Crumb quilt bound and washed

I have been meaning to post a picture of my crumb quilt.  This quilt was born out of a need to use up about two gallon bags worth of crumb pieces.  I had a basic idea of what I wanted and went from there.  Here it is!

The back has a story of its own.  For my birthday at work, several of my co-workers gave me each a yard of fabric that represented them.  They challenged me to "make it work."  Hah, they don't know me!  Regretfully, straight line quilting pushed the center strip off center, but I still love it.  This is a utility quilt and will see many a couch naps and quilt forts.

I am going to be linking up with JulieKQuilts binding blitz.  Her site is amazing in everything scrappy.  If you don't frequent her blog, you should start!

Just keep finishing...

This quilt has a special place in my heart. I started the quilt in 2012 at some point just before starting my doctorate in clinical psychology.  The pattern, Acappella, was given to me by Jamie of L'Fair Quilts and was a kind, thoughtful gesture of hers when she was just getting started in selling her patterns.  The quilt itself has been picked up and put down many times.  I was juggling grad school and a young family and quilting had to take a back seat.  The quilting stopped completely in 2013, but started again in the summer before I started internship.  I had to put it down again because it was time to pack everything up in preparation for my move south.

In the last half-year, my family has lived away from our home so I can complete my predoctoral internship.  We have certainly enjoyed Florida compared to our northern Pennsylvania home, inclusive of sun and heat.  In this time, we live in a smaller house and I just don't have room to do any stash building.  I have completed projects already started or have used up stash (like my crumb project....pictures soon to come).  It was natural that this gem comes out of hiding and gets a more prominent place in my home (or someone else's).

Well, here it is.  I am auditioning border fabrics.  I am thinking I will go with the fabrics in the top because the colors are bolder and the same fabric borders the inner star blocks.  It might tie all of the blue scrappiness together.

A closer pic.

Thanks for stopping by!

EPP finish

It always feels good to finish a quilt and send it on.  I wanted to share with you the end result of several years work.  It was made with 1" hexagons and civil war fabrics.  I worked on this in Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine.  It certainly is well travelled!

I will soon post some pictures of my crumb quilt.  It is quilted now and ready for binding!

Hexie Part Deux: Ready for Binding

I have had a love hate relationship with this quilt.  I love the fabrics (civil wars) and the process of English paper piecing, but it was hard to love my overall design.  After I got this far, I knew it was time to wrap it up.

I quilted with a simple meander.  Given it was hand-pieced, I originally had plans to hand quilt, but even letting it side idle a span of time didn't motivate me for it.  This year is the year of finishing stuff, so it was time.

All done!

Then came the problem with the binding.  I didn't know what I wanted to do with all these edges.  It finally hit me that I could curve them.  Why not!?!

...and after cutting.

It seems to look alright.  I just have to dig up fabric for binding.  I have never sewn binding on a curved edge, but I think I can figure it out easy enough. I can't imagine a life anymore without YouTube.  Don't know how to do it?  There's a video for it!

I am gifting it as a table topper for a lovely lady who always shares her scraps with me.  She always does things for others, so it will be nice to do something for her.  I travel briefly to New York soon for a job interview, and this mini quilt will slowly make its way to its destination then.

Stay tuned!

A flimsy is born

I am trying to keep my momentum going.  This is the year of using up and finishing.  I don't have room in my temporary house to get more stuff or build my stash.  My scraps are overflowing.  This project was born out of a plan to reduce the stash of crumbs.  So far so good!

This was the original plan.

Somehow blocks were turned around in assembly.  But I kept going...

...and ended up with this.

Now I will add a small border.  I am thinking a black border with strategically placed flying geese.  As I sit here looking at the center, I even thing it would look good with a thin black border followed by a slightly larger burgundy red border.   Thoughts?

Putting the crumbs together

Nearly all of the crumbs have been sewn, and I am left with a pile of HSTs.  I seem to have enough for a throw quilt.

I first thought of laying them out in a zig zag format, but then tried an off-center barn raising pattern.  I made a few mistakes when laying them out, but nothing is yet sewn.  I just wanted to see what it would look like.

I am going with the barn raising layout.  I quite like how it will look.  I might use a border, but if so it would be small to set all those wonky edges before quilting.  I would love to make the quilt bigger, but I really don't have any neutral crumbs...I would be essentially made to cut bits of yardage down and then sew them back up.  I must resist the temptation and enjoy it as a smaller quilt.  The dark crumb blocks seen in the lower part of the zig-zag quilt can be used in a different project in the future.

Happy quilting!

Crumb blocks are done

Over the holiday weekend, I managed to finish over 140 crumb blocks.

There aren't many crumby pieces left after it was all done.  I was really working at the end to make the blocks.

The next step is to make a ton (240) of HSTs with these babies.  They will finish at a bit over 4" I guess.

Crumby Christmas

One the kids were squared away and I could once again walk through my living room, I settled in at my new (to me) Singer 301.  It was my early Christmas present and it sews like buttah.  My hubs bought me a clamp that will hold my cell phone in a good spot to watch Netflix and away I went.  You can see a portion of it in the left side of the picture below.  It is a simple and nifty contraption.

Prior to today, I had all of my dark crumb blocks finished, trimmed, and pressed.  There are 130 in his pile that finish at 5".

I think I used up about a two gallon bag of crumbs here.

Today, I began the neutrals.  I think I need 100.  I finished nearly 50 today, but I haven't finished trimming them.  I am in dire need of a rotary blade.

What will I do with them you ask?  I have this vague plan to make about 200 HSTs with them and make a zig-zag pattern.  It will make a great couch quilt.  I don't plan very well with these things (a nice change from my Type A personality) so we shall see.

More to come crumb!

Yearly Xmas Ornament Extravaganza

One day each year I endeavor to create a new ornament for the Christmas tree.  In addition, this year I decided to make one for each of my coworkers to add to the fug mug swap(funny coffee mugs).

I saw some floating around online, so I looked up the pattern for folded fabric ornaments on YouTube.

I used a pot lid for my pattern.

I had an opportunity to use up some wonderful fabrics given to me by Joan of Keeping You in Stitches.  I just loved the Thimbleberries fabrics.  They were perfect for the project!

Here are the finished products!

...to add to my tree!

I have a plan this week to share with you my crumb block project.  I am almost half-way done with making the blocks, although it does not look like much yet.

Happy holidays to you all!

Child-sized Snail's Trail

Hey all,

A friend of mine was looking to have a quilt made for her soon-to-be nephew.  She indicated she wanted a more traditional design in two colors.  I poked around the internet, and found a snail's trail pattern. I just finished it yesterday, so I thought I would share it with you!

The quilt is about 42" by 54" and is backed with flannel.  All of the fabrics came from Connecting Threads.

I reached out to some fellow quilters to ask about designs, and it was suggested that I mark out concentric circles to go with the movement of the quilt.  Here I hope you will see some of the quilting in it.  I used a chalk pencil and spools of thread as spacing guides.

So much has happened since my last post.  I have a few antique machines to show off, and am working on a new crumb project.  I hope I can keep up the motivation to post again soon!

I've been sewing

It seems that even though I have more time left in the day ( I am on a full time internship that is less intensive than classroom instruction and externships), I still have a hard time with getting behind my machine.  Oh well, sunny Florida has given my family plenty to do, and it is nice to finally enjoy my weekends again.

I found some orphan blocks a week or so ago, and thought my friend and fellow intern might really like a quilt.  She told me she loves quilts but I don't think she has a real, handmade quilt.  She also has a bright personalty, so a quilt made so 30's prints is up her alley.  I can really only sew on the weekends because the only place to work is the dining room table and setting up takes a while.  Here are some picks of the progress.

Here is the top.

Here is my workspace.  I miss my old quilting space.  It was small, but a bit more roomy than this.

I quilted pears in the open spaces.  I might go over the pear outline again in pale yellow, but I am not yet certain.

Hopefully I will have more progress soon!

What do quilters do while children play?

Why, quilt of course!

My first vintage machine

Every once in a while I peruse EBay and Craigslist for Singer machines.  I want the Singer 221, but the featherweight seems like a hot item which drives up the price.  I saw a vintage machine on craigslist which was listed by a newish thrift store in a nearby town for $40, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to check it out.  I had no model number to go off of, just a picture.

...and she came home with me!

Don't you live my backdrop of boxes?  The cabinet is in great shape.  Turns out she is a working Singer 99.  It was from an estate sale.  The seller told me it was open and in use around the time the owner passed.  Just the kind of machine I was looking for.

I can't wait to try it out!

Post-Vacation Update

I had a nice post completed yesterday and when I hit post, it was lost.  If I had completed the post on my PC, a draft would have remained.  Since I completed it on my cell phone, no draft was saved.  Grrrrr.  I had to walk away from it for a day.  Today is a new day, so here I am!

While on vacation in beautiful Maine, I made great progress on my EPP project.  I also kept up with my exercise, which made me happy.  Exercise is such a huge part of my routine; without it, I feel like a slug.  I won't bother you with any post-exercise pictures (I wouldn't take any anyway), but I have some hexie photos to share.

I finished a stack of 28 blue hexie flowers.  They now wait for their turn to add to the mother ship.

I also made great progress on the ring of neutrals which will be next to add to the mother ship.  Out of 30 needed, I have 19.  Perhaps these will be done before I move to Florida at the end of the month.  As I look at the design, I think I will add another ring of neutrals.  I want the band of neutrals to be a bit thicker than what is shown.  Thoughts on that?

Finally, I want to share with you a somber sight.  I packed up my sewing area this past weekend.  I hope I can find a small corner of our (smaller) Florida digs to set up station.  I will post pictures when that happens.

Also, I wanted to thank some of my fellow bloggers, including JulieK, Sharon, and others who went out of their way to contact me and inform me I was listed as a "no reply" blogger.  I hope I have fixed the issue!

I have linked up to Life Under Quilts to share my hexie journey.  Check them out!

Maine

A cool, wet morning here in Maine!  When the rain finally stopped after more than 12 hours straight, I jogged about 2.5 miles and then settled in for some hexie basting.  Time to start on some neutrals.

Look at this lovely view!

Hexie Update 427/???

Greetings all!

Time to update everyone on Hexie Part Deux!  I have made a lot of progress this week.  Thus far, 427 hexies have been added to the mother ship.  I will use Civil War neutrals to make the next ring of hexies, followed by a ring of orange or red, then the blues.  I suppose after that, it will be time to start lengthening the quilt, because it will be quite wide after the next two rings.

Just as a comparison, I am including a picture taken one month ago (below).  I suppose time stuck in an airport and on planes helps with EPP projects!

Check out Life Under Quilts for more EPP Projects!

Fiesta Chairs

Hi readers!

Next month, my family is packing up and moving to Florida so I can finish my internship year.  In one year, I will fulfill my ultimate dream of being a clinical psychologist!  Even the thought of it is exciting.  Anyway, I found a townhouse (rental) a week ago, and am planning out furnishings.  We are moving from about 2000 square feet to about 1500.  Some things will end up in our storage shed (so that we may rent out the house we own) and others we will rely upon family to care for.  Our dining room table is large and will not fit well in the new space, so I am borrowing an old, distressed table from my parents.

The table and chairs have quite the history.  It has been a "starting out" table for a few decades now.  When I was young, my father had to build a top that fit over the existing table top as an inexpensive way of expanding the table for my family.  I had it for close to 10 years, then returned it to him when I did not need it anymore.  It ended up in my father's garage.  The chairs ended up (outside) on his deck.  You can see they make a new meaning of the word "distressed."

It will make my work easy I suppose!  I really like fiesta ware and have the place settings in all colors.  Fitting for a scrappy quilter, huh?  Based on this idea, I decided to paint each of the chairs a different color.  Here are two so far.  I still have another good coat to put on the chairs, but I imagine (and want) the chairs to maintain a distressed, used look.

Here is the blue chair.

Here is the yellow chair.

Two more to go!  I will show more pictures when everything is done.  I don't know yet what shape the table is in, but it has at least been stored indoors.

Hexie Part Deux

I was laying out my next ring of hexie flowers and realized I can't count...I have to make ten more red flowers.  I might just have to go shopping for more reds!

This is not the best picture.  7 of the outer red flowers are attached and the rest are just waiting for free time.  I guess I will start counting and keeping track of my progress as an incentive to continue.  I will count my hexies once they are attached to the mother ship.  So far, the mother ship has 308 hexies; this week I have completed 49 of them.  So I guess I would rate my progress as 49/308/???.  I actually have no idea how many will be in the finished project.

This week I have also basted 196 hexies and cut out fabric for more than 200 (my neutral ring).  I bought a pack of civil war neutral scraps from etsy a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised with the variety.  I think I purchased about 1.25 yards worth for 9.50 (after shipping).  Not too bad.  I cut about 90% of them for this project.  I use my dining room table for my cutting.

I am linking up with Life Under Quilts to share my hexie progress!

A Calf is Born

I am about to take some pictures to update everyone on Hexie Part Deux, but first I wanted to share with everyone an amazing Father's Day present - my father's first calf is born.

My father is the son of a dairy farmer.  He grew up on a small dairy farm so he has always been around livestock.  While he has always had some livestock around, he moved away from cows about 4 or 5 years ago when feed prices rose.  He has not bred his own cows as an adult though.  About two years ago, he purchased two young Charlet cows (sisters); he intended to breed them and then use the calves as meat cows.  Fast forward.  Both cows were pregnant (we call them 5 and 9) and the first had her calf yesterday afternoon.

Here she is.  My father went up to check on them and saw that 5 had given birth.  The calf is laying down while 5 is cleaning her up.

Momma is helping her up.

The calf starts looking for milk.  she was sucking on knees, udders, her Momma's face.  After 5 minutes or so....score!

We named her Anna, after my grandmother.  If the next calf is female, she will be Pearl.  I suppose it isn't the best idea to name a calf you will eventually eat after your grandmother, but she was too pretty not to name!

I will update again soon with some hexie news!

She's gone to the shop!

Is this what a mother feels like when a child goes to camp?  My sewing machine went for routine maintenance a day or so ago to a shop about an hour away.  It will be 7 to 10 days before I get to pick her up.  She surely needs the visit, but I will miss her!

Below is a picture of my sewing area (all empty looking without my Viking Sapphire).  it is in a little alcove off of my dining room.  The hampers to the right of my sewing table are full of scraps.  Crumbs are collected in the small bluish container on top of the desk.  I tell my husband someday I want a giant studio.  His response?  "When I get a man cave" (whatever that means).

I have been working on my next ring of hexies in the meantime.  I am packing slowly for our move and wishing the market was more favorable for a sale.  Oh well.  If my house does not sell in the near future, my family will make due as it always has.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!