Butterflies, More Kaffe, and Black Cats

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

Does this butterfly quilt look familiar?  I finished the top a while back, made from a UFO started by an unknown quilter.  The project was passed on to our quilt group with the request that we finish and donate it to a charity of our choice.  (Click HERE for more details on the quilt.)

I made the top, but I knew my primitive quilting skills would not enhance it.  These butterflies deserved to fly!  Luckily, we have several very talented long arm quilters in our group.  Our own Nancy Queen of Scraps came to the rescue and did the lovely quilting.

I had it back to bind it, and got that done this week.  I hope the person who gets it can enjoy it for many years to come.

Here's yet another Kaffe Fassett quilt made from my scraps!  I adore these fabrics.  Recently I was cutting up scraps I was given, and discovered a bunch of small rectangles of Kaffe fabric.  I trimmed them to 2.5 in. x 3.5 in., and added in more from the stash.

The light green with the light blue dots is one of the fabrics from the scrap bag.  Most of the rest are from my stash.  The light print is definitely NOT a Kaffe print, just a fun one.

The pattern I used came from this book, Jelly Roll Quilts, by Pam and Nicky Lintott, copyright 2008.  They called it Sparkling Gemstones.  I changed the sewing a bit (they used strip piecing and I rarely do any more).  I have made this pattern several times, but never before with Kaffe fabric!

The border is a leftover Kaffe print from my own butterfly quilt, which is not yet finished (I'm looking for the perfect backing lol).  

Coincidentally, the backing for this Kaffe quilt is a purple print with butterflies.  I bound it with a solid purple.

So what about those black cats?

I didn't realize I had so many different black prints until I pulled them out for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  September's color is "dark", so this fits.

I freely admit I got carried away with these cat blocks.  It was fun using cat prints and matching up the black prints with the backgrounds (book print with READ fabric, Star Wars with a Star Wars background, pink and black cat fabric with Hello Kitty, etc.).

This block with the white paw prints on black is my favorite, mostly because of the kitten in the background fabric.  It looks just like my little Snicklefritz did when we brought him home from the shelter.

These black cats are going into their very own quilt.

I did get cucumbers at the Farmers Market last week, and made up 8 pints of Bread and Butter Pickles.  I feel good having these all done for the year, but it really did make the house smell like apple cider vinegar.

After we left the Farmers Market, we went to the Labyrinth Garden in Regner Park.  (Click HERE for more information and directions.)  Admission is free and it is open to the public throughout the growing season.  The labyrinth is maintained by volunteers, whose work is excellent.

I had never been to a labyrinth before, and was unsure what to expect.  It was so peaceful and quiet, walking the grassy paths.  And there were so many beautiful flowers.  I'm so glad we went, it was a very worthwhile experience.  

Our little boys got their school pictures taken last week!  These are just the proofs we will be ordering from.

Buddy is in 3rd grade!  He's looking so grown up.

Our Little Guy is starting to look like a big kid!  What is happening?  I don't feel any older!

These two are coming over later and spending the night while their parents have an evening out.  So I need to make up beds and bake some cookies.

Have a wonderful week!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

 Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

  

Lions and Cows and Little Bricks, Oh My

 Welcome to Treadlestitches!

More blocks in GREEN for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month!  These are my split nine patches, made up mostly from my 3.5 in. squares and triangles box.

I'm not sure who thought of creating a print with green lions, but he's kind of handsome.

This block has the usual chaos, like Lucy from Peanuts golfing, crayons, turtles, cars, and praying mantises.

Cows on a green background in the top row center.  I only bought a half yard of it, but it keeps ending up in everything.

Favorite block!  Such a happy green cow.  Plus a green tiger.  Not stuff you see every day.

I only had to cut two light triangles for these blocks, the rest came already cut from the box.  So I am using up some of my scraps!  Even though I'll definitely make more as I cut out other quilts.  That's the quilting life, isn't it?

So green blocks done, more little bricks fun.

Here's another quilt made with 2.5 in. x 3.5 in. rectangles, the ones I call little bricks.  It's going to Hands 2 Help.  (Click HERE for more on Hands 2 Help.)

As usual, it's a really simple block.  Back in January of 2013 (my first month of blogging, BTW), I made a quilt like this from a photo somewhere on the internet.  In my post I called it Jelly Roll Bricks and gave my directions for it.

A few years later, I bought this book at a used book store, and the pattern was in there.  (Now that I know where it came from, I will be taking my post down.)  The book is Jelly Roll Quilts, by Pam & Nicky Lintott.  I really love their books!  Lots of good ideas and clear directions.

Their version is called Sparkling Gemstones, and uses all Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Theirs is strip pieced, but I prefer just cutting the pieces separately.  To each her own.

Either way you sew it, it's a great design to use up just about any color of bricks, including multi-color.

Check out the border!  It's Fischer Price fabric!  I got a large piece of it at the guild's silent auction earlier this year.  At one point, we had all the toys pictured in the print--the popper, the xylophone, the dog pull toy, the stacking rings (not seen in this photo) and the telephone.

The only one we still have is the telephone.

Our grand children have never used a dial phone.  I don't think they've ever even seen a real one.  We've told our Little Guy that this is a kid version of a telephone, but I'm not sure he believes us.  It doesn't look anything like his mommy's phone.  Phones have changed so much!  He still likes to play with it, maybe because it makes noise.

Nature is waking up from her winter nap all around us.  This tree is in the parking lot of the grocery store, sharing its beauty with everyone who passes by.

Little Guy is having so much fun picking dandelions and playing in the park.  The weather this week has been amazing.

I hope you've had an amazing week, whatever the weather.  Take care, and happy sewing!

Thanks for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches

Linking up with:

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Angela at So Scrappy

Cynthia at Oh Scrap