loop-d-loos in the purple polka dot borders.

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This is the doll quilt.  It is 22 X 22 inches.  It has the same purple polka dot fabric as the big one, but I used it as the backing.  Below, is a photo of the back of the big girl quilt:

I will post a couple photos of Dianna's fabulous quilt after I get some bodies to hold it up while I photograph it.  It is B-I-G.

Cupcake Quilt At Last!

Yes, I have a list of projects to be working on.  But I have this basket full of cupcake fabrics and fabrics that go with cupcake fabrics.  I am whipping up a darling quilt for Dani Jo's 2nd birthday.  It needs no fancy pattern, just bold fabrics that I can show off in 4 inch blocks.  If you cut strips and sew three strips together, then slice them into 4" sections, you can whip up a nine-patch in no time at all.  Since I have a stack n whack on my design wall, I have laid out this nine-patch on my table(s).  The blocks are finished, they are just not sewed to each other yet.  Maybe tomorrow night I can get that part done.  Here's to cupcakes!!

Everything Old Is New Again!

I love experimenting, especially making quilt blocks that I have not made before. I have become more adept at making blocks that are 12" square finished.  I really don't like 12" blocks, but lately every time I do a challenge block I make a test block first.  I do this to make sure it works, but then I have test blocks I can put into a 'test block' quilt, so to speak.  I have chosen the brightest fabrics I can locate in my stash, so when the quilt is complete, I can give it to my favorite aunt.  She loves bright, especially neon, colors.  At this time, I am in a moratorium for purchasing fabric of any kind, so I have to work with what is in my stash.  Should I come to a bright fabric dead-end, I will have to wait to complete the quilt top after the end of November, when said moratorium comes to an end.
I am at no loss of excellent ideas for quilt top designs.  My husband checked out a book, at the library, the other weekend.  He is so thoughtful.  The book is America's Glorious Quilts, edited by Dennis Duke and Deborah Harding, Park Lane, NY, Crown Publishers, Inc., 1987. It weighs 15 pounds! It is really big!  So it has great photos and tons of excellent historic information.  It has distracted me immensely.  I have a paperweight magnifying glass, I have been using to get a closer look at some of the blocks.  I have pieced my 2019 interpretation of two quilt blocks that I really like from this book.   

A close up of #52, Friendship/Sampler Pieced quilt, C. 1940, Mt Vernon, OH

Collection of Shelly Zegart's quilts, Louisville, KY

This is the block I made last Friday night, that I will be including in my favorite Aunt's quilt.This block is pieced, and I chose these colors to make it really pop.  They are not neon, but next to the other blocks, it really rocks!

A close up of #194, Around The Corner, Yvonne M. Khin, 1986, 

her own collection, Bethesda, MD

I love, love, love this quilt!  Just this bit of it looks like a painting! It is so phenomenally scrappy and the fabrics are a pure delight!  I made two of these blocks.  One for my aunt's quilt and the other is for a donation quilt.

This is the knock-your-socks-off version. I made it Saturday night.  The one below is a tad bit more traditional.  I made it Sunday morning.  I was on a roll. Understand this is my version, made to be 12 1/2" unfinished (not pieced into a quilt top yet). It has a row or so less going around the outside, than the one in the book.

I really like this one the most.  I used the challenge fabric to make this block, so I had to piece the upper right corner square out of the last bit of what I had.  This block will go into one of the quilts for donation that the Kuna quilt group is making.   This was so much fun! Now I have to get back to the 30 or so other projects I am in the middle of!

Waltz Quilt Completed

Some books were donated to our Kuna quilting group.  Before I gave the books to the secretary, I found a pattern called Waltz.  I wrote down who designed it and the year and name of the book, but I have misplaced the information.  I think the book was from 1987.  I wanted to do a bit of a 3-D quilt top, and managed to make this from my stash.  I had to make it one row shorter, as I ran out of one of my colors.  But I like this just fine.  I started a purple one, but ran out of purple stash somewhat early in the process; just not early enough to have not wasted a whole afternoon on it first.

I think a more neutral background color would have made the 3-D effect less subtle.  

Random Chickens Quilt is Complete

I got off on a whim last summer with this fabulous sort of quilt design that I found in Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again.  Freddy did her quilt with red blocks, with scraps strips around each one.  I had some scraps of yellow fabric, with chickens, that I was going to toss out.  I decided to use them, and I created the Random Chickens quilt.  Then, due to unforeseen circumstances that caused me to realize what a fabric hog I was, I decided to do scrappy borders with reds I already had and use the chicken fabrics I got last summer on the back.  Oh, I have not taken a photo of the back.  I guess I had better do that.  Meanwhile, this quilt looks like madness, but is truly wonderful.  It has twenty blocks, each with a center of yellow.

This looks good, but to see it in person is a real joy.  Let's see the close-up . . .

In this close-up, you can see the wonderful swirls quilted into it by Phyllis Oneal. 
Somewhere in my blog, in 2018, (August maybe) there is mention of my Random Chickens quilt.  Keep scrolling down, or click on the 2018 section of the "Blog Archive" found on the right-hand side of my blog.  It is directly under the photo of Ebony looking out from under my flannel quilt on my bed.  Then you can read more details about the quilt. 

Baby Quilt Finished!

My quilting niece and I did a swap project in 2017.  I started these four-patch star blocks in March 2017.  Almost two years later it is all done!  QN can be proud of me for finishing something.  This is the first of many projects I will complete in 2019.  I have a lot of unfinished projects, but the list is going to slim down this year.  Here is my wonderful baby quilt:

This was a fun quilt.  I found the cute picket fence fabric at one of the quilt shops in Bend last summer.  I decided to use a piece of it in the border.  So far all the comments have been good.  It was quilted by Phyllis Oneal.  Thank you so much!