Hot Wheels! Beep Beep!

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

 It's another cold and snowy morning here, so indoor photos will have to do, I'm sorry to say.  Just another little quilt this week, this time it's the Windmill block, made from Hot Wheels prints.

If you've been to this blog before, you know how I LOVE scraps.  Digging into a new-to-me scrap bag is as exciting as opening a treasure chest.  The scrap bag in question came from a man who had managed a fabric shop and was now retired.  He donated many tops to our quilt guild, plus fabrics and scraps.  

The pieces in this particular bag were cut into 2.5 in. x 4.5 in. rectangles.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as Hot Wheels fabric, but there were lots of them in the bag, in six different prints!  So of course there had to be a Hot Wheels quilt.

Orange novelty prints can be hard to find, so I was really glad to discover these rectangles.  There were also pieces cut from the same print in light blue.  The race car background fabric was one I found in an antique mall.  I didn't quite have enough of it for the whole quilt, so I filled in with other car-related prints.

This one is my favorite.  Dare to be rad! it says.  I wonder how old this fabric is.  I'm not sure kids want to be "rad" anymore lol.

Here's the back, more race cars!  Also from the antique mall.  As you can see, I quilted it in a 2 in. square grid.  The quilt will be donated locally.  I guess it qualifies as using my blue scraps for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, which is blue.  I'm starting to realize I use blue in almost everything.  Does that make it a neutral?

Five blue Sisters Choice blocks for the RSC!  These blocks are 10 in. finished.  I'm planning to make a twin sized top with them at the end of the year.  Maybe I'll even do the math!  At least 10 is easy to work with.

New Project!  These blocks are fun to make, and use up lots of my blue scraps.  The centers are 5 in. squares and the other pieces are cut from 5 in. strips.  No waste!  You cut one way for blocks leaning left and another way for ones leaning right.

The pattern comes from this book, Dessert Roll Quilts, by Pam and Nicky Lintott, and is called Highland Fling.

Last Saturday's quilt show was wonderful!  I took lots of photos of the show quilts, but of course I can't share them here without the makers' permission.  I did have permission to show these antique quilts from the Wisconsin Quilt History Group booth.  Aren't they wonderful?   Notice how one of the small doll quilts seems to be made of orphan blocks.

I spent Saturday afternoon at our quilt guild's booth, talking to people and answering questions. When I volunteer at a booth, I like to bring some handwork to do.  This project was started before I was born.  How do I know that?

This is the template the pieces were cut from, part of a postcard mailed in 1940.  The fabrics back that date up.  This pattern has a lot of names, like Hummingbird and Periwinkle, but the original quilter wrote Snow Ball on a paper template, so that's what I'm calling it.  I think I'll make it into something small, like a table runner.  Or a doll quilt!

We are more than halfway through February!  Can you believe it?  I need to get on with the blocks I'm making for Many Hands and Many Hearts.  Just an easy Split 4 Patch, using novelty prints and solids.  Click HERE for details.

My youngest grandsons weren't here much this week, since their Mom was off work, so no kid photos.  How about one of Lizzy?

She curled up with me this week while I battled a rotten cold.  And of course we shared a quilt!

Have a lovely week, and thanks for reading!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Working on the UnFinished Objects

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Quick note!  The GSAFE Auction of Quilts and Fiber Arts is live online now through Dec. 3.  Proceeds from the auction go to support programs for Gay and Trans students and their families and educators.  Click HERE to view.  (Three of my quilts are in the auction!)

No outside photos today, it's 12 degrees F and a few snow flurries are drifting down, and I'm too lazy to put on all my cold weather gear.  So here's a little "tropical beach" quilt to help warm us up.

It's a UFO, but not my UFO.  I honestly like finishing other people's UFOs, especially if I think they can be useful and fun for kids.

These sharks are having a great day at the beach.  They've got cans of cola, suntan oil, sunglasses, and a boom box for beach tunes to swim by, all on a pink background.  Truly a one-of-a-kind fabric.

I received this quilt as a top, which was donated to our quilt group.  The Amazing Colleen brought it over, and said she thought of me when she saw it.  Wonder why? LOL.  I quilted and bound it last weekend.  

I had this fabric in my stash, an Alexander Henry print copyright 1998.  Proof that good fabric, properly stored, doesn't necessarily have an expiration date.  It's called "Can You Say Snorkel?".

I love all these child-like drawings of sea creatures, and especially the kids.  As you can see, I quilted it with wavy lines to mimic the waves of the ocean, using a stencil.  The quilt will be donated locally.

If it's just cut pieces, is it a UFO?  Or does it count as scraps or something?  These blocks were started from a bag of 2.5 in. x 4.5 in. rectangles also donated to us.  I cut background pieces and additional rectangles from my stash to make 20 blocks.

Yesterday, after the mad rush of baking and cooking for Thanksgiving and the lovely holiday was over, I sewed up the blocks. Many of the 2.5 in. x 4.5 in. darker rectangles are Hot Wheels prints which I'm guessing some kid will love.  I'm looking forward to putting these together. 

As it turns out, cleaning out my sewing room closet has consequences.  I "rediscovered" a whole pile of UFOs I had conveniently forgotten about or just set aside for "later".  Well, it's definitely later, so I'm working on them.

This twin-sized top just needed borders.  Quick fix, right?  Except I had forgotten I only had enough of the brown plaid fabric for 3 of the 4 sides.  I guess I was waiting to find another fabric?  I went through my stash and didn't find anything I loved, so in the end I decided to do this:

The brown plaid on the right of the photo is my original choice, and is on three sides of the quilt.  The other brown plaid is just on one end.  The fabrics in the quilt are mostly 1800s reproductions, and this is a very 1800s solution, so I'm happy with it.  I am donating this top, and it will be quilted by the charity committee volunteers.

It was fun to sew these blocks from my repro pieces!  I have lots more BTW.

It feels good to get some of these older projects off my list!  

What a grumpy face!  My grandson Buddy created this out of bananas and blueberries early this week, and asked me to take its picture.  Before he could decide on a name for it, it was all gone.  

There were 13 of us at Thanksgiving this year, and I am so thankful we were all able to be together.

We had a new member of the family at the feast!  This is Finn, and he's about 5 weeks old.  My daughter adopted him only two days before Thanksgiving and he was too little to leave at home.  I took this picture after he ran all around the house, ate some turkey, had some special kitten milk, and just fell asleep in the middle of the floor.  Snicky was not amused.  The rest of us think he's adorable.

I hope all who celebrated had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'm wishing everyone a great week ahead.  Thanks so much for reading this!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap