Another Finish and Some Pillowcases

Earlier this week I finished a tumbler wall hanging that I put on my To Be Finished list for the first quarter of the 2019 Finish-Along calendar.

The link for all our finishes will be open on April 1st, but I need to get this shared and blogged first! I’ve had these Bonnie and Camille fabrics for a couple years at least, and have almost given them away a couple times. But I forced myself to add this make to my list, and using my tumbler die (and Go! Baby cutter) cut the pieces out last December. This week I sewed them together, and in no time it was done. Why did I wait so long?

It’s now hanging in our mostly-gray living room, on a hanger that is probably too big for it. But oh well. I like to add bits of color here and there in the decor for a little punch. In the following pictures, you’ll see that I already have some teal blues and reds here and there. The Talavera vase in the picture below is normally by the fireplace. I just moved it to include in this picture (which was dumb, because it’s not in the bigger picture below, where it should be). 

This is goal #8 on my Finish-Along (2019 First Quarter) list, which you can see HERE. The finished wall hanging measures 26x32”. I quilted it simply by just doing a straight stitch 1/4” on each side of the seam lines. 

Yeah, that hanger is too big for the wall hanging, but the size of the wall hanging itself is good for the room. I have to go on the hunt for some alternate hangers for different-sized wall hangings as I make them (I do have on on my list to make next quarter that is more summer themed). 

And Cousin Kim was over to hang out and sew again today (our second time this week because our schedules allowed it! YAY!). On Sunday we decided we’d make pillowcases today. So we picked out some fabrics we loved (or that I wanted to get rid of, hehehe), and I had them all cut up for us and ready to sew.  

Kim took hers home (no picture), but I did snap pictures of the ones I made. First, we have the four that will go to some sort of charity (Million Pillowcase Challenge? One of the H2H charities? I have to do some research...)

I was about an inch short on the Joel Dewberry fabric (the large print), so the cuff of the pillowcase second from left ended an inch shorter than the rest. Otherwise, they’re identically sized (but may not look like it because of how they’re folded or photographed). They are so easy and quick to make and have wonderful finished seams inside and out.

And of course, I had to make a couple to keep. The right one, below, will be for me to sleep on. The cuff is the same fabric from Birds in the Lattice, which is on the bed. I wish there had been enough blue fabric left over to do two matching pillowcases - I would have loved to use it for the body of the case. The other yellow, gray and white one will go on the guest bed. I will be making a new quilt for that come next quarter. But first we have some painting and carpet cleaning to do in there (which I’ve been putting off for six months). 

So, I’ve gotten a lot of little odds and ends sewn this week as I wait for the new color for April to be announced for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Yesterday I basted the stacked coins donation quilt I’m making. If I can get that quilted and bound tomorrow and Saturday I may have one more finish for the month. We’ll see!

Quarter 4 Finish-Along Goals

I’m running out of time to list my 4th quarter goals for the 2016 Finish-Along, so here I am sliding in under the wire by a day or two.

Last quarter I only finished one of my four goals, and I even did a post about it (my Notting Hill quilt, here). But then I forgot to link up to the 3rd Quarter Linky Party. Just so much going on....  But I am determined to stick to the program, LOL.  Without further ado.....

1.   Aria Quilt
Edited to add: Finished. Post is HERE.

This finish didn’t make it into last quarter, but only by a few days. I got it back on Oct. 3 or so, then trimmed and bound it. It is now done, but I will do an official post about it next week.

2.  Cat Quilt for Remington
Edited to add: Finished. Post is Here.

The below quilt, pictured when it was just basted, is almost ready to be revealed. It will be shown in its own post later this month.

3.  Cat Quilt for London.
London’s quilt is basted and will be quilted by me this weekend. Reveal post will be after numbers one and two.
Edited to Add:  Finished. Post is Here.

4.  Cat Quilt for Abbie - right now it’s just a pile of cat squares; you can actually check back on my blog to see the yellow litter (yellow is not in either of the above quilts).  This was a later addition to my Must Make Cat Quilts because I didn’t know until last month that Abbie was in love with cats!!
Edited to Add:  Finished. Post is  HERE.




5.  Magic Carpet Quilt for Shane
Edited to Add:  Finished.  Post is HERE.

This quilt top was so much fun to piece! It’s ready to be basted and quilted.

6.  Vintage Sheet Rainbow Rail Fence

This top is also pieced and ready to be basted and quilted. I’d wanted to do a vintage sheet quilt for a long time, so used this year’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge as an opportunity to work with my sheet scraps. I rather like it!

7.   Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler
Edited to add: Finished!  Post is Here.

This one is a column-along quilt. The tenth and final column will be a yellow one which I’ll sew up as soon as it’s announced. Not pictured are the red, green and gray columns, and the blue column is folded up at the foot of the teal and pink columns.

8.   Christmas Quilt for Mike
Edited to add: Finished! Post is HERE.

This is a deer-themed printed quilt top from Pattern Jam. The green and black polka dots will be thin and thick borders. The newsprint fabric will be the backing. This will be for one of my dear sons-in-law Mike, who is a hunter.  My other SIL is on assignment overseas, so he will get a quilt next year.

9.  Petals for Kim
Edited to add:  Finished! Post is HERE. 

My daughter-in-law Kim picked out the pattern and the Bonnie & Camille fabrics. These orange peels need to be machine appliquéd to the blocks, then stitched together, etc. Should be a quick and easy make for Christmas.

10. Ryan’s Manly Quilt.
Updated to add: Finished!  Post is HERE.

Unlike my artist son Shane (who picked out the colors of his Magic Carpet quilt above), Ryan is more comfortable with darker, more sedate colors. This fabric is Black Tie Affair by Basic Grey for Moda.

11.  Cozy Christmas
Updated to add: Finished! Posted HERE.

Right now I’m participating in the Cozy Christmas Quilt Along. I plan to finish all four blocks, the borders, etc. and give it as a Christmas present.

This quarter, I am confident that I will finish at least 80% of this list, as they are slated as Christmas gifts.  Then I can start the new year with very little on my plate!!  YAY!!

I’m linking up to the 4th Quarter Goals for the 2016 Finish Along. Why not hop over and see what others have planned?

Quilty Orphan Adoption Event !! And Other Stuff.

Cynthia Brunz at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework iis hosting her semi-annual Quilty Orphan Adoption Event and I have decided to join in.

Basically, if you have a UFO (unfinished object or project) that you know you will never finish, then you can offer it up for adoption and link up to her blog.  And the offer is FREE.  There are several other UFOs up for adoption linked up to Cynthia’s site, so go check them out.  

To me, this is a fantastic solution to those “What was I thinking?” projects, or projects that just turned to the dark side once they began.....  Given that I have just started seriously quilting within the last year, I would still categorize myself as an (over-) confident beginner. 

So, what is this project?  It will hopefully someday be a mini-quilt sized approximately 24” by 27”.  I used a charm pack of Bonnie and Camille’s Marmalade and some Kona White.  The pattern (included with UFO) is called Pretty in Pink (Mini) by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka’s Treasures. 

It was a quilt-along that Heather hosted earlier this year, and once I had cut everything out per the directions, I kicked myself for not reading through them first. It seems to me that it would be much easier (and more accurate) to cut each charm vertically into 2 pieces, insert the white, then cut it vertically into 2 pieces and insert the white. Instead, we cut each charm into 4 pieces, then inserted one white vertical piece and two white horizontal pieces, hoping they match up.  Maybe I`m wrong, but I am not going to dwell on it. This gives me a headache. And all those dang pinked edges...... grrrr.  

So, if you think you might want to adopt this project for your very own, here is what I am asking. Many of the adoptee projects are intended for charity, but since this is just a wall hanging or mini size, I will not ask that. However, I would like to see a picture when you finish it.  Please comment below if you are interested; I will keep the adoption open through Tuesday, September 22.  Please make sure I can contact you; in other words, if you are a no-reply blogger, leave your email address in your comment.   I will include the fabrics for the front (I had not picked out any backing or binding), directions, and will carefully mark all the cut pieces for you.  Plus, if you would like, I will throw in a mini charm pack of Feed Company by Moda. 

* * * * * * * * * *

This is one of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks for this week’s Farm Girl quiltalong. It is called Sunny Sunflower. I have another block to do, and will show that next post.

I tried making an autumn table runner for our kitchen table.  I used Home for Harvest, a quilt line by (again) Heather Mulder Peterson (LOOOOOVE those colors), and you can see them also in the above block (the brown and green).  In the runner, I paired them up with some Kaufman yard-dyed Essex Linen in Natural because I have heard so many nice things about it. It was not my favorite to work with, but that’s probably just me. Besides, look at my rank beginner quilting on it.  HA!  The harder free-motion quilting is much easier than trying to sew a few basic straight lines. Go figure. 

And finally, my niece (or cousin’s daughter) Jenny, whose first quilt I showed you earlier this month, finished her second one a couple weeks later. She used solids, half-square triangles, and came up with her own layout. I think it is stunning!  Great job, Jenny!

I’m a bit sad because we will not be having our regular Sunday sewing group tomorrow due to illnesses. And I had a killer lunch planned: ham and broccoli quiche, cinnamon raisin bread, mimosas and fresh peach pie. Plus, I wanted to pawn some garden tomatoes off on them, too.  But there is always next week!