Some Quilt Finishes and More String Blocks

Before I dive into my sewing and quilting for the week, I have some good news. We had a sum of money deposited into our account by the Veteran’s Administration! I think Bruce was approved for Vietnam-area disability benefits (not to be confused, I’m learning, with ongoing healthcare benefits. We were denied the healthcare benefits, as previously whined about, hehe). Anyway, we have not received anything in writing from the VA detailing the payment made or the monthly benefit amount, but we expect it hopefully next week. It is most welcome, even if it appears to be less than what we were initially told to expect if approved. Time will sort it all out.

Now, on to sewing. This week, I finished the quilting and binding of the last two Community Quilts as organized through Jo at Jo’s Country Junction blog. These are the last two that were generously donated by Susan L of Iowa. I saved the best for last, and these two were absolutely delightful to quilt and study.

The first one is a girly Rail Fence quilt. I had to quilt this one in loops and hearts. 

Truly, the pictures don’t do these quilts justice. The fabrics in the rail fence have sparkles and just radiate spring joy! 

The second one is a masterwork of scrappy piecing. I love the navy polka dot fabric that sets the blocks off to perfection! I quilted it with a basic stipple.

Thank you for entrusting me with these beauties, Susan. They will be donated to the Salt Lake Chapter of Quilts for Kids at our April workshop. 

Now it’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge time and I’m linking up to Scrappy Saturday. The last block of my monthly makes is the one I call Paint Chips. Here are the five of these 8.5” (unfinished) that I made in yellows. 

And here are all three of the colors for this year so far. I wanted to see what these looked like together, and I am pleasantly surprised at the pattern that results. It’s better than I had hoped. Naturally, more colors and blocks will look better. And I have no idea what the actual finished pattern will be. I see so many possibilities. Oh, and the pattern of color and neutral varies from block to block. 

A quick note - if you didn’t see my (rare) mid-week post, I joined up with the final Parade of Quilts for the 2025 Stay at Home Round Robin. My post showing and describing the quilt is HERE, and the quilt parade, which I highly encourage you to check out, is here at Gail’s blog. 

Cathy’s 2025 Stay at Home Round Robin Quilt

And let’s not forget the strings! I finished the last twelve 8.5” string blocks, which I call Nann Strings, after my friend Nann of With Strings Attached, who came up with this block and sewed a stunning quilt. 

Here are my blocks slapped up on the design wall. I’ll sew them all together next week. 

I recently acquired some fabulous scraps from a Friend With Very Good Taste (Wanda). I’ve spent some - but not nearly enough - time this week fondling and sorting them. I started going through my quilt kits and trying to match up fabrics with them. But I’d see one fabric, dive through the kits searching for something in those colors, then get distracted by another kit or fabric. Before long, I had piles and fabrics and orphan blocks everywhere on tables, chairs, the floor and also draped over the sewing machines and ironing board. It was such a chaotic mess that I realized I was never going to make any progress that way. So I put it all away and have devised a plan to move it all out to my kitchen island and go through it methodically there. That kitchen island is so big, that I’m afraid Trump is going to want to take it for its strategic value, hehe! Kidding. Sorta. 

And speaking of the T-word, here’s a cute picture I borrowed from former Labor Secretary (under Clinton) Robert Reich. Some women attorneys from Tennessee are commenting on the leaked military attack plans and other facepalm actions of the T regime: 

Have a great week, friends. And if you can’t do that (because you read or listen to the news), then at least stay healthy and safe! xo

More Donation Quilt Finishes

This week I was able to finish up two more donation quilts by quilting and binding them. The tops  were donated by Jo Kramer and her Community Quilt program and will be given as finished kid quilts to the Salt Lake chapter of Quilts for Kids.

Here is a cute basic transportation-themed quilt, perfect for a little boy. The interior squares received a crosshatch treatment and the outer red border was done with a stipple (meander). 

This little cutie finished at 38.5 x 43”.

The next quilt I call Picnic Kisses because of the red picnic check and the lips. :-) I just did some basic loop quilting.

Picnic Kisses finished at 42x48”.  These two little quilts, along with the three donation quilts I finished last week will be donated at our next QFK workshop in September. 

Once those were done and dusted, I got to work on making a dent in my yellow scrap bucket. Yellow is the color of the month for August in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. First this week were three Four in Nine blocks.  They will finish at 9”.

And then one of my favorites to sew, the Chaser blocks. I’m using black with white as my constant in these blocks instead of a light background. I think it’s going to look really sharp when all the colors come together for a quilt top party!  

The Chaser block is a Cynthia Brunz pattern, as is the Color Stix block, below. I plan to do Color Stix  for RSC24, and this is just my first - a prototype, if you will. It is Cynthia’s block for the current block drive for her Compassion Quilt program. Although she will have moved on to new blocks and a new drive long before I begin sewing these next year, I do plan to make the quilt(s) from these blocks and donate them to her when they are done. In other words, these will be dedicated to Compassion Quilts instead of Quilts for Kids. I don’t think the timing of the blocks really matters as the need for such quilts is always great, right?

In the coming week, I’ll be tackling my yellow strings. I hope to get at least 45 of them (6.5”, unfinished) made; I have plans for 15 of them this month and will donate the other 30 blocks to QFK for their quilt kit making. 

I also finished cutting out and began sewing the first (of 40) of this next size of star blocks for the Christmas Stars quilt. My goal is to have all 40 of this size done by the end of the month, so I’m 20% of the way there. 

My only other non-quilting news to share is that the vegetable garden continues to go gangbusters! Here is one bed’s-worth of carrots. This variety is short and stubby but good. It was all we could get at the time. But we have another half bed planted of the regular Nantes-type carrots we favor, and those are still a ways out.

The blackberries are almost done, the cucumbers have started producing, and the peppers and tomatoes are keeping me busy. I did roast a lot of Roma tomatoes this week (about 12 pounds worth), along with some garlic, onion (from the garden) and basil (also from the garden) to make some marinara. I’ll continue to do that as I collect the Romas in 12-pound batches. The slicing tomatoes and cherry tomatoes are being shared and/or eaten by us on a daily basis. And of course, we have to have our weekly Bacon (Costco turkey bacon), lettuce and tomato sandwiches on a weekly basis! Yum!

Have a great week!

May and June Community Quilts

These community quilts were just quilt tops when they were sent to me earlier this year by Jo Kramer of Jo’s Country Junction. She coordinates a national “exchange” where makers send their quilt tops to those of us who volunteer to add backing fabric, layer up, quilt, bind and donate them to a local charity. Jo maintains a list on her blog of finishers (that’s what I am) and the quilts come in from all over. The only requirement is that we finishers send back pictures of the finished quilts and let everyone know where they ended up. 

So, here are the quilts that I finished in May and June. None have been shown previously on the blog. I also maintain a separate page (page links are just below the blog header) for finished Community Quilts, since I don’t count those in with my regular personal quilt finishes.  :-)

I believe all these four quilt tops were pieced by the Cresco, IA quilting ladies, but when I received them there was no notice of who did piece them. Regardless, they are all delightful, and someone(s) has a great knack for putting together scraps and bits. A sincere thank you to the dear hearts who pieced them!!

First up, we have this Star Wars Quilt. It looks as though the piecer alternated scrappy blocks of a vivid Star Wars print with a red-orange fabric. 

I quilted it using a stipple in the print blocks and a ribbon motif in the plain blocks. It was easy to switch back and forth as I traveled through the blocks. :-). I also love that I got to use up two chunks of lovely matching fabric for the back.  

Next is the Thomas the Train quilt. Someone very cleverly used their last scraps of Thomas fabric, combining it with other train fabric, solids and other fun pieces to make this little delight. 

The backing is another blue scrap from my stash, and I quilted this little number with loopy vines. 

This next quilt is really eye-catching! It’s another great example of How to Use Bits of a Cute Leftover Print. The print is a vibrant depiction of hot air balloons and kites. My quilting (viney loops again) is a depiction of what happens to my kites when I try to fly them, haha!

The backing is red and purple chunks and bits. Oh how I love a scrappy backing that uses up fabric leftovers!!

Finally, we have this Moon Beamers quilt. I wish the pictures conveyed how bright and cheery this little gem of a quilt is! It was small, so I added a matching strip along each side to bring it up to 40” wide. The clever piecer took a panel that was meant to be a fabric book, cut the blocks and sashed them with a matching print and cute cornerstones. I love this quilt so much!

For the scrappy backing, I found two fabric chunks that, while being totally unrelated to the Moon Beamers fabric line, matched it perfectly. Serendipity! It just doesn’t get any better. How did I quilt it? Loopy Vines again. Yes, I can do other things, but that seems to be what my brain defaults to.  Maybe because I’m loopy or something.  

So there you have it - four more cute little quilts headed to the Salt Lake chapter of Quilts for Kids. Thanks again to Jo and any of the amazing ladies (and gentlemen) who had a hand in creating these little quilts. 

Snowmageddon

I would call it the Week From Hell, but it would more accurately be described as the week from the North Pole. Frankly, though, some of hell’s warmth would be welcomed about now! LOL.  

Beginning Tuesday afternoon and continuing through all of Wednesday, the Salt Lake Valley was plastered with at least 18” of snow on the valley floor.  The schools reverted to online classes and many businesses were closed. Those people who live on the benches (foothills) of the mountains that surround the valley got even greater accumulations, and the mountain communities were inundated. I think we’ll have no major water issues this year, but snow loads on roofs and trees and plants has been concerning. I’ve been out to brush off my rose bushes a couple times. I didn’t take pictures because I’m a dunce at those things. 

The frigid, moist air seems to have finally permeated the basement where my studio is, and I can’t seem to get warm. Perhaps, however,  it’s the loss of 40 pounds of insulating weight? I’ve been wearing three pair of socks at a time, plus two to three layers of tops / sweaters. 

Some days I just couldn’t bear to sew, even with the supplemental studio space heater going, so my production, like my weight, is down. But I do have a few things to show you.

I finished 10 pink crumb candy blocks. I will put these in with the other colors of crumb candy blocks, because everyone likes pink candy or bubblegum, right? The rest of my crumbs went into making a row of crumbs 4” tall by 40” wide, which I added to the top of The Creature From the Pink Circus quilt top. That little quilt top is sandwiched up and waiting to be quilted in the next week. 

My primary focus was layering and then quilting two more lovely Community Quilt tops that were sent to me by my friend McGill in SC. Her kids quilts are always such beautiful eye candy and a joy to quilt.

As I quilted this cheerful 40x50” quilt using loops and hearts, I had fun checking out all her various scraps. There were so many that I have also had over the years, so it was like sharing a walk down memory lane! Thanks, McGill!

Isn’t the backing pretty? 

This second quilt from McGill is my favorite. I am so in love with the saturated colors and lovely Tula Pink fabrics. It measures 43x45”. 

This was quilted with a basic stipple; light gray on the front and a medium gray on the back. The binding was a fun piece of Allison Glass SunPrint fabric I had in my stash. I love how the colors and intensity match the front and pop on the back. 

On Friday I had my annual mammogram in the morning. I’m glad that’s over for another year. At noon I took my son Ryan to an eye surgery re-check appointment. He had a lasik-type procedure done the day prior and wasn’t cleared to drive until the re-check. We then went out to lunch and just had a great few hours talking and hanging out. 

The only other thing I managed to accomplish this week was to work on fixing up these donation blocks. They were given to me from our Quilts for Kids chapter to “do something with”. On three of them I had to replace stained white background pieces. Two blocks needed to be torn apart and the piecing corrected. The last problem block is the basket block at the center top. The basket is portion is barely visible due to poor contrast. 

I had a scrap of yellow print to replace it, but the fabrics and quilt tops in The Cubbyholes of Shame were hissing and booing (the hooligans!), wanting me to be done with the dang thing already. So the blocks are in Time Out until I make my decision. I’d love to hear what you think…. Replace the basket or not?

Have a good week!

Linking up to Scrappy Saturday at Angela’s So Scrappy blog. 

Three Finishes and Studio Tour

This week, three little quilts “got their wings” (were officially finished) - and none of them are pink. Two are little blue quilts from January and one is an RSC finish of blocks from last year. I will be getting to some pink quilt tops and some Community Quilts once I spend this afternoon pin/spray basting them. I’m hoping to get five finished next week, but if I could only get three done this week (did I really just say “only” out loud?) then I’m not going to hold my breath for five finishes next week. Whatever happens, happens. 

Let’s see which little quilts got their wings. 

First up is this cute little Bow Ties quilt. These were some blocks I did for last year’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge. 

It measures 42x48} and was quilted with a simple stipple. The backing is a piece sent to me by Jo Kramer for her Community Quilts donation quilt program,.

As usual, this one will to to Quilts for Kids.

Next up are the two blue quilts pieced in January. This first one, pieced with dark and bright blue strings, reminds me of frosted winter window panes. So I’m calling it Frosted Window Panes.

It finished at 42x48”, was quilted with loops, and used up most of the rest of this blue print for the backing. The remaining bits will be cut up for Zipper blocks. 

The final finished quilt this week was this Creature From The Blue Lagoon quilt, using leftover blocks, chunks and all manner of scraps. The finished quilt is 44.5 x 60.5”. I forgot to take a backing photo. 

Working with my pink strings, I finished sewing 63 string blocks at 6.5”, unfinished size. I safety-pinned them into four groups of 15 blocks for the QFK quilt kit makers. 

The remaining three blocks will hopefully be incorporated into my pink Creature quilt later this month. I’m open for ideas for a pink Creature quilt name (hint, hint). Last time I did a pink Creature quilt, it was The Creature From the Bubblegum Factory, LOL. 

This next photo is a bad one, but it shows that this next elephant quilt is ready for basting. I promise that despite how wonky it looks on the design board, half hanging and half pinned, that it is squared up. I’ve also assembled a backing from scrap chunks, so this will be a finish next week hopefully!!

 

What follows is a mini-tour of my studio. I’ve had three separate requests (from Linda, Kat and Anonymous) to show how I store my fabrics and scraps. First up, here is a photo taken of my one studio wall after the flood and remodel from about 18 months ago. It will give you a “lay of the land”, so to speak. 

Although things have changed since this photo was snapped, it is the window wall that I’ll be talking about and showing pictures of. I’ll start on the left with the two plastic storage drawers, then move to the right and eight cubbies on which the ironing station rests, then finish with the three IKEA bookshelves. Ready?

Scrap storage for (top down): Kona White, White/black and black white scraps, Kona Snow, Zip Block contrast squares), Low Volume, Brown, Black. On top of this unit rests my bolts (yardage) of Kona White, Kona Snow, Kona Black and Kona Red. 

Next up: 

Fused scraps (appliqué leftovers), Zip Block ingredients, gray scraps, Linens and scraps pulled to work with them (someday I’ll get back to these, and the drawer that houses the Orphan blocks and Parts Department. 

Moving to the right under the ironing station are:

Top Two: lighter (L) and darker (R) backing pieces for Quilts for Kids.

Bottom Left: precuts. 

Bottom Right (in polka dot bin) Low Volume print yardage and pieces greater than a fat quarter.

Moving to the right, here are the other four bins

Top Left: paper, phone books and lightweight backings for string blocks

Top Right (polka dot bin) African fabrics

Bottom Left: backings for personal quilts

Bottom Right: flannel and muslin

Next, we’ll tackle the bookcases. 

Bookcase #1 (two pix)

I think I missed the very first shelf . That houses a long-term clothing project I’m working on. 

Top Down: miscellaneous string blocks, 2022 RSC Bear Paws and on top of that plastic container are RSC 2021 Chips Blocks to be assembled.

Next: three current RSC projects in their storage boxes.

Lower shelf: two more current RSC boxes

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Blogger stopped working at this point; I will recreate the rest of the tour in next week’s weekly post. 

Year-End Recap

Well, this year flew by, didn’t it? It’s time to grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage and pull up a chair. I’ll do all the work as we hit the highlights of the quilting year here at Chez Kizerian. I had hoped to finish one more quilt this week (month/year), but my Bernina is in the shop for her annual “spa treatment”.  I’m excited to share some (studio/machine) changes that are in the works! I won’t say more than that now, but next week I’ll share the whole story. 

In the meantime, I’m using my backup sewing machine, Bob. It’s a Brother. As in “Oh Brother, why isn’t this da** thing feeding evenly?” In the past, I have quilted on it using a serpentine stitch, but Bob was having none of that this week. No sirrree. So, I’ve ended the year having made 57 quilts, and quilting/binding another 24 “community” quilts (explained below) for donation. I’ll take it. 

So for this roundup post, I thought I’d share my Favorite Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts, Favorite Personal quilts, Favorite Donation quilts and favorite Community Donation quilts. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

Favorite Personal Quilts

There wasn’t much to choose from in this category, so there are only two favorites. There would’ve been three if I could have finished the Zipper quilt I was trying to get done this week, but I guess that will now roll into 2023.

First up is Swimmingly. This was finished as part of this year’s Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR). Bruce claimed it and uses it regularly. 

The other favorite personal quilt was this Antique Tiles quilt I finished earlier this month. It’s going into my depleted “To Be Gifted” pile, waiting for its assignment. 

Favorite Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) Quilts

The first RSC favorite quilt is this January finish, made from Split Nine Patch blocks. This little quilt used the warm colored blocks made during 2021.

Next up is this bullseye version of the classic Courthouse Steps block. The perfect fabric to tie these colors together was given to me by my RSC friend Julie. It was used for the borders and backing. 

My final favorite donation quilt was Rainbow Elephants. It was one of 5 elephant quilts finished this year. 

Two more will be coming in the first quarter of the new year. At that time, I’ll show all of them in a post. My friend Nann donated the cute elephant print fabric used in the border and backing.

Favorite Donation Quilts

I think this category is honestly just an excuse to show more quilts because every quilt in this entire post, with the exception of the two personal quilts, was donated to Quilts for Kids. 

This sailboat quilt was made from a pattern and some fabric scraps that were donated to our chapter of Quilts for Kids. I added some of my own fabrics and scraps to expand the quilt and complete the border and backing.

This next quilt is simple, but I fell in love with it early on in the creation process. I had been saving blue and green batik scraps for a couple years and finally had enough to take a stab at making a checkerboard quilt in blues and greens. So, I channeled my inner Wanda (who also has been a very generous fabric donor), set to work, and ended up with this quilt. I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

And speaking of Wanda, she also donated the backing fabric that was the inspiration for this strings-and-patchwork quilt. This was another favorite make, largely because the creative process with strings, scraps and a limited color palette was so much fun.

Favorite Community Quilts

What is a Community Quilt? It’s a quilt whose blocks - or the entire top - are made by someone else, which then is gifted to me to quilt, bind and donate. Sometimes the donors provide the backing (although that is NOT necessary). I provide the batting, thread and labor. This year, two quilts were donated to Wrap Ukraine with Quilts , and every other quilt was donated to the Salt Lake Chapter of Quilts for Kids. 

This first quilt was donated by McGill U.  The pattern is called Ring of Stars and can be found at Connecting Threads HERE.

My other favorite Community Quilt was this beauty donated by Julie K - the same Julie who donated the border fabric for the bullseye courthouse blocks quilt (linked above under Favorite RSC Quilts). 

Honorable Mention:

Another blatant excuse to show more quilts. Remember, I did warn you to get a beverage and pull up a chair. Which I probably didn’t even need to, because who reads blog posts while standing up?

This little number is the cool-colored version of the split nine-patch quilt shown above. It was as enjoyable as the first, and makes me realize I need to add this versatile block to my RSC repertoire for 2023.

I couldn’t leave this elephant quilt out. I actually made two of these in identical colors and fabrics. 

And finally, this quilt helped me whittle down some random width-of-fabric strips and bright solid scraps. I plan to make more of these in the future. So many ideas, never enough time!

As you can tell (by the names and links in this post, which is in no way exhaustive), there were so many wonderful people who contributed fabric, ideas, blocks, tops, patterns and feedback to help me with my quilting efforts this year. I am truly humbled and appreciative of your friendship and generosity. I also want to thank my dear readers for following along, offering comments and support. You’re the reason for being here. Thank you!

May you all have a wonderful New Year celebration, and good health and happiness in 2023.