. yellow green orange UFO star sampler quilt - complete remaining 8 blocks, etc.

 

This is project number 9 on my 2020 quilt goals.  I began this quilt in 2012.  It was a quilt along sponsored by Moose on the Porch Quilts.  There were 12 blocks, with the idea of using a selection of fat quarters to make the blocks.  I completed four blocks back then, and then this project became a languishing UFO for 8 years.  Finally got the blocks and borders done, so next steps will be making the backing, getting it quilted, and a final border.  The bright orange around the blocks will also be the binding. 

Bonnie Hunter Frolic - body of quilt top completed

I finished putting this together this weekend.  The next step is an inner border and then the outer borders of raspberry/neutral half square triangles and blue/neutral half square triangles.  I want to slightly expand the dimensions of the quilt, so I'm thinking of widening the inner neutral (off-white border).  It's supposed to be a queen size but needs to be a little wider to provide adequate drop over a thicker mattress.  At the moment I'm stabilizing the outside of this section by stay stitching and then will trim to even up the edges into a straight line. 

work in process - Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt - "Frolic"

I've been working on this since the beginning of the year off and on.  I have the 25 main blocks made and now in assembly, but also making the half block setting triangles as I go.  this fills one of my long term goals of a quilt with a hidden secondary block that emerges when the blocks are assembled.  (the white areas of the quilt).  Also the blocks are set on point by doing diagonal rows.  This is a weird color way, so not sure where I will use the quilt .  After the block assembly, there will be a sold white/neutral border, then a red/neutral and blue/neutral 1/2 square triangle external borders.  I may make add another neutral border in between the 2 half-square triangle borders to add a bitt of width and length. to the quilt.  

Hand quilting project not on my 2020 goals - work in progress

a couple of years ago I searched EBay for quilt tops and found this beautiful top that had been embroidered and cross-stitched and already had the quilt sandwich.  It was a preprinted top that had the quilting markings ready to go.  After I finished the gingham sunflower handquilting earlier this year, I started the hand quilting on this one.  Of course it is a much smaller project, about the size of a crib quilt.  But I have made good progress.  Now working on the outer detailed hand quilting, so I probably still have a month or more of quilting while watching tv  .  I inquired of the EBay seller who the maker of the embroidered top was, but he/she had purchased it at an estate sale on the east coast and had no more info.  My deep gratitude to the skilled embroiderer!

Goal 12: various non-quilting sewing projects for new granddaughters

While we were in South Bend last month (where my embroidery machine lives currently), I got around to adding machine embroidery designs to some onesies and snappy shirts for the 2 granddaughters.  (these were sized 6 months, so I had to get them done before they outgrew them.  )
I watched a number of videos about embroidering on knits, stabilizers, needles, etc., as well as working with my Embrilliance software for transferring fonts and designs into the embroidery format. 

Doing this number of projects helped me get more proficient and "automatic" about the process.  Before this I had mainly used my embroidery machine to make quilt labels and only made 3 or 4 a year (my quilt output lol), so every time I had to relearn the process.

Here are the results:

Here is Ori modeling 2 of her shirts:

And here is Elin in one of hers: 

cleaning stuffed animals

It's pretty embarrassing, (I'm not a hoarder), but due to an intown move at a time when I and our family were leading very busy lives, our nanny packed the kids rooms (without really sorting anything), so old and new toys and stuffed animals ended up in boxes and trash bags, and then we just moved things into storage.  now, 20 years later, both kids have had beautiful daughters, and I've pulled this stuff out to see if they want any of the old toys. 
(I've only started on stuffed animals and dolls and baby books.  (there is still a box of puzzles, another of Halloween costumes, and several boxes of legos - another time).

Anyway, so these stuffed animals are 20-30 years old and have been in storage for 20 years  (at least no exposure to covid !)  but some of the stuffed animals had some soiling from years of loving. 

So I decided to clean up the most precious ones.  And it worked!  This Carebear was pretty soiled, as seen in the first "lineup " picture.  And then the next picture is "after".

First I used stainremover spray on the obvious stains.  (spray n wash).  I then soaked the stuffed animals in a sinkful of warm water, with a 1/2 cup of Biz and a tablespoon of Dawn liquid dishwashing liquid.  I let  them soak about 45 minutes.  Then I looked at them and used a brush to scrib any remaining stained places.  I took them out, squeezed out most of the water, and then put them back in a sinkful of clean water and let them soad another 30 minutes.  squeeze out and then another 30 minute rinse.  I squeezed out the moisture really  thoroughly and then put them in the dryer on "casual" with a couple of large towels.  It took about 3 cycles to get them close to dry. 
The bear looks almost like new!

5.. complete quilt as you go Westalee quilt

I have finished the sampler quilt using the Westalee rulers.  With some trial and error (taking careful notes and making samples), I seem to have identified the right settings for free motion on my Pfaff, and these work on the Westalee foot and rulers as well.  (I still need lots of practice).

I finished the last block, just filling it up with linked circles. Then I did the quilt as you go sashing, which was surprisingly time consuming.

I originally made 14" blocks, but only used 12" interior block space for the quilting.  That left an inch seam allowance all around.  I used 2.5 " sashing, so the 1 inch of seam allowance filled up those 2 inches.  On the outer sashings, I sewed an extra 1.25 " strip of batting to the seam allowance so the outer borders would be full.   the mistake I kept making was forgetting to sew the sashing on both sides at the same time.  The nice thing is the quilt is totally reversible.  it's about 45 x 45.

Gingham sunflower

I just finished hand quilting and binding this quilt.  It has an interesting story.

In 1985 we went to a family reunion for my husband's family. We had been married 3 years and our daughter was about 10 months.  We stayed in the old officers' quarters in Ft. Robinson State Park, which were 3-story duplexes build in the late 1900s.  One evening we had dinner in a local restaurant that had art and quilts for sale on its walls.  I had always loved quilts but didn't own one,  I splurged and bought the quilt. ("Quilt One").    It was the pattern shown above.  I fell in love with it because of the blue and yellow, which is one of my favorite color combinations.   I was not yet a quilter and really knew nothing about how quilts were made.

For years we used the quilt on our bed, and our children played on it and took naps on it. 

In 2001 we moved to a bigger house just a few blocks away, and somehow Quilt One never showed up when we unpacked.  I kept thinking that it was in a box that we hadn't opened, or in a box we had put in storage. Our lives were busy with 2 law careers, kids in high school and college, elderly parents, etc.

I finally starting quilting myself around 2007, and I have made many quilts.  In 2017 I finished my Grandmother's Flower Garden, which I hand quilted.  I also finished cross-stitching a stamped pillow case.  So my mind went back to missing Quilt One.  I did more searching in storage boxes, but to no avail.  So then I thought maybe I could find the pattern and recreate Quilt One.

I started searching on the internet and found images of the quilt and learned it was a Bucilla embroidery kit.  I then searched on eBay.  I didn't find a kit, but I did find a completed top for sale.  ("Quilt 2"). The maker of the embroidery had passed away, and her daughter had posted the completed top for sale.  I was so excited and bought it on the spot. 

I had my long armer, Maria Hall, create the quilt sandwich and backing and baste it together for me.  So I started the hand quilting in the fall of  2017, and I just finished the quilting two weeks ago, added the binding, and washed the final product.  It really turned out beautifully.  I am so grateful to the quilt artist in Missouri who created the top.  (I have misplaced her name but have sent a letter to the daughter who sold the top, so I will update with her name when I get it. ) 

Somehow I didn't have this project on my 2020 goals! 

I 

update on quilt goals

I've completed the first four goals.
1. Complete baby quilt for Elin
2. Complete quilting on Halloween wall quilt
3. complete sleeves and labels for 2 quilts for March quilt show
4. Dr. Who mini quilt to donate to Dallas Quilt Show auction

I call this Dr. Who visits Big Tex.

This is the Halloween quilt, which I called Witchy Maze.  The quilting isn't hat visible in this photo, but it is a spider web that starts in the center and works out.

Below is the back of the Dr. Who Quilt. 

revised priorities

I'm going to be away from home for a month so I'm revising my priorities.  I finished the basic cutting on the Bonnie Hunter Frolic, so will be ready to start sewing on that.  I'm going to defer the Westalee blocks, and the block contest goals until March.  Will work on the mini quilts, and making a baptismal gown for Elin.

Rant:
 The "mystery" concept of Bonnie Hunter is not one I like.  I fine with a mystery that spreads clues or directions out over a period of time and doesn't reveal the finished quilt until the end.  But Ms. Hunter drafts clues that seem to me to be purposely opaque in withholding information.  This particular quilt requires that certain pieces of the block be all the same fabric, so a totally scrappy look would not work.  So there have to be 4 hsts and 4 quarter triangles of the same fabric, and similar requirements on other elements.  It would have been easy for her to say, use 2 strips of 2 1/2 inch fabric that are at least x inches long and place them right sides together.  I learned from experience by starting with a strip that was too short.  It was just a waste of fabric, and very annoying.
And the second and third clues were for elements that won't be used until assembling the final quilt! (Why not start with the elements that go into the basic blocks?)  I personally think this is poor writing, and confuses and frustrates a beginner quilter.  How many of us have started one of her mysteries and just given up in frustration?
Rant over.

update on quilting goals

I've made progress on my 2020 quilting goals:

1. Complete baby quilt for Elin - done except label
2. Complete quilting on Halloween wall quilt - done
3. complete sleeves and labels for 2 quilts for March quilt show -done

next step is to make the mini quilt for the charity auction at the show.  I have to dig out my Texas wildflower fabric to get started on it tomorrow.

Elin's quilt complete except for label

I completed the binding on the quilt and the last step is to add a label with Elin's name on it. Unfortunately, my embroidery machine is in South Bend so the label will have to wait until we are there later this month.  My plan is to copy one of the balloons on the back and blow it up to make a pattern for a large balloon that can hold her name.  Then add a long string trailing down to the parade border.
Here are the photos:

quilting done on Elin's quilt

I finished the quilting on Elin's quilt, which went pretty fast, because it was all straight lines.  (about 3-4 hours).  then I set about removing the blue marks from the marking pen.  The instructions were to use cold water, apply no heat, and do this before any washing with any detergent or other agent.
It actually worked, the blue ink disappeared, and didn't flow through to the totally white back.  
I let it dry overnight, and then checked it again.  there were about six spots that didn't come out, so I applied the cold water again, and that seemed to work very well.
I've made the binding, so that is the next step.

work in process on Elin's quilt

Yesterday I got past the hard step of making the quilt sandwich.  In the past I have used the "board basting" system, but I went back to my old method of taping the backing, batting and front to the floor, and then pinning.   It was important to get the horizontal border on the backing to match up with the bottom of the top (sounds weird), so having it all laid out flat where I could see the lines was very important.  Since the quilt marking pen I used on the top is sensitive to heat, I couldn't use fusible batting either.
I used a 100% cotton low loft batting that I had on hand.  It had a scrim so I had to look up how to use it.
I learned a new memory device:  "Dimples up, pimples down. "  If the batting has been needled, to prevent bearding, the direction of the needling needs to go to the back.  so the "dimples" where the needles enter go up and the bumps created by the needles go to the back (pimples).
As to scrim, it's a mixed bag.  In this case, the scrim was on the back so it went on the back.

I did press the batting to remove creases from the folds and smooth it out.

Here are some process photos.  I actually cut the backing a little too large; normally it and the batting would be about 4 inches wider than the top on each side.
This first picture shows the batting folded in half so it could be centered on the backing.  Turned out it needed to be a bit lower than centered vertically, to cover the horizontal.

This next one shows the top positioned over the backing and batting.

and now the top is taped down both to the batting/backing and to the floor.

Then I proceeded to pin all three layers together.  I have no problem working with the pins, and pinning is faster than basting, in my opnion.  

2020 progress report on quilt goals after 1 week

1. Elin's quilt.  I have completed the front and backing, and have marked the front with a washout marking pen.  (fingers crossed).  Today is the part I dislike the most, making the quilt sandwich of the top, batting and backing.  The back is solid white except for a horizontal strip near the bottom portraying children on parade.  the tricky part will be getting that located in the right spot and keeping it horizontal. Once I get the sandwich made, the quilting is all straight line so should be fairly speedy. I think I will use the pin method to create the sandwich, and just do it on the floor.  I think that will give me better control of placement of the backing.
3. labels and sleeves.  I have completed and sewed on the label and sleeve for the blue & white quilt for the show.  The Halloween quilt has to be quilted first!
6, I am on step 3 of the Bonnie Hunter Frolic quilt, and finished sewing together the blue and white/neutral half-square triangles.  Now I am trimming them, very tedious!
Last Friday I also cleaned the floor of my studio, which involved a bit of organizing and throwing out.
So some progress!