September and October Finishes

     I've been busy!  Both finishing projects,  and practicing my free motion quilting.  So busy,  that I neglected to show my Sept. and Oct. finishes to you.  

I had 3 October  finishes... 

This quilt using a deer panel, was one I started back in 2012.  It was actually 1 of 3 quilts that were started when we purchased our big travel trailer.   The trailer is gone, (Not the quilts though)...   but this quilt has been waiting for it's finishing touches.   I learned a new Free Motion Quilting motif which was really fun to do in the border.  I practiced ruler work in the stars,  and checkerboard switchbacks around them.  

  Approx 60 x 72,  it now resides on Mike's recliner.  He really needed a fresh quilt... His previous one had been well loved, and had kept him company through  cancer surgery recovery,  heart issues,  and radiation.   All back in 2011 - 2012.   I'm happy to say that he is doing great!  but he had literally worn through the back, which is the part he sits on to  be more comfortable in the leather chair.  

   This is the repair work I had done to his previous quilt...  No fading happened in the last 9 years....  LOL   This quilt is still hanging around,  and is one that we will use to cuddle with if we are sitting around the fire pit on a chilly evening.  

     The next  finish was the first of at least 2 quilts for the 70,273 project.   This quilt commemorates 60 lives.  I had a great time practicing my free motion motifs on each block to make each one different.   

     I have enough blocks to piece a second quilt, which will be done soon.  My goal is to have it pieced and quilted by the beginning of 2019.  

    Another finish was one that I started in 2010.  Blocks were given to me as a challenge from my sister in law,  who is also a quilter.   Someone had donated a family member's quilting things to the small group we quilt with.   This quilter was a heavy smoker,  and was way more ambitious than her skills in both cutting and piecing.  There were probably 50 blocks total,  which were so smoky I couldn't bring them in the house at first.  I spent several sunny, summer days,  laying them out in the lawn in the morning, and picking them up again at night.  Eventually,  I was able to bring them inside and put the plan in place that I had thought of as I handled them each day.   I divided them into three different  groups, by color combination.  While they originally were designed to be 12 1/2" unfinished,  there were less than a dozen in the group that did.  Some were larger,  many were smaller... There were a some that I simply tossed, because the seams were poorly sewn.   Ultimately I got 3 tops done,  and this one is the final of three to be quilted.  They are all donated now.   I trimmed each group to a "uniform size"  even if it meant losing some points,  and then sashed them with fabric I had that was the same as the orig. background used.  then I "twisted and turned" the new blocks and trimmed them on an angle  to help disguise that they were not all the same.

I had fun practicing Free Motion Quilting in each block,  and I used my ruler foot as well.   This was my first attempt at doing feathers without a template to trace,  or follow.  

The first picture is a good view of all blocks,  but its before i quilted the feathers and the border.  

 Just for fun,  here are pictures of the other two quilts from this group. 

Add caption

 In September, I also had 3 finishes....  

 I finished this youth quilt.  It was started with leftover blocks from an appliqued baby quilt that were left hanging around.  I pieced the top during a snow week sewing  frenzy a couple of years ago, when I was attempting to round up some leftover projects.   I practiced my new FMQ skills using a different motif in each different fabric section.  These were blocks from Yellow Brick Road, but I added sashing to make it 45 x 60.  This will be a donation quilt.  

Not a complete finish,  but I also managed to complete the top for Bonnie Hunter's  mystery from last winter,  "On Ringo Lake".  I did mine in Red, White and Blues....  and it will be a QOV when it returns from the Long Armer who quilts QOV for our group.  It felt so good to get this to the "completed top" stage.    I'm super happy with how it turned out.  Lots of small pieces in this one.  Well worth the time and effort.  

I also finished the second "Haystack Rock" Quilt.  This is an almost twin to one I finished and entered in our quilt show last spring,  but my step daughter loves Haystack Rock on the Oregon Coast, and since she lives in Montana and doesn't get to see it often enough... I made one for her too!  

I'm still digging...

     This "clean up" project I started just keeps giving!   I feel like I'm on an Archeological dig,  working my way back through history. 

4 lap quilts heading to our guild meeting tomorrow!   Finally... some sunshine to photograph these in.  

     I started quilting back in 1974,  while in college.  My sister-in-law and I took our first quilting class together,  when the Bi-Centennial quilt revival was getting started.   We're talking cardboard templates and scissors!  No rotary cutters, long arm machines,  or rulers with grids.

   

45" lap quilt from rejected project blocks 

 

     We've come a long way, Baby!  I've finished college, moved away, moved back home, moved out again, met my hubby and we've moved 7 times in 31 years.  I still have some of that original stash hanging around from those early days.   I'm determined to use it up!

45" lap made from blocks donated to a group I quilt with. These were leftover from a twin size quilt I finished in 2016.  Finally used them all up!  Yeah!  I had fun quilting this one with a random overall loop and daisy design.  The back is made with some leftover pieces of blues that backed the original twin.  double win!

 

 

     I have tamed scraps that were piling up and overflowing the box at the end of my table.  We had company for a week last month, and we moved everything out of the center of my stash room, to put up the queen size air bed.  Three weeks later, I'm still sorting and putting away small bits and pieces.  Having 10 snow days off of work gave me plenty of time inside to sort and play while hubby watched movies across the room. 

12 rejected blocks from a previous 2009 project.  45" lap quilt. The white areas just kept telling me to put something leafy and scroll-like there.  

     So far,  I've un-earthed: Leftover blocks from several quilts, some blocks that have been given to me to "do something with",  and several "small block components" such as small half square triangles,  tiny 9 patch and 4 patch blocks.   I've pressed and trimmed to common, usable sizes. 

•  Irish chain quilt - 15 leftover chain blocks - 
•  blue/ white blocks - enough for alternate blocks for a QOV 
• 35 black / white blocks  leftover from a quilt in 2014
• some Yellow brick road blocks -enough for a youth quilt if I made 2 more...
• 98 half square triangles from a project in 2003!  (You know, those flip and fold triangles... these are 3 1/2"  so there are enough there for a lap quilt
• Same pattern, different quilt,  I only have 67 from the second quilt. I can add to these with some of the fabric still in my stash to make another lap quilt 
• Rejected blocks from a mystery quilt, that I re-made with different fabric 

I've played with some of these as I've worked through them, just to keep them moving through the pipeline.  In the last 3  weeks I've finished tops and done the quilting for: 

 Toy n Joy Doll quilts   going to our guild meeting tomorrow night 

• 5 doll quilts (mostly using up the odd 4 or 6 blocks from previous projects)  These are all about 24" square.
• 1 lap quilt 45" square  made with blocks that I rejected in the middle of a project in 2009.  They  got me so close, I only had to add borders. 

Study in Pinks and Blues -  45" square.  I'd like to say there isn't any more of these fabrics in my stash, but if I did, I'd be telling stories.  

My orphan block bin has shrunk!  My drawer of misc. pieces/ etc is 1/2 of what it was 3 weeks ago.  I'm making progress, and bagging these in like size / or color groups to do something with SOON! 

I also found UFO's!  (not on my official UFO list) 

• two baby quilt makings from 14 years ago 
• two home made kits for donation quilts in red/ white/ black
• the beginnings of a Quilt of Valor (28  6 1/2" friendship stars).. there is a quilt in the making now, I've planned it out on EQ this evening. 
• 2 more Thomas the Tank Engine baby quilts, all cut, ready to sew. 
• All the blocks for a large lap for a dear family friend that my hubby rejected.  (He said they were too bright and busy for the intended recipient) 

I'm not done!   there's more,  I'm sure of it!  

     

A Study in Pinks and Blues... (really old pinks and blues)

Boxy Stars  a Bonnie Hunter Pattern 

     I'm linking up with Bonnie's mystery link up tonite.... Linking to Bonnie's link up party

      In the interest of trying to push many UFO's out of the nooks and crannies of my quilty space,  I promised myself that I was just printing off mystery quilt directions and that I need to completely finish 5 UFOs (quilted, binding and label) BEFORE  I can start anything new.  

      Sew... instead of the mystery,  this is what I've been working on.   I put the last row onto this donation quilt....  Not sure why it wasn't yet attached.... but it is now.    Ready to be quilted!  

     Although I had (and still have)  many of these fabrics in my stash,  the majority of these fabrics were 2 1/2" strips that were in the boxes of fabric we pull from for donation quilts out in Corbett.   Someone had cut the strips,  many, many strips... I find it hard to believe that these were leftover from a project.  I doubt I'll ever work my way through.  

     I used Bonnie Hunter's pattern,  "Boxy Stars",  which uses 2 1/2" strips exclusively.   You can find the pattern under the FREE Pattern Tab on Bonnie's website.    Go here    

     I still have a project box full of blues,  pinks,  and burgundy to use use up.   As I was cleaning up,  I found the baggie full of the bonus triangles that were already stitched, that had been cut off when creating the points of the stars.   and... better yet,  I decided not to put them in the drawer of project parts.... since I had the fabrics still handy I decided to play.    I pressed and matched sets to create pinwheels.   (see my tutorial on how I saved a step in making these in the tutorial tab above)     I ended up with a total of 48 pinwheels,   about 1/2 of them measuring 3 1/2"... and the other half 3" after trimming.    

Working on the pinwheels....

     Once the pinwheels were done,  I divided them by size.  Using the larger (3 1/2") ones,  I played with a couple of quick layouts.   I chose to place them in four patches  and make some (12) 6 1/2" pinwheels to mix with them.  My goal was to have a lap quilt to donate to our guild's project... and they like them about 45" square.  

     While digging through the box of pinks and blues... I ran across some leftover piano key sections from another quilt I had worked on several years ago....  hmmmm  this will work!   After some coping borders,  I came up with my 45" top.... and believe it or not... I had a total of 1" of that piano key border left after trimming in in half.   Score!  

Lap Quilt       45" square  

     You can see that the pinwheels are not all the same fabrics within each pinwheel....  some are, but most are not... just  the luck of the draw in how the triangles worked out when cut from the original project, which was random.  
   

Center Section Detail 

Detail photo 

    

      Now... about those 3" pinwheels....  Next up is a doll quilt,  also for our guild.  This measures about 22 x 27".   I had some 3" strips of the blue with hearts in the box, and since they don't play nicely with the 2 1/2" strips... I cut them in half at 1 1/2"  and used them as a border around each pinwheel.  This made it much easier to work with those little edges, and gave me the size I was looking for.  

Doll Quilt  Donation for Toy n Joy.....   22 x 27"

     
    There were also 3 full leftover blocks and 3 partial sections left from the Boxy stars... 
 I see the making of a second doll quilt!   In the interest of  wanting to move forward quickly,   I made the executive decision to just fill in the missing piece with a large solid square.... rather than cutting pieces for another unit.  (Believe me... I emptied the bin out and looked to see if I could find the missing unit, but I think I vaguely remember a rotary cutting accident where one got sliced by mistake) 

Boxy Stars  Orphan blocks.... Now  a Doll quilt    24" square

     Unfortunately,  these all still need to be quilted, and bound to be called "FINISHED",  but they are closer than they were..... and I am well on my way to helping both our guild, and the Corbett Windy Hill Quilters in meeting the needs of community members for 2017.  
     I also kept some pieces out of my orphan block bin....   Now.... what to do with all the rest of those 2 1/2" strips....  thinking I might do a "Jelly Roll Race"  and use them up!   I haven't made one of those yet.... and I have enough strips that I could probably get 2 lap quilts made.   I'll keep you all posted,  but you'll have to wait awhile,  'cuz that would be starting something entirely new,  which I can't do just yet.   So for now,  I'll neatly fold the strips and extra fabrics together in their project box and put them away for another day.   

A Guild Project....

Our guild,  Northwest Quilters has a huge charitable component.   Quilts of Valor,  Habitat for Humanity,  Hospice organizations,  Toy N Joy (Toys for Tots),  Children's services,  a Camp for Aids Patients....  just to name a few.   We donated nearly 2000 doll quilts for the Toy N Joy project in 2016.We also donate approximately 2000  larger quilts each year as well.  

Most of these are lap / twin size quilts.   We have had a group of ladies that tied the twins for us as a small group for many years,  but due to age, agility, and other issues; this has tapered off, and our Comfort Quilts group has a back log of quilts that need to be tied so they can go to forever homes.  

I volunteered to take a group of 10 twin size quilts and machine tack them rather than tying them.    These were already enveloped and turned with batting when i got them.  

It worked really well, to use the memory function on my Janome!  I started with a knot,  then programmed one of the decorative stitches that looks like an asterick and finished with one more knot and a thread cut.     It took some smoothing, pressing,  and pinning to do this without getting wrinkles.  But I got them all done.  

On a few of them,  when the back was really smooth,  I used my serpentine stitch and followed the seams for a really firm hold.  

Here are 7 of the 10 I did....  somehow all the pictures didn't upload to photobucket from my phone. 

Windy Hill Quilters finishes

     I quilt with a group of quilting sisters in a little community East of Portland, Oregon.  Corbett sits in the Columbia River Gorge, about 20 miles east of Downtown Portland. 

    We enjoy each other's company and together, we stitch up not only our own personal projects and offer suggestions and advice,  but we make quilts to be given to members of the Corbett Community in tough times such as illness,  fires, or traffic accidents.    We have also made quilts for a  family homeless shelter and Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  

     We are not a large group, but about 8 regular members.  A nice intimate group. 

     There is a storage area at the church we stitch at, with fabric that has been donated for the cause.   We often start there for inspiration,  but there is plenty of fabric in my own stash to fill in where needed.    The group purchases batting for use,  with funds raised from raffle quilts. 

     I usually have at least one or two quilts in progress for donation to the cause,  but lately I've had gaggle of them in the works.  

     I've made it my mission to get these much needed projects moved on into the hands of those who need them for comfort and warmth during difficult times.  

     This past month,  I've finished 2 youth quilts,  and 3 larger quilts for this cause.  4 of these, I started back in fall of 2014,  when I purchased a bunch of fabric from a quilter's estate sale.  In the pile of fabrics, there were several pieces that I decided were appropriate for these projects, and I got started on some tops.   I've finished a few of these last year,  but my goal was to try to finish several more this year.  

Here are some of the finishes I've had this last week or so.  This has entailed piecing backs,  piecing batting sections together,  and layering and quilting.   One of the larger quilts has 6 batting scrap " frankenstein" stitched together.  

Thomas the Tank  #2   45 x 60 

Thomas the Tank Engine #3  45 x 60  

In the group of fabrics,  there were several Thomas the Tank Engine fat quarters.  I have finished 3 quilt tops with that group, and there are still more.....  but in the interest of wanting recipients to feel like their quilt is special,  I think I'll wait a while to begin another top with those pieces.  

Rodeo Flannel quilt  60 x 80

Campfire Cowboys Flannel  60 x 80 

There were a couple larger pieces of flannel that would be perfect for "guy's quilts"... 
I added variety with some flannel pieces I had stashed away.  

This next quilt is one that I got all the main fabrics from the back room at the church.  
I used Teri Atkinson's pattern Tile Tango.   The scrappy 9 patch blocks were made with 
2 1/2" squares from my scrap bins. 

Tile Tango  72 x 90