Bricks On-Point Finish

     Since it has been either stiflingly hot or wet from the most recent storm, I have spent more time in the house quilting. I finished this Bricks On-Point adult throw size quilt. 

I quilted a loopy meander in the center with dark gray thread. In the triangles I quilted an triangle motif inspired by an Angela Walters design and loopy wishbones (aka crazy eights) in the outer border.

Shopping only from my stash I chose a strip for the binding. This quilt will be a gift for someone.  While my craft table was clear I took the time to sandwich two smaller lap quilts that have been waiting.

       For the past week I have been watching a chrysalis after I discovered it on a daylily leaf near some parsley. Saturday morning I was lucky to see it soon after it had hatched. It was hanging for its wings to dry. 

 After checking on it for about half an hour, it moved and then about 10 minutes later I was excited to see it fly away. I believe it was a male Black Swallowtail.

Hope you are staying safe and healthy while enjoying some sewing or quilting in a cool space.

Linking up with Alycia's Finished (or Not) Friday.  Hope you find it inspiring. 

Excited for a UFO Finish

     If you have visited my blog before, you may know about my blue and white day bee mystery UFO. The quilt top was pieced by September of 2012. I wanted to improve my free-motion quilting skill before quilting it. This year I decided my FMQ was as good as it was going to be. I quilted the center. You can see details of that quilting here.   Then the quilt sandwich sat while I decided how I wanted to quilt around the applique in the border.  This week I finally quilted the last part. I used “Iced Blue” Signature quilting thread.  The background fabric is a very pale blue mottled print. 

I must say I stretched my skill for quilting the motif Patsy Thompson calls “plumify it” and the plum based “revolving swirl design” from her Bluprint class “Ultimate Free-motion Feathers”. Here are some close-ups.  

I am not totally happy with my quilting but overall am pleased. I'm very happy to say it is finished and off my UFO list.

     I have been sewing a lot during this pandemic; however, I am not making much progress with my UFOs. I have started more new projects than I have finished from my UFO list. My finished tops are collecting, but at least they are organized.

     A friend shared pears so I made 28 cups of pear honey.

I still have plenty of pears in the fridge to use for something else.

The vegetable garden is struggling with the heat and so are we.

With Covid-19 cases on the rise around the country, please stay safe and healthy while enjoying some sewing or quilting in a cool space.

I'm linking up with Whoop, Whoop Friday and Finished (or Not) Friday.  Check them out for inspiration.  

Working with Scraps

     I have not done any quilting on my many waiting tops. I have mostly been working with scraps on my cutting table. I cut up what I could into 2 1/2” squares and 2 1/2” by 4 1/2” bricks for Bonnie Hunter's new leader/ender challenge block called “Easy Breezy”. My version finishes at 8”.  Here are some that got pieced. 

    I also pieced 3 “Chunky Churn Dash” blocks and one under my needle as the ender. Many block sets are cut and ready.

     The rest of my sewing time was used to make more masks. DIL requested more for the start of school.  I used the Sweet Red Poppy curved faced mask design in 4 sizes. The child size fit GD2 after a trial fitting with elastic cut 6”. The teen size was good for GD1. Made the adult size for DIL and I enlarged the adult size for my son. For adults I found it more comfortable to cut elastic at 5 1/2” .   Here are 2 days worth of mask sewing.

With Covid-19 cases on the rise here and around the country, please stay safe and healthy while enjoying some sewing or quilting.

Working on This and That

     I can't seem to focus on any one project recently. I added a wide border to the Hope Rainbow quilt so that it will finish a good twin size. The block design was from GE Designs 2^nd Quarantine Quilt Along. Now the top is waiting along with others for sandwiching and quilting.

     I pulled out this UFO started in 2014.

I want to add borders so it will finish double bed size. I made a plan and started pulling fabrics when I discovered a bag of forgotten reds that were put aside because the dye was not stable. I had a question about a couple of reds and decided to test them. I placed the edge in the sink and wet it with cold water. 

 I was disappointed to see how quickly the dye ran. I always prewash my fabrics and reds especially with dye catchers. I added 2 more to the 2 from the past and now have 4 that run badly.

Two were manufactured by David Textiles. Those are all set aside again for dealing with later.

     Bonnie Hunter posted the new leader/ender challenge block called “Easy Breezy”.  The block is interesting; however, I do not cut and keep narrow strips in my stash to make such small blocks so I have enlarged the size to use pieces I have. Using my stash of 2 1/2” squares and 2 ½ by 4 1/2” bricks I pulled sets to make 11 blocks that will finish at 8”.

     While I was visiting Bonnie's free patterns I also decided to make some of her “Chunky Churn Dash” blocks just in a little larger size. I pulled 3 1/2” blocks from my stash; however, I did have to cut most of the 2” strips for these blocks. My blocks will finish at 9”. 

 Now I have plenty of leader/ender units for a while.

     With Covid-19 cases on the rise here and around the country, please stay safe and healthy while doing something you enjoy like sewing or quilting.