Piecing It All Together

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  

Spring has finally come to Wisconsin.  My seedlings are doing well, and now that May seems to be settling down into warmer weather, I'll be planting them in our little garden soon.   These are zucchini, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Has this ever happened to you?  The project I was using for leaders and enders just took over and demanded to be made right then and there.

Last week, I started working on an old UFO of 4 patch blocks from 1930s fabrics and solid colors.  Now it's a twin-sized top, with a simple border of print squares.

Here's one of the weirdest squares in the border--a donkey (or burro?).  I think he's kind of cute.

I wanted this quilt to be similar to scrap quilts made in the 1930s, and alternate unpieced blocks were common then.  The alternate block is a very pale yellow solid from the stash. I tried using white, but it just seemed too stark.
After playing with the blocks on the floor for a couple of hours, I decided on the diagonal rows of color.  Kind of like a rainbow.  But this layout left out some of the blocks, especially the dark green ones.

So I made the rest of the blocks into a small top.  This is my nod to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, which is dark green.  All the fabrics are vintage, so I don't think it would be a good donation quilt, since it would likely get a lot of wear and tear.  The fabrics are good quality, and might be fine, but I don't want to take a chance.  I'll quilt it up and use it around here.

We might need a few baby quilts.  Three of my grandsons were here yesterday, including this guy, my Baby Buddy.  Quilts are great for laying on the floor to play with babies.

The weather was beautiful yesterday (in the 70s!) so we were able to take a walk in the park.  BTW, check out Little Buddy's haircut.  His mom has always cut the boys' hair herself, even when there wasn't a pandemic.

Big Buddy would rather bike than walk.  He's taking a break here from math lessons.  Grandpa is tutoring him, more power to him.  It's all Greek to me.  (Little Buddy is not having any success trying to push his big brother's bike.)

Here's what ended up being leaders and enders for the 4 patch quilts.  This is my homework from April--three light blue house blocks for the RSC, and April's diary block.

I love making these house blocks!

This one has cats on the roof and the door, and clowns in the windows.

I've used lots of cat prints in other houses.  This time, it's the dogs' turn.

Scottie dogs live here, and there are bunnies at the door.

Lastly, my April diary quilt block is finally done.  April was a hard month.  Like lots of people all around the world, we couldn't be with any of our family the whole month, including Easter.  But pieced into this block are some of the bright spots.  Our library started a curbside service, I made masks and finished quilts, and every Sunday like usual I talked to my Mom on the phone (those are the yellow bars).  Life goes on.  It's different, but we can do it.

While I was sewing with the vintage fabrics this week, I listened to a Glenn Miller CD and sort of put myself in mind of the 1930s and 1940s.  Women like my grandmothers and great-grandmothers had hard times then, living through the Great Depression and World War II.  They got through it with hard work and common sense.
We can do that, too.

Stay safe, everyone, and thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:
Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday
Angela at So Scrappy
Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
Cynthia at Oh Scrap