Another First Quarter Quilt Finish

This quilt was officially finished about a week ago, and I did mention it. But I wanted to give it its own introductory post so it will qualify as a finish for the 2017 First Quarter Finish Along.  My Quarter I Finish Along Goals are here. This quilt is #5 on the list.

It’s a Disappearing 9-Patch with a couple vertical stripes added for interest. I wanted to do something with black, white (and gray) and a color, and this was it. The binding is a basic stripe and the back is solid teal. It will be gifted to one of my BILs next time we visit Arizona. And because it will be used in a warm climate (but they do have cool winters and cold nights), the batting is merely flannel instead of warmer cotton batting.

The quilting from this relative beginner is mainly stippling and loopy lines. Men don’t care, right?

The news on DH’s arm was not good. Both lumps were malignant, as we suspected. Surgery to remove them will be on Monday morning. There is hopefully enough tissue remaining (from previous surgeries) to remove the cancer. They will keep going until they get “clear margins” in their immediate biopsies. However, because the long-term biopsies (a week or more to get results) are more telling, the surgery itself will be staged. Monday is the first stage. No skin grafts will be done until the long-term biopsies come back clear. If biopsies are not clear, they will go in and take more tissue - or whatever they need to. That is the elephant in the room that we are aware of but choosing to ignore for now.

Please keep a good thought for DH. The irony of the whole arm cancer thing for Bruce is that he used to be a medical engineer, and worked for Symbion and Robert Jarvik (think artificial heart). Bruce also worked on circuits for the Utah artificial arm (a prosthetic) and other medical assist devices.

In a lighter vein (pun intended), I’m working on a fresh new springy quilt for myself while DH is trying to decide which of the several guitar quilt patterns (and then colors) he wants for his new quilt this year.

Beam Me Up

Sewing is my sanity. What a week! Is anyone else ready for a vacation from winter? Until a vacation can happen, I am so grateful (should be spelled GREATful) for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and my sewing machine!  Come take a mini-vacation and join us over at Angela’s So Scrappy blog for the weekly roundup of colorful goodness!

This week I sewed 13 teal Friendship Star variation blocks. I absolutely love how these play together!

And to finish off my teal scraps, I made two nine-patch blocks, one 6,5” novelty block with the telephone center, and three miscellaneous crumb slabs, which will count as one slab block in my final tally. I think that they are more versatile when kept to sizes that can either be sewn together or cut down later.  Gotta love scraps! Linking up to Oh Scrap!

I was also able to finally finish my brother-in-law’s quilt, the boring disappearing 9-patch. I’ve got a couple close-ups here, mainly to show my (honest but) mediocre and wobbly quilting. I am hoping that once the quilt is washed, it will be less noticeable.

The quilting is stippling in the body, loops in the two vertical bands, and a vine and leaf pattern along the border. I should’ve probably picked another situation (instead of white thread on a black border) to practice this new-to-me motif. But oh well. I`m nuts like that.....

Here it is with its black and white binding, in a heap (that’s how I feel about it), ready to go into the laundry for its washing and crinkle-production. I will get a final picture and do a separate reveal post about it later in the week, because it’s another Finish-Along goal for the first quarter.

And finally, I bought a large separating zipper and was able to finish the sleeping bag for my DGD Abbie’s American Girl doll. While I was at it, I sewed up a flannel nightgown for the doll, too. Just in time. The kids have Monday (Presidents Day) off school and are coming over to play with me and Grandpa.

And speaking of Grandpa (DH), the news on his forearm is not good. The MRI showed enough to warrant biopsies, done last Tuesday or Wednesday (it’s all a blur). Yesterday the doc called to tell us she`d assembled a team review (oncologist, radiologist, her as surgeon, etc.) for Tuesday morning. We meet with her on Tuesday at 1:00 to go over the results and surgery/treatment plan. We’ve been here before and done that. But one wonders just how much tissue is left to take before it begins impairing the use of his (right, dominant) arm and hand. Needless to say, he’s had to bow out of his folk music trio’s gig for this week.... We are being stoic for now, but reserving the right to panic later if warranted (insert inappropriate LOL here....)

Wishing you a good week, with lots of sunshine for everyone!

Sewing a Blue Streak

I hate blue. At the beginning of this never-ending month, I loved it. But I have been sewing like the wind. Sidebar: Have you ever seen the movie “Three Amigos”?  Martin Short, Steve Martin and Chevy Chase were in it. They encourage a tiny old-time western town to save itself from the coming bad guy, El Guapo. But the townspeople’s only skill is sewing. So, he has them sew a big phony backdrop of the desert to hide the town behind. And sewed they did! He ran around encouraging them to “Sew Like the Wind!”. You can see the little clip here.

OK, so I really do like blue, but I am just OVER it for this month. However, I have more blocks to show you this week.  Next week I’ll just do a recap of my RSC blocks for the month as well as other sewing projects I hope to have completed. But I digress....

The three Dresden blocks are done.  They were machine-stitched onto a 20.5” pink or yellow background.

But first I had to back the doilies with a solid cotton circle. And because one of the doilies was age-stained in the center (and I had unsuccessfully to completely remove it), I decided to add yo-yos (Suffolk Puffs) to the very center. The yo-yos will match the block color.  I may do a tutorial on how I did all that some time.

I was going to work with my selvages this week, but just couldn’t decide how I wanted to use them. After much online research, I sat down to piece and realized that I really didn’t have enough to work with. That’s OK; I will table that project until next year. There is plenty on my plate without it.

So all that was left for me to do was to sew up the chunks and bits and leftovers.  From them I made 10 - 8.5” (unfinished) blocks.  I still had some blue fabric left over, but not much (probably about a fat quarter’s worth total in 4-5 prints; not enough for any variety).

Then I got this idea to pin up the ten 8.5” crumb slabs with the ten 8.5” 16-patches from last week. CHAOS. It is a certain bet that THEY will not be playing together in any future quilts!!

Once the blue was (finally) done, I turned to Seeing Red, the ugly monstrosity that I have pieced for my brother-in-law (although I didn’t intend for it to be so ugly). My trusty feline supervisors, Alfalfa and Darla were of enormous assistance.

Here is a BEFORE shot, as I had just laid down the quilt backing on the dining area floor:

Then I ran downstairs to my studio to get painters tape and the batting. When I came up, it was very clear that the supervisors had completed their inspection:

But somehow I managed to finish basting it, which was my only sewing goal of the day (I had to clean the floor first, no small feat).

Today I’ll start quilting it. As a break from quilting, I can finish piecing the Valentine Disappearing Nine-Patch (D9P).

I hope to have them both done before the end of the month, so I can get busy with February’s color as soon as it’s announced. We’ll be on vacation for a good part of February, so I need to get right on it!

Looking forward to seeing more scrappy BLUE goodness? Why not join us at So Scrappy for Scrappy Saturday? Participants from all over this blue planet are linking up their projects!!

Until next time,