Sunshine and Shadow

 Welcome to Treadlestitches! Happy Last Day of 2022!

To me, every year is like the old quilt pattern called Sunshine and Shadow.  Both light and dark, good and bad things happen.  Remembering the sunshine when a shadow descends helps me keep going.  (The photo above is a half log cabin quilt I made years ago.)

 The Rainbow Scrap Challenge is one of the bright spots of sunshine in the year, and I always enjoy it.  This year I had 4 RSC projects  which resulted in 5 quilts.  Three of them were done earlier, but I'm down to the wire on the last two.  I really wanted  to get all my RSC quilts done before starting new ones in January.

Yesterday, I finished the 16 patch.  It's 61 in. x 69 in., sort of a lap robe or small twin.

The back is this blue plaid I had in the stash.  I bought it at a booth in an antique mall several years ago.

I quilted a 2 in. grid with the serpentine stitch on my Pfaff, and bound it with a dark blue solid.

The Split Nine Patch (that I'm calling Rainbow Streak of Lightning) did get its borders, but I don't think it will be quilted by midnight tonight.  Maybe by the end of the weekend?  It's a true twin size, at 72 in. x 81 in.

The border fabric is this green star print.  I bought a nice big piece of it at a flea market last summer.  I'm not sure why, but I usually use blue fabric for borders.  Other colors can work, too!  I need to give them a chance.

These are the other 3 RSC quilts, and I've blogged about them earlier.  The zigzag ones are called Razzle Dazzle (click HERE to read about them), and the Crayon quilt can be found HERE.  All of this year's RSC quilts will be donated to children's charities.

The end of the year is a good time to look back and take stock.  I use this little notebook to keep track all year.  When I finish making a top, I record it here.  Then when it gets quilted, I record that date as well, and check it off.

Here are the stats for this year.

Quilts finished: 27 total:  21 Baby-sized quilts, 6 medium to large

Tops made, not yet quilted: 5 total:  4 small, 1 twin (the Split Nine Patch above).

Now, that doesn't count tops finished in PREVIOUS years.  The backlog is SERIOUS.  I'm just trying not to add to it, and I actually have a plan for tackling the UFOs this coming year.

Starting tomorrow!

I hope all who celebrate had a happy holiday.  This little Snicklefritz keeps climbing in the Christmas tree and knocking down all the ornaments.  Thank goodness my hubby weighted the base so he can't tip it over.

I'm wishing more sunshine than shadow for you, and all of us, in 2023.  Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Rainbow Quilt Tops and Cookies

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Guess who's treadling today:

 It's Santa!  From the drawing on the postcard, it looks like he's making teddy bears.  He'd better hurry, it's almost Christmas Eve!

Here's a message I can really get behind:  Life is short.  Buy the fabric!  The pouch is a birthday gift from my youngest daughter.  I posed it on a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt top I finished this week.  (Does a top count as a finish?  Probably not.)

It's 10 degrees below zero this morning, so no outside photos today!  The blocks in this quilt are the ones I've been making all year from multi-color fabrics and solids.  I had to make a few extras to bring it up to this size, a small twin/lap.

Snicklefritz is learning to pose, but I have to be fast snapping the picture before he's off and running after toys or even his own tail.

This is my last RSC project for 2022, split nine patch blocks.  After dithering for literally weeks, I finally landed on this layout.  I'm calling it Rainbow Streak of Lightning.  I still need to sew the borders on, so definitely Not Finished.

It was so much fun making these blocks!  Just a little bit of everything.

The end of the year is coming up NEXT WEEKEND!  I'd really like to have these two projects quilted and bound by then.  We'll see how that works out.

In the meantime, we'll be celebrating.  Our cookie baking last Saturday was a big success.

Our Buddy had a great time making Christmas cookies with his cousins, and even eating a few, judging from the crumbs on his shirt.

Mr. H. loved playing with Snicklefritz.  

Little Guy needed some help from his Mama.

Miss E. made sure all the ingredients were tested and delicious.

Snicklefritz has some growing to do to catch up with his ears!  He slept for hours after everybody went home.  (So did I!)

No kids to babysit today, so I'm going to run some errands (it should warm up to -4 pretty soon) and wrap presents.  Tomorrow evening the family will be here, as long as the weather doesn't get any worse.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate.  Stay warm and safe, everyone!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

 

 

 

Crayons, Dogs, Christmas, and Planning Ahead

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Sorry for no blog last week.  I caught whatever rotten cold was going around.  Thankfully I'm feeling better now.

The crayon quilt, one of my Rainbow Scrap quilts for 2022, is quilted and bound.  My dog Bella was happy to pose with it.  Actually, she wouldn't get off the quilt, so I just made the best of it and took her photo.

I think she's feeling jealous of our new kitten and needs a little extra attention.

The back is this colorful print from that chain fabric store, and the red binding is a scrap from a recent sale.  So now it's ready to be donated.

Here's what I'm using for leaders and enders--triangle squares I made last year and never got around to doing anything with.  It's amazing what kind of stuff turns up in the sewing room when I'm needing a secondary project.

Here's what's left to do.  I wonder if this will be all I need to finish the next top, or if I'll have to go hunting for another unfinished project.  Either way, stuff gets done, right?

It's that time of year again!  My Little Guy helped me unpack and put up decorations, and Little Buddy helped hang ornaments on the Christmas tree after he got home from school.  The wall quilt above is one of my oldest quilts, a piece I made after taking my first quilt class back in 1986.  It's very amateurish, but I'm still fond of it.  And it's hand quilted!  I got a little carried away with the French knot snow in the night sky, though.

This week, I made this little table topper with Christmas fabric scraps.

I only had this one square of dog Christmas fabric, so it went in the star center.

I guess this week is all about the dogs!  I still had a strip of this Boston terriers print, so it went on the border.

The back is this Grinch print, a remnant from that chain store.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas is still one of my favorite Christmas stories.  Christmas comes to Whoville even without all the gifts and trappings that always seem so important.  And a curmudgeon's heart grows 3 sizes!

Have you thought about what to make in 2023?  It's just over 2 weeks away!  I can hardly believe it.  I'm going through books and patterns, thinking about what quilts to sew.  Above is my stash of Missouri Star's Block magazine, most of which I bought in second hand book stores or at flea markets.  Even though many of the Missouri Star patterns are available free as You Tube tutorials, I really like having the print version.  I can refer to it easily while I'm sewing.  Plus as a retired librarian, I admit I'm partial to print media.

Doesn't our Little Guy look serious?  He's enjoying learning about slates and erasing.  We're going to have some fun this week drawing and coloring, reading library books, and making ornaments from kits the library gives away.  (We have a great library here, as I have said before!)  Tomorrow all the cousins are coming to make cookies for Christmas, hang out together, and play with  Snicklefritz the kitten.  It will be a happy fun day.

I hope whatever you are doing this weekend, holiday related or not, is just what you'd like to do.  I'm wishing you good health, too.  Stay well!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap 

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 

 

Razzle Dazzle Done

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

We're excited today.  My first two Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts of 2022, the Razzle Dazzle quilts, are quilted and bound and even washed, ready to be donated. 

Here's this one minus the adorable grandson.  (Oops, I took this photo before I sewed the binding on!)

My Little Guy loved posing for these photos.  He's a good helper.

And here's the second one, this time toddler free.

The pattern came from the Quilters Newsletter, which was hands down the best quilting magazine ever.  It grew as the quilting hobby expanded, and was a wonderful resource.  Razzle Dazzle was in the November 1997 issue.  As you can see, I simplified it a LOT.  (For more details, see my first Razzle Dazzle post HERE.)

Both of the quilts were quilted simply, on my domestic (electric!) machine.  This one got diagonal and horizontal lines following the piecing.  I was using some leftover 100% cotton batting, and wanted to quilt closely to make sure the batting wouldn't shift when the quilt was used and washed.

You can see the quilting on the back, outlining each triangle.  The backing for both quilts came from yearly sales called Granny's Attic, put on by a local quilt group.  These larger prints make good backings.  This one seems to be a zoo, with areas for the different animals.

The second quilt had an 80/20 batting (80% cotton, 20% polyester), so I didn't need to quilt as closely.  This time I just quilted the diagonal lines.

 On the back, you can see diamond shapes rather than triangles.  This Madagascar print is lots of fun.  I once had a small scrap of it, and the design was completely lost when it was cut into strips.  Backing is the best place for it.  The child who receives it can enjoy these wacky animals.  I added the center strip to make it wide enough.  It's a leftover from my Positivity 2022 quilt.  And there was just enough left for the binding.

The binding on the first quilt is a blast from the past!  If you were quilting in the 1980s/1990s, you probably recognize it as a "pin dot".  Everybody had lots of pin dots, and we used them for everything.  This scrap was just the right color.

So that's two down, three to go!  How many weeks are left in the year??

 When I was piecing the other day, I needed a leader and ender project, and found these tumblers already cut from flannel.  It didn't take much time to get these together into this little top for Jack's Basket.  So now I have to find another leader and ender project!  This always happens.  It's worth it, chain piecing saves time and thread, and I end up with bonus quilt tops like this.  Not sure when I'll get around to quilting it, though.

When Little Guy and I were taking pictures of the quilts, Snicklefritz the kitten came to see what we were doing.  I tried to get some pictures of him with the quilts, but he was just a little black and white blur.  He settled down a little on Little Guy's lap.

Later he crashed out on a quilt on the couch.  Yeah, only been here 2 weeks and he's already learned the best places to sleep--laps and quilts.

There's lots to do today, especially putting up decorations and shopping.  I wish the joy of the season to all who celebrate, and the joy of quilting to everyone.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

 

Four Patch Round and Round

Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Can you believe November is almost over?  This year is really flying by.  Today is the last Saturday of the month, so that means it's time for an antique quilt from my collection.

I don't have a pattern name for this one, as I couldn't find it in any of my books.  I just call it Four Patch Round and Round.  Technically it would be called a Medallion or Frame quilt.

It was made by an unknown quilter in the 1930s/1940s, and I bought it in an antique mall.  I love the scrappiness of it.  The center is made of 3 identical four patches, surrounded by a round of solid white, then a round of light blue 4 patches.  This was the only row she/he fully color coordinated.

The four patch blocks are 3 in. square finished, and the white rows are the same, except for the last white row, which is 4 in. finished.

All 4 corners on the last 4 patch row are pieced with black polka dot print, which adds a sort of framing effect.

The final border is made up of the same size squares alternating with red and white gingham.  Instead of a binding, the back has been brought over the front and stitched down neatly by machine.

There is a lot of quilting in this quilt!  Every little square has an X quilted through it.  The stitches are neat and average about 7-8 stitches per inch.

The quilting designs in the white rounds are pretty, but they are too sparse to completely keep the cotton batting from shifting where there are no stitches.  It's really not very noticeable, though.

Most of the prints are the usual florals, plaids, stripes, and dots.  This is the weirdest one.  I wonder if this kid is from the comics section in the newspaper??

I've often thought I'd like to make a similar quilt, maybe with bright fabrics.  It would even work for a Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt, with a different color in each round.  I might actually try this!

Not much sewing got done this week, but I am finally starting to set the 16 patch blocks into rows. 

It's been fun using up these multicolored prints.

I hope all of you who celebrated Thanksgiving had a good one.  One minor thing I'm thankful for is a freezer!  On Wednesday I thawed out all of this:  bread for stuffing, chicken broth for basting the turkey, and pumpkin and cherries for pies.  We are still eating pumpkin pie.  I might have had a piece for breakfast yesterday.  The joys of the season.

The thing I'm most thankful for, of course, is our wonderful silly family.  Little Buddy took this photo of his mom and aunt, my amazing daughters.

And here's Little Buddy himself, cuddled up with Snicklefritz, our new kitten.

The holiday craziness has started for real now.  We're going to try to take it slow, and enjoy it. 

I hope you have time for all the things you enjoy this week.

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

I'm also thankful for Linky parties!  Check these out!

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap