Back in Action, and Orange Blocks

Welcome to Treadlestitches!  I'm glad you stopped by.

At last I have a finish!  Mrs. Pfaff, my electric sewing machine, is back from the repair shop (Hurray!!), and we went straight into action this week.  The quilt above is the one we were quilting when she stopped working.  The shop lady said it was a timing issue.  I'm so glad she's working again, and we were able to finish this donation quilt.

Snicky the cat insisted on posing for you.  We were gone all morning, and I think he felt lonely.  The quilt is kind of narrow and long, measuring 40 in. x 65 in.  It will be going to the Children's Advocacy Center in Milwaukee, and will be given to a child.

Disappearing Nine Patch is the name of the pattern.  I finished one like this last September.  Most of the blocks for that one were donated to our group.  All of the blocks for this quilt were made from my stash. 

I would call this quilt a variation on a Disappearing Nine Patch.  This block starts with 9 squares that measure 3.5 in. x 3.5 in. (instead of the more usual 5 in. squares).  Four of them are the main print (like the popsicles above), four of the squares are a light print, and one square is a solid color, in this case yellow.  They are sewn, cut, and reassembled to make an 8.5 in. finished block.

The back is a soft blue print with stars.

I do all my piecing using my treadle sewing machine, so I was able to keep piecing while Mrs. Pfaff was being "hospitalized".  Now we have a whole list of tops to finish.  It may take me a while to catch up, especially with doing more babysitting now that school is out.

We've been spending a lot of time outside, in the yard and in the park near our house.  Little Guy likes playing on the unused volleyball court with his cars and trucks.  His big brother Buddy was racing around the park on a scooter when I took this photo.

I can't believe we are nearly halfway through June!  Orange month for the RSC has been especially fun for me this year, since I've been concentrating on collecting orange scraps to use.  They're hard to find, especially novelty prints, but I've had a little help from my friends.

It's always dangerous to use one way prints in the background.  I got a couple (well, maybe 3) of these Bow Ties turned differently than the others.  No worries, I can do an alternating set similar to this with them.  I might actually like it better!

This summer I'm making a new schedule for myself so I can have more time for sewing.  I already get up early, so I make sure to have the basics done by 7:00, and sew from 7:00 to 8:00.  During the day its kids and chores.  After supper I can get things set up for the next day.  I'm mostly too tired in the evening to sew.  We all know how easy it is to make mistakes when we're tired.  Ripping out bad seams is no fun at all. 😒

These wild orange Thrifty blocks were easy to sew.  They're a little extra scrappy.  As always, I'm amazed at all the different shades of orange there are in the world.

Favorite block!  I love that alphabet print.  And that orange crab!

Here's something else I love:  the generosity of quilters.  This pile was collected at our last guild meeting.  Just a note, I didn't make ANY of these, they were done by fellow quilters especially for the Children's Advocacy Center.  There are 9 gorgeous finished quilts, and three quilt tops, complete with binding!  Best of all, these quilts are made with prints and patterns kids will love.  I have offered to deliver them to the drop off point at a quilt shop, and just had to take a closer look first.

Can you see what's on the edge of the galvanized planter?  It's a toad!  The boys noticed it and called me over to take a photo.  We were afraid it would fall in the tub and be unable to get out, but it went on its way after a while.   There's lots of quiet wildlife all around us.

What's ahead for your week?  More orange?  Definitely more for me.  I'm wishing sunshine and quilting time for us all.  And Happy Fathers Day to the dads!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches 

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap