Rainbow Blocks and Three Baby Quilts

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

February, which is pink month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, is winding down.  Are you still thinking pink?  I am, which is odd since pink has never been my favorite color.  I'm really enjoying it, and it could be because it contrasts so well with the white winter wonderland I live in.

I've added yet another project to my Rainbow Scrap Challenge list.  These blocks, sometimes called Puss in the Corner, are fun to make from 5 in. squares.  One of my guild members (who shall always be known here as Nancy, Queen of Scraps) showed a quilt she made from this pattern last month, and that was it, I was hooked.  I especially liked it since this year I'm trying to use up boxes of 5 in. squares and strips.

I don't know what rock I was hiding under not to have seen this pattern done from charm squares before!  If anybody knows where it originated, let me know and I'll give credit where it's due.  Just in case you might have missed it like me, here are some brief instructions.

For each block, you need 4 charm squares, two matching light ones and two matching dark ones.  If you want a dark center, you cut them like this:  leave one dark 5 in. square whole, and cut the other one into four 2.5 in. squares.  Then cut both light squares in half lengthwise to make 4 rectangles 2.5 in. x 5 in.  From there, just sew them into an elongated nine patch.

For a light center, reverse it.  They go together best in a quilt if there are equal numbers of light and dark centered blocks.  (Did you see my goof up?  I made more light centered blocks than dark, so now I have to sew more blocks.  Oh, well, guess I have to spend the afternoon in my happy place, sewing quilt blocks on my treadle! Horrors! <wink>)

More pink!  I quilted and bound my pink Rail Stepper baby quilt last night.  Many thanks to Alycia for her free tutorial (click HERE).

I had a hard time deciding how to quilt this one.  In the end I went for a 3 in. grid with serpentine stitch.  Not very imaginative, I know, but I do like how subtle it is.

Lots of dots in this one, including the backing and binding. 

It was a weird week.  Monday and Tuesday there was no school for Buddy due to teacher inservice.  I was hoping to take them to the library, which they love, but both of them were sick.  They're huddled up under quilts here, watching Peppa Pig.

Due to the frightful weather on Wednesday and Thursday, with snow and sleet etc., the boys' parents looked after them at home, so we had no babysitting duties.  There were lots of things to do here, as always, but I did have more time to quilt.

Remember this top?  I called it Dinosaurs Around the World.  It was layered and basted already, so it was quick to quilt.

Look what I found for the back!  I got a yard of this world map fabric on sale at our local quilt shop.  I had to add strips of the sea turtle print at the top and bottom to make it long enough.

There are some really fun things being printed on selvedges!  The map fabric had these old timey ships.  Way more fun that just the usual dots of color!

This little quilt was also ready to go.  I started making the blocks last year in July using the tutorial provided by Preeti for the Positivity Quilt Along 2022  (click HERE).  I made a large blue and green version for the quilt along, but loved the idea of multi-colored scraps (of course!).  

I call mine The Gum Wrapper Quilt, because it looks like the chains we made with gum wrappers when I was a child.

The quilting is a 2 in. grid, sewn in the ditch.

Here's the back, more of the sale fabric from the quilt shop.  The binding is a red pin dot, probably from the 1990s, that I got second hand.

The backing had another great selvedge!  This one says Play All Day Be Joyful.  Well, you don't have to tell me twice!  

Snicklefritz the cat takes the Play All Day advice to heart every day.  I couldn't get him to pose at all.

Bonus--Preeti's method makes two identical blocks.  I only used one of each in this quilt.  So there is a stack of 25 more blocks waiting for me to put them together.

To be honest, there are LOTS of block sets waiting for me.  Does that mean I'm ahead, or behind?

Either way, I'm having a good time.  I hope you are, too.  Stay warm and safe!

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

Valen-tiny

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!  I hope all who celebrate Valentine's Day had a lovely holiday.

This is my Valentine heart, for the Valen-tiny challenge at my quilt guild.  We made small items from scraps of fabric to celebrate Valentine's Day.  My wall hanging is 16 inches square.

At guild meeting last night, we showed our Valentines, and guessed numbers to win a prize.  Believe it or not, I won!

This was the prize, this lovely heart quilt, complete with heart-shaped hanger.

Although my own heart is full of love and happiness, it's a little heavy tonight.  My cousin died suddenly last Saturday, and I'm going out of town to his funeral tomorrow.

So this blog post will be short this week.  Take care, everyone.

Enjoy these linky parties.  I'll be checking them out too when I get back.  [Note:  I am linking to the home pages except for Alycia's blog, since the linky parties will be posted while I'm gone.]

Cheers,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Awesome Quilty Linky Parties from Awesome Ladies:

Finished or Not Finished Friday, by Alycia

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop, by Sarah

So Scrappy, by Angela

Oh Scrap, by Cynthia

Pink Starts and a Dinosaur Finish

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

 

Last week was Groundhog Day (Feb. 2), which we don't really pay much attention to here in Wisconsin.  We are guaranteed six more weeks of winter no matter what cute furry rodents may do.  But we did get an almost spring-like day on Wednesday, when the sun shone brightly and the high temperatures were in the 40s (Fahrenheit).  I took advantage of the weather to hang this quilt and quilt top outside for photos.

Back inside, my grandson aka Little Guy modeled the finished baby quilt for us.  That's a little truck on the floor behind his head.  He's really been into cars and trucks lately.

The pattern I used is a free one from Quilts for Kids called Four Patch Pattern (click HERE).  It's simple, just alternating 4 patches and plain squares, with an inner and outer border.   The first quilt I ever made for Quilts for Kids was in this pattern.  It was a kit they sent me, with strips already cut from cute fabrics.  I'm sure that was at least 10 years ago.

I used my scraps and strips for the 4 patches, and this dinosaur print for the plain squares.  I bought it recently at a thrift sale called Granny's Attic at a local quilt show.

This is from the selvedge:  The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection, copyright 1997.   Wow, 26 years ago!

The letters in the print spell out "Friendly Things".  I knew I had seen this print before.  In 1997 I was a school librarian, and I loved seeing these happy dinosaurs reading books!  I used some fabric like this for the background to a bulletin board, but I don't know what happened to it after that.  When I saw it at the sale I grabbed it!  I got it home, washed it and looked it over carefully for problems, but it was still just nice fabric in excellent shape.

I have a lot left over, so don't be surprised to see it showing up in my quilts for years!

The backing is a soft flannel, also from the thrift sale.  As you can see, I quilted it VERY simply. 
 

Before I started quilting, I did some basic sewing machine preventive maintenance.  I cleaned out the lint, and there was a LOT after quilting 4 flannel baby quilts!  I also put in the recommended oil, and wound 5 bobbins.  And I changed the needle, and it wasn't even broken!  Mrs. Pfaff deserves good treatment.  I hope she'll keep going for many more years.

Meanwhile, back at the pink scraps...

...more bricks blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I was kind of surprised to find lots of fun pink prints in the scraps and/or stash.  I'm not really a pink girl.

These cool tigers came from a scrap bag I won by participating in the Positivity Quilt Along in 2021.  (Thanks, Preeti!)

As I was cutting the pieces for the bricks blocks, I realized they were the same size as pieces in the Rail Stepper quilt from one of my favorite blogs, Alycia Quilts (click HERE for free tutorial).  So of course I started a new quilt!  It's always fun to cut two quilts at the same time.

Once the pieces were cut, I couldn't stop myself from sewing them together.  I made only 20 blocks for a baby quilt, and it was an absolute breeze.  (Thanks, Alycia!)  I don't have anything I like for a border, so I'm just going to bind it after I get it quilted. 

This happened today.  My dear old dog Bella was sleeping on her bed, when we noticed Snicklefritz the kitten curled up with her.  When she woke up and saw him there, she left for the couch.  They're not exactly friends (yet?)  I'm still holding out hope.

I have more confidence in hoping you'll have a good week ahead, with time to do the things that give you joy.  Happy Quilting!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Angela at So Scrappy  

Cynthia at Oh Scrap

 

Little Pink Houses

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's Pink month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge so I'm making these fun little houses from novelty print charm squares.  They're not sewn to the background, just laid on there for the photo. Anybody got a song in their head now?

 We've got popsicles, hippos, bunnies, hearts, pigs, and even ants at a picnic.

I think the dancing frogs are my favorites.  Or maybe the Valentine puppy.  I didn't even know I had so many pink prints.

The pattern is called Row Houses, and comes from the book Quilts for Scrap Lovers, by Judy Gauthier.

More pink, and more duckies, this time in flannel!  I did make a pink flannel quilt to donate to the Community Baby Shower, using this adorable duckie fabric from the quilt group silent auction.

This quick pattern Alternate Square from Quilts for Kids was a big help, since I was so short on time.  There are some other easy patterns at their site.  (Note:  Quilts for Kids does NOT accept flannel quilts due to hospital washing requirements.)

Here's the whole thing.  Sorry about the bad lighting.

Isn't it amazing how much thicker flannel quilts get when they're washed?  I snapped this photo, bundled the quilts into a bag, and delivered them to the collection point at a local bank, just hours before the deadline.  All the donations will be given to local charities that work with families in crisis.  Next year I'm going to start sooner (!) and also make some other needed items.

Snicklefritz the cat has been exploring the sewing room closet.  In this photo, he's perched on my quilt tops needing quilting.  I was so surprised the first time he did this, but now it's a regular thing.  If he gets heavier he may come crashing down, but for now he actually takes a nap like this.

With all those UFO quilts in the closet you might be surprised to see me making yet another project.  (Or not, quilters know how it is!)  A goal for this year is using up some of my 5 in. strips and squares.  The house block uses dark fabrics, and this new block uses light squares as the centers of modified Happy Blocks.  (I've always loved these cheeky bunnies, btw.)

The centers are 5 in. squares cut, and the surrounding strips are cut 2 in. wide.  The blocks finish at 7.5 in.  So far I have 8 of the pink blocks.

I don't know if you can see it, but the center most cupcake says "my little cupcake" on it.  Aww.

Dark blue ones for January had to be made, to catch this RSC project up.

And here's more dark blue!  It's our Buddy, wearing his wrestling tournament shirt and that crazy haircut.  The whole team has their hair like this.  His mom is looking forward to his regular hair when wrestling season is over. 

No photos of Little Guy this week.  He had another head cold, and was not very photogenic.  I think we should buy stock in Kleenex.  He was feeling okay most of the time, though.

I hope you're feeling well and happy this week, and every week!  

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Check out all the great quilt blogs at these linky parties!

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Angela at So Scrappy, Home of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 

Cynthia at Oh Scrap