Easy Baby Quilts for Hands 2 Help

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Hello, Hands 2 Helpers!

It is such a good idea to have us share easy patterns for Hands 2 Help.  (Thanks, Mari!)  Through the year, I make lots of quilts to donate to babies and children, so I'm sharing some of them here.  I'm looking forward to seeing what other people post, especially for larger quilts for grown ups.  I definitely need some help in that direction!

First up, classic 4 patch!  What could be easier?  I started making these many years ago to donate to Quilts 4 Kids.  They have several free and easy patterns, click HERE to go to their pattern page.

 

I have used their 4 patch pattern many times, and highly recommend it.  You need a fun print for the plain squares and the outer border, so I start with that.  You need about a yard, although you can get away with less if you use a different fabric for the outer border.  Next I pull fabric that goes with the fun print for the 4 patches.  

Usually, I use just two fabrics for the 4 patches, but these 4 patches came to me in a silent auction, and it all works out.  It's a great pattern for beginners, or anytime you need a quick quilt.  (I love it because I get to use my novelty prints!)

Next is my own pattern (free, of course), which I'm calling Little Bricks.  Click HERE for the link.  (Can you believe there was snow on the ground two weeks ago?  Oh, yeah, for sure, it's Wisconsin.)

The little bricks are 2.5 in. x 3.5 in. rectangles, and the blocks measure 6 in. finished.  No seams to match in the block makes them work up very quickly.

I'm really on a kick of using little bricks!  This top will be quilted soon, but I thought I'd include it, as it is a very easy quilt to make.  I'm calling it Little Bricks and Ladders.  I don't think I've seen this exact quilt anywhere else, but if this is someone else's pattern please let me know.

Here's the recipe:

For each block, cut 3 little bricks (2.5 in. x 3.5 in.) and two background rectangles 2 x 6.5 in.

Sew the little bricks together on their long edges.

Add the background rectangles to each side of the assembled bricks.

Make 30 blocks.  Alternate their orientation across the quilt, and set the blocks 5 x 6.

Cut borders 3.5 in. wide.

You will need 90 little bricks, cut from scraps, and about 3/4 of a yard of background fabric, depending on the width.  The border uses about 1/2 yard.  (My fabric measurements are slightly more than needed.)

Finished size:  36 in. x 42 in.

I love making quilts of all kinds, even the tougher patterns, but the easier ones let me get more done to donate to others.  Plus they're fun!

Let's have fun making quilts!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with Mari, the Academic Quilter

 

Yellow Times Two

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  Yellow has been our Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for March, and it has really brightened up my sewing room.  (Thanks, Angela!)

It's the last Sunday of the month, so I'm showing quilts from my collection.  It seems like a good time for this yellow pair.

They're twins!  I apologize for all the photos in this post.  It has been raining for days here, so not much natural light.  I ran out this morning and hung the quilts on the clothesline for some quick pix before the rain started in again.

It's somewhat unusual for a 19th century quilt to be set with yellow.  Not rare, just not something you see every day.

It's even more unusual to see a matched pair!  I bought them in a quilt shop run by a friend many years ago.  They were probably made around 1890, but I have no information on the maker or makers.  My guess is they were intended to be used on twin beds in the same room.

Here's quilt #1.  Reproduction fabric lovers, do you recognize this print?  (I think it looks like a light bulb.)

The yellow "light bulb" print has been reproduced in modern times!  I actually have two pieces of this print in my stash, which I've placed on the right and the left of this photo.  It's not just the bad lighting, these prints are considerably lighter and less "greenish" than the original.

The blocks in both quilts are pieced in this pattern which has lots of names, like Hourglass and Yankee Puzzle.  The oldest name found in print by Barbara Brackman in her Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns is Big Dipper (#1195a).  Did you notice the yellow triangle pieced into the block, the same fabric as the setting fabric?  Not something quilters today would ordinarily do.  Also, take note of the pink fabric on the bottom right.  We're going to see it again.

Isn't this backing a hoot?  It's cheater cloth!  That is, it's printed to look like a crazy pieced quilt.  It has also been brought over to the front as a very narrow binding.

Now for quilt #2.  Kind of the same, right?

The yellow print reads the same from a distance, but is totally different up close.

Remember that pink?  Here it is, being used to finish the border.    (Did she run out of yellow?)  None of the blocks in this quilt have any of this pink in them, but it's in several blocks in quilt #1.

This black fabric is the backing of quilt #2, and it has a red solid binding.  Look how the binding is sewn down on the back with a running stitch instead of the more invisible whip stitch or applique stitch.

 Although the blocks are the same, they are different sizes.  The blocks in quilt #1 are about an inch bigger.  

The slight differences make me wonder.  Quilt #1 has better workmanship than quilt #2--was it made by a different person?  Could these quilts have been a mother-daughter project?  I also wonder why neither of them have very much wear.  Were they put away for company, or did yellow go out of fashion for home decorating?  Sadly, I will never know.  (Note to self--don't forget to put labels on the quilts you make!)

The block is simple to cut and sew, but has a lot of seams to match.  I made one block, just to see if I'd like it.

All the pieces in the blocks are what we quilters call quarter square triangles.  This means they are cut with the straight grain on the outside edge.  There are several ways to make them, but I like using the Companion Angle ruler for three reasons:  1.  No math formulas needed.  2.  No lines to mark on fabric.  3.  I already have the ruler.

For my block, I used 2.5 in. strips.  I cut 8 dark triangles and 8 light triangles, and laid them out by the machine.  I tried to use repro fabric that reminded me of the yellow quilts.

Oops!  What's wrong with this picture?  Apparently, it is easy to get these hourglass units turned around.  At least for me.

There, that's better.  Thank goodness for seam rippers.

My block is 8.5 in. unfinished.  I'm not sure what I'll do with it.  I might need a table runner.  Or some new pot holders.

 In other news, we went antique shopping last weekend.  I didn't find any quilts (not exactly looking!) but I got some cute quilt note cards, a ceramic bunny Easter decoration, and a shamrock cookie cutter.  I thought I had one, but it disappeared (leprechauns?), so we had round cookies with green sugar sprinkles for St. Patrick's Day instead of shamrocks.  I'm ready for next year, though.

When it's rainy and cold, we have to find things to do indoors.  My little grandsons have been using Grandpa's magnifying glasses to look at gemstones.  Big Buddy says he's "studying rocks".

My little guy goes from serious to silly in a hurry.  He makes us laugh every day.

Life is short!  Let's all laugh, love, and quilt!

Have a great week, everyone!

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

 

 

Scraps of Sunshine

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  How are your Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects coming along?

Each month, I make my blocks and/or rows in the month's color.  Part of the fun of finishing a row is checking out how it will look with the other rows.

 These are my Razzle Dazzle rows, named for a pattern from an old Quilters Newsletter.  (Click HERE to find out more.)  January's color was red, February was aqua, and this month is yellow.

Some of my yellow triangles are kind of pale, and don't contrast that well with the light triangles (looking at you, Care Bears and dragonflies!), but overall I think the zigzag shows through.

The fabrics are so much fun.  I love scrap quilts!

Since I got out all the rows for Razzle Dazzle, I did the same for the crayon quilt.  Most of the crayon quilts I've seen online have had the rows set horizontally, but I've been thinking of setting them vertically, like crayons in a box.  I'm not sure what fabric will go between the rows.

The rows are so long it's hard to get a good photo.  Every crayon has 18 different 2.5 x 4.5 in. bricks in the color of the month.

My Little Guy saw the real crayons I had on the table for the photos, and couldn't wait to make some marks on the paper.  (And the table.  No worries, the marks wash off.)  It was a good activity for a cold and rainy day.

So is baking!  I tried this Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe from Ina Garten.  Big Buddy loved it for his after school snack.  Grandpa and I did, too!  And it was a great way to use up some leftover plain yogurt.

Unlike today, yesterday was warm and beautiful, 50 degrees and sunny in the morning.  I'm so glad we went outside then.  My Little Guy wore his (yellow!) Minions hat, and chased the robins into the trees.  He did NOT want to go in, even at lunchtime. 

Spring always arrives by fits and starts in Wisconsin.  You just have to grab the sunshine when you can.

I shoved all the other projects aside yesterday to make this star for Ukrainian refugees.  A lovely lady in Germany is collecting 8 in. finished blocks and making them into quilts for people fleeing the terrible war in Ukraine.  Click HERE for the link to her information.  She has been inundated with blocks, and is working with friends to make the quilts.  With literally millions of people displaced, the need may be great for a long time, so I'm sending my little star.

Some of the donation quilts made by our quilt group have already been sent to help.  A local business that also has a plant in Poland put out a call, and about 20 or so quilts we had on hand were delivered to them, along with toiletry bags filled with basic items. (Nice job, Colleen and helpers!)

In the face of this horrible war against civilians, our little contributions don't seem like much, but we have to do whatever we can.  

 

Look what my Big Buddy (the kindergarten grandson formerly known as Little Buddy) and his mom gave me!  They know me so well.  I have to find a proper place for it on the wall in the sewing room.  It's shown here with more little bricks, which will be yet another baby quilt pretty soon.

Are you sewing happy this week?  As always, I'm sewing happy and scrappy.  Have a good week!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap
 

Oops, I forgot!!!  Happy International Quilting Day!!!

Little Bricks, A Free (Very Easy) Pattern

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Can you stand another baby quilt for Hands 2 Help?  I'm calling this one Little Bricks. 

This is a stack of bricks.  Quilter's bricks, of course, rectangles measuring 2.5 in. x 4.5 in.  I first learned about them from Bonnie Hunter, quilter and teacher extraordinaire, who has used this shape in many quilts.  When I'm cutting pieces for a quilt and only have a small amount left of a 2.5 in. strip, I cut it into a brick.

If I don't have enough left for a brick, I often cut these pieces.  I call them little bricks, and they measure 2.5 in. x 3.5 in.  They can also be cut from short (or long!) 3.5 in. strips.

It's great to have both sizes of these rectangles cut ahead and ready to go.  And I'm always looking for new ways to use them.

My two youngest grandsons, whom I now call Little Guy (he just turned 2) and Big Buddy (formerly known as Little Buddy, he's in kindergarten), love to build with Duplos, the Lego bricks for toddlers and above.  These colorful bricks inspired me to design this little block.  I'm going to share the simple pattern with you.

Here's the block, done in yellow in honor of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.  It measures 6 in. finished, 6.5 in. unfinished.

For each block, you need:

3 Little Bricks (2.5 in. x 3.5 in.) in a color of your choice

For the background, all the pieces can be cut from a 2.5 in. strip at least 11 in. long.

2 Little Bricks, 2.5 in. x 3.5 in., in the background color

2 small rectangles, 2.5 in. x 2 in., in the background color

The sewing is simple, as seen above.  I finger press towards the darker fabric.

When the blocks are done, the two wide seams can be pressed either up or down, which is helpful if you set the blocks side by side and want the seams to nest.  (By the way, it's extra fun to put a tiger in the middle.)

I made 25 blocks, set them 5 x 5, added a 5 in. cut border.  The finished quilt is square, and is approximately 40 in. x 40 in. (a little less after washing and some crinkly shrinking.) 

If you've seen my quilts before, you know I'm fond of a diagonal rainbow of colors, and lots of novelty prints.

The back is a colorful dot print that I LOVE, and the orange binding is just for fun.  It will go to Little Lambs, to be given to a child entering foster care.

If you make a quilt from this pattern, I'd love to see it.  

In Rainbow Scrap Challenge news, I made a few 16 patch blocks with solid yellow and multicolor prints.

Puzzle pieces,
 

happy flowers,

and stripes, like this print cut from an unfinished shirt, are all fun fabrics to use for this quilt.

I made a math mistake when cutting out this one (not that unusual for me!), and ended up making two blocks instead of one.  Not sorry, though, both will be used.

This has been a busy but happy week in our family.

Our Little Guy had a train-themed birthday party, and we were able to celebrate with extended family, almost like before the pandemic.  (BTW he's trying to show me a star toy, that's what's in his hand.  After this he ran gleefully off and no more photo opportunities were offered.)

Our oldest grandson, Teenager Guy, had the ACT test and a couple days off school for teacher inservice, so he hung out here with us.  (No photos, as per his request!)  The kids had dinner with us one night, too, before heading off to activities like play practice and wrestling.
 

Plus Friday was Grandparents Day at Big Buddy's school, so I got to spend a morning with him and his friend.  There were lots of fun activities, plus a book fair.  We had a great time.

Have you heard of Peptoc?  If you're ever feeling down or in need of a little encouragement, there's a free hotline called Peptoc with recorded messages from elementary school students to help.  Big Buddy and I tried it out yesterday, and it was lovely.  The kids' voices are very sincere and kind.  You can choose what kind of message you need.  We chose the kindergarteners', of course.  They told us to "keep going!"  It's a project of a school in California, and the phone number is 1-708-998-8410. Could be something to keep in mind when a quilt just won't come out right.

I hope all your projects are coming together perfectly, this week and every week!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Cynthia at Oh Scrap