Round Robin Row Quilts

If you quilt, you may know how frustrating it can be to do a group quilt project.  I endeavor to not get involved in group quilt projects, just so my hair does not get grayer sooner than necessary.  In January, I failed at my endeavor to avoid this circumstance.  I am trying to be a team player and mentor, so I gave myself a talk and got on board.  We were supposed to be in teams of five or six, but we had nine people sign up, so we have one nice group of nine.  Our fearless leader made a fine chart of how these boxes of fabric, pieced rows, and instructions get passed to one another.  So far so good.  I was excited about this.  Then I got A's box and was confused about what her instructions were saying about the rows "had to be in rainbow order."  I visited A and got the straight poop on what that meant.  Each quilter only uses two of the solid colors provided and they have to be in rainbow order.  I went back to my house drew a chart showing the order of the rows and wrote each person's name next to the row they were to be doing, since we were on a determined schedule.  I also pinned each person's name on the two fabrics they "get" to use.

It was magical.  I later told A that once her quilt was finished by everyone, they were going to think she was one anal bitch.  So now things are going alright, and I am bearing up fairly well with what is coming around.  At our meeting at the end of March, it was announced that one participant has become incapacitated, so we would be changing how the boxes get passed.  Okay.  Two weeks later, one of the group is at my house and we are working on best practices for squaring up other peoples' rows, since they "may be" left ragged and in someone else's hands. Suddenly, it occurs to me that now the names of people I have placed on fabrics and a chart in A's box, are no longer in the right order!  What is a trying-to-avoid caos quilter to do?  So, I rounded up J's phone number and give her a call.  I know she has A's box.  She answers and says, "I was wondering when you were going to call me, since I already have my row sewed."  Was I too late????  NO.  J has it all going on!  I need to let her husband know that.  She recognized the situation and moved M2's tag on the fabric bundles to the last one, and then moved everybody else's up.  All was right with the world.  I am so excited, because I really want to post photos of these things.  However, we are not to let the owner of the original row know what they look like until the big reveal at the end.  I have been photographing them as I get them, so I will be able to post how they started out, then how they look after all the rows are added.  It just so happens, in case you have not figured it out, I am the anal bitch.  I did it for A, so her quilt comes out right.

Since no one reads my blog anyway, what am I worried about?  In case you were wondering, about "rainbow order," this is it.  A made the first row (top), as it is her quilt. M made the second, and I made the third row down.  So far it looks fabulous.  I surprised myself and was happy with how my using only two fabrics came out.  I think A is going to love it!

Betsy Quilt

The "Betsy" quilt is completed.  Mochi hogged the kitty quilt I sent down to Reno in December, so I made a special quilt just for Betsy.  When I make kitty quilts, I just use scraps that are in my basket of strip scraps.  I just sew them together and anything goes.  The butterfly fabric is sweatshirt fabric that I actually sewed to the bunny fabric, so it would have some stabilization.  This one turned out more aesthetic than most.  I almost wish I could keep it and hang it on my wall.  But it is for Betsy.  I hope to get it in the mail this coming week.  

It measures 21" X 25".  I think I should make several of this size, each one with a different name on it.  But I have a nice list of projects, I need to finish, already. I think the main thing is, I have almost used up that darned bunny fabric!

Still Scraps Remain

Greetings!  It is finally springtime in Idaho.  The crocus are in bloom along my front walkway, so that is something.  I have moved on from black and white quilts forever, I hope.  I won't say never.  I am still working on that pile of quilt tops that need quilting.  I am down from six to three; half-way done!

This is the Black & White Mostly #4 quilt.  It started out as a quilt back for number 3, but I liked how it looked so much it had to become a whole nother quilt.  I am sure you understand.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it, so you can see the details better.  I used some courthouse steps blocks, in here, and a couple of Deb Rowdin's hearts.

    

                   video of how #4 went together:  click HERE

I have been honing my video making skills and I know I did better on this video than the previous one, so give it a chance . . . and have a view, please.  It shows how it went together from scraps remaining from the previous one, to the scraps remaining after this one.  Still scraps remain.  

I still had some scraps after I finished #4, but they are finally significantly less. I stuffed these on the shelf with my black and white fabrics, but I should move them to the bin with all the strips for making another "random" quilt.  It will need bits of b&w.

Black & White Mostly (#3) Quilt is Finished and Photographed

Black & White Mostly #3 is wider than an outhouse.  It looked like an outhouse, but maybe it was a pumphouse instead.  Finally, it has quit snowing, sleeting, and down right down-pouring long enough for me to get out and take some photos of my finished black and white mostly quilts.  This one I finished in February.  Please, check my Dec 29, 2022, post called "Taking Stock", to read all about how I created this quilt.  There is also a video.

After Teresa and I finished the first two B&W Mostly quilts, there were lots (tons) of scraps left over.  I unearthed that pile in December and decided it needed to go . . . . into a quilt.  I started making a backing from the still remaining scraps, when I liked what I was seeing and decided it was not a back, but a top.  Thus, we have B&W #4, which I will take you through in my next post.  It is simply a lovely day in Treasure Valley.

First Completed Quilt of 2023

In my December 29 post, I stated I had completed four quilt tops that I had not yet made backs for or gotten them quilted.  As of the end of January, I had two more.  So, after recovering from COVID, earlier this month, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed.  Where to begin?  I have started on that pile of six quilt "tops".  I made four quilt backs in one day, but I cannot remember what day that was.  I connected with my long-arm quilter and delivered two of them to her.  I quilted one myself, and the other is waiting for me to handle the batting part.  

This is my alligator baby quilt, my first completed quilt of 2023.  Yesterday, A came over and we quilted/sewed for a few hours.  Here is what she said about the alligator quilt:  Oh, these are cute little alligators with hearts,  . . . and the mean alligators are in the center.  Mean alligators?  I guess the ones in the middle of the quilt are not as adorable as the ones in the outside borders.  The outside border alligators, my daughter got for me when she was present at a sewing festival in Luxembourg, a few a years ago.  I am serious about using the fabrics I already have.

Let's Clean and Organize!

I have been sick with COVID.  I am not free to get up and roam around the cabin yet, but I am feeling much better.  I just feel like I have a bit of a cold.  Today, for the first time, since last Wednesday, I got on my computer.  I just felt like doing something more than sleeping or staring at a wall.  I have been very sensitive to light; serious headache.  I just thought I would click on a past post, on my blog, and maybe find some block I made that I could plan on using in an upcoming quilt.  I did not find a block, but I found an interesting post, that I did exactly nine years ago today.  The post is titled, Let's Clean and Organize! 

That post has a photo of my red and white stash on my ice cream chair, and it was posted on January 30, 2014.  I went into my quilt room, and drug out my red and white stash bin, and placed my current stash on the same chair.

My red and white stash on January 30, 2023.  As I compare the two photos, I see I know how to fold my stash more neatly and it is wider, so it fits in my acrylic bin nicely.  The 2014 photo may be a bit sloppy and tall, but it is narrower, as my stash was kept in my cupboard.  Overall, I believe I have the same amount today as I did then, and many of the same fabrics are still there!  Since I plan on working on a kitchen sink Christmas quilt, I can use a lot of these wonderful reds in it.  You know, I don't have a green stash at all!  . . . and that's a good thing!

A Salute to Deb Rowden and Her Thrift Shop Quilt Blog

I followed Deb Rowden's "Thrift Shop Quilts" blog for a couple years, then there were no more posts.  I imagine some health issue suddenly befell her.  I have continued to visit her blog for inspiration.  About a week and a half ago, I looked at her blog and discovered these interesting heart blocks, that were certainly easy to duplicate.  I made two of them to go in the Black and White Mostly quilt I am working on now.  I made one in December, but this is yet another one, as I am going to use up every bit of that b&w scrap fabric.  Yes, I said it would be the back for the December one, but no.  It is so lovely; it is another quilt top.  My next post will be about it, and you will see these lovely heart blocks are a crucial part of the design. 

Meanwhile, I have been cleaning out some old craft stuff that I no longer use.  I took two boxes of tole painting magazines, counted cross-stitch materials, kits, and frames to the Re-use Market on Chinden Blvd.  I had never been in there, so I had to have a look.  Oh my!  They have quilt magazines, record albums, buckets of chop sticks, paint brushes, crayons, and markers.  They have (uh oh) fabric, PVC pipe, yarn, sewing machines, pinecones, books, etc.  You get the idea.  I was lucky to get out of there alive.  I was quite restrained. 

I bought Quilter's Newsletter Magazine from 2003, which is chock full of amazing photos and ideas, for twenty-five cents.  I bought two rolls of yarn, some metalic ancient looking woven material (I am refraining from saying the F word), a retro pillow case with hand-made buttons (see those tiny things on the right?) and a "kit".  This "kit" was $1.00.  I could not resist the little pleated doll dress that I discovered there.

This is Astrid, one of my 18-inch dolls that is a quilter on my doll quilt blog.  She is modeling the adorable. pleated dress.  I will launder and press it, and it will go into her wardrobe, as she always likes to look stylish, especially when she is posing with one of her quilts.

Here is the kit, I purchased.  I liked the pale blue fishy fabric that you can see on the back of the package.  I already have a buzzilion buttons, from my great-grandma Hutch, my grandma Willis, and my mother.  Naturally, I have my own as well.  That is four generations of buttons.  Here I come with some more! Just what I need is more buttons.  Let's see what is in this baby!

I am amazed at how much 'material' is in this little packet.  

These two fabrics will work great with my wonky houses stash.  I will be starting a wonky house quilt next week.  I have a friend coming over, who wishes to learn how to make wonky house blocks.  The farmers and children are the perfect size.  I love these dogs in train cars!  I can use them, too.

This is all of the 'material' that was in that packet.  I love the big swirls.  The royal blue square is polyester.  This could be the beginning of a polyester quilt!  I can certainly make a child's quilt out of these other fabrics:  cars, Thomas the Tank Engine, fire trucks, law enforcement, and the little fish.  I have decided to look in my stash and refill this little kit and donate it back to the Re-use Market.

This is the little pillowcase that has the crocheted buttons as closures on the other side.  It would make a great mattress cover for a doll, or a pillow for an old-fashioned doll like Patsy Ann.  My friend, Julie, has just such a sized doll, but I don't know it's name.  I could make a pillow to fit inside, then give it as a gift.   [If you click on the photos, they become full screen, so you can see the details]

I laid this 'material' across both my cutting mats, so you can see that it is transparent.  It will pick up the colors from whatever fabric is placed behind it.  This could be fun to play with!

Thank you to Deb Rowden, who has inspired me and now, I hope I can inspire others.

Near the top of my blog page, in the left margin, is a link to Deb Rowden's Thrift Shop Quilts blog.  Check it out!  If that is too inconvenient, here is the link:  Deb Rowden's Thrift Shop Quilts