Just Can’t Get Into Solid Quilts

I was working at the quilt shop the other day and picked up a book on “modern” quilts.  I don’t really understand these modern quilts because many of the designs are boringly simple and the workmanship is extremely poor.  This book though, featured quilts made from solid fabrics and they were the most boring yet.  Using beautiful fabric is what encourages me to make quilt after quilt. That day I was cutting pieces for my latest scrap quilt and was really enjoying matching the prints to make interesting blocks.  I LOVE fabric and love to see how prints and colors play together.  Using all solids takes away much of the fun.  This is going to be a great quilt.  It’s a churn dash design with a nine-patch center.  Fortunately I was able to dig in my scrap drawers and find the perfect pieces for these blocks.  I really like having my scraps pre-cut. I am more apt to use them and it makes it very easy to coordinate blocks. 

For the nine-patches I started with 5” squares.  I matched two squares and cut nine 1-1/2” squares from each one.  From that I was able to get two nine-patch blocks like these:

For the churn dash block I used 3-1/2” strips.  From easy strip I cut four 1-1/2 x 3-1/2” rectangles then cut the strip down to 2-1/2” wide and cut four half-square triangles using the Omni 96 ruler.

The picture shows the units cut from two strips.  These pieces will make one block!  This will be a great scrap quilt when it’s finished.  Now if I could just manage a little more time in the sewing room!

Less Work, More Play Weekend

About 10:00 yesterday morning Jim decided he’d like to go down to Milwaukee and do a little biking.  I say “little biking” because that’s all I can do.  Jim just loves to bike and could go all day but my back and neck always start hurting so it’s not that fun for me.  We met up with Bryan and Laura and they took us to Northern Brewer so we could check it out.  He’s really gotten into home brewing beer and he’s trying to get Jim interested.  It was fun to see all that goes into brewing and I have to say that Bryan has brewed some good beer. 

After that we picked up the Oak Leaf Trail in Wauwatosa and rode to Miller Park.  We got there right before the Brewers game so the whole area was really busy with tailgaters.  The burgers and brats smelled SO good but we rode on and picked up the Hank Aaron State Trail at the park. 

The Hank Aaron trail runs along the Menomonee River behind Miller Park so it’s pretty along that part of the trail.

After the ride we had a quick dinner at the Chancery, then headed home.  It was a nice day. 

This afternoon we were back on our bikes and rode the Wiouwash trail from Neenah to Oshkosh.  Two of my favorite words are “abundant sunshine.” and it was a wonderfully sunny weekend so it was nice to get outside.  Now if it would just warm up a little bit.  It was cruel to have temps in the 70’s in March.  Now the 50 degree days seem cold!!

After dinner I went downstairs and worked on a few more log cabin blocks.  I’m working on a very scrappy variation and it’s been really fun.  I have a drawer with 1-1/2” strips and just grabbed a bunch of them and started cutting.  The fun part has been coordinating the rounds in each block.  As I’ve sewn these blocks, I’ve been thinking about several other variations of this pattern I’d like to make.  The next ones will be more planned and one of them might even use the gradations I hand-dyed several years ago.  It would be great to use those fabrics.  First I need to finish this one!  Only a few more blocks to sew then I can put the top together.  Here are a few of my blocks.

Final UFO Finish for 2011

This little quilt has been a UFO since before last Christmas. It's one I found in the basket of UFO's in my sewing room and since it was supposed to be a Christmas quilt it seemed appropriate to try to finish it before this Christmas.  This quilt began as a charm pack from Moda’s 12 Days of Christmas line. I pieced the quilt center but put it away before borders and quilting.  I was able to find a backing fabric from the same line so slapped on a border, loaded it on the frame and finished it up.  Now it's for sale in my Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/88851159/12-days-of-christmas-lap-quilt

I think it turned out pretty cute.  I really like the border fabric with the white poinsettia print.

It seems like ages since I’ve spent any significant time in my sewing room but it looks like it may happen tomorrow.  My son went back to Milwaukee today and my husband will go back to work tomorrow so I plan to sew for most of the day.  My daughter’s boyfriend is leaving tomorrow to spend a semester studying in Spain and she’ll be going down to the airport in Chicago to see him off so I SHOULD have the day to myself.  What a treat.  In anticipation of my sewing marathon I pulled fabric for a new quilt.  It will be my first start of 2012.  It’s a quilt for my monthly scrap quilt group.  When I start it, I’ll post a little tutorial on how I’m piecing the blocks.  It’s a little different so someone may find it helpful.

Right now I’m hemming a binding on a quilt that’s an old UFO. I had hoped to hem a couple of quilts while watching all the football games this weekend but I wasn’t very motivated.  This quilt is from a line of fabric called Cottage Garden.  I had intended to make it for a shop sample before the shop closed but the fabric sold so quickly I never made the quilt.  I started it, then put it aside.  It’s nice to finish some of these old ones.  Hopefully I’ll finish it tomorrow so I can post it as my first finish for 2012.

Our Tree-Cutting Tradition

I could write a book about our annual tree cutting expeditions—it’s always an experience! To start with we get lost almost every year and drive forever to find the tree farm.  For the past several years we’ve gone to the same place and we still get lost.  The good news this year is that we saved the postcard the tree farm mailed and drove straight to it.  The bad news is that we had pouring rain.  We’ve cut trees in all kinds of weather but this was the first year we had rain. Many years we’ve had knee-deep snow and sub-zero temps so overall it wasn’t too bad.

We go to Whispering Pines Tree Farm in Saxeville.  They do a nice job of pruning the trees so you can always find one that’s nicely shaped. 

We have a tendency to underestimate how big a tree is when it’s in the field so some years we end up with a huge tree that has to be cut down to fit in the family room. I’ve finally figured out that I need to look at it with Jim standing next to it to get a better idea of how big it is. 

We ended up getting a nice tree (not this one) and didn’t have a single mishap.  We even sprung for a new tree stand so we didn’t have to fight to get it in the stand and straight.  We’ll probably decorate it tomorrow while we watch football.  I always like the fresh pine scent in the house.  I hope the cats don’t knock it over.  So far they haven’t shown much interest but we still might anchor it to the ceiling!

I was able to sneak in a little sewing today.  I pressed the Courtyard Maze top and sewed borders on Santa’s Little Helpers and 12 Days of Christmas.  My tip for the day is to sew borders with the border on top. For some reason, when I do that the borders are nice and flat.  I used to sew them with the quilt top on top so I could make sure the seams didn’t turn, but when I did it that way the borders ended up wavy.  It might just be a fluke but I’m sticking with it!

After the borders I sewed and pressed backings for all three and then got the batting cut.  They are now ready for quilting.  I’m hoping to get up early in the morning and get one loaded.  It would be nice to get at east two of them quilted tomorrow.  I’m planning to do freehand allover designs so the quilting should go fast.  I’ll post photos when I get them finished.