Cross Stitch and Pink Scraps

This has been a good week for stitching and sewing in my neck of the woods!  I sat down to do some cross stitching three times and to sew by machine twice.  The sky part of this picture is done in blocks of colour but the farm scene at the bottom has more confetti stitching...I have not got to that part yet. 

Pink is the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for April and I managed to get my pink blocks sewn for the four quilts I am making.  I am just about out of Kona white and will need to do some shopping before I can sew May's blocks. Last time, I bought a bolt of it and it is just about all gone.  Finn likes to model quilt blocks, as you know.  I did not have any white with pink dots fabric for the large block below so I used some light gray dotted fabric instead. I don't really buy pink fabric very often--so some of these scraps are really old.  

The instructions for the last three blocks of the Threadhouse Academy sampler quilt came out at the beginning of the month.  I made two of the blocks this week and hope to do the last one next week.  Then, I can put the quilt together.  I will likely use this one as a wall hanging. 

My daughter has been really busy at work lately but has found a few moments here and there to do a bit of crocheting.  She's working on that last lace section now and then will be able to move on to the next step. 

It was a beautiful sunny day today so Finn wanted to catch a few rays.  I brought out my book and a cold drink and Finn moved from sun to shade and back again, depending on whether he felt too hot or too cold. 

There are more flowers in bloom this week in our gardens.  The newest daffodils were covered in dew this morning when I took these pictures. 

The primroses have a few flowers--there should be more by next week. 

The bloodroot is also blooming.  These blooms don't last long but are so pretty when they appear. 

Finn used Lambie as a pillow this week as he watched me eat my lunch.  

I will link up with Kathy and the Slow Sunday Stitchers as well as Frederique and the RSC folks. 

Sewing Day

I spent Monday at the weekly Oxford Guild sewing day.  I try to go every week, but was doing some volunteer work during November and December on Mondays, so have not been for a while.  It was fun to get back into sewing after the holidays.  I have been working on Tula Pink's 100 Modern Blocks sampler off and on since March 2019.  On Monday, I finished putting the top together...here is a peek at part of it.

I will be making the backing this week and then taking it to the long arm quilter's house.  I will show the entire quilt when it is done.

The Elgin Piecemakers had their annual post-Christmas dinner at a local restaurant earlier this week.  We meet later in the month and will be handing in two blocks for comfort quilts this month.  I had shown my green block in a previous post (here) and here is my completed black, tan and purple block.  I used my new drunkard's path rulers to make this block.

I did some more embroidery on the weekend and hope to add more to this picture before this weekend's slow stitching post. 

My next UFO challenge is to make a quilt out of these spinning four patch blocks which I made at least two years ago.  I am contemplating three different fabrics for a checkerboard layout...  Option 1- a grey print (excuse the shadow!):

Option 2- white background with blue dots:

Option 3- a blue print.

Here is where you get to weigh in---which one do you prefer???  Or should I use two of them in a pieced block in between the spinning four patches?
Until next time...

Comfort Quilt Assembly and a Few More Blocks

After a one hour walk this morning, I came home and got to work in the sewing room.  Pat and I are working together to put the Navy and White blocks together for the Elgin Piecemakers' September Comfort quilt.  19 blocks were handed in at our September meeting so I started my day by making one more block so I could do a 4X5 block layout for this quilt. I found the pattern for this block in one of my 100 blocks magazines. 

Next, I laid out all of the blocks on the floor in the hall outside my sewing room.  I ransacked the fabric storage area, looking for possible sashing and cornerstone fabrics.  I had purchased this chevron fabric as backing for this quilt but it kept screaming at me to be used for the sashing, so that is what I did.   I found the red fabric for the cornerstones in my stash.

I sewed almost all afternoon and by the time it was time to make supper, the quilt top was done except for the borders. 

After supper, the borders and red corners were added.

By the time I had cut into the chevron fabric for the  sashing and borders, I knew there would not be enough to make the back of the quilt.  I ended up using some more of the red to make the backing big enough for the long arm quilter to do her magic.

Over the past couple of days, I have been making more Tula Pink 100 modern blocks as well...only 9 more to go now. 

I hope to finish the rest of these 6.5" blocks this week.  Then, I will have to go shopping for the fabric I need to complete this quilt...I have a plan.

8 More Modern Sampler Blocks

Today was the first day that I did not have to go to work since I retired last Thursday.  I got up at the normal time, got ready, made my lunch, loaded up the car with my sewing machine, a project,  all the rulers, cutting mat, and other equipment I needed and headed out to a sew-in day with the Oxford Quilt Guild.  I just joined this guild last month and today was the first chance I had to sew with everyone.   I chose my Tula Pink Modern 100 Blocks sampler as today's project...it was all in one bag and ready to go.

Over the course of the day, I made 8 more blocks.

Some blocks had a lot of pieces!

I managed to create the 3D effect with different sizes of dots.

You may remember I am using my large collection of black and white prints for this quilt along with three fat quarters of Tula Pink fabric which I purchased at QuiltCon in February.  Some blocks are just black and white but most have a bit of colour in them.

In large quantities, that one black and white fabric does weird things to your eyes!

Such cute little owls!

The end of block construction for this quilt is in sight...I have made 84/100 of the blocks.   Now, I will have to think about how I am going to set them...

Retreat Weekend

I am just home from a three day retreat with the London Modern Quilt Guild.  We stayed at an inn about 45 minutes from home and did our sewing in the ballroom.  They supplied lights and extension cords at each table as well as irons and ironing boards and bed risers for the cutting tables.  They have hosted a lot of quilting retreats for various groups over the years so they know how to get things set up just right!  The room was buzzing with activity each day from before breakfast to late into the night.

I brought three projects with me and had time to work on all of them over the course of the weekend.

Project #1 Tula Pink 100 Blocks Sampler

Before arriving at the retreat, I had 24/100 blocks made for this quilt.  I had made six more this past week when Christine came over to sew one night.

On Friday, I added 19 more blocks to my collection.

It is lots of fun picking out the fabrics for each block...

including a little pop of colour in most of the blocks.  My Friday blocks are shown below.

Saturday, I added 16 more blocks to the pile.

Some blocks had a bigger pop of colour than others...

I am up to 59/100 blocks completed now and will continue to work on them as time permits.

Project #2  Flannel Vortex Baby Quilt

I have a large bin of flannel scraps that need to be tamed.  I have made a few "scrap vortex" quilts in the past in an attempt to use up my scraps but the bin continues to overflow.   I am using brightly coloured scraps in this quilt and even had a few blocks leftover from my last quilt as a starter for the next one.  I chain pieced lots more flannel chunks to each other for about two hours on Saturday evening. I am on my way to piecing more blocks for my next vortex quilt!

Project #3  Scrappy Trips Lap Quilt

When I was hunting through my fabric storage area for an extra project to bring for the weekend, I came across a bag containing a jelly roll and some co-ordinating fabrics purchased at least 10 years ago for a specific quilt, but of course, there was no pattern in the bag.  I found some solid yellow fabric that went with the jelly roll and brought everything along in a new and bigger bag hoping for inspiration to make something over the weekend.  Well, inspiration came on Saturday and this became my sewing project for Sunday.  I decided to make a Scrappy Trips quilt from Bonnie Hunter's free patterns at her Quiltville website.

I cut my strips to the right length and laid them out by colour.

I had a chain piecing production line going all day long!

I ran out of thread but had brought an extra spool in case this happened.

My first block soon became 4 blocks.

And then 9...

A while later, I had 12 blocks done and ready to be assembled into a quilt top.

I used one of the fabrics in the bag to add a border around the quilt and it was done, just before it was time to pack up and go home.

I have a plan for quilting this one in mind already.  There was enough fabric in the bag for the backing and I will likely use the solid yellow for the binding.  The colours remind me of Spring.  This quilt will be given to someone who does not read my blog.

I am back to reality now...my suitcase is unpacked and my sewing supplies have been put away.  I look forward to the next retreat in the Spring of 2020.